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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

HISTORICAL

DESCKIPTIYE SKETCHES.

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CITY HALL.

HISTORICAL

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES

NORFOLK AND VICINITY,

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SnEIKS A PERIOD OF

TWO HUNDRED YEARS.

SKETCHES OP WILLIAMSBURO, HAMPTON, STTPPOLK, SMITHFIELD,
AND OTHER PLACES,
WITH I
DESCRlPTIOSS OP SOME OP THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OP INTEREST
IN
EASTERN VIRGINIA.
BI
WILLIAM S. FORREST.

PHILADELPHIA:
LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON.
1853.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853,
BT WILLIAM S. PORKBST,
In -the Clerli's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

a

b mo

C. 8UERMAN, PRINTEK,
19 St. James Street.

PREFACE.

When the author of the following historical observations de
termined to compile a Dirbctoey of the City op Noreolk, he
contemplated also, as a suitable appendage thereto, the publica
tion of a brief description of its situation and facilities for trade
and commerce, its advancement and prospects of future wealth
and importance. On further reflection, however, it was deemed
advisable to adopt a more extended plan, and attempt even a
somewhat elaborate history of the place ; commencing at an
early period, and continuing the account down to the present
time ; embracing a description of the neighbouring towns and
villages, the principal objects of attraction in the vicinity, &c., &c.
The work was accordingly commenced, with a determination
to accomplish it with as little delay as possible ; and it is scarcely
necessary to mention, that the undertaking was attended with
both labour and trouble, and required much time as well as con
siderable patience and perseverance.
It is proper to state, that the difficulty in collecting the various
materials for the work was greatly augmented, and the time
required to prepare them for the press was considerably pro
longed, by other duties, which demanded much of the writer's
time during its progress. It will be readily imagined that he
would have found the task far more pleasant, could he have given

X preface.
it his undivided attention from its commencement to its comple
tion. But he was compelled to pursue a different course, and
devote to its prosecution those intervals by day and by night,
which could be spared from other pursuits and engagements.
With regard to the execution of the work under these circum
stances, he must abide by the decision of those whom it is designed
to interest.
To those persons whose kindness tended to facilitate his pro
gress, he avails himself of this occasion to express his thanks.
To the editors of the several city papers, for the privilege of
examining their files, his obligations are hereby specially and
respectfully acknowledged. The writer is also indebted to the
obliging disposition, retentive memory, and politeness of several
venerable and greatly esteemed ladies and gentlemen of Norfolk
and Portsmouth, for the particulars of many interesting events
included in the Sketches. And it is but common courtesy to
acknowledge his high appreciation of the valuable suggestions,
as well as the frequent expressions of kindness and encourage
ment with regard to the enterprise, from individuals whose cha
racter and judgment entitle them to considerations of great
respect. In gathering, culling, and preparing the subject-matter for the
press, many facts and incidents — some of a melancholy and un
pleasant nature, and others of no special interest — were cast
aside, to be lost, perhaps, in the deep ocean of forgetfulness;
while those only were retained, which it was thought would prove
valuable and entertaining, and therefore worthy of a place in
local history. As the book will not be without readers at a dis
tance as well as in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and vicinage, many
remarks of general interest will be found upon its pages.
The writer is well assured that he does not mistake the cha
racter of his fellow-citizens in other parts of Virginia, in supposing

preface. XI
that they feel interested in the history, present condition, and
prospects of their seaport, and of this productive, and we may
truly say, interesting and attractive section of the Old Dominion,
bordering as it does upon the sea, whose blue waves ceaselessly
break and dash along its beautiful shores.
The author trusts that an eff'ort to save from oblivion, and
place in form and order, those occurrences of the past, in which
many of the present day must feel an interest, will meet with
the general approbation of the community. He indulges the
hope, also, that the remarks upon the moral, political, literary,
and social character of the place, may not be unacceptable to
the reader. At the conclusion of the volume is a copious alpha
betical index, which adds somewhat to its value, as it will be
found useful for reference.
In submitting, though not without unfeigned diffidence, the
result of his labours to an enlightened and scrutinizing public,
the writer is constrained to express the hope, that its tendency
may prove beneficial. And, if his attempt to recall to mind the
recollection of interesting incidents long past and forgotten ; to
perpetuate to posterity some pleasing reminiscences of worthy
men, whose mortal remains repose quietly in the silent tomb,
shall prove successful, he will not feel that his efforts have been
entirely in vain. If he shall succeed in " letting a spark fall
upon memory's altar, and lighting up her slumbering fires" with
the remembrance of the pleasing and novel occurrences of other
days ; or in placing fairly and plainly before the public eye, an
account of the commercial facilities and advantageous local posi
tion of the port of Norfolk and Portsmouth ; in arousing to action
any portion of the native mental or physical energy, that may
have hitherto been partially dormant and unexercised ; in awaken
ing a more lively interest in those works of internal improvement
with which the welfare of Eastern Virginia, and the prospects of

xii PREFACE.
this port in particular, are so intimately connected ; or in directing
attention to any of the various places of interest in the vicinity —
the works of nature and of art, the noble rivers and winding streams ;
the pleasant villas and cultivated lands ; the buildings, ancient
and modern ; the dense old forests, the boundless ocean, and other
attractive objects — he will not hereafter be troubled with the
unpleasant reflection that the time and pains which he found in
dispensable to the accomplishment of the work, were bestowed,
without effecting, at least in some degree, the results which were
intended and anxiously desired.
W. S. F.
NoKPOLK, Va., January, 1853.

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER L
Situation — Relative Position — The Harbour — Superior Natural Advantages —
Early Events and Prospects— Ancient Coin found — Aborigines — Pioneers of
the Country — The Indians — Their former Home and savage Life — Departure
and Extermination, ....... 33

CHAPTER IL
Early Anglo-Saxon Inhabitants — John Smith — First Settlers — Wealth and
Hospitality — Civilization — Plentiful Productions of the Country — Names of
early Inhabitants — Reign of James I. — JIanners and Customs of the old
English Settlers — General Character — Habits and Amusements — Charles II.
— English Nobility — Manners of the People — Fondness for Sport and Plea
sure — Intoxicating Drinks — Industry, Morality, Religion, Aristocracy — The
Ladies, their Industry, Activity, Healthfulneas, and Admirable Character —
Descendants, ........ 39

CHAPTER III.
1650—1736.
Remarks relative to the name of the City, &o. — Colonel Thorogood — Original
Limits of Norfolk County — Upper and Lower Norfolk— Divisions and Subdivi
sions — Parishes, Churches, and Laws — Nansemond and Princess Anne Coun
ties — The Princess of Denmark — Seat of Justice in Princess Anne County —
Court-house and Jail of Norfolk County, and the Borough— Early Owners of
the Site of Norfolk— Act of Assembly— Cobham— Singular Provisions— The
Land Purchased by Trustees— Original Limits of the Town— Old Deed— The
Walke Family— Norfolk established a Town— Increasing Commerce and Popu
lation — Prospect of Advancement— Statement of Colonel Byrd— The Bo
rough Charter — Samuel Boush and other Officers of the Corporation —
Boundaries— City Limits — Tanner's Creek— Town Bridge— Extract from
the Virginia Gazette— First Council, Recorder, &c.— The first Mayor-
Other Charter-men and their Descendants, .... 44
1

XlV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
1736—1739.
Distinct Classes of Society — Effect of War — Political Agitation — Changes —
Slow Movements— Style of Architecture — Flourishing Commerce — Sports —
Fairs — Greased Pole— Pig Chase — Sack Races — Empty Hogshead Affair
—Hot Mush— Bull-bait— Old St. Paul's— The Grounds Improved— Church
Street — Diabolical Plot — The Old Graveyard, aud its Silent Occupants, 56
CHAPTER V.
1746—1765.
Celebration of the Defeat of the Pretender — Privileges of the Borough enlarged
— Court-house and Prison — Act of Assembly relative to Ferries — Talbot Street
— Captain Talbot's Property — Foot-bridge — Graveyard — Human Bones —
Reflections, ........ 65
CHAPTER VI.
1766—1768.
Protest of the People against the Stamp Act — The Sons of Libertjr, and their
Patriotic Proceedings — Members' Names — Descendants — Imports of Virginia
— A Curiosity — The Revolution and its Calamities, ... 68
CHAPTER VII.
1775—1776.
Lord Dunmore — Preparations for War — The Battle of the Great Bridge —
Glorious Victory — Heroism and Generosity of the Virginians — Miss Polly
Miller— Officers, &c., who were in the Battle at the Bridge, . . 74
CHAPTER VIII.
1776.
Sufferings of Captain Nash and other Revolutionary Patriots— Lord Dunmore on

CONTENTS. XV
Shipboard — Colonel Woodford — Dunmore's Rage, Arrogance, and Threats —
Tories and Slaves — Their Miserable Condition — Norfolk Cannonaded — Mis
statements Corrected — Cornstalk, the Sharpshooter — The Town Burned by
the Citizens and Soldiers — Woodford Fires upon the British Fleet — Awful
Conflagration — Patriotism — Battles — A Sad Contrast — Loss and Distress —
The Site of Norfolk Abandoned, and the Silence of Gloomy Depopulation
Reigns, ........ 79

CHAPTER IX.
1776—1777.
British Fleet and Soldiers — Pastimes and Depredations — Dunmore's Departure
• — Removal of the Citizens before the Conflagration — Their Spirit and Forti
tude — Tories — Coloured Persons — SmaU-pox — Dreadful Sufi'ering and Mor
tality — Money Buried — Mr. Goodchild's Trunk of Specie, &c. — First House
Erected after the Conflagration — Return of the Inhabitants — Privations of
the People — Dunmore, ...... 86

CHAPTER X.
1779—1785.
Extraordinary Winter — The Two Schooners from the West Indies— Harbour
Closed — Immense Profits — Destitution of the Citizens — Trying Times —
Borough Charter Amended — Mild Winter — Norfolk Improving — Rev. Philip
Bruce — Very High Tide — ^Extraordinary Drought — Terrific Thunder and
Lightning — Scarcity of Water — ^Animals and Vegetation Suffering — Alarm
ing Day — Terrific Explosion — Negro Men Killed — Providential Escapes —
The Merchant's Clerk, the Countryman, and the Gimlet — Money Raised by
Lottery for Building a Church, ..... 90

CHAPTER XL
1787—1799.
Dismal Swamp Canal — Importance of its Trade — Judicious Management —
Average of Tolls — Captain James Cornick — Location of the Canal — ^An Emi
nent Subscriber to the Stock — Borough Charter Amended — Tardy Legislation
— Newspaper — Religious Revival — Cape Henry Light-house — Court-house —
Population — Exports — Norfolk Herald — T. G. Broughton, Esq.— Heavy Ex
ports and Tonnage of the Borough — Cold Weather— Extensive Fire, 97

XVl CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
1800—1803.
Severe Winter — Act of Assembly — Funeral Solemnities of Washington — Ora
tion — Monody — Minute Guns, &c. — -Population— Officers of the Corporation
— Exports — Population Rapidly Increasing — Norfolk Advancing — Influx of
Foreigners — Brisk Business — Shipping — Buildings on Main Street, &c. —
Mud and Water — Dust, Frogs, and Musquitoes — Church Street — Ship-yards
—Rev. Mr. Bland and Old St. Paul's— Rev. J. Whitehead— Different Chris
tian Denominations, and their Houses of Worship — Cumberland Street Bap
tist Church — Number of Buildings — Simmons's Directory — Chamber of Com
merce- — Members' Names — Norfolk Junior Volunteers — The Council —
Amendment of the Charter, ...... 102
CHAPTER XIII.
1803—1812.
William Wirt — Letters, &c. — Norfolk Academy Incorporated, Trustees — An
nual Exports and Imports — Prosperous Condition of the Borough — Com
mercial Advantages — Agriculture — ^Extensive Fire — Heavy Losses^-Distress
and Deaths — Market-House — River-side — Parade Ground — Taxes, &c. —
Expenditures of the Corporation — Large Bill for Gunpowder — The Poet
Moore — Shocking Tragedy — Comparative Statement — Norfolk People — Fo
reign Trade — Merchants — Commerce — Stretets and Houses Labelled — Act of
Assembly relative to Paving the Streets — The Harbour filled with Vessels
— Immense Business — Transient People — Brilliant Prospects— Norfolk Mer
chants — Pennock and Myers — Norfolk Bar — Chesapeake Affair — Embargo —
Ruinous Effects upon Commerce — Embargo Law Repealed — Mechanical Be
nevolent Society — Places of Amusement — Public Gardens, Parks, and Groves
— Back Creek — Street Lamps — Solemn Funeral Procession — Burning of the
Theatre at Richmond — Soldier Sentenced to be Shot, . . 110
CHAPTER XIV.
1813.
War Declared— Warlike Preparations — Battle of Craney Island— Enemy's
Fleet and Troops — Dreadful Execution of our Guns— Shameful Depredations
of the British^Iucideuts of the Battle— Letter from General R. B. Taylor-
Extracts from the Herald, ...... 121

CONTENTS. XVn
CHAPTER XV.
1813.
Anxiety of the Citizens — General Taylor — Fortifications — Forts Tar and Bar
bour — 54th Regiment — Lieutenant Broughton — Orders to March to Slaugh
ter's Field — Excitement — False Alarm — Spirited Remarks of the Herald —
Excitement Increased — Mr. Broughton's Statement — The Independents —
54th Regiment — Juniors — Artillery — Admiral Cochrane — Militia — Effect of
the Repulse at the Island, ...... 127
CHAPTER XVI.
1813—1814.
General Taylor — Officers, &c., of the Army — Colonel Sharp — Major Camp —
Lieutenant Ferguson — Captain Capron — Major Maurice, Colonel McConico,
Captain Shields, &c.^Parade Grounds — Lieutenant Ball Assassinated —
Arrest — Trial and Conviction of a Sentinel — Schooner Tartar — Princess
Anne Militia — British Squadron — General Parker — Midshipman Hall Killed, 133
CHAPTER XVII.
1814—1815.
Market-house, &c., Destroyed by Fire — Carelessness — Inefficiency of Means in
Extinguishing Fires — Want of System, Energy, and Engines — Prices Current
— Dr. Slaughter's Will — Legacies — Colonel Nivison — Philip R. Thomson, Esq.
— His Honourable and Generous Conduct — The Slaughter Fund — American
Beacon — Its Founders and Editors — Destruction of the Office by Fire — Con
test for the Re-issue, &c., ...... 141
CHAPTER XVIII.
1816—1819.
Female Orphan Asylum — Its Founder and Conductors — Its Utility — Buildings
— Male Orphan Asylum Wanted — Manual Labour School — Neglected Child
hood — First Sabbath School in Norfolk— Union School — Separation — The
Sabbath School Cause — Miss M. Tucker — Council — Marine, Society — Ward
and General Ticket System Compared — Improvements — Stone Bridge—
2

XVlll CONTENTS.
Tobacco Warehouse — Mayor Holt — Lancasterian School — Tobacco Inspec
tion — Norfolk Provident Society— Its Object, Utility, &c. — Act of Assembly —
Custom House Lot — The Trip to Baltimore — The Bay Line — Steamer North
Carolina — Wonder Booker — Longevity, .... 146

CHAPTER XIX.
1820—1821.
Navigation Act — Trade of the West Indies — Commercial Distress — United
States Bank — Colonization Society — Brutal Murder of Lagaudette — Startling
Discovery — Arrest, Trial, Conviction, and Execution of the Murderers —
Exciting Scene at the Gallows — Bungling Work — The Murderers and their
Victim — Thieves — Highway Robbery — Awful Thunder Storm — A Gloomy
Year — Sickness — Terrific Hurricane — ^The Great September Gale — High
Tide — Effects of the Storm— Booth — Day of Humiliation and Prayer — Public
Meeting — Navigation Law — Trade of the West Indies Declining, . 156
CHAPTER XX.
1821—1824.
Team Ferry Boat — Steamboats— Reduction of Ferriage — Privileges — Acts of
Assembly — Receipts — Competition Needed — Improper Restrictions — Draw
bridge — Strange and Alarming Light — Painful Event — Loss of Life — Death
of Rev. E. M. Lowe — Arrival via Dismal Swamp Canal — Lamented Deaths —
City Inspector, ....... 161
CHAPTER XXL
1824.
Illustrious Guest — Lafayette's Visit to the Borough — The News Circulated—
People from the Country, &c. — Excitement— Anxiety to see the Old Hero—
Patriotism— Surprise of the Simple-minded— The Reception— Entertainment
— Illumination— Portsmouth— Bonfires— Grand Banquet— Ball in Portsmouth
—Ball in Norfolk— Congress— The Nation's Gratitude and Joy— His Charac
ter — His Errand — Services in Liberty's Cause— Subsequent Visit, . 164
CHAPTER XXIL
1824—1827.
Lieutenant G.— Shipwreck— His Wife and Child— Affecting Scene— Sudden and

CONTENTS. XIX
Singular Death— Mrs. G.— Fire— Court-House and Jail Destroyed— Mr.
Taylor and Dr. Slaughter— Court-House— Storm — High Tide— Destruction
of Property — New Burying-Ground — Legacy of Elizabeth Crommeline — Ex
ports — Non-intercourse Laws — Mr. Tazewell — General Smith— Trade De
clining — Destructive Fire — Christ Church, &c.. Burned — Loss and Distress —
Countryman Frightened — Reports the Town on Fire — Ordinance concerning
the Erection of Wooden Buildings — Lyceum — Its Name — Aristotle's School
— Odd Fellows' Hall — Lancasterian School-Room — Interments in St. Paul's
Graveyard Prohibited — Mild and Unseasonable Weather, . . 170

CHAPTER XXIIL
1828.
Dry Dock at Gosport — Summer Days in Midwinter — Vegetables, Flowers, and
Birds — Melancholy Accident and Loss of Life — Three Midshipmen Drowned
— Mr. Hunter's Fortitude, &c. — Snow — Ordinance concerning Fire-wood —
Suggestion — Prices — Christ Church — Ministrations — Present Pastor — The
Clock — Original Plan — Present Condition — Bell, . . . 175

CHAPTER XXIV.
1828.
Religious Revival — Lieutenant in the U. S. Army enters the Ministry — Talents
— Preaches in Uniform — The People go in Crowds to Hear Him— Descrip
tion of a Camp Meeting Scene — The Young Preacher — Solemn and Impres
sive Devotions — Extraordinary Sermon — The Preacher's Style, Subject, &c.
— Thrilling Interest and Wonderful Effect — Exciting Scene — The Preacher
Overcome — Revivals — Melancholy Statement — Pastor of St. Paul's, New
York — Other Preachers — Panny Baker — His Success and Usefulness — Affect
ing Scene — His Death— Presidents — Professors, Editors, &c. — Appropriate
Work of Methodist Ministers — Methodism — Principles of Truth do not Change
— Men Change — Reformation, . . . . .179

CHAPTER XXV.
1828—1832.
Dismal Swamp Canal — Methodist Protestant Church — Naval Hospital — Snow
storm — Population — Dr. M'Alpine — Cold Weather — Anniversary Celebra
tion — Procession — Interesting Display — Oration, &o, — Strange Solar Ap-

XX CONTENTS.
pearance — Insurrection in Southampton — Its Effect — Increasing Commerce
— Mayor — Singular Weather — The Cholera — Death of the Mayor — Death of
John Tunis, Esq. — His Enterprise, &c. — Philanthropic Remark — Benevolent
Idea — Reflections — Riches — Dr. Johnson — Utility of Poverty — Old Methodist
Church Taken Down — New Building Dedicated — Dr. William A. Smith, 190

CHAPTER XXVL
1833—1836.
Public Square — Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad Company — Extensive Fire —
New Buildings — Meteoric Phenomenon — Citizens alarmed — Railroad Stock
— Roanoke Navigation Company — City Debt — Railroad Bill passed — Demon
strations of Joy — Sabbath Desecration — Commercial Prosperity — Great Guns
and Fireworks — Failure of the Road — Rebuilding of the Road, and its Pros
pects — Death of General R. B. Taylor — City Inspector — Earthquake — Back
Creek — Shipping — Cold Weather — St. Paul's Cemetery — Religious Revival —
Almshouse — Another Railroad Subscription, .... 196

CHAPTER XXVIL
1836.
Centenary of the Borough Charter — Reflections — Centennial Celebration —
Procession— Mace— Oration by Wm. Maxwell, Esq. — Hymn — Aquatic Ex
cursion — Fireworks — Serenade — Reflections, . . . 200

CHAPTER XXVIIL
1836—1840.
PresbyterianChurch— New Organization— Ministers— Services— Membership-
Prices Current— Fire— Distinguished Visiter from France — Pleasing Incident
— French's Hotel — Important Commercial Era — Unwise Legislation — Lieu
tenant Maury's Statement^Ocean Steam Navigation— What Norfolk might
have Done — Real Estate — Exploring Squadron— Commercial Convention-
Common Council— Destructive Fire— Explosion— Fire in Portsmouth— Loss
of Life— Nuisance Removed— Public Square— Buildings— Avon Theatre-
City Prison- Norfolk Academy— C. Hall, Esq.— Academy Square— Character
of the Institution— The Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald, . . 206

CONTENTS. XXI
CHAPTER XXIX.
1840—1844.
Commercial Depression — Politics — Prices Current — Population — High Tides —
Festivities — General Harrison — Fire — H ailstorm — Walters's Hotel — Judi
cious Management — Fire, and Loss of Life — Roman Catholic Church — Bap
tist Church in Portsmouth — Death of one of the Heroes of Craney Island —
Death of an Old Citizen — Mayor Delany — Artesian Well, alias Market Square
Pump — Cisterns — C. Bonsall, Esq. — Supply of Water from Deep Creek — ¦
Arrival of Henry Clay — Procession — Festivities — Speeches — Colonel Garnett
— The Ladies — Joseph H. Robertson, Esq. — Governor Tazewell — Mr. Clay's
Visit to Portsmouth — The Courier — Caterpillars, . . . 214
CHAPTER XXX.
1845—1847.
Norfolk becomes a City — Objections — Improvement — Effect of a Name — Con
gratulations of the Petersburg Intelligencer — Lynnhaveu Oysters — Concho-
logy, Ichthyology, &c. — Richmond Times aud Compiler — Kind Remarks —
Sources of Prosperity — Amendments to the Charter — ^Evidences of Advance
ment — Court-House in Portsmouth — Methodist Protestant Church Burned
— Animal Magnetism — Professor De Bonneville — Severe Storm — Extraordi
nary Tide — Destruction of Property — Exciting Scene — Loss of Property on
the Coast — Lame Boy, Dog, and Cat — Loss of Life — Distressing Scene —
Sabbath-School Celebration — Interesting Sight — The Ladies — Addresses —
Temperance Reformation — John B. Gough — ^Remarks — Mexican War —
Volunteers — Captain John P. Young — Captain 0. E. Edwards, . 220
•
CHAPTER XXXL
1847.
Destructive Fire— Frightful Accident — Boys Burnt— Suffering and Death —
Rev. Mr. Beall — Marble Tablet — Virginia Temperance Advocate — Grain
Business — High Prices — Unseasonable Weather — Fish — Moonlight Excur
sions — Prices of Grain — Rev. Mr. Anderson — Indian Corn — Demand from
Ireland — Shipments — Sabbath-school Celebration— Rev. Mr. Cummins—
U. S. Ship Pennsylvania— Grain and Corn— Death of Colonel Newton— Death
of Dr. Moseley — City Hall — Corner Stone — Ceremonies — Oration — Rev. Mr.
Hitselberger — New Orphan Asylum — View of the Old Church at Jamestown
—Gift of the Norfolk Ladies— Public Buildings— Streets Paved— Spirit of
Improvement— Beacon Office Destroyed— Snow and Thunder, . 230

XXII CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXIL
1848—1849.
Southern Argus — Its Peculiarities — Remarks of Bulwer — Methodist Church
Destroyed — Destructive Conflagration — Suffering — Insurance — Bethel
Church, &c. — Philharmonic Association — Youthful Heroism — Narrow Es
cape from Drowning — Captain Hamilton L. Shields, U. S. A. — Captain Ed
ward H. Fitzgerald, U. S. A. — New Baptist Church — California — Reflections
— Visiters— -Internal Improvements — Cumberland Street Methodist Epis
copal Church — Unsuitable Location — General Millson — The Cholera^Nor-
folk Female Institute — Dr. Selden— Gas-Works — New Buildings — City Reve
nue—Death of M. King, Esq. ..... 236
CHAPTER XXXIIL
1850.
Internal Improvement Meeting — Delegation from Clarksville — David Shelton,
Esq. — Doctor Wilson — Extracts from Interesting Letters — Unseasonable
Weather — Launch of the Powhatan — Engines — The Gosport Iron Works —
Norfolk Iron Works — Mechanics' Hall — Its Utility, &c.— Avon Theatre De
stroyed — Fire in Portsmouth — Cadets of the Virginia Military Institute —
Their Visit to Norfolk, &c. — Acknowledgments — Snow-Storm — General Scott
— Fire in Gosport^Fruit, Vegetables, &c. — Farms — New City Hall — Loca
tion — Architecture — Dimensions — View — New Baptist Church — Description
— Ashland Hall — Drought and Warm Weather . . . 247
CHAPTER XXXIV.
1850.
Steam-Packet Communication — Foreign Trade — Convention at Old Point 
Sad Intelligence — Death of the President of the United States — Funeral Ob
sequies — Oppressive Weather — Tornado — Hon. Henry A. Wise  Internal
Improvements — Canal from Norfolk to Albemarle Sound — Surveys  Mrs.
Mary B. Johnston — Survey of the Harbour — Stone Wall— New Custom
House — Powder Magazine — Church Street Paved — Its Former Condition 
Advance in the Price of Property— Dry Weather— Doctor Mallory appointed
Navy Agent— His Qualifications— George Loyall, Esq.— Colonel G'arnett ap
pointed Collector of the Port— Conway Whittle, Esq.— Seaboard and Roanoke
Railroad— Extension to Suffolk— Its Completion to Weldon . . 258

CONTEXTS. XXUI
CHAPTER XXXV.
1850.
New Methodist Episcopal Church — Description of the Building — Workmen-
Pew System — Seating of a Congregation — Pews and Free Seats — Dedication
— Rev. J. E. Edwards — Membership — Dr. Doggett — Quarterly Review — La
belling the Streets and Houses — Census, .... 267
CHAPTER XXXVI.
1851.
The Daily News — The Weather — Deaths — Caleb Bonsai, Esq. — Commodore
Barron — The Chesapeake Affair — Decatur — Correspondence — Commodore
Bainbridge — Capt. Elliot — The Duel — Barron severely Wounded — Decatur
Killed — Commodore B.'s Social and Official Character — Death of a Venerable
Lady — Simon S. Stubs, Esq., elected Mayor — Description of his Honour — Visit
of President Fillmore — Gale — The Norfolk Directory and Statistical Register
— Its Kind Reception — Acknowledgments — Encouragements — Its Utility —
Opinions Respecting Norfolk — Erroneous Impressions Corrected — Notice of
the Work — Death of an Old Citizen — Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad —
Severely Cold Weather — Fire-wood — Skating — Mineral Springs, . 271
CHAPTER XXXVIL
1852.
Ordinance — VirginiarBank in Portsmouth Robbed — Conviction and Sentence of
one of the Robbers — Cold Weather — River Frozen Over — Remarkable Hail
storm — Destructive Effects — Work on Internal Improvements, &c. — Judge
Baker — Clerk of Court— Commissioner of Revenue — Commonwealth's Attor
ney — Wm. T. Hendren, Esq. — Internal Improvement Meeting — Norfolk and
Petersburg Road — Able Discussion — Mayoralty — Candidates — Election of
Officers — Objectionable Feature in the Law — City Officers — Councils — Me
lancholy Intelligence — Death of Henry Clay — Funeral Obsequies — Proces
sion — Oration — The Weather — Death of the Oldest White Inhabitant — New
Catholic Church in Portsmouth — Patrick Robinson's Bequest — Death of
Billy Ingram, the Oldest Coloured Inhabitant — Incidents in His Life — His
Great Physical Strength — Coincidence — Corporation Scrip, in Sums of $100,
§50, and $1 — Intelligence of the Death of Webster— Wm. B. Lamb, Esq. —
Doctor Cowdery — Illumination, &c. — Agricultural Fair — Commendable Dis
play of Agricultural Productions — Premiums — Princess Anne County — Bri
tish Consul — Line of Packets to New York — Railroad Subscription, . 284

XXIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Opinions respecting Norfolk — Mr. Jefferson's Prediction — Views of Mr. Madison
— Unwise Legislation — Internal Improvement — James River and Kanawha
Canal — Products of the West — The Norfolk Market — Productions of the
Forest — Coal — Railway to the Pacific — Norfolk the Commercial Centre of a
large Extent of Country — Coasting Business — The Harbour — The Norfolk
and Petersburg Railroad — Its advantages — Surveyor's Report — Convention
at Union — New Orleans and Memphis Road — Norfolk the Atlantic Terminus
— China and East India Trade — The Consequences — Weldon and Gaston,
aud Clarksville and Ridgway Roads — Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad —
Subscriptions by the City — Arrangements of the Company with the City —
Ferry and Bridge Connexion — Trade — City Subscription — Baltimore Steam
Packet Company — Wilmington and Manchester Road — North Carolina Road —
Charlotte and Columbia Road, &c. — Continuous Lines from Norfolk — Enter
prising Men Wanted — Enterprise and Progress — Supineness, Neglect, and
the Downward Tendency, ...... 296

CHAPTER XXXIX.
Commercial Position — Why Norfolk has not advanced more rapidly — Other
Cities — Norfolk and Boston — ^Virginia and Massachusetts — Formerly Flou
rishing Commerce of Virginia — Norfolk Waking Up — Internal Improvements
— Obstructions must be removed — Produce must find an Outlet at this Port
— Means of Access — Products of Virginia, North Carolina, &c. — Improvement
apparent in Norfolk — Back Country — Land in the Vicinity — Centralizing
Action — Western Trade — Railroads, Steam-Packet Lines, &o. — Effect upon
the Commerce of the State — Erroneous Impressions relative to the Storage
of Tobacco — Adaptation of the Climate to its Preservation proved — Testi
mony of the Merchants — The Climate of Norfolk — Warehouses — Inspectors
— Merchants — Flour, Wheat, &c. — Means of Access, . . 304

CHAPTER XL.
Lieutenant Maury — Natural Advantages of Norfolk — Back Country  Supine
ness of the State — The South — Trade of the Amazon Valley — Line of Steamers
from Norfolk, &c.— Para— Clipper Ships— The Wharves of Norfolk— Advan
tages of the Port — Trade of the West Indies and South America  A. W.
Thompson's Scheme — Line of Steamers from Norfolk to Antwerp, &c.  Mr.
Thompson's Propositions — Prospective Benefits — Advantages offered by
Belgium — Opinions yespeoting the enterprise — Statements of Mr. Wheeler 315

CONTENTS. XXV

CHAPTER XLL
General Appearance of the City — Buildings — Streets, Gardens, Flowers, &c. —
New Baptist Church — Pleasing View — Public Buildings, &c. — Relative Po
sition—Academy — Christ Church — St. Paul's — Eastern Branch — Herberts-
viUe — St. Patrick's Church — Presbyterian Church— Baptist Church— Me
thodist Episcopal Church — Marine Hospital — Mechanics' Hall — Southern
Branch — Navy Yard— City Hall— Portsmouth — Naval Hospital— New Metho
dist Episcopal Church — ^Elizabeth River — War Steamers— Craney Island —
African Churches — Almshouse — Cemeteries — Cotton Factory — Background
— Wooded Lands — Norfolk in 1852 — The Situation — Climate — Atmosphere —
Norfolk Sunsets — Descriptions — Sunset Scene, by Charles H. Beale, Esq.
— Appearance of the City and River from the Outer Harbour — Beautiful
Scenery — Location — Productions of the Water, Forests, Fields, and Gardens
— The SoU and its Capacity — Grain, Vegetables, Fruit, &c. — Grapes — Land
— Sites for Farms, ..... . . 322

CHAPTER XLIL
Healthfulness of Norfolk — The Climate — -Erroneous Impressions — Sickness
during the War — Malignant Fever's — The Army here in 1813 — Causes of
Sickness and Mortality — Exposure, change of Diet, Climate, &c. — Intempe
rance — The Cold Plague — Measles — Dysentery^Bilious — Inexperienced Phy
sicians — Venesection — Injudicious and Fatal Treatment — Calomel — Opium —
Water — Clothing — Attendance — Inexperienced Officers — The Citizens — En
dearments of Home — Fever in 1821 and '26 — "British Spy" — Erroneous
Statements — Buffon's Strange Theory — Norfolk on a high Mountain — Sick
ness in 1852 — Injurious Reports — Comparative Statements — Charleston —
Average Mortality — Healthful Effects of the Climate — Comparative Table —
Coloured Population — Statement of Diseases and Deaths — The Cholera —
Longevity — Conclusive Proof, ..... 331

CHAPTER XLIIL
Buildings — Sites for Farms — ^Excursions to Old Point, &c. — The Ladies— Their
Beauty, &c. — Attachment of the Citizens to the Place — Hospitality — Intelli
gence — Morals — Sabbath Schools — Mechanics — Churches — Order — Sunday
Markets — The Sabbath — Its Violation — Should be kept Holy — The Appoint
ment Necessary to Man — Its Enemies — Its Services, . . 339

CHAPTER XLIV.
Commercial Facilities — The Navigation — The U. S. Ship Pennsylvania — The

XXvi CONTENTS.
Harbour — Streets, &c. — Wharves — Public Buildings — Churches, Banks,
Schools, Papers, &c. — Companies and Societies — Packet Lines — Marine
Railways— Manufactories— Wealth, Usefulness, and Influence — Merchants,
Warehouses, Capital — Commercial Experience and Ability — Improvement —
Railroads, Steamships, &c.- — Commercial Advancement, . . 343

CPIAPTER XLV.
Talent and Literary Taste — Light Reading — Cheap Literature — Its Injurious
Tendency — Evidences of Literary Capacity — Literary Works — Mr. Maxwell's
Poems — Letters by a South Carolinian — H. B. Grigsby, Esq. — Dr. Alexander
Whitehead, an Accomplished Teacher aud Scholar — Beautiful Inscription
— C. A. Rodney — Thomas Blanchard — -His Ode on the Death of Washington
— "Rosehill," by a Virginian — Poems by Quilp — "I Hear thy Voice" — " A
Child's Burial,"  346

CHAPTER XLVL
Ladies of Talent — Contributions to the Press — The Female Mind and Poetry —
"Dreaming," by Fanny Fielding — Extracts from the writings of another — ¦
Nature's Teachings — The Phantom, ..... 354

CHAPTER XLVIL
Poetic Pieces, by A. F. Leonard — Song of the Emigrants — Ode to Solitude
— Byron Walthall— The Stag Hunter — R. James Keeling — Song to the
Sea Wave — Old Settlers' Church at Jamestown — W. W. Davis — Lucubrations
— The Hopes of Love — S. S. Dawes — Tribute to Mr. Clay — An Hour among
the Flowers, ....... 361

CHAPTER XLVIIL
Other Specimens — Original MSS. — Literary Taste in Norfolk, &o. — Composi
tion by a Lady — Interesting Subject — Beautiful Sketch — Seminole War —
Burial of the Soldiers — Funeral Solemnities — Beautiful Specimens of Pen
manship—The Author — The Burial of the Gallant Dead — Solemn Occasion-
The Indians, and their "Flowery Home" — ^Exhumation of the Dead in the
Wilderness — Procession — The March in the Wilderness — Dade's Massacre 
Indian Warfare, and their Deadly Hate— The Soldier's melancholy Fate
— Impressive Funeral Obsequies — Military and Civic Honours  Burial
Place— Reminiscences — The Soldier's Rest — Prayer of a Presbyterian Mi
nister—Eloquent Eulogy of a Catholic Priest— Reinterment and Solemn
Closing Scene— Music among the Tombs at Midnight, . . 373

CONTENTS. XXVU

CHAPTER XLIX.
Conductors of the Press in the City — The Editor's Task a Difficult One — Re
sponsibility and Usefulness — Editorial Character — Editors of the Daily
Papers of Norfolk and Portsmouth — Francis H. Smith — Captain Thomas H.
Williamson— The Different Professions — Ex-Governor Tazewell — Form and
Motion — Countenance — His Mind — Oratory — Astonishing Power of His Elo
quence — His Manner — Indifference to Forensic Fame — His Political Princi
ples — Compared with Pinkney — Pinkney's Violent Style — His Mind — Exalted
Talents of these Two Distinguished Men — Mr. Tazewell at the Present Day
— Intellectual Faculties Unimpaired — General Information, and Readiness
to Communicate — Intellectual Superiority — Able Original Papers — Varied
Intelligence, ........ 382

CHAPTER L.
General R. B. Taylor — Eloquence and Success as a Jurist — Extraordinary
Powers of Oratory — Graphic Description by a Norfolk Writer — Address to
Lafayette at Yorktown — Choice of Virginia — Deportment, Manners, Elo
quence, and Military Feeling — Graces of Oratory — Effect upon a Jury —
Passion — His Excursions in the Regions of the Beautiful-^Indefatigable and
Studious Devotion to his Professions — Example — Productions of his Pen —
Politics — Chosen to Command the Troops at Norfolk — A Credit to Old Vir
ginia — Diligent Improvement of Talent — Relatives, . . 387

CHAPTER LL
Henry A. Wise, of Aceomac— Interest in the Welfare of Norfolk— Efforts
in Behalf of Internal Improvement Schemes — Intellect — Native Genius-
Rhetorical Efforts — Style — Power of his Eloquence— Independence— Change
of Opinions — Description by an Opponent in Politics — His Voice — Generosity
— Social Excellence — His Person — Countenance — Extract from the Southern
Literary Messenger — Graphic Description — Style of Speaking — Gestures,
&c. — Speech in the Virginia Convention — Convincing Power— John C. Wise,
of Princess Anne County— Political Character of the City— Whigs and Demo
crats — Party Strife and Excitement— Peaceable and Forbearing Character
of the Citizens, ....... 391

CHAPTER LIL
Native Genius— J. H. Whitehurst, of Norfolk, the Virginia Daguerreotypist-
Extensive Business— Pictures— Energy of Character— Opinions of Others

xxviii CONTENTS.
—Morteotype— Sketch of His Parentage, Talents, Progress, &o.— His Pic
tures at the Fairs of the Maryland Institute— Premium— His Pictures at the
World's Fair— His Mind— Inventive Capacity, &c.— Alexander Gait, Jr., of
this City, the Virginia Sculptor— Descriptive Letter from Florence— Tri
umphs of American Artists— Powers— Gait— Greek Beauty— Correspondence
—Bust of Psyche— Bust of Virginia^— Promise of the Young Artist— The
Bust received in Norfolk— Splendid Specimen— Extract from the Richmond
Whig— Evidences of Genius in Boyhood— First Effort — Enquirer — Tribute of
T. C. Tabb, Esq.— Particulars of Gait's Genius— Works, &c.— Other Ta
lented Individuals, ....... "95

CHAPTER LIIL
Why Norfolk has not Advanced more Rapidly — Internal Communication —
Sending to the North — Home Manufactures— Direct Trade — Importers — Le
gislation — Supineness — Prospects Improving — Signs of the Times — New
Sources of Wealth and Enterprise— A Sleeping Giant— The Old Common
wealth Arising — Energy — Lethargy — Commercial Position — Climate, &o. —
California Gold, &c. — Mexicans and Indians — Eastern Splendour — Conse
quences of Inactivity — Norfolk Improving — Buildings — Streets— Banking
Capital — Authorities — Citizens — Public Buildings, . . . 404

CHAPTER LIV.
Home Manufactures — Northern Establishments — The South — Boots and Shoes
— Massachusetts — Farmington, N. H. — Manufacturing Company — Georgia
and South Carolina — Money Sent to the North — Stoves, Brooms, Hay, Fruit,
&c. — Mortifying Facts — Clothing — Indigent Females — Flour and Meal —
Mills — Baltimore, &c. — Profitable Investment — Cotton Goods, Candles, Soap,
Paper, &o. — Steam Power — Handsome Sites — Extensive Mills, Manufacto
ries, and their Concomitants — New England — Agriculture, Manufactures,
and Commerce — Plough, Loom, and Anvil — Fruit — Hungry Consumers —
Milk, Butter, &c. — Cause of New England Thriftiness, Wealth, and Happi
ness — Enterprise Wanted Here — Norfolk — Progress Elsewhere — Improve
ments — Great Works — Railroads — Steamers — Cities in the West — ^Prosperity
of the South — Commerce, Shipping, and Products, . . . 408

CHAPTER LV.
Coloured Population — Misinformed Fanatics — Condition of the Coloured People
— Fidelity — Preference for a State of Subjection — Reciprocal Regard of
Masters and Slaves— Plentiful Fare, Clothing, &c.— Attention, Treatment,
Intelligence, Ingenuity, &c.— Venerable Old Freed-man— His Benevolence—

CONTENTS. Xxix
Ignorance, Superstition, &c., of the Coloured People— Piety— Easy Life-
Sleeping, Eating, &c. — Contentment — Religious Privileges — Marriage Vows
— Respect to the Dead — Impressive Funeral Ceremonies — Negro Life in New
York — Laziness — Lower Classes — Decrease in Numbers — The Different
Classes — Cow Bay— Five Point*— Pigs, Cats, Dogs, Rats, and ChUdren—
Horrible Condition — Houses — Occupations — Intemperance — Bar-rooms and
Sleeping Apartments — Cellars and FUth — Idleness and Theft — "Prigging the
Wipes" — Night Orgies — Effluvia — Civic PrivUeges — Occupation — Frederick
Douglass — Menial Slavery in New York — How the Blacks kennel together
like Beasts — Accommodations, Furniture, &c. — Wages — Ragged Chimney
Sweeps — Pitiable State — The Better Class — ^Waiters — Private Servants —
Their Native Home — Colonization Society — Uncle Tom's Cabin — English
Ladies — Unintentional Result, . . . . .417

CHAPTER LVL
Portsmouth — Further Observations — View from the Norfolk Side — Act of As
sembly Establishing the Town — WUliam Crawford — Wooden Chimneys —
Directors and Trustees — Advancement — Plan of the Town — Streets — BuUd
ings — Sociality, Hospitality, &c. — Portsmouth in 1806 — Trade with the West
Indies — Advantages — Navy Yard — Dismal Swamp Canal — Intercourse —
Bridges — Wharves — Merchants — Population — Houses — National Establish
ment — Improvements — Mayor and CouncU — Description of the Site, &c. —
Harbour — ^Why the Town has not Advanced more Rapidly — English and
Scotch Merchants — Revolutionary Spirit — Gosport Iron Works — Manage
ment — ^Position — Capacity, &c., ..... 429

CHAPTER LVIL
Falls of Niagara — ^Natural Bridge — Laurel HUl, Harper's Ferry, &c. — Want of
Curiosity and Interest — Objects of Attraction — Dry Dock — Old Point, Hamp
ton, &c. — Seashore — Rivers — Farms, Lands, Flowers, Birds, &c. — The Chesa
peake — Princess Anne — KempsvUle — Digressions — The Ocean — Roads — Lon
don Bridge — Bridge over the Thames — Reminiscences — Legends — Romance
— ^Branch of the Lynnhaveu — Random Lines — Nature's Music — The Songsters
of the Field and the Grove — Nature's Harmony — Grave-Yard^Trees — Cur
rent — ^Associations and Recollections of Youth — Local Attachments, 435

CHAPTER LVIIL
Incidents of Other Days — Gentleman Waylaid — Desperate Conflict with the
Highwaymen — The Criminals and the Death Penalty — The Old Store — Un
fortunate Inebriate — ^Notorious Josiah Phillips — Mingo — Capture and Trial

XXX CONTENTS.
of the Outlaw — Sentenced to the Penitentiary — Shot on the Road to Norfolk
— Baptist Church — Preacher — Old School-house — Teaching — Public Schools
— Martin Luther on Education — Lynnhaveu Bay, &c. — Old Eastern Shore
Chapel — Oaks — Old School-house — Events of the Past — Schoolboy Days —
Faithful School-master — Scholars — Variety of Talent, Occupation, &c. — Pre
mature Deaths — Early Associations — Great Parting Frolic, . . 443

CHAPTER LIX.

The Ocean Shore — Sublime Scene — The Music of the Sea — The Minor Key —
Miserere — The Sea in a Calm — Its Power and Immensity — The Ocean in a
Storm — The Mountain Waves — Spirits of the Deep Riding on the Billows and
Howling in the Foam — The Sea Personified — Mariners — Dangers — Perils of
Ocean — The View from the Land — Sublimity of the Scenery — A Ship at Sea
— Becalmed — A Storm-cloud Rises — Wind and Ocean at War — The Ship and
Passengers in Danger — The Ship Engulphed — The Calm — Height, Velocity,
and Force of the Waves — Distance from Each Other — Irresistible Strength —
Influence of the Sight — Beautiful Extract — The Sandy aud Wave-beaten
Shore — Reflection of the Light — Sun and Moon — Fiery, Sparkling Gems —
Mountain Scenery — The Boundless Deep, .... 449

CHAPTER LX.
Chesapeake Bay — Its Beauty — Discovery— Opinion of Mariners— Delightful
Trip— Night Scene — Lynnhaveu Bay— Lynnhaveu River — Fish and Oysters
—The Inlet— The Channel— The Tides— Bottom— Singular Tradition— The
River of Chesapeake— Pleasure House Creek— Adam Keeling, Esq.— Dike-
New Inlet — Branches of the River — London Bridge — Trading Point  Kemps-
viUe — Long Creek— Broad Bay— Linkhorn Bay— Fish— Beautiful Scenery-
Transparent Waters— The Desert and its Inhabitants— Old Port— Re
markable Changes— Church Point— Parish Church Submerged— Grave-
Yard— Reflections— The Grave-stones — Name Deciphered — Inroads of the
Water— Probable Causes— The Winds and Tides— Donation Church— Par
son Dixon's Donation— His Eccentricities— The Old Church DUapidated—
Ladies' Fair— Remarks of Mr. Broughton— Rev. Anthony Walke— Dick
Edwards— The Old Cemetery, &c.— Baptismal Font— Silver Goblet— A
Venerable Trio— Indian Mound or Fort— Blackboard's Treasures— Witch
Duck— Complaint of Luke Hill and Wife— Grace Sherwood, the Witch-
Searched by a Jury of Women— Strange Verdict— Poor Grace Ducked— Sub
sequent Difficulties— Graceless Affair— The Name Lynnhaveu, . 455

CONTENTS. XXXI

CHAPTER LXL
Furtherremarks about Lynnhaveu River — Sandbar — Winds — Removal of the Bar
— Stone WaU — Sound — Speculations — Fresh Water — PJvers, &c. — Fish and
Oysters — Epicures — Health — Canal — A Novel Change — Currituck Sound —
The Inlet — Maritime Productions — Fishing — Dismal Swamp Canal — Embank
ments of Sand — Destruction of Fish, &c. — Sickness — Lamentable Change —
Loss to the People — Superstition— Recession of the Waters — Lynnhaven, 465

CHAPTER LXIL
Old Point — Place of Resort — Distance from Norfolk — The Name — Fortifica
tions — Castle Calhoun — Appearance — Rip Raps — Hotel — Sea-Bathing —
Amusements — Grove — Cottages — !Music — Promenade on the Battlement —
New Hotel — Virginia Ocean House — Buildings — Parade Ground — Live Oaks
— Troops — Ordnance — Ocean Scenery^Northeaster — Terrific Scene — Storm
— Hampton — Captain Smith — Indians — Kecoughtan — Battle in the Revolu
tion — Attack of the British in 1813 — Barbarous Deeds — Disgraceful and In
famous Conduct — Cockburn — Beckwith — General Taylor — Summer Resort
— Hospitality and Moral Character of Hampton — Prosperity — Churches —
Afton House— The Barrens, &c. — Elizabeth City County — Soil — Inhabi
tants — Population — Yorktown — Splendid Scenery — Old Church — Foreign
Commerce, Wealth, and Power — Neglect — The People — Captain Anderson —
York River — West Point — The Capital — Cornwallis's Surrender — Cave —
Burial-Ground — Hugh Nelson — ^Nelson Family — Hole made by a Cannon-Shot
— ^Northampton and Aceomac — Eastern Shore — The Land — Appearance of
the Country — Society, &c. — Horses and Carriages — The Ocean — "Accaw-
macke" — Indians — Eastville, &c. — Hon. A. P. Upshur — Aceomac — Hon. H.
A. Wise — Drummondtown — Chincoteague — Splendid Scenery — Cape Charles
— Southern Watering-Place, ...... 468

CHAPTER LXIIL
Jamestown — First Settlement in British America — Situation — Old Graveyard
and Ruins — John Smith — Settlement — Old Church — Battle with the Indians
— Plan and Fortifications — Destructive Fire — Public Records Destroyed —
Seat of Government Removed to Williamsburg — Yankee Monopoly — The
Landing of the Pilgrims — ^Williamsburg — Situation — Capital — Population —
Lunatic Asylum — WiUiam aud Mary College — Trustees, President, and
Chancellor — Endowment — Magazine — Dunmore — Statue — Old Buildings —
Churches, College, MiUtary Academy, &c. — Centre of Fashion and Learning
— Society— Plan of the Town — Old Almanac, . . . 476

XXXU CONTENTS.

CHAPTER LXIV.
Smithfield — Situation — Beautiful Scenery — Stores and Residences — Shade-
trees and Gardens— Appearance — Isle of Wight County — Enterprise — Soil —
Bacon— Smithfield Hams— Brandy — Dried Fruit— Eggs — Poultry — Revenue
— Suffolk — Situation — RaUroad — Churches — Burnt by the British — Fire —
Trade — Appearance — Hospitality — Branch of the Nansemond — Romantic
Scenery — Matthews and Gloucester — Lands — Natural Advantages — Society
— Perennial Charms — Local Attachment — Fair Daughters of the Seques
tered Peninsula — New Church — Rev. G. S. Carraway, . . 480

CHAPTER LXV.
Interesting Object — Lake Drummond — Hotel — Boundary Line — Connubial
Parties — Location of the Lake — Dismal Swamp — William Wirt's Statement —
Extent — Soil, Trees, &c. — Beasts — Undergrowth — Reeds, Vines, &c. — Dismal
Swamp Canal — ^Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad — Jericho Canal — Lumber
Trade — Draining the Swamp — Peat — The Lake — Interesting Scene — Graphic
Description — The Poet Moore — Love Affair — Touching Lines — Deep Creek —
Houses — Trade — Inhabitants — Washington Point — St. Helena — Lands—
U. S. Government Buildings — Concluding Remarks, . . 483

HISTORY OF NORFOLK
AND VICINITY.

CHAPTER L
Situation — ^Relative Position — The Harbour — Superior Natural Advantages —
Early Events aud Prospects — -Ancient Coin found — Aborigines — Pioneers of
the Country — The Indians — Their former Home and savage Life — Departure
and Extermination.
Norfolk, the principal seaport town of Virginia, is situated
in the northern part of Xorfolk County, on the north side of the
Elizabeth River, at the mouth of its eastern branch, and imme
diately opposite Portsmouth, and the confluence of the southern
branch.* The present site of the city is a small, level peninsula, or neck
of land, of about eight hundred acres, with the wide, blue river
on the south and southwest, Smith's Creek on the northwest,
and Newton's Creek on the east. This city is near the south
eastern extremity of the State, in latitude 36° 50' 50" ; longitude,
west from Greenwich, 76° 18' 47 ", and east from Washington,
0° 42' 43" (taken at the Farmers' Bank, corner of Main and
Bank Streets). It is situate about two hundred miles from the
Blue Ridge, and thirty-five northwest of the point at which the
boundary line of Virginia and North Carolina intersects the
coast of the Atlantic. Norfolk is distant from Boston (by sea)
about 600 miles; from New York (by sea), 300 miles; from
* The first four paragraphs are inserted in the Norfolk Directory, having
been taken from the manuscript of this work.

34 HISTpRICAL AND
Philadelphia (by sea), 270 ; from Washington, 190 ; from Balti
more, 180 ; New Orleans, 1300 ; Charleston, 350 ; Wilmington,
N. C, 240 ; Richmond, 140 ; from the Mississippi River, 700 ;
Hampton Roads, only 8 miles ; and it is almost within hearing
of the deep-toned roar of the ocean.
The relative position of the place is exceedingly favourable.
For all the various purposes of trade and commerce, both foreign
and domestic, the port of Norfolk and Portsmouth stands almost
unrivalled. With regard to the means of navigation, and other indispen
sable requisites for commercial advancement. Nature performed
her part most admirably and generously for this location:
surely more could not be reasonably asked of her lavish hand.
The harbour, always open, is sufficiently deep and spacious to float
and accommodate with ample room and perfect safety the com
bined navies of the world. It is situate about the middle of the
whole vast extent of our Atlantic sea-coast, — the nearest and most
convenient location for the dep6t and shipment of the incalcu
lable wealth of the interior of Virginia and North Carolina, and,
in fact, of a large portion of the great West, — in convenient
proximity not only to the ocean, and the bold and beautiful
Chesapeake, but also to rivers, deep and wide, that wash and
drain some of the most productive portions of the Union, — with
a climate almost always pleasant and remarkably salubrious, and
which is seldom uncomfortably warm in summer, and rarely too
cold in winter. Indeed, when the peculiar and superior natural
advantages of Norfolk and of the sister town on the opposite
side of the river are considered, it must be admitted that these
places should long since have been numbered among the principal
cities of the Union, or that the two, united as one, should now
be known as the great commercial emporium of the South, if
not of the United States.
A somewhat extended account of the present appearance,
condition, and progress of the city will be presented in another
part of this work;— the evidences of its growth, indications , of
future importance, &c., as well as some reasons why it does not
now rival the great commercial marts of the Union. This will
be given after we shall have viewed the picture from a distant

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 35
point, and glanced at the early events, and changing scenes, and
bright prospects, and blasted hopes, of years long past and gone.
It is not essential, and perhaps it will be deemed quite unne
cessary, to attempt here to look farther back into the deep, dim
vista of receding ages, than to the time of the first settlers of
this section of country ; yet it may not be entirely inappropriate
to allude to a circumstance, which, how trifling soever it may
appear to some, will serve at least to elicit a train of thought or
some vague association of ideas respecting those beings who
appeared upon the stage of life, and then receded from view,
long centuries ago, at or near this particular spot on the eastern
border of the Western Continent.
While some men were boring for water, on the opposite side of
the Elizabeth, as late as September, 1838, a coin was drawn up
from a depth of nearly thirty feet. It was about the size of an
English shilling, of an oval shape, and unlike anything of the
kind ever seen here before by the " oldest inhabitant." Although
it had remained embedded thus far below the surface of the
earth perhaps for many centuries, the figures upon it were still
plainly and distinctly marked, representing a warrior or hunter,
and other characters, apparently of Roman origin. This may
have some slight bearing upon the traditions respecting the
visit to this country of the chieftain Madoc and the North
men, hundreds of years prior to the date of its discovery by
Columbus ; or it may strengthen the opinion, entertained by
some, that the Indians of North America held communication
with the natives of the Eastern Continent, long before its dis
covery in the latter part of the fifteenth century.
But it has been suggested that this strange coin, with many
others of the same kind, might have been circulated by un
known aborigines, who ceased to exist before the Indians became
the proprietors of the soil, and whose very name has sunk into
oblivion, with numberless unchronicled events, in the wide and
deep ocean of the past. Quite certain it is, however, that there
was a time when the level tracts of land which are now divided
into so many smaller portions, and distributed among the nume
rous freeholders of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and vicinity, were a
part of the vast, unexplored wilderness of North America, the

36 HISTORICAL AND
fit abode of the roving red man and the bounding deer. But
strange beings suddenly appeared upon the native soil of the
tawny sons of the forest ; the tall old oaks and " melancholy
pines" tottered and fell; the Indian and the wild beast were
alike hunted and driven away from their old and peaceful haunts,
and the pale-faced adventurers from the Old World asserted
their claim to the territory. The shrill war-whoop was succeeded
by the sentimental love-song of the undaunted pioneer of the
dense, dark wilds ; the wolf, the panther, the bear, and other
hideous tenants of the thickly-wooded lowlands, receded from
the approach of the white man, nor mingled long their discordant
voices with the strange and oft-repeated sound of the woodman's
axe. That portion of Virginia which lies between the Atlantic shore
and the base of the Blue Ridge, was occupied by about forty
different tribes of Indians, thirty of which comprised the con
federacy of the brave though hostile Powhatan, whose dominion
included a large extent of country, and extended eastwardly en
tirely to the sea-coast, including, of course, the site occupied by
the City of Norfolk. The Manakins, the Nottoways, the Tuteloes,
the Nansemunds, the Chesapeakes, &c., belonged, it appears, to
this confederation ; and it is quite probable that members of
each of these tribes frequently extended their rambles in search
of fish, game, and plunder, to the green banks of our noble river
and its tributaries.
No doubt, however, need be entertained, with regard to the
identical tribe that inhabited this particular spot, — the site of the
City of Norfolk, as well as that of Portsmouth, and the country
for several miles around. The Chesapeakes, from whom the Bay
of Chesapeake derived its name, occupied the region of country
from the western branch of our river, and some distance west of
the head of that stream, eastwardly to the Atlantic, embracing
a large portion, if not the whole of the counties of Norfolk and
Princess Anne.
Here were their hunting-grounds. They swiftly paddled their
light canoes over the deep and quiet waters of the Elizabeth
and its tributaries — upon these very shores they held their war-
councils, and " as the sun wheeled on his broad disk behind the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 37
western hills," or, "as the moonbeams melted over the verge of
the evening cloud," they gazed intently upon nature's beauties
as they were spread out around, and admired them in their
wildness, untouched, unaltered as they then were by the ever-
changing and self-appropriating hand of civilization. Their bril
liant council-fires drove back the darkness of the " deep midnight"
to the gloomy recesses of the forest, and lighted up the adjacent
shores, while the savage war-cry, or the monotonous battle-song,
made the welkin ring as they mingled in the merry dance or the
frantic midnight revel.
" The plough may, in after times, turn up their stone calumets,
and the railroad excavation reveal their mouldering skeletons ;
but their forms, their characters, their rugged virtues and wild
crimes, will exist only in the records of the pale-face, or, more
vividly, upon the canvass of the adventurous artist, who, like
Stanley, devotes years of toil and danger to snatch from oblivion
the likeness of a passing race."
"Alas, for them ! their day is o'er;
Their fires are out, from shore to shore ;
No more for them their wUd deer bounds —
The plough is on their hunting-grounds ;
The pale man's axe rings through their woods —
The pale man's sails skim o'er their floods.
Their pleasant springs are dry ;
Their children, look, by power oppressed.
Beyond the mountains of the West,
Their chUdren go, to die!"
"Not many generations ago, where you now sit, encircled with
all that exalts and embellishes civilized life, the rank thistle
nodded in the wind, and the wild fox dug his hole unscared.
Here lived and loved another race of beings. Beneath the same
sun that rolls over your head, the Indian hunter pursued the
panting deer ; — gazing on the same moon that smiles for you, the
Indian lover wooed his dusky mate. Here, the wigwam blaze
beamed on the tender and helpless, and the council-fire glared
on the wise and daring. Here they warred ; the echoing whoop,
the bloody grapple, the defying death-song, all were here ; and
when the tiger strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace.

38 HISTORICAL AND
" Here, too, they worshipped ; and from many a dark bosom
went up a fervent prayer to the Great Spirit. He had not
written his laws for them on tables of stone, but he had traced
them on the tables of their hearts. The poor child of Nature
knew not the God of Revelation, but the God of the Universe he ac
knowledged in everything around. He beheld him in the star that
sank in beauty behind his lonely dwelling ; in the sacred orb that
flamed on him from his mid-day throne ; in the flower that snapped
in the morning breeze ; in the lofty pine that defied a thousand
whirlwinds ; in the timid warbler that never left its native grove ;
in the fearless eagle whose untired pinion was wet in clouds ; in
the worm that crawled at his feet ; and in his own matchless
form, glowing with a spark of that light to whose mysterious
source he bent in humble, though blind adoration.
"And all this is passed away. . . . Across the ocean came a
pilgrim bark, bearing the seeds of life and death. The former
were sown for you ; the latter sprang up in the path of the simple
native. Two hundred years have changed the character of a
great continent, and blotted for ever from its face a whole pecu
liar people. Art has usurped the bowers of Nature, and the
anointed children of education have been too powerful for the
tribes of the ignorant.
*******
"Their council-fires have long since gone out on the shore, and
their war-cry is fast fading to the untrodden West. Slowly and
sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in
the setting sun. They are shrinking before the mighty tide
which is pressing them away ; they must soon hear the roar of the
last wave, which shall settle over them for ever. Ages hence, the
inquisitive white man, as he stands by some growing city, will
ponder on the structure of their disturbed remains, and wonder
to what manner of persons they belonged. They will live only
in the songs and chronicles of their exterminators. Let these be
faithful to their rude virtues, as men, and pay due tribute to their
unhappy fate as a people."
"Routed from every nook of the broad wild-wood.
Where in grand solitude they passed their chUdhood —
Their hearth-stones smoking yet, their fathers' graves
The sUent resting-places of ' old braves,'

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHK.*. 39
Who ruled the country ere the white man came.
To extend alike his glory and his shame —
Left for the stranger's foot to trample on —
Alas ! the red man from our land is gone !
The NOBLE iNDi.i.v, whose defying eye
Gleamed brighter as the thunder-storm went by —
Who learned his lessons from the mystic lore
Traced on the leaves or on the sea-beat shore.
His day is past — and in the distant West,
Heart-broken, home-exiled, he seeks a final rest."

CHAPTER IL
Early Anglo-Saxon Inhabitants — John Smith — First Settlers — Wealth and
Hospitality — Civilization — Plentiful Productions of the Country — Names of
early Inhabitants — Reign of James I. — Manners aud Customs of the old
English Settlers — General Character — Habits and Amusements— Charles II.
— English Nobility — MaiTners of the People — Fondness for Sport and Plea
sure — Intoxicating Drinks — Industry, Morality, Religion, Aristocracy — The
Ladies, their Industry, Activity, Healthfulness, and Admirable Character —
Descendants. The early Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of this, as well as of other
sections of Virginia, are said to have been a noble class of men,
combining in their character — many of them — the essential ele
ments of uprightness, energy, and perseverance. The daring
and indomitable Smith had laid the foundation of the political
structure that was to rise in its beauty for the admiration of the
world. He paved the way to its greatness for the beneflt of
future generations. His stern and unflinching devotion to the
cause of justice and the best interest of the people, formed an
example that was, perhaps, not without its effect upon the cha
racter of those who occupied the territory in after years.
Many of the settlers of this region were dignifled, high-
minded, and intelligent. From the richness of the soil which
they cultivated, and the facilities for trading with foreign coun
tries, many of them became wealthy — independently so. Some

40 HISTORICAL AND
of them indeed, possessed — to use the forcible language of Dr.
Johnson — " the potentiality of growing rich, beyond the dreams
of avarice ;" and their hospitality and bountifulness were com
mensurate with their means.
" In process of time, enterprise and industry overcame every
difficulty, every terror. The soil, the wild beasts, the fierce
natives themselves, yielded to the superior energies of civilized
man. Neat mansions rose where rude Indian huts had stood ;
the fertilizing ploughshare succeeded the murderous tomahawk,
and rich cultivated fields smiled where a rank vegetation had
spread for ages its wild luxuriancy.
" 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. Labour 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 coveys of quails
and wild turkeys, while they rung with the merry notes of the
singing birds."
Some persons have supposed, from the style of architecture
introduced, that this portion of the State was settled by the
Dutch ; this is, however, a mistake ; it was peopled, principally,
by settlers from England, although there were some from Ire
land, Scotland, Germany, &c. The Thorogoods, Hancocks,
Woodhouses, Moseleys, Chapmans, Hayneses, Walkes, White-
hursts, Smiths, Boushes, Drewreys, Cornicks, Keelings, Hun
ters, Newtons, Tatems, Herberts, Kempes, Butts, Tuckers, &c.,
were among the first established inhabitants of this portion of
southeastern Virginia ; and their descendants are now, many of
them, most estimable and respectable citizens of the city and
county of Norfolk, and also of Princess Anne.
In the early part of the seventeenth century, especially during
the reign of James I., the pride of birth greatly prevailed in
England. " The gentry and nobility distinguished themselves
by a stiff dignity and stateliness of behaviour. The expenses of
the higher rank consisted in pomp and show, and a numerous

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 41
retinue, rather than convenience and pleasure;" and it is quite
probable that these distinguishing characteristics were, to some
extent, observable among the early English settlers of this
region of country. It is more probable, however, that they
were, for the most part, quite unostentatious. Their houses
were mostly plain and not too extravagantly furnished ; there
was probably much less of mere superfluity than there is at the
present day. Quite enough there was, and to spare, for all the
purposes of a people early distinguished for their hospitality and
proverbial for good living. Some there were, among the leading
and most opulent gentlemen of those days, wlio exhibited an air
of reservedness and self-importance, which showed conclusively
that they entertained no mean opinion of themselves. Indeed, it
is quite probable, that they acknowledged no superior class of
beings in any part of the wide earth. There were among those
old Virginia settlers, men of fine talent, sound judgment, and
well-cultivated minds. But it is probable they were most noted
for incorruptible integrity, industry, and a commendable devo
tion to the best interests of the community in general, and of
the immediate neighbours in particular.
There were many, especially at a later period, who were re
markable for their sociality, and fondness for company and en
tertainments. Some delighted in a game at cards, others in a
fox or deer-hunt. And the jovial parson complained not, if
indeed he was not sometimes among the foremost in the chase !
Charles II., the reigning sovereign fifty or sixty years after the
settlement of this immediate section of Virginia, "was a'man of
easy and lively manners, and his courtiers affected the same
character. They were chiefly men of the world ;" and the people
here were, no doubt, influenced to a considerable extent by the
manners and customs of the old English nobility of those days.
Very many possessed a degree of fondness for hilarity and
sport not often observed among their present descendants. They
were a pleasure-loving, care-despising class ; an occasional frolic
they would have, and that sometimes upon a pretty large scale.
Like some of old, they were fond of "music and dancing."
They sung songs and made merry, while the social glass, too,
passed freely around the convivial board. But they drank liquors

42 HISTORICAL AND
of superior quality ; not the adulterated poisons so frequently
used at the present period. They would have (those who could
afford it) none but the best. Some, alas ! were sadly injured
from their effects, and suffered severely in health, business, and
property, while others were ruined outright ; although the suc
ceeding generations have suffered much more, as is readily ac
knowledged by all. They were industrious and active in attend
ing to the various duties of the farm, the store, or the office, and
would have justly spurned some of the customs prevalent at the
present time. They did not burn the midnight taper, nor con
sume the lamp of "life in poring over injurious light reading ; a
custom too much in vogue at the present time.
With regard to the morality and religion of those days, there
was, no doubt, more of principle than profession. There were
many worthy men, who felt more than they seemed to feel on
this subject. There was, doubtless, not enough of true piety;
yet there was, certainly, a considerable regard for genuine Chris
tianity. There were few churches and church members — few
bigotted professors, but little empty show and ceremony ; and yet
there were examples of consistent, devoted, heartfelt godliness,
whose genial influence has not been lost amid the changes and
innovations that have been made with the lapse of years, and
which still follow on in the track of time.
Here, as in other parts of the Old Dominion, there was, as
before intimated, quite enough of aristocracy. This, however,
could very readily be thrown aside by some, on particular occa
sions, and was very generally dispensed with on election days.
The ladies were then, as they are now, noted for their per
sonal attractions ; and many, in the higher walks of life, for
great dignity of character, modesty, and politeness of behaviour,
as well as for their activity and frugality in the management of
their household affairs. These commendable qualities left their
impress and beneficial influence upon succeeding generations.
But many of the respected females who figured in the earlier
period of our history, were very different, in some respects, from
the accomplished and esteemed fair ones of the city at this day.
They were generally more robust, and capable of enduring much
greater fatigue. The roseate tints upon the full cheek of health

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 43
were more frequently to be seen, nor so soon gave place to the
paler hues of debility, disease, and premature death. They
walked early around the fields of waving grain, and gathered the
variegated wild-flowers that exhaled their fragrance on the air,
while yet the crystal dew-drops sparkled on their delicate petals.
They mounted the spirited horse and cantered merrily and cheerily
away, ere Aurora had bedecked with gold the eastern sky, or
the cheerful lark had concluded her matin song ; availing them
selves of the benefit of exercise and the invigorating vital fluid.
Some spun at the wheel or wove- at the hand-loom ! and cultivated
kitchen and flower gardens. They studied the Bible, and other
books of sound moral and religious instruction ; instilled correct,
honourable, virtuous, and patriotic principles into the minds of
their children, and presided with dignity and grace at the social
entertainment or the convivial evening gathering. Of many it
might then have been said, using the words of King Solomon, " She
openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of
kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and
eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call
her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her."
"When the difficulty between the mother country and the co
lonies began, they immediately gave up their tea, and by their
example and exhortations encouraged the men to resist her en
croachments. When the cry ' to arms' rang through the land,
with eager haste they prepared their husbands and sons for the
contest. They knit hose, made knapsacks, and even moulded
balls of their dishes and plates, while the males were drilling.
Then when the hour of parting came, mothers blessed their sons,
and bade them go forth in the vigour of youth. Wives and
maidens blessed their husbands and lovers, and, smiling through
tears, urged them to struggle manfully for their country and
their God."
The descendants of some of those excellent old families, whose
lofty bearing and sterling worth assisted in giving an enviable
and enduring fame to the State, are now numbered among the
inhabitants of our growing city and vicinity. Many have gone
to other parts of our highly-favoured land of freedom, while the
mortal remains of numbers more, quietly repose in the deep, un
broken stillness of the tomb.

44 HISTORICAL AND

CHAPTER IIL
1650—1736.
Remarks relative to the name of the City, &c.— Colonel Thorogood— Original
Limits of Norfolk County— Upper and Lower Norfolk— Divisions and Subdivi
sions—Parishes, Churches, and Laws— Nansemond and Princess Anne Coun
ties — The Princess of Denmark— Seat of Justice in Princess Anne County-
Court-house and JaU of Norfolk County, and the Borough— Early Owners of
the Site of Norfolk— Act of Assembly— Cobham— Singular Provisions— The
Land Purchased by Trustees— Original Limits of the Town— Old Deed— The
Walke FamUy— Norfolk established a Town— Increasing Commerce and Popu
lation-Prospect of Advancement — Statement of Colonel Byrd— The Bo
rough Charter — Samuel Boush and other Officers of the Corporation — -
Boundaries— City Limits — Tanner's Creek — Town Bridge — Extract from
the Virginia Gazette— First CouncU, Recorder, &c.— The first Mayor-
Other Charter-men and their Descendants.
We next offer some observations, which, it is hoped, will not
prove uninteresting to the reader, relative to the origin of the
name of this City and County, and to the original limits and
subsequent divisions and subdivisions of the latter.
Norfolk — correctly pronounced Norfoke — is a Saxon word,
compounded of North and folk, and may, with some propriety,
be rendered North people. In the early records of the county
and of the State, "Norff." represents the name Norfolk, as an
abbreviation. It was also written Norfolke. By persons residing
in the city and vicinity, the sound of the I is omitted in the
pronunciation; but it is often improperly sounded by persons
residing abroad.
This name was given to this section of the State by Colonel Tho
rogood, one of the earliest settlers, in honour of his native county
in England (celebrated for its woollen goods, sheep, turnips,
turkeys, fish, &c.), from which he emigrated at an early period,
to Elizabeth City County, which he afterwards represented in
the General Assembly, and whence he removed across the water

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 45
and settled on the Bay shore. To the town was afterwards given
the old English name of the county.*
Norfolk County originally included, in addition to its present
limits, Princess Anne and Nansemond — formerly called Nandzi-
mum aniNansimum; Captain Smith wrote it Nandsamund. This
part of the territory of Virginia, shortly after being explored and
named by Colonel Thorogood, was designated as L'pper and Lower
Norfolk. The portion now known as the county of Nansemond, was
called Upper Norfolk (formerly written thus — Vpper Norff.), and
the rest, now included in the two counties of Norfolk and Princess
Anne, was called Lower Norfolk. It was also laid off m parishes;
and there was the parish of Saint Brides, of Lynnhaven, fee.
In these subdivisions, churches were soon erected and provided
with pastors. The inhabitants were then required, under a
penalty of the law, to attend church, and the ministers were
amenable to heavy fines for failing to be regularly at their post !
The limits of the parishes were generally comprised between two
water-courses, commencing at two principal points on the main
stream, and embracing all the territory between the river branches,
to an indefinite distance up into the country.
Prior to 1761, however, Elizabeth River Parish comprised a
large region of country on both sides of the river; and con
sequently causing inconvenience to the inhabitants, they pe
titioned the General Assembly to have it divided into three dis
tinct parishes. It was accordingly enacted, "that from and
after the first day of May, 1761, the parish should be divided
* Norfolk is a populous maritime county in Massachusetts. Norfolk is the
name of a township in Connecticut. Norfolk Island is situated in the Pacific
Ocean ; it is noted for pine trees, high hUls, and beautiful birds — and Norfolk
Sound is in Ion. l-So" 86' W., lat. 57° 3' N.
Of the Dukes of Norfolk, much is recorded in English history. About the
year 1390, the Duke of Norfolk was sentenced to perpetual exile for attempting
to fight a duel ; and a nobleman of this title, greatly distinguished as a warrior
and statesman, flourished during a considerable part of the 16th century.
About 1570, he was considered "the most powerful subject in England." He
was, however, convicted of being concerned, with Mary, Queen of Scots, in a,
conspiracy, and was executed. "A jury of twenty-five Peers passed sentence
upon him, and the fatal warrant was signed by Queen Elizabeth with much
hesitation and reluctance.''

46 HISTORICAL AND
into three, to be called Elizabeth River, St. Brides, and Ports
mouth Parishes," which was accordingly done, and Elizabeth
River Parish comprised the land on the northward and eastward
of the river, and of its eastern branch (Lynnhaven Parish, it ap
pears, was afterwards formed from this). The limits of St. Brides
Parish were between the eastern and southern branches, extend
ing to a mill on Mill Creek, thence southwardly into the Dismal
Swamp, as far as the Carolina line, and Portsmouth' Parish com
prised the remaining part of the former Elizabeth River Parish,
extending up into the country, on the south of the river, and on
the west of its southern branch.
The name of Upper Norfolk was changed to Nansemond ; and
in 1691, at the instance of the inhabitants in the eastern and
northeastern part of Lower Norfolk, including Lynnhaven Parish,
another subdivision took place, by act of Assembly, and Princess
Anne County was formed from Lower Norfolk. This was warmly
opposed by the people in the Parishes of St. Brides, &c., princi
pally on account of the consequent increase in the poll-tax.
The name. Princess Anne, was, of course, adopted in honour
of Anne, the amiable Princess of Denmark (daughter of James
IL), who ascended the throne in 1702, in the 38th year of her
age, and whose loyal subjects gave her the title of "the good
Queen Anne."
The first court-house in that county was built upon a branch
of the "River of Chesapeake," — now known as Lynnhaven River
^at the " Ferry landing," on the farm now owned by Lieutenant
Charles Mcintosh, U. S. N. The old building was taken down about
twelve years ago ; it had been used as one of the outhouses of
the farm. The seat of justice was removed from that place to New
town, on the eastern branch of the Elizabeth, thence it was re
moved to the land of Mr. Kempe, at the head of that stream, now
the village of Kempsville. In the early part of the present cen
tury another change was made, and the present central location
was adopted, which is ten miles below Kempsville, and twenty
from the city.
Until 1752, the Court-house of Norfolk County was located in
the borough, and was used by the citizens thereof, as well as by
those of the county. At this date, however, an act of Assembly

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 47
was passed authorizing the building of a court-house for Norfolk
Borough. This was, of course, consumed in the conflagration
of '76.
In 1662, two hundred acres of the land now occupied by the
City of Norfolk was owned by one Lewis ^'^andermull, who, in
•the same year, sold it to Nicholas Wise, sen., a shipwright.
1680. On the 8th of June of this year, one hundred and
eighty-eight years after the discovery of America, and seventy-
three after the flrst permanent settlement in Virginia (at James
town, in 1607), an act of Assembly was passed, directing the
purchase of fifty acres of land for the Towx of Norfolk.
This was called an "Act for cohabitation and encouragement
of trade and manufacture." It was very desirable to establish
towns for the purpose of concentrating trade, and of increasing
the price and facilitating the exportation of tobacco, &c. Fifty
acres of land were accordingly purchased by feoffees of several
counties then formed, including fifty in " Lower Norfolk County,
on Nicholas Wise, his land on eastern branch of Elizabeth River,
at the entrance of the branch."
The act states " that the price to be paid by each county for
each respective ffifty acres of land nominated as aforesaid, shalbe
tenn thousand pounds of tobacco and caske, which summe the
owner or owners thereof shalbe and are hereby constrained to
accept, take, and receive, as full and valueable price for the said
land for ever."
This singular and somewhat amusing act further provided that
all persons who would build a dwelling and warehouse upon the
land so appropriated, should have assigned them half an acre of
said land in fee simple, on paying to the county one hundred
pounds of tobacco and cask — the buildings to be commenced within
three months after the assignment.
Tobacco and other produce were required by the act to be brought
to said locations and there stored, sold, shipped, &c. The penalty
for failing to comply with this provision of the act was the for
feiture of all goods that were not so disposed of. It was further
provided, that "All goods, wares, English servants, negroes, and
other slaves and merchandise whatsoever that shalbe imported into
this colony from and after the twenty-ninth day of September,

48 HISTORICAL AND
which shalbe in the yeare 1681, shalbe landed on shore, bought,
and sould at such appointed places aforesaid, and at noe other
place whatsoever, under like penalty and forfeiture thereof."
The tobacco sent to the said settlements was free from all execu
tions, attachments, &c. It was further provided that all lawyers,
bricklayers, &c., that would "cohabitt, dwell, and exercise their
trades within the said appointed place," should be freed from
arrest of their persons or seizure of their estates for debts formerly
contracted, for five years after the publication of the act. Other
persons were free from "publique levyes," during the same term,
showing the great and commendable anxiety to establish towns,
attract emigration, and increase trade.*
In 1682, August 16, the land was purchased by trustees from
Nicholas Wise, a house carpenter of Elizabeth River Parish, in
the County of Lower Norfolk. He was a son of the individual of
that name above mentioned. The grant was made " for and in con
sideration of the sum of ten thousand pounds of good merchant
able tobacco and caske, to Captain Wm. Robinson and Lieutenant
Colonel Anthony Lawson, feoffees in trust for the said county."
The grant embraced all the land on the river, from the eastern
to the western end of the present Main Street, bounded on the
north by Back Creek, which, at that time, flowed from the river
eastwardly nearly to Church Street. Granby and Bank Streets
cross this creek, and where the City Hall now stands, was then
navigable for small craft and lighters. The greater portion of
the land south of Main Street has since been added by filling up
the river.
The old deed from Wise to the trustees is quite a curiosity as
a legal contract, commencing, " To all Christian people to whom
these presents shall come." A portion of the conveyance, after
naming the price, &c., reads thus : " I hold myself well satisfied,
contented, and paid, and for divers other considerations, me there
fore moving, having given, granted, bargained, sold, alienated,
enfeoffed, and conformed, by these presents, for myself, my heirs,
* Prior to the estabUshment of other trading-points, considerable trade and
shipping were carried on at a landing caUed Cobham, opposite Jamestown, on
James River. More business was done there at one time than at aU other places
in the State combined.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 49
exor's, and adm'rs, do give, grant, bargain, sell, alienate, enfeoff,
and confirm," &c. The location, boundary, kc.^ are thus de
fined: " Situate and lying in Elizabeth River Parish, north side
of Elizabeth River, bounded with Elizabeth River to south and
west, to the north with a creek, and to the east with several
stacks, running partly across an old field, and partly through
some points of woodland, it being a small nick of cleared ground
and woodland," ic.
The deed thus concludes : "In the year of the reign of our
sovereign lord, King Charles the Second, over England, Scotland,
France, and Ireland, defender of the faith," &c.
This land was part of the tract of 200 acres which Mr. Wise
inherited from his father. The remaining tract of 150 acres,
afterwards included in the limits of the town, was purchased by
Charles Wilder, who sold it to WiUiam Porten, Clerk of the
County Court, from whom it was purchased by Anthony Walke,
some of whose descendants are now highly respectable residents
of the City, and of the County of Princess Anne. That part of
this tract extending from Bermuda Street to Plume's Cove, in
cluding Fenchurch Street and the whole of Briggs' Point, re
mained in the Walke family for more than a century ; and some
of the heirs are, at the present time (185-3), proprietors of a por
tion of this old family estate.
1705. At this period a considerable population had been at
tracted to the place by its favourable situation for trade and
commerce, and in October of this year, Norfolk was, by act of
Assembly, regularly established a town.
1728. The business of the place had now greatly increased,
and a very considerable number added to the population. Its
situation presented all the requisite advantages for commerce,
navigation, and a profitable investment of capital. A brisk
trade was carried on with the West Indies, whither large quan
tities of flour, lumber, beef, pork, &c., were exported ; in return
for which were imported, abundant supplies of sugar, molasses,
rum, and fruits. Twenty or thirty brigs and smaller vessels
constantly rode at the wharves ; the merchants and mechanics
all appeared to be actively engaged, and prospering ; a number
of stores and dwellings were erected, real estate advanced in

50 HISTORICAL AND
price, and there was no good reason for doubting that Norfolk
would, ere the present day, be a very large and flourishing city,
if not the greatest upon the whole coast.
" The two cardinal virtues," wrote Colonel Byrd, at this
period, " that make a place thrive — industry and frugality — are
seen here in perfection ; and so long as they can banish luxury
and idleness, the town will remain in a happy and flourishing
condition." And so it did, for many years ; indeed, the town
appears to have continued in a "flourishing condition" (with
some intermissions), until the memorable 1st of January, 1776.
1736, September 15th. This is the date of the Royal Charter
of Norfolk Borough, of which the following is an extract :
"Whereas, a healthful and pleasant place, commodious for
trade and navigation, by an act of the General Assembly of our
Colony and Dominion of Virginia, hath been appointed and laid
out for a town, called by the name of Norfolk ; which place of
late years, especially during the administration of our trusty and
well-beloved William Gooch, Esq., our Lieutenant-Governor of
our said Colony, hath been very greatly increased in the number
of its inhabitants and buildings, in so much that the said town,
not being capable of containing all such persons as have resorted
thereto, divers of our loving subjects have seated themselves
upon the adjoining land, so far as to a place called the Town
Bridge. Know ye, that we being willing to encourage all our
good and faithful subjects, as well at present residing and inha
biting, as shall or may hereafter reside and inhabit within the
said town of Norfolk, and the places thereunto adjoining, so far
as the Town Bridge, at the instance and petition of divers of our
dutiful and loyal subjects, inhabitants of the said town and places
adjacent, of our royal grace, good will, certain knowledge, and
mere motion, with the advice of our Council of our said Colony,
have constituted and erected, and by. these our Letters Patent,
do constitute and erect the said town of Norfolk and the said
parts thereunto adjoining, so far as said bridge, a borough, by
the name of the Borough of Norfolk ; and for us, our heirs, and
successors, do, by these presents, grant to the inhabitants of the
said borough, and of the parts adjacent, that the said borough
and the parts adjacent, shall be a borough incorporate,
consisting of a mayor, one person learned in the law, styled

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 51
and bearing the office of recorder of the said borough, eight
aldermen, and sixteen other persons to be common-councilmen
of the said borough."
The Charter points out the duties of the mayor, aldermen, &c.
Samuel Boush, Esq., was appointed to be Mayor ; Sir John
Randolph (Knight), Recorder ; and George Newton, Samuel
Boush, the younger, John Hutchings, Robert Tucker, John
Taylor, Samuel Smith, the younger, James Ivey, and Alexander
Campbell, were appointed Aldermen. Provision was also made
in the charter for the election of councilmen and the different
officers of the corporation, the holding of the courts, elections,
markets, public fairs, kc.
This Charter was granted, and the letters patent witnessed by
William Gooch, Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-chief
of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, at Williamsburg, " in
the tenth year of our reign."
"It will be seen that the northern boundary of the town, when
it was incorporated, was defined by a line running from the head
of the cove at Town Bridge, in a westerly direction to the river,
embracing the whole of the two hundred acre tract of Mr. Wise."
" In 1T61, the limits were enlarged, by Act of Assembly, so as
to take in all the land south of a line running from the head of
Newton's Creek to the head of Smith's Creek." "In 1807, a
new survey of the northern boundary was ordered by Act of
Assembly ; and the line between the heads of the two creeks
designated by stone landmarks. The jurisdiction of the city
now extends over a space of about eight hundred acres."*
* With regard to extending the city limits, the Herald thus remarks (1850) ;
" The purjiose of petitioning the Legislature for the extension of the boun
daries of the city to include all the land west of a line from the head of Plume's
Creek (now the eastern boundary of the city) to Tanner's Creek, however
visionary it may seem at a first glance, wiU, on a closer inspection, be found at
least worthy of consideration. Our city limits now embrace a space equivalent,
we believe, to a, square of one mile and a quarter. The contemplated exten
sion would make it equal to a square of three miles. It would take in all the
farms on the south side of Tanner's Creek, down to the old " Quarantine House,"
and all from that point to Lambert's Point, and thence to Smith's Point, the
present western terminus of the city; and it would then be a great deal
smaUer than one-half of the site of the city of New York. A ditch or canal
from Plume's to Tanner's Creek, about a mile, would completely insulate the

52 HISTORICAL AND
As early as the period at which the borough charter was ob
tained, the town had spread far beyond the limits of the fifty
acres first purchased from Wise, and extended from the river
"out into the country" to the cove above mentioned. This cove
extended from Newton's Creek west to the spot where Church
and Charlotte Streets now intersect each other, at which place
there was for a long time, a bridge, which gave the name of
Town Bridge to that immediate portion of the town, and which
it still retains, although there has been no bridge, nor any neces
sity for one for many years. During the Revolutionary struggle,
city, while it would afford a ready means of transportation for wood and mar
keting for all the country on the north side of Tanner's Creek to the lower end
of the city.
" It is not at all improbable, we think, thatif our city were thus extendeditwonld
infuse a spirit of energy and enterprise into the people of the new municipality,
which they must remain utterly insensible to while their noses are kept to the
grindstone by the powers to which they owe allegiance, and they are not per
mitted to have the full bene'fit of the taxes they are called upon to pay : they
would feel and estimate their independence, and the value of their city con
nexion ; they would bestir themselves to make their farms more valuable, and
find out the secret of cultivating more on a few acres, than they have heretofore
done on many, and thus enable them to sell as much land as they can conve
niently do without. But we would caution them not to be in too great haste
to part with their lands, nor to part with any more than they can do without ;
for in fifty years from now the whole will be compactly built up and become a
part of the flourishing city of Norfolk. We cannot live to see it ; but there are
those of adult age who will."
The following additional remarks on this subject, are from the Herald of a
more recent date:
" Our city authorities should be looking about them for more land for a
further extension of the city limits ; and while they are about it, why not take
in the whole extent of the boundaries so clearly indicated by nature ? com
mencing at the head of Newton's (or Plume's) Creek and running across the
narrow strip of territory (three-quarters of a mile in width) between the head
of that Creek aud Tanner's Creek, and following that water-course to its junc
tion with Elizabeth River, and thence to the present limit of our southern water
front. It is not generally known that Tanner's Creek, the northern boundary
of the city as it then would be, is a bold stream all the way up to the point
where it is proposed to intersect it by a canal from the head of Newton's
Creek ; and that for more than a mUe from its mouth it has a sufficient depth
of water for ships of large tonnage. There were formerly several ship-yards
on Tanner's Creek, where vessels of large draught were constructed. The last of
which we have any recoUection was the brig George LoyaU, built by the late
Isaac Talbot, Esq."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHE.S. 53
an entrenchment was thrown up from this place across the town
to Smiths Point. It has been stated by a person now living
(1852), that boats of considerable size were frequently to be seen
at Town Bridge, at as late a period as ITSO. Many years since,
Fenchurch Street was extended across this ravine, and Charlotte
Street has been continued through from Church to Fenchurch,
(and will he lengthened to Chapel), covering what was formerly
the centre of the cove ; and on each side of which, buildings
are now erected.
The following remarks are copied from the Virginia Gazette
of November 26, 1736.
" The inhabitants of Norfolk Town, in this Colony, having for
several Tears past, flourished in Trade, by their sending Vessels
to Sea, loaded with the Commodities of this Country, which re
turned with those of other Countries, by which several of the
Merchants are become very considerable, and the Number of
their inhabitants increasing, they lately petitioned the Governor
for a Charter to incorporate them, which was accordingly granted :
and an Act of Assembly passed the last Session, to confirm and
strengthen the said Charter, by which they are incorporated by
the name of the Borough of Norfolk, and are to consist of a
Mayor, Recorder, and 8 Alderman ; who have power to hold a
Court of Hustings, kc, and to choose 16 Common Council Men :
with several Privileges, Immunities, &c., granted by the said
Charter ; in which the following Gentlemen are nominated, viz.,
Samuel Boush, Gent., Mayor, .Sir John Randolph, Knt., Re
corder, kc. The first Mavor dving soon after the Grant of the
said Charter, he is succeeded by (?. Newton, Gent.
" Sir John Randolph being so appointed Recorder of the said
Borough, made a Visit to them, and was on Thursday, the 18th
instant, sworn into that Office accordingly : And he being em
powered to appoint a Deputy, to act in his absence, did appoint
I/avid Osheall, General Deputy Recorder of the said Borough,
who was accordingly qualified.
" On this Occasion of Sir John's Visit, the Gentlemen of the
said Town and Neighbourhood, shew'd him all-imaginable Re
spect, by displaying the Colours, and firing the Guns of the
Vessels lying there, and entertained him at their Houses, in the

54 HISTORICAL AND"
most elegant Manner, for several days ; amply signalizing their
great Respect, on this joyful Occasion."
The first Council meeting was held November 18th. This
was the only meeting attended by Sir John Randolph. Two
days thereafter, he appointed a deputy.
" Mr. Henry Tazewell, of James City, the father of Governor
Tazewell, was the next Recorder, and qualified and took his seat
on the bench, the 19th August, 1782, and continued as such
until his appointment as a Judge of the General Court. He was
succeeded by Edmund Randolph, on the 22d February, 1786 ;
but it does. not appear that he ever qualified. After this, by the
Act of 1787, the Court and Council being separated, the Re
corder was always one of our own citizens, and the appointment
vesting in the Court, no notice of course appears on the journal
of the Council."
Samuel Boush, Esq., the first mayor of the borough of Nor
folk, three years after his appointment, presented to the parish
the grounds occupied by St. Paul's Church, including the old
grave-yard. The initials of his name may be seen in large-
capitals, in the brickwork of the south end of the church, with
the date, 1739. In that sacred old ceidetery his remains have
reposed in stillness and security for long years that have
past and gone, with the multitudes of the sleeping dead around ;
alas ! how unconscious of the varied scenes and misfortunes, the
noise, bustle, commotions, alterations, and improvements, that
have been going on in the place in which he had the honour
of presiding as its first chief magistrate !
"The third name mentioned in the old charter is that of George
Newton. In 1706, he married Aphie Wilson, and had iline
children. His son Thomas married Amy, daughter of John
Hutchings, whose name also appears in the charter. They had
five children, all of whom died in infancy, except a son, also
named Thomas, who married Martha Tucker, a daughter of
another of the charter men. The last-named Thomas was the
father of the late respected and intelligent citizens, Thomas and
George Newton."
No man was better known in Norfolk and the District than
the Hon. Thomas Newton, one of the brothers just mentioned.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 65
As a citizen, he was kind, polite, and unostentatious ; as a poli
tician, ardent and faithful; possessing the advantage of great
experience. " In the early stage of his life he pursued the profession of law,
from which, in 1801, he was called by the voice of his fellow-
citizens, whose political sentiments he reflected, and whose con
fidence he possessed, to represent them in Congress.
"Mr. Newton commenced his political career soon after the
elevation of Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency, and was regularly
returned from the Norfolk District for thirty years. His man
ners were plain ; indeed they could not have been farther re
moved from arrogance or repulsiveness than they really were.
Such was the good feeling which his republican simplicity and
long services created in his favour, that no hostile power could
easily shake him in the estimation of the majority of his consti
tuents." He died August 5th, 1847, at the advanced age of 79.
George Newton, Esq., the brother of Thomas, was a very
wealthy gentleman. He, also, merited and enjoyed the esteem
and confidence of his fellow-citizens, having filled important
public offices. They had several estimable sisters, who married
in highly respectable families. Two of them are now living.
Some of the individuals comprising the present descendants of
the family are now members of this community, while others of
them have removed elsewhere. Cincinnatus W., one of the sons
of Thomas, has represented the city in the Legislature of the
State; and Dr. Thos. Newton, son of George, an accomplished
physician, is an efficient alderman of the city.
" The next name in the charter, after Newton, is Samuel
Boush, Jr. He was the first clerk of the Borough Court, when
its powers were enlarged, and in the year 17G6 was one of the
committee of correspondence appointed by the Sons of Liberty ;
an association formed by many of our most respectable citizens,
to concert measures of defence against the operations of the
Stamp Act. He, too, was buried in St. Paul's Churchyard.
" The next name is John Hutchings, who also opposed the
Stamp Act, and was one of the committee appointed by the Sons
of Liberty. His earthly remains also lie in the yard of old St.
Paul's, near the south gate. A daughter of his married Dr.

56 HISTORICAL AND
John Ramsay, a native of Scotland, a warm and fearless patriot,
and a Son of Liberty." He was an eminent physician, and a
gentleman greatly respected for his intelligence and public spirit.
His name will appear in another part of this work, in connexion
with some further allusions to the Sons of Liberty.
' " The next name is that of Robert Tucker, one of the corre
sponding committee of the ' Sons.' He at one time had twenty-
one children living ! but now no male descendant bears his re
spected name. He and most of his numerous family were interred
in the lot connected with the Exchange Bank.
" John Taylor's name comes next. He was born in 1691 and
died in 1744. He was buried in the lot of St. Paul's, and the
spot is marked by a massive tablet. His descendants are among
the worthiest members of the community.
" Samuel Smith is the next name. From him the creek that
bounds the city on the north side and Smith's Point took their
name. He was buried on the left hand, as you enter the northern
gate of the old churchyard.
"James Ivey appears next. He was the ancestor of the
Iveys, who formerly lived in Norfolk County. He died and was
buried at his country seat, on Tanner's Creek."
Alexander Campbell is the last name in the charter. We have
not been able to gather any further definite information respect
ing this gentleman, than the fact, that from him Campbell's
Wharf took its name.

CHAPTER IV.
1736—1739.
Distinct Classes of Society- Effect of War-PoUtical Agitation-Changes-
Slow Movements— Style of Architecture— Flourishing Commerce— Sports—
Fairs-Greased Pole-Pig Chase-Sack Races-Empty Hogshead Affair
—Hot Mush-BuU-bait— Old St. Paul's— The Grounds Improved— Church
Street-Diabolical Plot-The Old Graveyard, and its SUent Occupants.
The inhabitants of the borough of Norfolk, anterior to the
Revolutionary War, were divided into three distinct classes ; and

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 57
the lines of demarcation were more plainly desi>rnated than at
the present time. " The first included the clergy, the medical
faculty, lawyers, merchants, and those who lived on their in
come. The second was composed of mechanics, who were greatly
respected in their class; and the 'tag-rag and bob-tail' consti
tuted the third."
But when the roar of the Revolution was heard, as it were,
booming in the distance — ^when the commotions and soul-trying
events of war were realized, society was shaken to its centre ;
the different classes were, of necessity, less plainly identified ;
and while it must be acknowledged that there were some who,
from the want of firmness or a lack of principle — ^from motives
of self-preservation, or from considerations entirely of a pecu
niary nature, gave their efforts and influence against the op
pressed, or withdrew entirely from the scene of contention, still,
to a great extent, all parties and classes united against the com
mon foe. Aad after the din of battle had been hushed by the
triumph of an tmconquered and unconquerable people ; when the
sad calamities of war were over ; after the smoke from the ruins
of Virginia's principal town had passed away, and Norfolk began
to rise from its ashes, the different grades and classes here were
more united in their efforts, and there was a perceptible, though
oradual, abandonment of the old aristocratic views.
But an allusion to the Revolutionary scenes and events that
took place here, will not be omitted in its appropriate place ;
and it is proper now to confine the reader's attention to Norfolk
as it was, prior to that memorable period — the infancy of a na
tion, which now stands majestically forth in its own power and
glory, for the eager gaze of an admiring, though jealous world.
And yet, not without occasional indications of troublesome
and tomtdtuous events. May they prove to be only as the
thtmder of the distant storm-cloud, or merely the rumbling and
gentle vibratory motions of the far-off earthquake ; and not a
fell and fearful visitation, by which the whole mighty Union,
and perhaps the great nations of the earth, shall be convulsed
and shaken, while thousands and tens of thousands shall be in
volved in the common desolation and ruin.* %
* These remarks were written when the public mind was greatly agitated on
the Slavery question, and prior to the passing of the Compromise measures.

58 HISTORICAL AND
During the lapse of more than a hundred years, numerous
changes have, as a matter of course, taken place here as well as
elsewhere. Many have, doubtless, been judicious and advanta
geous, while some have been of doubtful utility. It will not be
insisted that Norfolk has, during the last fifty years, kept pace
with very many other places in the country. No, indeed; for it
is quite too certain that the people here have been wont to jog
along in the march of improvement slowly, very ; at least, in
some respects. Improvements have, however, been made ; and
very important and beneficial innovations have marked the his
tory of the place from time to time.
The style of building, for instance, in Norfolk and vicinity, as
well as elsewhere, has been wonderfully improved. In the early
days of the history of this section, the mode of constructing
dwellings was quite singular. They were often built with a
Dutch roof, a chimney at each end, or in the middle, with very
spacious fire-places, furnished generally with figured cast-iron
back-pieces. The walls were, in many cases, built of imported
bricks, and were very thick. There were two rooms and a pas
sage on the first floor (which was often withirl two or three feet
of the ground), and several small chambers above. Some pre
ferred a very sharp or acute-angled roof, but the prevailing taste
gave the preference to the unsightly plan first mentioned. The
mantel-pieces were five or six feet high, and the walls on the in
side were wainscotted, or covered with a casing of panel-work.
The carpentry was much more heavy and clumsy than at the
present day. Some of the buildings of the more wealthy por
tion of the community were large and tolerably commodious ;
having, sometimes, one very spacious room for company, balls,
social parties, &c., in one end ; a dining and sleeping-room in
the other, and a wide passage through the middle ; and the inte
rior work was often of oak, walnut, &c. But the houses were,
many of them, of contracted dimensions, badly ventilated, and
very uncomfortable, especially in summer; having small, low-
ceiled rooms, with a few diminutive windows, scarcely half the
size of those in the light, commodious, and airy mansions of our
time. The kitchen was frequently placed at a considerable dis
tance from the dwelling, sometimes as much as fifty paces or

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 59
more, and often exhibited many of the architectural peculiarities
of the principal house.
There are many of these old, ante-revolutionary family resi
dences in the counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne. We shall
speak especially of one in the immediate vicinity of Kempsville,
about ten miles from this city, and belonging to the descendants
of Anthony Walke, Esq., one of the early settlers, to whom we
have alluded on another page. This Dutch-roof relic of an
tiquity is probably two hundred years old, resisting still the
effects of time. The walls are more than four feet thick, for
some distance above the ground. The interior walls and ceiling
are heavily wainscotted with black walnut, the passage is ex
ceedingly spacious ; and there are other architectural curiosities
about it which form a striking contrast to the present style of
building. The old borough is said to have been " a rare place," before
the disasters of the Revolution. The harbour was almost filled
with vessels, many of which were very large. Commerce was
exceedingly flourishing ; money was plentiful. There was but
little grumbling about " hard times." The sluggish, lazy, intem
perate, or the constitutional grumblers, only, complained; and
fortunes were made much more rapidly than at present. Indeed,
this port almost monopolized the heavy trade of the West In
dies. AU were busy ; a prosperous state of affairs was plainly
exhibited on every hand, and no one doubted the future great
ness of the place. And yet, it appears that many found time
for amusement and pastime.
The sports and diversions of those days, though principally of
English and Scotch origin, were ludicrous enough. Sometimes
the most laughable scenes were presented. It was customary
and lawful to hold fairs* in the Market Place ; and, on such
occasions, the middle of the Square was appropriated to such
amusements as the young and mirth-loving portion of the crowd
chose to engage in. No objection was made to the noise and
* Fairs and markets were first instituted in England, by Egbert, in 829. In
early days, markets were held in Norfolk on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and
the fairs were held annuaUy on the 3d of October, and the four foUowing days,
Sundays excepted.

60 HISTORICAL AND
uproar which accompanied the sport. They laughed and shouted
aloud, without hindrance or molestation. Sometimes a pole, well
greased and soaped, with a gilt-laced hat on the top, was erected
in the middle of the Market Space ; and the unavailing efforts to
take the tempting prize that was freely offered to the smartest
man, was a source of great merriment to the lookers-on. Young
men, and, occasionally, some of the damsels, too, ran races.
Pigs were turned loose amid the crowd, for those who could catch
and hold them by their tails, which had been previously well-
shaved and greased.
There were, also, "sack races." A purse was made up, and
two candidates selected, who were separately enclosed, all but
the head, in a bag, the mouth of which was drawn closely around
the neck. Then, the unavailing attempts to run, the shuffling,
tumbling, and, finally, the rolling, of the ambitious contenders
for the prize, afforded great enjoyment to the noisy crowd.
Three or four fellows would undertake to run a race through
several sugar-hogsheads, with both heads out, and placed end to
end. The empty hogsheads commenced rolling to and fro, both
to the dispersion and diversion of the excited multitude. Of
course, this contrary hogshead affair ended in " noise and confu
sion," and the company waited impatiently for another source
of hilarity ; when, lo and behold ! a wag would appear with a
pot of hot mush, for the hungry fellow who would " gobble it
up" faster than the rest; and the wry faces, distorted counte
nances, and tearful eyes, of the hungry eaters gave joy enough
to all others present.
Sometimes a bull-bait was introduced, for which the sudden
disappearance of the women and the "small fry" made ample
room. In 1739, — one hundred and thirteen years ago, — St. Paul's
Church was erected, on the west side of " the road leading out
of town." Historians have stated that this' venerable old edifice
was almost the only building that escaped destruction from the
conflagration of '76. All the combustible part of this church
was consumed : the walls, however, remained as they are now,
alike uninjured by the destructive hand of Time, the raging of
the devouring element, or the balls from Dunmore's ordnance, —

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 61
excepting the mark made by a cannon-shot, near one of the
corners, and on the side facing the river, — another flt and
lasting monument of British folly and oppression. The effect
of this ball, by the way, was somewhat singular. It struck with
very considerable force, about three feet below the eaves of the
building, and about one foot from the southeastern corner of the
eastern end, ranging with the easternmost wall, starting a por
tion of the masonry from its position, and leaving a perpendicular
fissure of about two feet in length, at each end of which, as well
as around the principal indentation, pieces of the bricks were
displaced by the concussion. If the ball had struck only a few
inches farther from the corner, of course it would not have ranged
with the eastern wall, and it would, therefore, have gone entirely
through. The portion of the masonry removed from its original
place, and forming a part of the angle, looks as if a slight pres
sure would detach it entirely, and cause it to fall to the ground.
Thus it has stood during the long interval of seventy-seven years,
and so it wUl remain, it is probable, to be examined by the curious
of coming generations.
Formerly, it was thought that, when the ball struck; it had
lodged in the waU, and was removed by some mischievous person
shortly after the general conflagration, or had been displaced by
the heating of the walls when the house was on fire and the interior
destroyed. Several years ago, it occurred to Captain Seabury, an
esteemed member of the vestry of the church, that it might be
buried in the ground below the spot where it took effect. He accor
dingly set a man to work with a spade, and after a very short search
a ball was found, corresponding in size with the concavity, and
which is supposed to be the identical shot that struck the church.
It weighs twenty pounds and a half, and measures in diameter
about five and a half inches ; but, as its size has been much
diminished by corrosion, it is reasonable to suppose that it was
a twenty-four pound shot, and about six inches in diameter.
The venerable gentleman who brought this old revolutionary
relic to light, developes the antiquarian propensities in his cha
racter by a commendable intention to have it permanently re
placed in its appropriate bed in the wall ; and he generally exe
cutes his plans. Nous verrons.

62 HISTORICAL AND
The ground-plan of the building is in the shape of a Roman
cross, — which it was intended by the designers to represent, —
the four ends, pointing severally to the north, south, east,
and west, — the easternmost wall, forming an angle with the
enclosure and the western line of the street, presenting to the
eye of the beholder an irregular and unsatisfying appearance.
The roof is right-angled, and has now the third, or possibly the
fourth, covering of shingles. The windows and doors are arched ;
and there is a large circular window above the entrance in the
northern end, and also in the southern. The walls of this time-
honoured structure, as well as of the enclosure of the burial-
place attached, were built of very durable materials, and in the
most substantial manner, — about every alternate brick in the
building having the bluish, glazed appearance caused by extra
heat in the kiln.
Since this faithful old sentinel of other days and of other
years, that have winged their rapid flight away, took its present
position, three generations have passed ; and, unless it should be
taken down to give place to a more modern structure, it will, in
all probabUity, continue for ages yet to come. Like the sturdy
old oak of the mountain, that defies the fury of the levelling
tornado, and which has escaped the heavy strokes of the wood
man's axe, as well as the scathing thunderbolts of the God of
Nature, or like the aged pilgrim, who has long survived all the
rest of his generation, and who lingers, almost as a stranger,
amid the changes and desolation around him, this ancient
temple stands among the silent dead, — the mouldering remains
of those who formerly assembled to worship within its conse
crated walls and make their vows at its altar; and it points
gloomily, though significantly, to the men and the events of
years that have gone by.
" On it Time his mark has hung ;
On it hostile baUs have rung ;
On it green old moss has clung ;
On it winds their dirge have sung :
Let us still adorn thy walls.
Sacred temple. Old St. Paul's !"
A few years subsequent to the Revolution, the interior of St.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 63
Paul's Church was rebuUt, and put in order for public worship.
About twenty years ago, it was again repaired and improved ;
and ten years since, under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Miller,
then the resident pastor, and some of the members of his charge,
the church was again improved ; a neat lecture-room was erected
within the enclostire, and the grounds beautified with ornamental
shade-trees, flowers, evergreens, gravel-walks, Kc. It has more
recently undergone thorough repairs ; and the interior now pre
sents a very neat and comfortable appearance. A new square
belfry has also been erected in the northeastern angle.
The Rev. Mr. Jackson is the present minister of this church.
He is a most exceUent preacher, a faithful pastor, and an esti
mable and devoted Christian gentleman, to whom the numerous
members of his charge are greatly endeared.*
St. Paul's having been built upon the principal avenue leading
out into the country, gave to it the name of Church Street.
Some have insisted that this old ante-revolutionary building
should give place to another, more in keeping with the style of
the age, and the improvements of the city: this change has been •
warmly opposed. Situated as ft is, in immediate proximity to
the business part of the city, it has also been whispered that the
grounds connected with the church should be converted into a
pubUc square. This plan, how objectionable soever it might be
to many, would not be without a precedent in other cities. The
authorities very properly prohibited interments in the lot, many
years ago.
There are some circumstances connected with the history of
this old sanctuary, which would prove interesting to the reader ;
but having already continued the description farther than was
intended, we shall pass them by for the present, not without
alluding, however, to a diaboUcal plot, many years ago, to destroy
* This church, and also Trinity, in Portsmouth, are strictly under the super
vision of the bishop, and are governed according to the old canonical laws of
the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia. For instance, the minister, after
being once elected, remains during good behaviour, and he cannot be ejected
unless he should be goUty of some gross violation of his clerical vows.
Christ Church is an independent church, and is governed according to its
own pecuUar constitution ; nevertheless, in every other respect, it is regulated
by the canons of the Episcopal Church. The minister and officers are elected
annually by the pew-holders, on the first Friday in November.

64 HISTORICAL AND
it, and involve the assembled congregation in ruin. The scheme
was actually commenced, but fortunately discovered in time to
prevent its consummation.
A walk, or even a look within the walls of the grave-yard
attached to this old church, is calculated to produce a train of
solemn, if not painful reflections — to inspire the heart of the
thoughtful man with melancholy feelings, —
" The tombs
And monumental caves of death look cold.
And shoot a chillness to my trembling heart."
The remains of many, very many, of those whom Time mowed
down in the borough and vicinity, repose in that old " city of
the dead," and there they have long and quietly slumbered, re
gardless of the anxious throngs that press by. There, in that
densely stored repository of death, lie the tiny crumbling re
mains of the infant of a day, the once agile form of the stripling
youth, the " sordid dust" of the strong man of middle age, and of
, those of threescore years and ten. Here sleep on profoundly,
" The ancient venerable dead.
Sages who wrote and warriors who bled."
Concealed beneath the uneven sod are the earthly relics of
many whose familiar voices were heard, and whose active forms
were seen in the places now occupied by their living, thinking,
dying descendants — not to be disturbed, it may be, but by the
Archangel's loud trumpet blast. " Here friends and foes
Lie close, unmindful of their former feuds.
The lawn-robed prelate, and plain presbyter,
Erewhile that stood aloof, as shy to meet.
Familiar mingle here, like sister streams
That some rude, interposing rock had split.
* * * * *
Here are the prude severe, aud gay coquette.
The sober widow, and young green virgin,
Cropped Uke a rose before 'tis fully blown.
Or half its worth disclosed. Strange medley here !
Here garrulous old age winds up his tale ;
And jovial youth, of Ughtsome vacant heart,
Whose every day was made of melody,
Hears not the voice of mirth."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 65

CHAPTER V.
1746—1765.
Celebration of the Defeat of the Pretender — Privileges of the Borough enlarged
— Court-house and Prison — ^Act of Assembly relative to Ferries — Talbot Street
— Captain Talbot's Property — Foot-bridge — Grave-yard — Human Bones —
Reflections. 1746, July 23d. The inhabitants on this day manifested their
loyalty by celebrating the defeat of the Pretender, by his Royal
Highness, the Duke of Cumberland, at the battle of CuUoden,
fought AprU 6th of this year.
They had an effigy of the Pretender, seated in an armed chair,
which was placed in a cart. A procession was then formed in the
following order: — Three drummers, a piper, three violinists, six
men with rods, sashes, and significant mottoes ; a nurse, carry
ing a warming pan with a child peeping out of it; the Pretender
in the cart ; six men with drawn cutlasses ; and a vast crowd of
people of the town and country.
After the procession had marched through the principal streets,
the effigy was hung, and liquor was provided in plentiful quantities.
Salutes were fired, at night the town was illuminated, the effigy
burnt, the ladies were entertained with a ball, " and the evening
concluded with innocent mirth and unaffected joy, becoming a
people loyal to their king, and zealous for their country's good."
In 1752 the privileges of the Borough were enlarged by Act
of Assembly. Provision was also made for the raising of money
to build a court-house and prison.
Extract of an Act of the Assembly of Virginia, passed in 1757.
" Section 1. Whereas it hath been represented to this General
Assembly by the inhabitants of the County and Borough of Nor-
5

66 HISTORICAL AND
folk, that on the branches of Elizabeth River and Tanner's
Creek in the said county, there are five public ferries, over one
of which most of the inhabitants are obliged to pass in order to
get to church, court, and general muster, and that by expenses
of ferriages, many poor people are prevented from bringing their
small wares and commodities to the market of the said Borough.
Be it therefore enacted, &c., that the Justices of the Court of
the County of Norfolk for the time being, be, and they are hereby
empowered, and required, to appoint, contract, and agree with
proper persons to keep the said ferries, and to levy the expense
thereof upon the tithable inhabitants of the said county annually
at the laying of the county levy.
" Section 2. — That every person appointed to keep the said
ferries shall constantly keep such boats and hands as the said
court shall from time to time order and direct, to be kept at the
said ferries respectively, and shall give immediate passage over
the said ferries to all the inhabitants of the said county without
any fee or reward.
" Section 3. — That such ferry-keepers shall and may demand
and receive from persons not being inhabitants of the said county
of Norfolk, the following rates, that is to say, for a man, four
pence ; for a horse, the same ; on every coach, chariot, or wagon
and the driver thereof, the same as for six horses ; for every cart
or four-wheel chaise, and the driver thereof, as for four horses ;
for every two-wheel chair, or chaise, the same as two horses ; for
every hogshead of tobacco, the same as one horse," &c.
In 1765, Talbot Street (twenty-six feet wide, and which now
extends north from Main, near Market Square, to WUliam's Street,
at the City HaU Square), was opened by Captain Talbot, the
proprietor of the land, one of the most respectable and opulent
citizens, from whom it took its name, and whose heirs are stiU
the owners of a large portion of the property thereon. This
street soon became and continued for some time the most fashion
able thoroughfare in the town. Captain T. buUt upon it large and
commodious houses ; it was the first street paved in the borough;
and, being one of the principal avenues to the Market Place
(Bank and Granby Streets were not opened for many years after
this), a number of the most respectable and fashionable citizens

descriptive sketches. 67
resided on it.* At its northern terminus, there was a foot-bridge,
which extended across the cove, to the land between Cove Street
and Williamson's Lane, and east of Avon Street. At the corner
of Main and Talbot Streets was situated Captian Talbot's store ;
in the rear of which, and extending back to the marsh, he had a
warehouse. Many years before Talbot Street was opened, a portion of the
land over which it extends, and on the east side, near its north
end (part of which is now enclosed, and included in the City
Hall Square), reaching as far as the site of the City Prison, and
formerly that of Avon Theatre, was a grave-yard ; sufficient evi
dences of which were exhibited while making the public improve
ments at that location. Portions of the slowly mouldering
remains of the unknown dead, that have lain there for ages undis
turbed, — human skulls and other bones of different sizes — have
been dug up from their concealment, and exposed to the thoughtful
gaze of the inquisitive denizens of the present day. The old
enclosure gradually decayed, and piece by piece fell down and
disappeared, or was torn off and removed by sacrilegious hands.
The vernal tides came up and blasted the green grass and gentle
flowers that were wont to adorn those graves. The tombstones
sank down beneath the slow, but heavy tread of Time. These
too, were removed, and the " monumental caves of death" filled
up. The footprints of the careless passenger were seen there.
Names, and titles, and deeds, good and bad, are forgotten. At
least one old grave-stone should have been spared, to serve as a
silent monitor to succeeding generations of the vanity of all
earthly things ; and under its old inscription should have been
deeply engraved, "sic transit gloria mu7idi." But
" The time draws on
When not a single spot of burial earth.
Whether on land or on the spacious sea.
But must give back its long-committed dust
Inviolate : and faithfully shall these
Make up the full account ! not the least atom
* The property on the west side of this street, and extending from Main to
WiUiams Street, remains in the Talbot family ; and the enterprising and respected
heirs have had it improved in handsome style, by the erection of a long row of
beautiful buUdings.

68 HISTORICAL AND
Embezzled or mislaid of the whole tale.
Each soul shall have a body ready furnished;
And each shall have his own.
-»- -x- * -K- *
When the dread trump shall sound, the slumbering dust,
Not unattentive to the call, shaU wake ;
And every joint possess its proper place,
With a new elegance of form, unknown
To its first state."

CHAPTER VL
1766—1768.
Protest of the People against the Stamp Act — The Sons of Liberty, and their
Patriotic Proceedings — Members' Names — Descendants — Imports of Virginia
— A Curiosity — The Revolution and its Calamities.
The people of Norfolk and its vicinity were among the first
and the boldest to protest against the Stamp Act, and to assert
on the broadest grounds the rights of the Colony. Accordingly,
on March 31, 1766, a number of the inhabitants of the town and
county of Norfolk assembled at the Court-house, and an associa
tion called "The Sons of Liberty," was duly organized.
The patriotic object of this society was, to oppose, by all
suitable means, that detestable Act, and to unite with others in
the country, in a dignified and determined effort to prevent the
operation of a measure so manifestly unconstitutional and oppres
sive. The Rev. Thomas Davis was chosen moderator, and James
Holt and Wm. Roscoe Curie, secretaries. The foUowing preamble
and resolutions were adopted, and fifty-seven individuals, of pure
and unsullied patriotism, in order to show to that and to future
generations their faithful devotion to the cause of liberty, signed
the manly protest. These proceedings of the Sons of Liberty
have been carefully preserved among the archives of Norfolk as

DESCRIPTIVE sketches. 69
a " monument of their patriotic spirit and love to their country."
The following is a copy :
" Having taken into Considerations the evident Tendency of
that oppressive and unconstitutional Act of Parliament, com
monly caUed the Stamp Act, and being desirous that our senti
ments should be known to Posterity ; and recollecting that we
are a Part of that Colony who first in General Assembly openly
expressed their Detestation to the said Act (which is pregnant
with Ruin, and productive of the most pernicious Consequences),
and unwilling to rivet the Shackles of Slavery and Oppression
on ourselves and Millions yet unborn, have unanimously come to
the following Resolutions :
'•1. Resolved, That we acknowledge our Lord and Sovereign,
King George the Third, to be our rightful and lawful King, and
that we will, at all times, to the utmost of our Power and Ability,
support and defend his most sacred Person, Crown, and Dignity ;
and shall be always ready, when constitutionally called upon, to
assist his said Majesty, with our Lives and fortunes; and to de
fend all his Just Rights and Prerogatives.
"2. Resolved, That we will by all lawful Ways and Means
which Divine Providence has put into our hands, defend ourselves
in the full enjoyment of, and preserve inviolate to Posterity,
those inestimable Privileges of all freeborn British Subjects of
being taxed only by Representatives of their own Choosing ; and
of being tryed by none but a Jury of their peers. And that if we
quietly submit to the Execution of the said Stamp Act, all our
Claims to civil Liberty wUl be lost, and we and our Posterity
become absolute Slaves. For, by that Act, British Subjects in
America are deprived of the invaluable Privileges aforemen
tioned. " 3. Resolved, That a committee be appointed, who shall in
such manner as they shall think most proper, go upon necessary
Business and make public the above Resolutions, and that they
correspond as they shall see Occasion with the Associated Sons
of, and Friends to. Liberty, in the other British Colonies in
America. Ja. Holt, Henry Tucker,
Thos. Davis, Maxln. Calvert,

70

HISTORICAL AND

Robt. Tucker,
Jas. Parker,
Robt. Tucker, Jun.,
Jno. Hutchings,
Lewis Hansford,
Jno. Hutchings, Jun.,
Paul Loyall,
WiU. Roscoe Curie,
Anthy. Lawson,
Jos. Hutchings,
Thos. Newton, Sen.,
Jno. Phripp, Jun.,
John Ramsay,
John Gilchrist,
Matthew Godfrey,
Matthew Phripp,
Thos. Newton, Jr.,
Saml. Boush,
Richd. Knight,
James Campbell,
John Lawrence,
Joshua Nickolson,
Nicholas Wonycott,
Matthw. Rothery,
Jacob EUegood,
Cornelius Calvert,
Edward Archer,

Edward Voss,
Eras. Peart,
Samuel Calvert,
Ja. Gibson,
Nicholas Winterton,
Griffin Peart,
Jno. WUson,
Wm. Skinker,
Thos. Butt,
Wm. Gray,
Hudson Brown,
John Taylor,
Alexander Moseley,
Jno. Taylor, Jr.,
WUliam Calvert,
WiUm. Aitcheson,
Edward Hack. Moseley, Jr.,
Wm. Hancock,
Robt. Brett,
Stephen Tankard,
Thos. WiUoughby,
James Dunn,
John Cramond,
Alexr. Kincaid,
George Muter,
Chrisr. Calvert."

There were other resolutions, unanimously passed, in which
the most spirited and patriotic sentiments were embodied. The
Stamp Act, the result of a strange freak of a misguided though
powerful nation — that precipitate measure, which, from its gross
injustice, proved worse than a failure, but which thereby gave
a wonderful and most desirable turn to the affairs of the world —
that miserable and mistaken policy of Great Britain, was de
nounced in terms of merited severity. And the noble-souled Sons
of Liberty, in their firm determination to assist in preventing it

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 71
from going into operation, agreed, if necessary, to '• sacrifice
their lives and their fortunes."
With regard to the members of this patriotic association, a
learned gentleman, formerly of this city, remarks as follows :
" The two immediate descendants of Paul Loyall and Thomas
Newton represented the Norfolk District in Congress for thirty-
seven consecutive years ; the same gentlemen, and another de
scendant of Thomas Newton, represented the borough of Norfolk
in the General Assembly twelve or more years. The name of
Calvert is no longer known as a surname ; but his blood runs in
a numerous and reputable posterity, some of whom are among
the most active business men and public-spirited citizens. James
Parker was the ancestor of the mayor of the town in 1806, 1 be
lieve, and with him, I presume, the present famUy of Parkers,
formerly of Isle of Wight, are connected coUaterally. If Colonel
Josiah Parker of Isle of Wight is the son of James Parker,
the fact would appear that three of the descendants of the Sons
of Liberty represented your District in Congress for almost the
first consecutive half century after the adoption of the Federal
Constitution. The surname of Ramsay no longer exists in Norfolk ;
but the Steeds, among others, are of his race. A former dele
gate to the Assembly from Norfolk, but who, to the great regret
of all, died before taking his seat, was named John Ramsay
Steed. The surname of Joseph Hutchings is extinct ; but the
most efficient Register of your city bears not only the whole name
and the blood of his ancestor, but reflects credit upon them.* A
descendant of Lawson I have not seen for some years ; there
are no doubt some of the race now living in Princess Anne.
The Boush family is known to all. The Phripps I have never
knovm ; I hope, however, the name exists within the four coun
ties, as it was borne by two patriots at a portentous period.
Gilchrist and Lawrence are names not now known; some of
our elder citizens may be able to trace the stock. I con
fess it is with pain that I cannot point to a male descendant
of Lewis Hansford. The late Dr. Hansford, a practising phy-
* Joseph H. Robertson, Esq., attorney at law, a most ready, forcible, and
attractive speaker, and for a number of years the faithful and systematic in
cumbent of the responsible office mentioned.

72 historical and
sician and an accomplished gentleman, was the last of the name
in active life. He died in middle age, about the year 1822,
leaving two sons, one of whom, Casey, a promising youth, died
before he reached maturity, a midshipmaji in the navy ; the other
resides in Philadelphia.
" One of the representatives in the late Convention, Tazewell
Taylor,* represents the Taylors and the Tuckers ; and, if the
late General Taylor be sprung from those of his name in the
proceedings, the genealogy of the Sons of Liberty will receive
one of its most splendid illustrations. When we regard the
number and character of the posterity of the Sons of Liberty, it
might well happen, that, if a great crisis in affairs were imminent,
and a chairman of a public meeting were called upon to appoint
a committee of citizens for the emergency, he would be apt to
select some of the descendants of the Sons of Liberty to fill the
important trust committed to their fathers.
" Hence it will appear that the posterity of the old inhabitants,
in spite of the invitations to go abroad, which federal legislation
for fifty years past has held out, still cling to the home of their
ancestry. Some have gone abroad, and founded families ; but
the old patriarch would tell his children of his early and distant
home. " Et dulces morions reminiscitur Argos."
1768. "A Curiosity. — The foUowing is a copy of a bUl
recently found among the papers of one of our old citizens.
The charges for taUoring eighty years ago contrast strangely
with the prices now charged. $2 75 for making a coat and
vest! and $1 67' per yard for cloth! — but it did not pay duty
then, and was probably equal to what is charged $4 00 for now.
But the trimmings,— 14 54 ! Didn't the taUors in those days
* Tazewell Taylor, Esq., attorney at law, of this city, has long since acquired
judicial distinction. His knowledge of the science of law is extensive and
thorough. From an early period, he has devoted himself with great assiduity
to the study and practice of his profession, which, with the advantage of an
active and vigorous mind, and a ready delivery, have combined to render him
deservedly successful and popular as an advocate; while his experience in
jurisprudence is considered inferior to that of but few in the State.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES.

73

know how to charge for them ? More than one-third the cost
of cloth and making !" — Herald.

September M, 1768.

Me. John Batss To You.ng & S.

aiTH, Dr.

£ s. d.

To 3 yards Brown Cloth, at 10s.,

1 10 0

To 3 J yards ShaUoon, at 2.5. 8rf.,

0 9 4

To 3 J yards Lining, at Is. 6(?., .

0 5 3

To 14 yards Binding, at Zd.,

0 3 6

To Buckram, Silk, and Twist, .

0 4 0

To Thread, Buttons, and Oznaburgs,

0 5 2

To making Coat and Jacket,

0 16 6

3 13 9
Norfolk Borough, sc. :
The above account of three pounds, thirteen shillings, and nine pence,
proved by the oath of John Smith. Geo. Abyvon.
September 24th, 1770.
1769. Imports of Virginia, principally of the port of Nor
folk, .£851,000.

We now approach an eventful era in the history of Norfolk
and vicinity, as well as that of the entire country, — the trying
yet glorious period of the great conflict with the power of
Britain ; — years that were dark and gloomy indeed, and still not
causing despair.
As before intimated, our town was thriving and prosperous
enough until the commencement of this important and unequal
contest. And how sudden was the change ! how soon were a
thousand hopes disappointed, and the brightest prospects blasted !
— one day presenting the appearance of wealth and prosperity,
and inspiring the most confident hopes of future greatness, and,
ere the dawn of the next, a heap of smouldering ruins !

74 HISTORICAL AND
CHAPTER VIL
1775—1776,
Lord Dunmore— Preparations for War— The Battle of the Great Bridge-
Glorious Victory — Heroism and Generosity of the Virginians — Miss Polly
MiUer— Officers, &c., who were in the Battle at the Bridge.
1775. Lord Dunmore, on hearing of the warlike prepara
tions that had been made in this part of the State, directed
special attention to Norfolk. He erected batteries, threw up
entrenchments, furnished the blacks and tories with arms and
ammunition, concentrated a considerable military force here,
and ordered the farmers to send in provisions.
" The government of Virginia despatched, with all speed,
a detachment of minute-men, under the command of Colonel
Woodford, into the county." Dunmore, with but little delay,
took a strong position at the Great Bridge, then a thriving vil
lage, situated about ten miles from the town, and which took its
name from the bridge over the southern branch of the Elizabeth.
" This point was upon the direct route of the provincial troops.
Here he threw up works on the Norfolk side, and furnished them
with a numerous artillery. The entrenchments were surrounded
on every part with water and marshes, and were only accessible
by a long dike. . . . The Virginians took post over against the
English, at cannon-shot distance. Before them they had a long,
narrow dike, the extremity of which they also fortified. In this
state the two parties remained for several days, without making
any movement."
"Lord Dunmore," says the Virginia Gazette, "had erected
his fort in such a manner that his cannon commanded the cause
way on his own side, and the bridges between him and us, with
the marshes around him." The causeway to our camp was also
commanded by the enemy's cannon.
" The causeway on our side, in length, was about one hundred
and sixty yards, and on the hither extremity our breastwork was

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 75
thrown up. From the breastwork ran a street, gradually ascend
ing, about the length of four hundred yards, to a church, where
our main body was encamped."
It appears that Dunmore had been induced to believe, by
stratagem, that there were only about three hundred sMi-t-men
(as the Virginians, who wore a kind of hunting-shirt, were often
called); and he despatched to the bridge about two hundred
regular soldiers and three or four hundred blacks and tories.
Meanwhile, the news of these warlike preparations spread in
every direction ; and a number of patriotic individuals hastened
to the battle-ground, carrying such arms and ammunition as
they could procure with the least possible delay. From dififerent
sections of Norfolk, Princess Anne, and Nansemond Counties,
active and heroic young men, middle-aged and old men, even of
threescore years and more, shouldered their muskets, rifles, or
fowling-pieces, hurried on to the scene of danger, and rallied
nobly around the standard of Hberty.
" On Saturday, the 9th of December, the enemy crossed the
bridge, fired the remaining houses, and attacked our guard in
the breastwork. Our men returned the fire, and threw them
into some confusion ; but they were instantly ralHed by Captain
Fordyce, and advanced along the causeway with great resolution,
keeping up a constant and heavy fire as they approached. Two
field-pieces, which had been brought across the bridge and placed
on the edge of the island, played briskly at the same time upon
us. Lieutenant Travis, who commanded in the breastwork,
ordered his men to reserve their fire until the enemy came
within fifty yards, and then they gave it to them with terrible
execution. The brave Fordyce exerted himself to keep up their
spirits, reminded them of their ancient glory, and, waving his
hat over his head encouragingly, told them the day was their
own. Thus pressing forward, he fell, within fifteen steps of the
breastwork. His wounds were many ; and his death would have
been that of a hero, had he met it in a better cause. The pro
gress of the enemy was now at an end. They retreated over
the causeway with precipitation, and were dreadfully galled in
the rear.
" Hitherto, on our side, only the guard, consisting of twenty-

76 HISTORICAL AND
five, and some others, — in the whole, not amounting to more
than ninety, — had been engaged. . Only the regulars of the
14th regiment, in number one hundred and twenty, had ad
vanced upon the causeway ; and about two hundred and thirty
negroes and tories had, after crossing the bridge, continued
upon the island. The regulars, after retreating along the cause
way, were again raUied by Captain Leslie, and the two field-
pieces continued playing upon our men. It was at this time
that Colonel Woodford was advancing down the street, to the
breastwork, with the main body, and against him was now
directed the whole fire of the enemy. Never were cannon
better served ; yet, in the face of them and the musketry, which
kept up a continual blaze, our men marched on with the utmost
intrepidity. Colonel Stevens, of the Culpeper battalion, was
sent round to the left to flank the enemy, which was done with
so much spirit and activity that a rout immediately ensued.
The enemy fled into their fort, leaving behind them the two
field-pieces, which, however, they took care to spike.
" Many were killed and wounded in the flight ; but Colonel
Woodford very prudently restrained his troops from pursuing
the enemy too far. From the beginning of the attack till the
repulse at the breastwork might be fourteen or fifteen minutes ;
till the total defeat, upwards of half an hour. It is said that
some of the enemy preferred death to captivity, from fear of
being scalped, which Lord Dunmore cruelly told them would be
their fate, should they be taken alive. Thirty-one, kiUed and
wounded, fell into our hands; and the number borne off was
much greater. Through the whole engagement, every officer
and soldier behaved with the greatest calmness and courage.
The conduct of our sentinels I cannot pass over in sUence.
Before they quitted their stations, they fired at least three
rounds as the enemy were crossing the bridge; and one of
them, posted behind some shingles, kept his ground tiU he had
fired eight times, and, after he had received the fire of a whole
platoon, made his escape across the causeway to our breastwork.
The scene was concluded with as much humanity as it was con
ducted with bravery. The work of death being over, every
one's attention was directed to the succour of the unhappy

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 77
sufferers ; and it is an undoubted fact that Captain Leslie was
so affected with the attention of our troops to those capable of
assistance, that he gave signs from the fort of his thankfulness.
What is not paralleled in history, and will scarcely be credible,
except to such as acknowledge a Providence over human affairs,
— this victory was gained at the expense of no more than a
slight wound in a soldier s hand; and one circumstance that
renders it still more amazing is that the field-pieces raked the
whole length of the street, and absolutely threw double-headed
shot as far as the church, and afterwards, as our troops ap
proached, cannonaded them heavily with grape-shot.
" Several of our soldiers ran through a hot fire, to lift up and
bring in some that were bleeding, and who they feared would
die, if not speedily assisted by the surgeon. The prisoners ex
pected to be scalped, and cried out, ' For God sake, do not mur
der us !' One of them, unable to walk, cried out in this manner
to one of our men, and was answered by him, 'Put your arm
around my neck, and I will show you what I intend to do.' Then
taking him, with his arm over his neck, he walked slowly on,
bearing him along with great tenderness to the breastwork.
Captain Leslie, seeing two of our soldiers tenderly moving a
wounded regular from the bridge, stepped upon the platform of
the fort, and bowing with great respect, thanked them for their
kindness. These are instances of a noble disposition of soul.
Men who can act thus must be invincible."
Truly, indeed, and most justly, may it be said of the conduct
of the Virginians on that occasion, that they manifested a "noble
disposition of soul;" added unfading honour to our arms, and
undying glory to the State and to the Union. And most true
it is, also, that men who can act thus cannot be conquered ; for,
as in other cases during that struggle for freedom, an unseen
power and an influence from above, more powerful than all the
dread engines of death, were present, to protect and " save to
the uttermost" the heroes who fought and conquered in Liberty's
holy cause.
There resided at the Great Bridge, in Revolutionary days, an
active, energetic, and patriotic female, who was long known

78 HISTORICAL AND
as Miss Polly MiUer ; and who, notwithstanding some eccentri
cities that marked her life, is well entitled to notice, for her kind
and diligent attention to our men.
"It would be the very acme of injustice," said one who knew
her, " to consign the memory of this heroine to dull forgetful
ness, without a scratch of the pen to perpetuate her name, and
record her extraordinary merit and good qualities.
Vfi ^ *jC 35C 5p ..JC ?p
" Her services in behalf of her country, during the struggle
for independence, deserve the highest strains of eulogy ; for
having naturally a love of freedom, she took a decided stand on
the side of her country. The bustle of war having penetrated
as far as the Great Bridge, she had often an opportunity of mi
nistering to the wants of her countrymen in arms, and affording
them aid and comfort whenever an exigency required. The de
feat of the British, who were sent to dislodge the Americans
from their post at the Great Bridge, and the fall of their leader,
the gallant Captain Fordyce, are circumstances well known. On
this occasion our heroine was not inactive ; she ordered refresh
ments for the soldiers after the battle, and took charge of the
wounded men, whose wounds she dressed and attended to untU
they were cured. Indeed, it is asserted that she saved the lives
of more than half a dozen. -Her generosity and patriotism ac
quired her great celebrity, so that her house soon became the
resort of all who travelled that way." She lived to rejoice at
the success of our arms at the celebrated battle of Craney Island,
nearly forty years after the victory at the Bridge, and died Feb.
1st, 1814, aged 73.
In addition to the officers named, who were at this battle,
were Major John MarshaU, Lieutenant Travis, and others, from
the counties of Orange, Culpeper, Fauquier, &c. There were
also Captain Thomas Nash, some of whose respected descendants
now reside in the city, and who was highly spoken of as an un
flinching patriot and accomplished gentleman. There were also
William Porter and John Brannam (the latter was afterwards at
the battle of the Cowpens), John Brooks (who is still living), and
others of Portsmouth and vicinity. There were there, also, from
the counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne, Jonathan Denby,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 79
BiUy Flora (the man that fired eight times from the pile of
shingles, and made his escape so wonderfully), the Butts, MUlers,
Talbots, Etherages, Wattses, Hodgeses, Culpepers, Sykeses,
Taylors, Tatems, Owenses, Grimeses, Lukes, Woodhouses, AVhite-
hursts, Drewreys, Foremans, Moores, Wrights, Wilsons, Her
berts, WUkinses, kc.

CHAPTER VIIL
1776.
Sufferings of Captain Nash and other Revolutionary Patriots — Lord Dunmore on
Shipboard — Colonel Woodford — Dunmore's Rage, Arrogance, and Threats — •
Tories and Slaves — Their Miserable Condition — Norfolk Cannonaded — Mis
statements Corrected — Cornstalk, the Sharpshooter — The Town Burned by
the Citizens and Soldiers — Woodford Fires upon the British Fleet — Awful
Conflagration — Patriotism — Battles— A Sad Contrast — Loss and Distress —
The Site of Norfolk Abandoned, and the SUence of Gloomy Depopulation
Reigns. Some of the noble souls who fought and acted a brave and in
dependent part in the cause of liberty, during these trying revo
lutionary days, were subjected to the greatest hardships and
privations; their sufferings indeed, in some cases, were intole
rable, and justly called forth the severest denunciations from the
inhabitants. That fearless patriot and gentlemanly soldier,
Captain Nash, and six or eight of his fellow-soldiers, were con
fined for months in the old sugar-house on the Portsmouth side,
and compelled to endure the cruelties and oppression which some
of the British officers deUghted to inflict upon the Americans.
Their food was of the coarsest and most common kind, while the
place of confinement was exceedingly loathsome and disagree
able. They were removed from the old sugar-house to Corn
wallis's prison-ship, at York, and confined in the hold among a
number of men of the meanest and most degraded character.
Their fare, companions, and all the circumstances attending their
confinement were most revolting. When they were liberated

80 HISTORICAL AND
from the old floating dungeon, their condition was in the highest
degree pitiable and humiliating. When Captain N. made his
appearance on deck, the only remaining portion of his shirt was
the ruffles at the wrist ; and, in addition to being almost suffo
cated with foul air, and horrified at the fiendish propensities of
some of the prisoners, he was tormented with vermin, and half
dead from the want of wholesome food and water. Think of
these things, ye favoured sons and daughters of freed and re
publican America ! Ponder on them in these bright and pros
perous and peaceful days !
At an early period of the Revolution, Dunmore had fled to the
British fleet, which was for some time in Norfolk harbour. A few
days after the enemy had been so signally routed in the battle
of the Great Bridge, the Virginians, commanded by Colonel
Woodford, arrived at Norfolk. They ridiculed and vexed the
remaining loyalists ; fired upon the vessels, from the houses on
the wharves, and endeavoured to prevent the British troops from
landing for sport and recreation, and for the purpose of foraging
in the country. Dunmore raved like a madman. He swore he
would hang the boy that brought the news of the defeat at the
Bridge ! He informed the soldiers that they must cease firing,
and the citizens that they must furnish him with provisions, or
he would bombard the town ; but his arrogant menaces were dis
regarded. Meanwhile his troops, with the tories and slaves who
had sought his protection, were starving for provisions. His
lordship at length determined to drive out the patriotic inhabi
tants with artiUery, and, therefore, directed the women and chil
dren to leave.
1776, Jan. 1st. Between the hours of three and four o'clock
in the afternoon, a heavy cannonade was commenced upon the
town. It has been published by historians and others, that the
British, "under cover of their guns," on this day "burned the
town;" and some have also declared, that the place was set on
fire by the tories. It has been said, Ukewise, that the enemy
commenced the work of wholesale destruction, and the citizens,
to prevent them from enjoying fAe pleasure of burning their pro
perty, put the torch thereto themselves ; whUe there are many
who assert that the place was burned by the inhabitants, to pre-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 81
vent the British from quartering here. These statements of this
important affair, it will be seen, are contradictory, if not unrea
sonable. Dunmore and his troops were without provisions.
They were suffering from the want of bread to eat, and fresh air
to breathe. His object was to quarter his troops in the town,
and feed them upon the substance of the people. How could
this be accomplished by burning all the houses and the goods
they contained ? Besides, a portion of the property was owned
by EngUsh and Scotch factors or agents, some of whom were
tories, who had fled to the fleet for safety. Their influence was,
doubtless, exerted against any design to fire the place. The
tories remaining in the town did not set fire to their property,
because they desired the place to afford shelter and accommoda
tion to the enemy; and, in fact, the most of them had joined
Dunmore's troops on board the ships. And, it is by no means
probable that the inhabitants could, as a general plan, have acted
so strangely as to put the torch to their dwellings and stores,
merely to prevent the British from having the pleasure of it.
His lordship threatened more than he ever executed, or intended
to execute. He may have declared, as has been stated by some,
that he would bombard and burn Norfolk ; but a careful inqiury,
relative to the facts of the affair, does not justify the belief that
he did either ; nor is it probable that he intended either. That
" a heavy cannonade from the frigate Liverpool, two sloops of
war, and the ship Dunmore, opened against the town," is not
doubted ; living witnesses testify to that, and old St. Paul's is a
witness that cannot be set aside; bearing substantial, though
sUent evidence, that balls were thrown, and with very conside
rable force ; but it is very evident they were not bombs.*
The tories, moreover, had too much property here to be wU-
Ungly sacrificed, and neither they, nor their regal governor,
wished it destroyed or injured. But, it may be asked, why then
was the town fired during the cannonade ? and what ground is
there for the statement that the British put the incendiary's
torch to the houses ? The circumstances attending the occasion
were singular ; and, it is believed, by no means satisfactory to
* The author is aware that it is doubted that St. Paul's Church was struck
on this occasion. 6

82 HISTORICAL AND
the enemy, who. probably supposed that, as soon as the guns
opened upon the place, the inhabitants would leave it, and all it
contained, to their mercy and for their benefit.
It is quite evident that at, or more probably just before, the
commencement of the firing from the ships, a small company
was sent on shore to burn some stores on the wharf nearest the
fleet, in order to deprive the patriots of a shelter from which to
fire upon the ships ; for Dunmore had been greatly annoyed by
the sharpshooting of our men from both sides of the river, and
he was obliged, for fear of getting aground, to keep his crowded
ships .in the channel of the river. By the way, there was a tall,
fierce-looking rifleman, who was exceedingly fond of shooting at
the "red-coats" on board the vessels. He aimed with extraor
dinary precision, and seldom missed his mark. This was his
employment and amusement by day, and sometimes by night.
He was called Cornstalk;, the name of an Indian warrior of the
Shawanee tribe, also celebrated for being a superior marksman.
Cornstalk would take his station on the shore, and remain con
cealed, until some unfortunate fellow would appear upon the
poop deck, or in some position where he could be plainly seen.
Then, the sharp sound of the rifle would be quickly succeeded
by a scream, or a groan, and then a tumble, and a few convul
sive struggles, and, with the victim, all of this life was over.
This was, of course, a very vexatious business to Dunmore, and
all others concerned with him.
It has been stated, too, that the fire was communicated from
the buUdings on the wharf to those of the town, by reason
of a strong wind that blew. This is not probable, for the pre-
vaiUng winds in winter are not from a southerly direction, al
though the flames might have spread from the stores farther
than the British expected. But it is true that, as soon as the
firing commenced from the guns of the ships, or immediately
thereafter, flames " were seen to shoot up in several parts of the
town." Another statement was, that Norfolk was burnt by direction
of the Virginia Committee of Safety ; this is also doubted. The
Safety Committee gravely proposed to desolate the borough of
Norfolk, the town of Portsmouth, and the entire counties of Nor-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 83
folk and Princess Anne, and thus effectually starve the British
out. This plan, necessary as it may have seemed, met with
considerable opposition on the part of the citizens, the tories
especially, and it was abandoned. We have been informed also
that Congress had directed the property to be valued and burned,
to prevent the enemy from finding shelter and accommodation
here ; and that the court met, and properly arranged the whole
affair. This appears, also, to be without foundation.
The Virginians, commanded by Colonel Woodford, who had
come to Norfolk by order of General Howe, were of course spi
rited, if not enthusiastic, after the famous victory at the Bridge.
Woodford determined to fire upon the fleet, formidable as it was ;
but, from the favourable position occupied by the vessels for
raking the streets and lanes — the town being only a few feet
above the level of the river — it was necessary for the Virginians
to take a position at some distance from the wharf. Therefore,
to remove the obstructions to the view, and to the execution of
the balls from our cannon, and in order also, to deprive the
enemy of quarters and provisions, many of the buUdings were
fired by the soldiers and patriotic citizens ; and the flames spread
ing in every direction, the destruction was, at once, awful, rapid,
and complete.
The following remarks are the most recent we have seen rela
tive to this subject : —
" Lord Dunmore, to shelter his shipping from the deadly aim
of the Virginia riflemen, who ensconced themselves behind the
houses on the wharves, set fire to and destroyed that part of the
town, which enabled their people to land, and possess themselves
of comfortable quarters in the upper part. Seeing this, the com
mander of the Virginia troops resolved to dispossess them, and
accordingly set fire to and destroyed the remainder of the town.
It is true that the State paid the owners for their property, but
with depreciated paper money, which was equivalent to a total
loss ; and compensation is still due for the calamity which she
had brought upon her citizens — if not to those who had long ago
gone to their account, it is due to their successors, and could not
be more gracefully and appropriately recognised by the State,

84 HISTORICAL AND
than by ministering to their prosperity by acts of wholesome
legislation." Many of the inhabitants occupied and owned costly, elegantly-
furnished, and commodious residences, with fine gardens, and
every convenience that wealth could procure. Among these
were Dr. Ramsay, and other devoted old patriots, some of whose
names are connected with the proceedings of the Sons of Liberty.
The fire was a great, though necessary, calamity ; yet it was
borne with astonishing fortitude by a large portion of the citizens.
There was a brave and unflinching patriot — ah uncompromis
ing enemy to the British, and whose hatred for a tory was rather
more inveterate than for any other living animal — who was play
ing at billiards in a house which stood near " West's Corner"
(now opposite the National Hotel), when the firing from Dun
more's ships commenced. He hurried home, quickly put the
torch to his own buildings ; and, having confined a quantity of
hogs in the cellar of one of his houses, to prevent the British
from eating them, he cheerfully went to work, with the rest of
the citizens after the conflagration, to procure shelter and pro
visions for himself and family as best he could.
Dunmore and his troops were sadly disappointed, no doubt,
at such rebellious and unexpected proceedings. "The old
borough was too republican for them," says a fearless patriot,
now living. The last buUding destroyed was situated on the
north side of Bermuda, near East Street, on the spot in front
of the recent residence of "the oldest inhabitant." It was the
property of the Ingram family. There was only one house left
within the immediate limits of the borough, and that was a dairy,
with a pigeon-house on the top, belonging to a Mr. Bacon, and
situated on what was then called Bacon's Lane. This lane ex
tended from Main Street, a few doors east of Market Square,
through to the water, now Union Street. Its location was pro
bably where Loyall or Marsden's Lane now is.
During the frightful progress of the flames, the cannon from
the shipping and Woodford's battery continued their thundering
roar. HostUe parties frequently encountered each other amid
the smoking ruins near the shore; and, in every action, the
British were driven off with loss, and in the greatest confusion.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 85
There was a daring and intrepid party under Colonel Stevens,
who " rushed with the rapidity of lightning to the water-side,
struck a large party of the British who had landed there, and
compelled them to retire, with slaughter and dismay, to the pro
tection of their wooden walls. In general, during the whole of
this afflicting scene, both officers and men evinced a spirit worthy
of veterans.
" Such was the melancholy event, which laid prostrate the
most flourishing and richest town in the colony. Its happy site,
combining all the natural advantages which invite and promote
navigation and commerce, had been actively seconded by the
industry and enterprise of the inhabitants. Before the existing
troubles, an influx of wealth was pouring into its lap. In the
two years, from 1773 to 1775, the rents of the houses increased
from £8000 to £10,000 a year. Its resident population exceeded
six thousand citizens, many of whom possessed affluent fortunes.
The whole actual loss on this lamentable occasion has been com
puted at more than three hundred thousand pounds sterling;
and the mass of distress attendant on the event is beyond aU
calculation. "After the conflagration, occasional skirmishes took place
between the Virginians and the enemy, in which the latter
suffered most severely. On the 6th of February, Colonel
Robert Howe, who was now commander of the American troops,
abandoned Norfolk, or rather the site on which it had stood ; for
scarcely any vestige of that ill-fated town was to be seen.
"After the removal of the inhabitants, the few remaining
edifices (in the suburbs), had been destroyed ; and the mournful
silence of gloomy depopulation now reigned where the gay,
animating bustle of an active, emulous crowd had so lately pre
vailed."

86 HISTORICAL AND
CHAPTER IX.
1776—1777.
British Fleet and Soldiers— Pastimes and Depredations— Dunmore's Departure
—Removal of the Citizens before the Conflagration — Their Spirit and Forti
tude-Tories — Coloured Persons — SmaU-pox— Dreadful Suflfering and Mor
tality — Money Buried — Mr. Goodchild's Trunk of Specie, &c. — First House
Erected after the Conflagration — Return of the Inhabitants — Privations of
the People — Dunmore.
Previously to the memorable battle of Great Bridge, the
enemy had for some time remained without very serious difficulty
in the vicinity of Norfolk ; indeed, the fleet to which Dunmore
fled rode at anchor in the deep and tranquil waters of our har
bour. The officers and troops occasionally came on shore for
recreation. There was a large vacant lot on the south side of
Main Street, extending down to the sandy shore of the river.
It comprised the greater part of the lots between Boush and
Loyall's Lanes, fronting on Main Street, and on which now
stand the Mechanics' Hall and other valuable buUdings. Here,
as we have been informed by an aged inhabitant, they assembled
and held their pastimes. The forces were formidable enough,
even excluding the armed vessels, and the inhabitants were well
aware that the town was then at the mercy of the British; re
sistance, therefore, on the part of the citizens, would have been
in vain, how much soever they may have disliked the intrusion
of the unwelcome foe. On the spot alluded to, the soldiers
assembled. Upon a carpet of Nature's own green, their tables
were spread, at which they ate, drank, and frolicked, little
dreaming of the sad reverses that were soon to happen, especially
on the arrival of Woodford, Stevens, and their fearless compa
triots. They had remained too long in confident security, plun
dering the town, and impoverishing the farmers in the neighbour
hood, by enticing away their servants and taking off their stock.
It was to be endured no longer ; Dunmore's time to leave soon
came, and, very much against his wiU, he was deprived of the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 87
privilege of coming on shore again. He is said to have embarked
for the last time from Norfolk at the site of the south end of
Dunmore Street, which for that reason, it is said, bears his name.
It crosses Freemason Street near Smith's Point. The depreda
tions of his soldiers could not be longer aUowed, and he there
fore determined to cannonade the place ; and finally carried out
his iniquitous object ; which, however, had but little injurious
effect upon a town dep6pulated and on fire.
After he had made known his intention to cannonade the town,
great efforts were of course made to get the women and children
out of the way ; it was reported also that the whole town would
be burned. Consequently every description of conveyance was
in requisition. Horses, carriages, wagons, gigs, carts, drays,
boats, kc, were purchased and hired ; and a general removal
took place ; indeed, almost the entire population took their de
parture from the place now to be freely sacrificed on the altar of
Liberty. Numbers were seen wending their way in different
directions ; many fled to Portsmouth, some to Princess Anne
and Norfolk Counties ; very many to Suffolk and other parts of
Nansemond ; and some to North CaroUna. Such house furniture
as could be removed, as beds, chairs, tables, &c., and also,
clothing, provisions, and cooking utensils, were hastily conveyed
out of the reach of the enemy. 3Iany a neat and beautiful
dwelUng, associated with which there were a thousand pleasing
recollections — the home of childhood and youth, the scene of
many a happy, joyous day, was left to feed the flames, and never
to be entered or seen again.
Yet there was but little complaining. Many, very many,
preferred this course to the disgrace of yielding any advantage
to the impudent and imperious demands of a hostUe force, arrayed
against the imperishable principles of justice, and the undying
love of liberty, that warmed the hearts of the inhabitants, and
nerved them for the privations and sufferings of that unhappy
crisis. And although as they journeyed on from their homes,
made still more dear by dangers now threatening, and while the
booming of the great guns in the distance but too plainly an
nounced the sad fate of their once flourishing, active, bustUng,
native town, they brooded not over their misfortunes. The big

88 HISTORICAL AND
tear of grief that rose and gushed forth, was as quickly brushed
away. They sung, engaged in amusements, and kept their
spirits up. Some of the more lively even joined in an occasional
dance at the house of some old patriot, on their retreat from the
depredations of a misguided and revengeful foe.
The regal governor had offered protection and other induce
ments to all tories and coloured persons vho chose to embark on
board the vessels in the harbour, and act with the British against
the Virginians. A few disaffected citizens and very many of
the slaves of the town and surrounding counties, accordingly,
repaired on board the shipping. Some of the farmers lost large
numbers of their servants in this way ; and great cause had the
deluded fugitives to repent of their course; for, instead of
realizing the benefits and blessings which Dunmore had pro
mised, they could not even get enough to eat, drink, or wear.
And besides, to increase the horrors of their situation, the small
pox broke out among them, and the mortality was appalling.
Many of the slaves were glad enough to find their way to the
shore again ; and, failing in their attempts to reach their homes
of plenty, or even to find a place of shelter from the inclemency
of the weather, after having been attacked with the symptoms of
the dreadful scourge, they died on the roadside and in the woods ;
their loathsome bodies became a prey to the vultures and beasts,
and impregnated the ambient air with the hateful pestilential
stench. Many of the citizens, apprehending that the town would be
burned, buried their .specie, plate, jewelry, and such other va
luable articles as could not be readily and safely removed ; and
it is quite probable many such articles remain in their places of
concealment to the present day. Among those who resorted to
this plan was Mr. William Cfoodchild. In order to secure a
considerable amount in Spanish dollars, he secretly lifted several
planks in the lower floor of his house, made a small excavation,
and deposited a trunk containing the money. The trunk was
covered with earth, and the planks replaced. Two weeks after
this, the house contributed its share to the " sea of fire" that
deluged and swept away the town. Being compelled to retire
to the country, he occasionally returned to the site of the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 89
borough, without an opportunity, however, of exhuming the
"needful," although he felt keenly the want of a very small
sum. He would stand and gaze wishfully at the rubbish that
hid the weU-remembered spot from view. He succeeded, how
ever, at an early day after the fire, to regain his btiried treasure,
without the loss of a single particle of the shining dust ; and was
the first to erect a house within the borough limits, after the
conflagration. Mr. Goodchild purchased a large lot on the
north side of Main Street, where now stands the City Hotel, and
other large boUdings, on the west of that establishment. This
lot extended for several hundred feet northwardly to a cove
(now Cove Street), and cost him only the smaU sum of £45.
His house was erected at the west corner of Main Street and
Mitchell's Lane, at which place there is now a lofty brick buUd
ing. Mr. G.'s tenement was of wood, and of rather small dimen
sions. He, nevertheless, kept a pubUc house, and acted a pro
minent part during the Phoenix-like struggles of the borough to
rise from its ashes. Prospering in business, he added another
tenement in the rear, considerably higher than the one first
erected ; and continuing to flourish, he put up another, and yet
a third, fourth, fifth, &c., the whole row towering upwards, as it
extended back from the street, until the regular succession of
roofs, one reaching above another, had the appearance of an im
mense stairway. This gentleman, after a few years of success,
buUt a house in the fields, and retired from business. The
buUding is stUl standing, on the north side of iloseley, a few
rods east of Church Street. It was used for some time as a
house of reception for persons attacked with contagious diseases,
which gave it the name of the pest-house.
The peculiar advantages of position gradually attracted the
attention of fortune-hunters, capitalists, and enterprising men
to the scene of ruin. A few stores and dweUings were erected,
and commercial operations were resumed to a limited extent.
Some of the former residents returned with their families, and
built small tenements, which they occupied untU it was conve
nient to erect larger and more commodious dweUings, and the
smaller ones were then used as kitchens.
The privations of the people, on the occasion of the fire, were

90 HISTORICAL AND
great ; and the sufferings of the women and chUdren, especially,
very severe. The name of Dunmore was, for many years after
this calamitous time, and is even to this day, associated with
many a daring adventure, many a scene of distress ; and calls to
recoUection circumstances of the most trying nature, on the part
of those whom he was instrumental in depriving of their homes
and property. Indeed, it was held in contempt by all classes
and parties — the rich and the poor, the old and the young, male
and female, and even the detested tories themselves, upon whom
he had been the cause of bringing so much scorn and contempt,
as well as by the true sons of liberty. But he has passed
away. Doubtless he saw and felt, if he did not acknowledge,
his errors. We shall recall to memory no more of his deeds ; all
of which will be scrutinized and tried at a high and just tribunal.

CHAPTER X.
1779—1785.
Extraordinary Winter — The Two Schooners from the West Indies— -Harbour
Closed — Immense Profits — Destitution of the Citizens — Trying Times-
Borough Charter Amended— Mild Winter- Norfolk Improving— Rev. Philip
Bruce— Very High Tide— Extraordinary Drought — Terrific Thunder and
Lightning— Scarcity of Water— Animals and Vegetation Suffering— Alarm
ing Day— Terrific Explosion— Negro Men KiUed— Providential Escapes—
The Merchant's Clerk, the Countryman, and the Gimlel^Money Raised by
Lottery for Buildirig a Church.
The winter of 1779-80* was one of extraordinary severity.
The harbour was frozen entirely across to Portsmouth, admit-
* " The most unseasonable weather I have ever heard of (in Virginia) was a
snow nearly a foot deep, in the month of June, 1774. Cherries and other
fruits of the season were ripe. The coldest morning ever known in Virginia,
since its first settlement by the English, was January 14th, 1780. The mer
cury sunk into the bulbs of thermometers. The ice upon our rivers was Uiree
feet two inches thick. James River was frozen over at Burwell's Bay, so that

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 91
ting a free and uninterrupted communication between the two
towns, on the ice, for several weeks. The Atlantic Ocean was
frozen as far out from the shore as the depth of forty fathoms.
Chesapeake Bay was so thickly frozen that teams crossed for
some time from shore to shore, as far down as the Capes. The
ice was piled up along our coast, at some places, twenty feet
high, large quantities of which remained as late as the middle of
!May. Of course, the harbour could not be entered ; — a truly
remarkable circumstance for this latitude, and which, as far as
we have learned, has not taken place since.
Two small schooners, returning to Norfolk from the West
Indies, in the latter part of February, were compelled to land
their cargoes several mUes south of Cape Henry, which were
conveyed to the town in carts, in which return cargoes were
also sent down, — a temporary harbour having been made by the
melting and removal of the ice in some places between the shore
and the icebergs.
There was of course but little foreign trade during the Revo
lution; but that little, although it was attended with great diffi
culty and danger, was exceedingly profitable.
" Tobacco that was bought in Petersburg at from three-
quarters to one dollar per hundredweight was readily sold at
St. Eustatia for twenty dollars ; and the returns, which were
generally powder, rum, sugar, and coarse cloths, were equally
profitable here.
^ :(: ^ :i£ ^ 5ii ^
" But few there are now amongst us that could be induced to
believe how important the safe arrival of those vessels was
to the comfort of a considerable community. Tea, coffee, choco
late, and sugar, were rarities ; clothes, but of the poorest descrip
tion, had nearly disappeared ; and if the spinning-wheel had not
been resorted to with a degree of patience and industry seldom
the heaviest wagons passed it upon the ice. Chesapeake Bay was frozen quite
over, and hundreds of persons walked across it, from Annapolis to Kent Island,
and other places. On the 9th of March, 1780, Colonel Charles Dabney's regi
ment of Virginia Infantry marched from Falmouth to Fredericksburg upon the
ice in the Rappahannock, which had been formed there the preceding Novem
ber." — Richmond Inquirer.

92 HISTORICAL AND
equalled, the whole population would have been in as pitiable a
condition as our first parents were when they discovered the
necessity that beset them."
These facts were gathered from the remarks of a venerable
and distinguished citizen,* who died in 1851, an octogena
rian, and who also said, "It may not be either unprofitable
or unpleasant to look a little into the characters that figured in
the times and contests that required the virtue, patriotism, and
incessant exertions, of those who should not yet be so much for
gotten." In 1782, the charter was so amended as to allow the common
council to be elected by the votes of the people.
The winter of 1782-3 was exceedingly mUd for those days
and this latitude.
Up to this time the town had increased but slowly in popula
tion and business. But, after the lapse of about seven years
succeeding the fire, a fresh impulse was given to commerce ; it
began to improve rapidly; and Norfolk, though not what it
should be, has become what it is within the space of a little
more than sixty years. Had the true interests of the place
been properly regarded, and its advantages judiciously fostered,
instead of the restraints to which it has been subjected, its pros
perity and rapid growth in former days would have been but a
suitable prelude to the exalted station which it would have occu
pied before the present time.
1784. Rev. Philip Bruce (who died, we beUeve, in 1850),
a native of North Carolina, one of the most active pioneers of
Methodism on the* American Continent, was assistant to Bishop
Asbury this year. In 1786, '87, '96, '97, and in 1807-8, he
was presiding elder on the Norfolk District. He was one of the
heroes of the Revolution, and was very zealous in his efforts to
" disperse the tories."
1785. This year was noted for the highest tide ever before
known in the borough, completely deluging a large portion ,of its
site on the water-side. * Commodore James Barron.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 98
The summer of this year was remarkable and long remembered
for a most distressing and protracted drought. And what is
singular, in connexion with this fact, it was equally noted for
the frequent occurrence of dark and lowering clouds, attended
with most terrific thunder and lightning. The earth was dry
and parched to cracking by the scorching rays of the sun in the
forenoon, which were almost daily followed, during the month of
June particularly, by a dense collection of dark vapours in the
air above, but which gave no rain, save only a few scattering
drops, that occasionally fell, and were almost as quickly evapo
rated, — ^tending only to excite the anxious hopes of the people,
to be as surely disappointed.
The springs were almost dried up. The deepest wells only
yielded a scanty supply; "water, bright water," was in great
demand, and its inestimable value was very generally appre
ciated. The beasts of the field drooped and died for want of the cool
ing draught. The variegated flowers that had given signs of
freshness and beauty in the months of spring, withered upon
their slender stalks, and faded ere their soft petals had ex
panded, and their opening charms perfected. Vegetation was
sadly retarded in its progress ; the most hardy productions of
the garden were stunted, and, when offered for sale, commanded
very high prices. The young corn changed from the deep hues
of green to a sickly yeUow ; and, except in the lowest lands, it
almost withered in the fields. The wheat crop could not mature ;
the hopes of the husbandman were sadly blasted ; and the tra
veUer by land was almost suffocated by the clouds of dust that
were driven by the winds and scattered in every direction.
There was one day, during the continuance of this extraordi
nary weather in the month of June of this year, that was truly
alarming, and which witnessed an event in the old borough that
was really terrible and destructive in its effects.
A briUiant flash in the distance announced the approach of
the threatening, though tantalizing cloud, with its diurnal and
frightful display of electric power, and the deafening roar of its
attendant peals. Longer and louder grew the roaring and hoarse

94 HISTORICAL AND
murmuring of the thunder, and quicker and more appalling still,
"the vivid Hghtning's glare."
During the continuance of the threatening storm, a man from
the country called at the counting-room of one of the principal
merchants, to purchase pork, a quantity of which was stored,
with other articles of merchandise, in a large warehouse situated
near the intersection of Church and Lower Union Streets. One
of the clerks was despatched with the customer, who wished to
examine the quality of the article, but who remarked, after
leaving the office, that he could judge of its quality by tasting
the pickle ; whereupon, the clerk hurried back for a gimlet, and
the dealer stepped away to attend to other business requiring
his attention for a few minutes.
There was stored in the warehouse a great variety of goods,
intended principally for the country trade, which was at this
time rapidly increasing. Besides the pork and a quantity of
bacon, there were numbers of whip and cross-cut saws, and three
hundred kegs of gunpowder !
The clerk was soon retracing his steps in the direction of the
warehouse ; meanwhile, the clouds grew darker ; the lightning
flashed and crashed and hissed, forking, darting, and resembling
a number of monstrous flying serpents, shooting their fiery forms
through the air, from the surcharged, though rainless clouds;
which had covered, as with a great sombre shroud, the whole
face of heaven. The thunder muttered and rumbled angrily over
head ; flash upon flash, and peal upon peal, came in rapid suc
cession, until there was almost " one continual blaze and deafen
ing roar." And still the merchant's clerk passes on, until he
comes within a few yards of the warehouse, on the steps of which
he discovers two negro men, carefully counting over some change
they had received at market. But up to this moment the coun
tryman had not made his appearance, since the separation a few
moments before. The lightning now ceases, perchance for a
short space of time, and seemingly withholds itself, to gather ad
ditional force, and concentrate its irresistible powers, to burst
forth with still greater terror and sublimity than befdre ; and
now comes another "wild electric flash" — an overpowering blaze
of dazzling light, which is followed by an explosion that almost

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 95
causes the very earth itself to tremble. Commingling with the
stunning peals of thunder, it echoed, reverberated, and roared
for many miles around. The inhabitants were startled as by
the shock of an earthquake, and felt the most painful apprehen
sions of impending danger.
The youth, though stunned by the violence of the concussion,
soon recovered ; and after waiting a few moments for a dense
black cloud of smoke, in which he was enveloped, to pass away,
he looked for the warehouse ; but it was nowhere to be seen !
The building, and all it contained, had disappeared ; and also
the coloured men who were upon the steps. This was exceed
ingly surprising to the affrighted clerk, but not more so than his
own escape. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the lightning
had struck the buUding ; having been attracted, perhaps, by the
ironware that was stored within, and communicated to the gun
powder, which exploded, and the report thereof was almost simul
taneous with the thunder that followed the lightning-stroke.
Large timbers and fragments were scattered in every direction.
Some of the saws were thrown almost to the southeastern ex
tremity of the town, and twisted in various singular and inde
scribable shapes. One of them, however, was rolled up, as if it
had been done with great care, after the manner of a piece of
ribbon or tape. The two negro men were blown many rods from
the building, "skewered with splinters," and dreadfully mangled.
They were removed from the fatal spot and laid beneath a large
sycamore tree, which grew on or near the present site of the
Presbyterian Church, and nearly opposite St. Paul's, where an
inquest was held, and at which place they were seen by an indi
vidual now living (1853), who states that they were frightfully
disflgured, and presented a sight too shocking to behold.
Very many of the window-panes, especially on the north side
of Main Street, and fronting in the direction of the explosion,
were shattered ; and, as far off as the location of Bank Street,
glassware was raised by the concussion several inches from the
tables !
The merchant and clerk alluded to were very respectable citi
zens, and their names could be given. It is not important, how
ever ; they have both gone to their account in another state of

96 HISTORICAL AND
existence, and their descendants are now numbered among the
inhabitants of Norfolk. A gentleman who was then a youth,
said that he was crossing over to Portsmouth at the time, and
had a full view of the explosion, which he represented as having
been very imposing. Bacon, timbers, &c., he stated were thrown
very many feet in the air, resembling the rapid upward flight of
an immense flock of large birds. A large quantity of the bacon
fell on a vessel lying at the wharf near the ill-fated storehouse.
A man was standing on the deck at the time, but was not in
jured. The narrow escape of the clerk and the customer, to whom
he failed on this occasion to effect a sale, was thought to be, as
it doubtless was, by the special interposition of an overruling
Providence. The former, who returned for the gimlet, had
scarcely arrived at the counting-room, before he recollected that
it had been left at the warehouse, whence he had forgotten to
take it to the counting-room, where it was generally kept. So,
it appears that his forgetfulness, on two separate occasions, was
the means of saving both his own life, as well as that of the
man who started with him to examine the quality of the pork.
He lived many years after the affair, and several of his descen
dants are now highly respectable residents of our city. We have
no further information respecting the country gentleman, who
also figured on this occasion, and who escaped so narrowly with
his life, but we will venture the suppositions : that he was not a
little discomposed when he learned the place and circumstances
of the explosion ; that he had a wonderful tale to tell, when he
arrived at his quiet abode in the country ; and that he often
thought of the pork and the pickle, but more especially of the
little gimlet.
In October of this year an Act of Assembly was passed, au
thorizing the raising of a sum of money, not exceeding £700,
by way of lottery (!) for rebuilding a church in the parish of Eli
zabeth River, in the County of Norfolk. Surely public senti
ment, in some quarters at least, has undergone a very considerable
change with regard to lotteries.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 97

CHAPTER XL
1787—1799.
Dismal Swamp Canal — Importance of its Trade — Judicious Management —
Average of Tolls — Captain James Cornick — Location of the Canal — An Emi
nent Subscriber to the Stock — Borough Charter Amended— Tardy Legislation
— Newspaper — Religious Revival — Cape Henry Light-house — Court-house —
Population — Exports — Norfolk Herald — T. G. Broughton, Esq. — Heavy Ex
ports and Tonnage of the Borough — Cold Weather — ^Extensive Fire.
1787. This year the Dismal Swamp Canal was commenced
under a joint charter of Virginia and North Carolina. It is truly
an important and valuable work, being the medium of an im
mense amount of business. It is navigated by sloops and
schooners, some of which are of considerable size. Norfolk has,
for a long time, received a large portion of her support from the
canal trade.
"Few, except those engaged in it, are aware of its magnitude
and importance. It makes no noise, no show. The little ves
sels arrive, and deliver their cargoes at the wharves ; take in
return freights, and depart for the waters of our sister State,
without attracting the least notice from ' the public at large.'
The newspapers do, indeed, keep a record of the arrivals, but
that is only for the information of the parties interested, and
the mass of their readers seldom look at it. StiU ' the wonder
grows' that Norfolk is increasing in improvements and in popu
lation, without any visible way of accounting for it."
We pubUsh the foUowing passage relating to the judicious
management of the Dismal Swamp Canal, by the present efficient
Directory, from the late Report of the Board of PubUc Works
(1851) :—
" The annual report of the Dismal Swamp Canal Company
(page 181) presents a favourable view of its present condition
and finances. In regard to the former, personal inspection, made
by the President and other members of the Board, impressed

98 HISTORICAL AND
them with a very high opinion of the great value of this work
for general public purposes. Notwithstanding the unexpected
interruption of the trade for a short period, by the giving way
of the lock at Gilmerton, and other serious casualties, the trans
portation appears to have been greater during the past year,
than it has ever yet been. The annual average of tolls for the
eight preceding years, was $32,906 06; the amount collected in
that year was $39,748 23. A dividend of 4|^ per cent, was
declared out of the nett profits, leaving a balance of available
funds of $13,065 73. The Board deems it but an act of justice
to say, that instances of a more systematic, judicious, and suc
cessful management of works, of a similar character, are rarely
to be met with."
Captain James Cornick, a descendant of one of the oldest and
most respectable settlers of this part of our State, and formerly
a most skilful and successful shipmaster, has, for a number of
years, been the efficient president of the Company.
It is stated that this Company, with a view of extending the
canal, intend to renew their application to the next Congress for
an appropriation of the amount of dividends which accrue to the
United States, upon the $200,000 capital stock owned by the
Government. "The route, which has already been surveyed for the improve
ment, makes the distance from the end of the canal to the Shingle
Landing, the point at which they intend to bring the new cut
into the river again, three and a half miles. From this point,
by the present route, to the South Lock, the distance is seven
miles, and that of the most difficult navigation ; the river being
narrow, deep, and exceedingly crooked ; and, during the winter
season, when the swamp is full of water, a strong current sets
down, which renders it very difficult for vessels to get up ; — they
frequently occupy one, two, and sometimes four days to get from
this point to the canal. If this improvement were made, the dis
tance to the lock could be accomplished in i^^o hours, and, fre
quently, boats would reach Norfolk in less time than they now
consume in working up this miserable piece of navigation to the
South Lock, besides saving much labour and trouble to this im
portant branch of our commerce.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 99
"But a greater improvement might still be made, at a compa
ratively small expense. The distance from the proposed ter
minus of the new cut to the mouth of the Narrows, is not more
than one and a half miles. If an extension were made to this
point, no difficulty would be met in reaching the canal, as the
river is sufficiently broad and deep to enable vessels to work up
even against a head wind ; and the trip from Elizabeth City to
Norfolk, which now requires often four and five days, could be
easUy performed in two, and often in one."
By means of this canal, a communication is opened between
the sounds and principal rivers of North Carolina and the waters
of the Elizabeth, Chesapeake Bay, and the ocean. The north
end of the canal empties into Deep Creek, a branch of our river,
and the south end into a branch of the Pasquotank. The canal
passes for about twenty miles through the Dismal Swamp, from
which, of course, it takes its name. It has been pronounced by
traveUers to be one of the best in the Union. The name of the
great Patrick Henry appears among the first subscribers to the
stock, having been placed upon the books at WilUamsburg, in
1791. December 7. " An Act to amend the charter of the borough
of Norfolk," was passed by the General Assembly. It related,
principally, to the election of the councilmen by the people,
triennially, on June 24th; vesting also in them the election of
mayor, and directing a uniform rate of taxes. It appears that
the Legislature was as slow in former days, in correcting uncon
stitutional usages in the borough, as it now is in allowing privi
leges which are not only reasonable, but absolutely necessary to
the prosperity of the city.
1788. The first newspaper published in the borough, after
the Revolution, appeared this year.* It was the " Norfolk and
Portsmouth Chronicle," issued weekly, by J. & A. McLean, from
* The Fiest Newspapeb. in Vikginia.— Palmer's Register states that the first
press in this State was imported by the city of WilUamsburg in 1780. The
prices of advertising and subscriptions of those times are thus stated in the
foUowing extract from the terms of the paper, contained in the first issue :
"All persoHS may be suppUed with this paper at fifty dollars a year, and

100 HISTORICAL AND
New York. Its existence was of short duration, on account of
the death of one of the editors.
This year an extraordinary revival of religion commenced in
this section of the State. Great multitudes inquired the way to
be saved, and thousands professed to have experienced a change
of heart. "Vast numbers," said a gentleman writing from
Portsmouth to an eminent minister in England, " are flocking
into the fold of Christ, from every quarter. In many places, as
soon as the preacher begins to speak, the power of God appears
to be present, which is attended with trembling among the
people. ***** Cfreat is the joy, great is the glory.
Surely America will become the mart of nations for piety."
1789, November 13. Act of Assembly passed, authorizing
the Governor to convey certain land to the United States, in the
County of Princess Anne, at a place commonly called the head
land of Cape Henry, for the purpose of building a light-house.
1790. Court-house built on Main Street, east of Church. The
population of the borough had reached this year to within 50 of
3,000 souls.
1791. Value of exports from Virginia, and principally from
this port, $3,130,865.
August 13, 1794. On this day, the first number of the Nor
folk Herald was published, by Mr. Charles Willet. It was
printed on a small sheet, about eighteen by twenty-four inches,
and was issued on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Price per an
num, twenty shillings. The Herald has since changed hands
several times, and has been greatly enlarged and improved;
having been altered many years ago to a tri-weekly, and since
to a daily and tri-weekly publication. It requires only a short
allusion here ; for, under the judicious auspices of Thomas G.
have advertisements (of a moderate length) inserted for ten doUars the first week,
and seven dollars for each week after."
It should be recollected, too, that this was a weekly paper, making the cost
to subscribers about ninety-six cents a number.
The Norfolk Herald says : "the year is evidently misprinted 1780 instead of
1680. We once possessed a file of the Virginia Gazette printed in Williams
burg in 1744^5 ; aud there was a press in Norfolk in 1775, which Gov. Dun
more unceremoniously caused to be removed on board the Fowey man-of-war,
previous to ihe conflagration of the town."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 101
Broughton, Esq., it has, for a long time, faithfully told its own
history to a very large number of patrons and friends in Nor
folk and the neighbouring towns, villages, and counties in Vir
ginia and North Carolina, by whom it is justly regarded as a
faithful journal of current events, and a valuable medium for the
dissemination of useful information. The Norfolk and Ports
mouth Herald has long advocated and supported, in an able
manner, the principles and doctrines of the Whig party.
Thomas G. Broughton, Sr., Esq., the oldest editor of our
city, and who has been for so many years the able and success
ful conductor of the Herald, is a native of Princess Anne County.
There is, perhaps, no person who has more general information
than Mr. B., concerning the men who have lived, and the events
that have transpired, in Norfolk and its vicinity, during the last
forty years.
It is very certain, that for some of our most judicious local
improvements, the citizens are mainly indebted to suggestions
that first appeared in the columns of his paper. Mr. B. is justly
considered an excellent writer. His style is generally pointed,
smooth, and perspicuous. His descriptive articles, especially,
are "easy, pleasant, and properly adorned." As was said of
Roger North, "he is excellent at a narrative."
Mr. Broughton having, several years since, associated with
himself one of his sons (Richard, a gentleman of literary taste
and talent), the paper is now edited and published by T. Cr.
Broughton ^ Son.*
"In the year 1795, a period of twelve years after the war, the
exports, consisting chiefly of tobacco, flour, wheat, Indian corn
and meal, salt beef, pork, fish, tar, turpentine, flaxseed, iron,
lead, timber of every kind, reached the sum of $1,934,827. In
1804, nine years later, the exports for the last two quarters of
the year, reached $2,230,855, and in three quarters of the same
* The late Dr. Charles H. Broughton, U. S. N., a young gentleman of supe
rior talents and fine literary attainments, as well as a devoted Christian, was
a son of Mr. B. of the Herald. His reUgious influence had already been felt,
and promised to be most salutary and extensive, when he was unexpectedly
summoned to his reward. " On the 22d of December, 1843, he breathed his
last, calmly reclining on the bosom of God his Saviour." See tract. No. 486,
Am. Tract Society.

102 HISTORICAL AND
year, the foreign articles re-exported were $210,679. In 1805,
a period of twenty-three years after the peace, the exports in
domestic produce were $3,880,347, and in foreign articles
$507,907; making the exports of a single year nearly four mil
lions AND A HALF DOLLARS. The tonnage owned in the borough
was about 31,292 tons. These facts stand almost without a
paraUel in the history of American commerce. When peace
was fairly restored, the town began to rise with wonderful ra
pidity. In 1796, the number of houses was between eight and
nine hundred."
The winter of 1798-99 was unusually cold. In '99 there was
an extensive and a most distressing fire, which destroyed a large
amount of property in the commercial part of the town.

CHAPTER XIL
1800—1803.
Severe Winter — Act of Assembly — Funeral Solemnities of Washington — Ora
tion — Monody — Minute Guns, &c. — -Population — Ofiicers of the Corporation
— Exports — Population Rapidly Increasing — Norfolk Advancing — Influx of
Foreigners — Brisk Business — Shipping — Buildings on Main Street, &c. —
Mud and Water — Dust, Frogs, and Musquitoes — Church Street — Ship-yards
—Rev. Mr. Bland and Old St. Paul's— Rev. J. Whitehead— Different Chris
tian Denominations, and their Houses of Worship — Cumberland Street Bap
tist Church — Number of Buildings — Simmons's Directory — Chamber of Com
merce — Members' Names — Norfolk Junior Volunteers — The Council —
Amendment of the Charter.
1800. This year was also remarkable for the severity of the
weather, during the winter months.
January 25. Act of Assembly passed, authorizing the Go
vernor to convey to the United States the property called Gos
port, for the purpose of establishing a navy yard.
February 22. On this day took place, in the borough, the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 103
funeral solemnities on the occasion of the death of Washingtox,
the "Father of his country, the first and greatest of the Presi
dents," and, may we not truly add, the greatest of men^'
The foUowing account is taken from the Herald of February
2oth:— " On Saturday last, the 22d inst., agreeably to the notifica
tion of Major Ford, the different troops stationed at the Forts
and Navy Yard, paraded in this borough, in order to form a pro
cession to pay funeral honours to the memory of George Wash
ington. At twelve o'clock, they were joined by the different
volunteer corps, in fuU uniform. In the Main .Street, the whole
formed in battaUon, and received the word of command from the
Major. The bier passed them, attended by the principal gen
tlemen of the town as chief mourners : then followed the Lodges
of the Masons in their orders ; then the officers of the Navy ; the
different artificers from the Navy Yard, and the citizens of Nor
folk and Portsmouth in general. The troops then reversed their
arms and marched, the drums being muffled, and the mtisic play
ing the dead march, imtU they arrived at the church waU, when
the ranks faced to each other, and resting on their arms reversed;
the bier, kc, passed between them into the church, the troops
following ; but the church not being sufficiently spacious, a great
portion of the citizens were prevented from seeing that part of
the ceremony.
" After prayers were given by the Rev. James Whitehead, Dr.
Read, Mayor of the town, pronounced a handsome oration, well
adapted to the occasion, and was followed by Mr. Blanchard,
who deUvered a beautifnl monody, such as, to quote his own
words, made " 'All nerves tremble, and aU eyes weep.'
"Mr. Hiort then rose, as one of Captain Myers's Company,
and addressed the audience as follows :
" [It is unnecessary for us to transcribe the address, which
fills more than a column : but its quality may be guessed by the
peroration, which was as follows] :
" ' When memory traces back the anniversary of this day, and
thinks on the ecstasy that for years hath pervaded every citizen ;

104 HISTORICAL AND
imagining they could not celebrate with too much joy and fes
tivity the day that gave their Washington birth ; and, when we
compare it with the mournful procession of the present, the
chords of the human heart are ready to burst with agonizing
comparison. " ' But the scene is closed !
" ' As we have been unanimous to pay tribute to his memory,
let us be unanimous in imitating his patriotism ; and, may our
unanimity be lasting as the sun that rules the day.'
" After Mr. Hiort had finished, a band of music performed a
solemn dirge ; the bier was carried to a grave, where the troops
fired three volleys over it. The procession then moved to the
Market Place, the music playing the President's march, where,
after having formed in column, they were disbanded. (Queer
way of dismissing troops that — in column ! Doubtless a mistake
of the reporter.)
" A greater concourse of people was never before seen in Nor
folk. The attention of Major Ford to the accommodation of
every description of citizens was alike, and the whole was con
ducted with great regularity and order."
A gentleman who was present, wrote as follows :
" Saturday last, February 22d (a day kept sacred to the
name of our Washington — a day which convened in their several
districts the inhabitants through the whole extent of the United
States — a day mourned by a collection of near eight millions of
sorrowing citizens), the funeral honours of our departed chief
were performed here with a solemnity, order, and decorum, that
do credit to those who conducted the procession, and to civilized
society. "Nothing could exceed the order, discipline, and precision of
the troops under Major Ford, who conducted the mourning duties
of the day ; the steadiness of their movements, and their recline,
when the bier passed, was not an unaffecting circumstance in the
ceremony. The procession, consisting of the inhabitants, the
orders of Masons, and the miUtary, proceeded at half-past twelve,
from Main Street to the church, where the service was begun
by prayers from the Rev. Mr. Whitehead, and a very handsome
oration by Dr. Read, Mayor of the Borough, followed by Mr.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 105
Blanchard, who rehearsed the beautiful poem on General Washing
ton's death* (first published in the Herald of the 2d of January),
and concluded by an address from Mr. Hiort, of Captain Myers's
Company, and the blessings of the church.
" The day was so remarkably bright that Heaven seemed to
smUe on our endeavours to do honour to the deceased and to de
parted merit; the spirit of emulation was abroad; each wished to
contribute his mite. The concourse of people was such as we
have never witnessed before in the borough. But not a single act
of confusion blotted the scene ; and the solemn and masterly
strains of music, added to the preceding circumstances, seemed
to send us to our homes, resolved to imitate in all his imitable
virtues, the man for whom we mourned."
The Herald of August 1st, 1850, adds the following :
'• At an early hour the old revolutionary drummer, George
Fritz (who had lost an eye in his country's service), took the
round with his ' spirit-stirring drum,' to remind the volunteers of
the parade. A piece of artillery, worked by a detachment of
Captain Lugg's Company, was posted at the foot of Market
Square, and fired the minute guns, commencing at nine o'clock,
and continuing tUl the procession was dismissed. The volun
teers in the procession consisted of the Norfolk Cavalry, Cap
tain .John Nivison; the Norfolk Volunteers, Captain Moses
Myers ; the Light Infantry, Captain Samuel Smith ; Norfolk
Artillery, Captain P. Lugg ; and the Ancient ArtUlery, Captain
W. P. PoUard.
'•'The whole arrangement and direction of the ceremonies was
deputed to Major Ford, of the U. S. Army, who commanded the
troops on this station, having his head-quarters at Fort Nelson
(where now stands the U. S. Naval Hospital).
"The Major, with the gaUantry of the soldier, placed sentries
at the doors of the church (old St. Paul's), for the exclusive ad
mission of the ladies, tUl the arrival of the procession.
" The flags of the shipping were half-masted during the day ;
and on the front wall of the Exchange Coffee House, then re
cently opened by Mr. John Rourke (of eccentric memory), there
was hung up a large transparency, representing the apotheosis
* A portion of this poem will be found on another page.

106 HISTORICAL AND
of Washington, with this inscription, ' Washington in Q-lory —
The World in Tears.' It attracted the special observation of
large crowds of admiring spectators."
The resident population of the borough, in 1800, according to
the census, was 6,926 ; showing an increase in ten years of 3,976.
The officers of the Borough Corporation elected this year (not
one of whom now lives), were as follows : —
Mayor. — Seth Foster.
Recorder. — Thos. Newton, Sr.
Aldermen. — Cornelius Calvert, Baylor Hill, Samuel Moseley,
John K. Read, William Vaughan, John Cowper, and John
Stratton. Councilmen. — Robert Boush, President ; Thomas Newton, Jr.,
Thomas Blanchard, John Brown, John Nivison, Luke Wheeler,
Robert Taylor, Robert B. Taylor, Harrison AUmand, Richard
L. Green, John Bramble, James Bennett, George Wilson, James
Woodward, James Tucker, John G. Marsden.
Register. — William Sharp.
State's Attorney for the Borough. — James Nimmo.
Clerk of Hustings' Court and Common CouncU. — WiUiam
Sharp. Sergeant. — James Boyce.
Deputy Sergeant. — Jonathan Williamson.
Chamberlain. — Hance Baker.
Overseer of the Poor. — John Calvert.
Physician. — WUliam O'Grady.
Commissioner of Revenue Tax. — Paul Proby.
Commissioner of the Streets. — Edward Widgeon.
Clerk of the Market. — John Warrington.
Wood Measurer. — Robert Demster.
Harbour Master. — Paul Proby.
Inspectors of Lumber.— John Barre't, Frederick Hennicke,
and Henry Prescott.
Inspector of Flour. — John Dudgeon.
The value of exports this year from Virginia, and of course
principally from this port, was $4,430,689.
Norfolk was a busy, bustling place at this period. The popula
tion had nearly reached the respectable number of 8,000, includ-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 107
ing the transient and floating part of the community, with the
permanent residents. There were very many foreigners, prin
cipally from England and Scotland, and quite a large number
from France, Ireland, kc. Scores of vessels were at the
wharves, taking in and discharging cargoes, and " the streets
and lanes, from Main Street to the river, were thronged with a
heterogeneous mass of human beings." The houses were prin
cipally of wood ; the greater part of which have since disap
peared, and given place to substantial brick buUdings. There is
scarcely a house on Market Square that stood in 1800 ; only about
twenty on the north side of Main Street, and not so many on the
south side. None of the streets were paved ; and plentiful sup
plies of mud and water in winter, and of dust, frogs, and mos
quitoes in summer, there must have been. Church Street was
the only avenue by which the town could be entered by vehicles;
and a noisy, brisk thoroughfare it was. There were on this
street a large number of stores, and a very considerable retail
trade was transacted with the country people. The three brick
buUdings, now standing on the east side of this street, near the
Princess Anne Road, were built this year by " Monsieur Delisle,
a Frenchman from the West Indies, who went largely into the
brick-making business."
" There were four ship-yards in Norfolk, and two in Ports
mouth ; all of them just as busy as they could be. There was
no higgling about prices; the only question was, 'How soon
can the work be done ?' "
The Rev. Mr. Bland, an Episcopal minister, was, at this time,
" the regularly-instaUed pastor of St. Paul's Church, though not
the choice of the congregation." He was quite an eccentric gen
tleman, and besought his small assemblage of hearers " to do as
he told them ; not as he did."
Many persons congregated at the town-hall to attend the
ministrations of the Rev. J. Whitehead, also an Episcopalian
clergyman. The Methodists assembled in an old building on
Fenchurch Street, below Holt. The Baptists occupied a house
opposite their present church on Cumberland Street. The
Catholics worshipped in a small wooden chapel on Chapel Street,
on the site of the building which, a few years since, was sue-

108 HISTORICAL AND
ceeded by their fine house on Holt Street. The Presbyterians
were this year organized into a church, and soon after buUt the
house at the corner of Catharine and Charlotte Streets ; and,
within the next twelve months, the Protestant Episcopalians and
the Methodists, also, had commodious and comfortable houses of
worship erected ; the former on the site of the present Presby
terian Church, on Church Street, and the latter where their
buUding now stands, on Cumberland near Cove Street. The
Cumberland Street Baptist Church was erected in 1816. This
was a neat, plain, and commodious brick building. It has been
enlarged and greatly improved, and now presents a very chaste
and handsome front. The interior has recently been put in good
order, and is, perhaps, as beautifully finished as any house of
worship in the city. Rev. Reuben Jones is the present pastor.
1801. Up to this time, twenty-five years after the great con
flagration, one thousand houses had been erected in the borough,
averaging forty a year.
A Directory of Norfolk was published this year by Charles
H. Simmons, Esq. It was continued for several years, and
proved a profltable undertaking ; but the town having suffered
severely by fires, and the difficulties which attended the com
mercial affairs of the United States and Great Britain, having
resulted unfavourably for the prospects of Norfolk, this and
other enterprises were necessarily abandoned.
On the 2d of May, of this year, " Articles of Association and
Rules of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce" were agreed to at
the Exchange Coffee House. The officers were a president, vice-
president, secretary, and treasurer. The meetings were held on
the first Monday in every month.
We copy the following agreement of the Chamber, with the
subscribers' names : —
" Articles of Association and Rules of the Norfolk Chamber
of Commerce, agreed on at a meeting of the Chamber, held at
the Exchange Coffee House, on Tuesday the 2d of May, 1801.
" We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do hereby agree
to associate together, under the title of 'Members of the Chamber
of Norfolk,' for the purpose of aiding trade, the adjustment of

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES.

109

mercantile differences, and the carrying into effect such rules
and regulations as may, from time to time, be established."

Robert Taylor,
WUliam Pennock,
Robert Gibson,
Alexander Wilson,
Christopher Fry,
James Taylor, Jr.,
WiUiam Plume,
James Young,
Soulage,
John Cowper,
Luke Wheeler,
Thomas Newton,
John Cranberry,
Alexander Maclure,
Louis E. Durant,
John Brown,
Francis S. Taylor,
Phinehas Dana,
Nathan Macgill,
James Herron,
Moses Myers,
Thomas Higinbotham,
James Bennett,
Robert Dickson,

Henry Benbridge,
William A'aughan,
James Mackinder,
Edward Johnston,
Francis Smith,
Harrison AUmand,
Thomas WiUock,
Wright Southgate,
James Thorburn,
John Proudfit,
Martin Fisk,
James Tucker,
Thomas Hamilton,
Warren Ashley,
James Douglas,
Alexander Cowan,
William Raincock,
WiUiam Hartshorne, Jr.,
Samuel Kerr,
Daniel Stone,
WilUam Cuthbert,
Edward Archer,
Theodoric Armistead.

In 1802, that excellent and well-disciplined volunteer corps,
the Norfolk Junior Volunteers, now commanded by Captain F.
F. Ferguson, was founded.
UntU this year the Council was elected triennially, when, by
act of Assembly, the term of service was reduced from three
years to one year — the election, as heretofore, to take place on
the 24th of June.
January 27, 1803. Charter of the borough again amended,
so as to allow an alteration in the mode of electing councilmen.
The town was accordingly divided into eight wards, each elect-
iag, within its own bounds, two Common Councilmen.

110 HISTORICAL AND
CHAPTER XIIL
1803—1812.
WilUam Wirt — Letters, &c. — Norfolk Academy Incorporated, Trustees — An
nual Exports and Imports — Prosperous Condition of the Borough — Com
mercial Advantages — Agriculture — Extensive Fire — Heavy Losses — Distress
and Deaths — Market-House — River-side — Parade Ground — Taxes, &c. —
Expenditures of the Corporation — Large Bill for Gunpowder — The Poet
Moore — Shocking Tragedy — Comparative Statement — Norfolk People — Fo
reign Trade — Merchants — Commerce — Streets and Houses Labelled -Act of
Assembly relative to Paving the Streets — The Harbour filled with Vessels
— Immense Business — Transient People — Brilliant Prospects — Norfolk Mer
chants — Pennock and Myers — Norfolk Bar — Chesapeake Aff'air — Embargo —
Ruinous Effects upon Commerce — Embargo Law Repealed — Mechanical Be
nevolent Society — Places of Amusement — Public Gardens, Parks, and Groves
— Back Creek — Street Lamps — Solemn Funeral Procession — Burning of the
Theatre at Richmond — Soldier Sentenced to be Shot.
In the winter of 1803-4, William Wirt, Esq., then a distin
guished lawyer and writer, and afterwards Attorney-General of
the United States, removed to Norfolk, where he remained till
July, 1806. " From this date," says Kennedy, " we may compute
Wirt's rapid advancement lo eminence in his profession. WhUe
here, he wrote many valuable and interesting letters, which have
been published ; and his practice was very extensive and lucra
tive." He remarks in one of his letters, " In the Borough of
Norfolk every drone feels the pressure of business ;" and in
another, " Norfolk, as you guess, is very expensive. I keep, for
instance, a pair of horses here, which cost me eight pounds per
month. Wood is four to eight dollars per cord ; Indian meal,
through the winter, is nine shiUings per bushel ; this winter it is
supposed it will be fifteen. Flour, eleven and twelve doUars per
barrel ; a leg of mutton three dollars ; butter three shiUings per
pound ; eggs two shillings and three pence, and so on. Having
set out, however, with a view of making a provision for my family,
in the event of my being called away from them, I live as econo
mical as I can, so as to avoid giving my wife any reason for
regret at the recoUection of her father's house and table."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. Ill
1804, January 19. Act of Assembly passed, incorporating
the Trustees of the Norfolk Academy, and the foUowing gentle
men were appointed : Thomas Newton, Jr., John Nivison,
Thomas Blanchard, Theodoric Armistead, Robert Brough, John
E. Holt, Littleton W. Tazewell, Philip Barbour, Alexander Jor
dan, Richard H. Lee, and Arthur Lee.
The annual exports of the borough, for this and several pre
ceding years, and also for 1805, '6, and '7, varied from five to
seven millions ; and the importations were scarcely commensu
rate with the demand.
" It must be kept in mind that we then had no internal im
provements, in the common acceptation of the term, excepting a
partial use of the Dismal Swamp Canal, which, when compared
with the present magnificent work of that name, was as a mole
hill to a mountain. A glance at the map will show whence our
exports came. Look at the Chesapeake, which has been aptly
called our Mediterranean Sea. Its head stream, the Susquehanna,
penetrates far into Pennsylvania. To pass over the tributaries
from Maryland, which are alone sufficient to sustain a city, let
us come to Virginia. There is the Potomac and its tributaries ;
the Rappahannock and its tributaries ; the Piankitank ; the York
with its associated streams, the Mattaponi and the Pamunkey ;
the James with its northern and southern tributaries, which are
competent to support a large city ; and your own Elizabeth and
its tributaries. Look at the position of your port, which seems to
be designed to receive the produce of these mighty rivers, and to
become the mart of their commerce. But numerous as are these
channels of trade, your port received its tributes from many other
sources. North Carolina crowded the products of her soil and
her rich forests of pine and oak, on your wharves. The Dela
ware brought you the wealth of the States on its banks. Let me
ask in passing, whether these sources of trade are exhausted ?
Do the skies refuse their genial showers to our lands ? Do the
waters of your streams refuse to run to the sea. No, no ; on the
contrary, all the sources of your ancient wealth are still open,
and increased tenfold. New scenes are also open. Facilities of
intercommunication, not dreamed of half a century ago, now
exist. A late Richmond paper announces the wonderful intelli-

112 HISTORICAL AND
gence that a heavily laden canal packet may now pass to Bu
chanan, a settlement that is nestled among the AUeghanies.
Railroads, constructed at great cost, are multiplied and multiply
ing over our own State and the neighbouring States. Nor is
this all. The capacity of production is greater now than ever.
We have more people, more cultivated land, and more money.
There is hardly an acre of timber standing on the low grounds
which were of old given up in despair, but which modern skiU
has made avaUable for all the choicest productions of agricul
ture. Not a stream is closed against us ; not an acre of land but
but may be made to yield the full produce of the virgin soil."
This year, also, the commercial part of the town suffered
severely by fires. Many of the houses being built of wood, the
progress of the flames was very rapid, and they were subdued
with great difficulty. The loss in goods of every description was
immense, and the distress occasioned was very great. A respec
table old gentleman, seeing his goods consuming, committed him
self in desperation to the furious flames, in his own store, from
the ruins of which his remains were taken, — a charred mass;
and another leaped from the wharf, in a fit of excitement, and
was drowned.
The market-house was pulled down to save more valuable pro
perty. This was situated in the upper part of the Market Space,
on a line with Main Street, — the ends being east and west ; and
the north side being nearly on a line with the south side of Main
Street, east from the square. From the market-house there was
a gradual descent to the river-side, — a part of which was near
the spot now occupied by Barry's extensive China establishment,
corner of Union Street, long known as the Steamboat Hotel.
West from this location, the shore extended further south ; per
haps as far as Water Street. The parade ground was on the
declivity in the rear of the market-house.
Total amount of taxes, and other funds, received by the Corporation
this year, ........ ^17,263 72
Moneys paid, as per the Chamberlain's Account, . . . 8,653 72

Balance due the Corporation, January 1st, 1806, . . . ^8,610 00

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 113
Of the above amount, for expenditures, the sum of §246 was
paid for powder to blow up houses.
This year, Thomas Moore, Esq., the poet, who was on a visit
to the United States, came to Norfolk, and while here, composed
a song, which he caUed " The Lake of the Dismal Swamp."
This affecting poetic effusion will be found in another part of
this work, in connexion with a description of that silent and
secluded collection of water. Moore was born in Ireland, and
educated at Trinity College, Dublin. "His prejudices did not
allow him to form a favourable opinion of this country." Some
of his poems are justly censured for their licentious character,
while others are much admired for their surpassing beauty,
pathos, and religious sentiment. He returned to his native land
in 1806, and soon after pubUshed, "The Two-Penny Post-Bag ;"
"The Fudge Family in Paris;" "The Loves of the Angels;" and
" Lalla Rookh ;" an Oriental romance, " which unites the purest
and softest tenderness, with the loftiest dignity, and in every
page glows with all the fervour of poetry."
1806. This year, a shocking tragedy occurred in a building
on the north side of Little Water Street, two doors east of Com
merce. " Two gamblers, brothers, of the name of Davis, rented
the third story for the purpose of keeping a pharo table. One
night an Italian, whose name we beUeve was Colmini [Coalmi-
ner, as he was commonly called), visited this establishment, and
meeting with an extraordinary run of luck, finally broke the
bank. The Davises and another of their fraternity charged him
with cheating ; he protested his innocence, but it was to no pur
pose. They attempted to seize him, but he broke from them and
fled down the narrow dark stairway, all three in close pursuit.
On the second landing he stepped aside, unperceived, and as
each passed him on the right, in the dark, he gave him a fatal
stab with a stiletto in the left side, and a push down the next
flight. The two Davises were mortally wounded and died within
twenty-four hours ; their companion lingered several weeks and
died also. The Italian escaped."
For the following statement, prepared from Simmons's Direc-

114 HISTORICAL AND
tory for this year, we are indebted to the kindness of an intelli
gent citizen.
Corporation. — Mayor, recorder, aldermen, and officers of the
court in 1806, flfteen; survivors in 1852, none. Common
Council, nineteen ; survivor, John Southgate. Constables and
watchmen, thirteen ; survivors, none. Overseers of the poor,
inspectors, measurers, fire wardens, and others, fifty-eight ; sur
vivors, none.
Lnstitutions. — Trustees and teachers of the Norfolk Academy,
fourteen ; survivor, L. W. Tazewell, trustee. Directors and
visitors of the Female Orphan Asylum, sixteen ; survivors, Mrs.
Taylor, Mrs. Chandler, and Mrs. Woodward. President and
directors of the Dismal Swamp Canal Company, seven ; survivor,
F. Whittle. President and directors of the Norfolk Drawbridge
Company, six ; survivor, C. Fry. Officers and members of the
Marine Society, sixty-two ; survivors, none. Officers and mem
bers of the Chamber of Commerce, thirty-five ; survivors, John
Southgate and George M'Intosh. President, directors, and
secretary of the Marine Insurance Company, eighteen ; survivors,
John Southgate, and F. Whittle. President, directors, and
officers of the United States Bank, twenty-one ; survivor, A.
Maclure. Virginia Bank, twenty ; survivor, John Southgate.
Masonic Lodges. — Royal Arch, fourteen ; No. 1, eighteen ;
No. 51, ten ; no survivors.
Militia. — 54th Regiment, colonel and staff, majors, and adju
tants, eight; survivors, none. Effective rank and file, eight
hundred and thirty-five ; survivors, unknown. First battaUon,
twenty-two ; survivor, William Maxwell. Second battalion,
eighteen ; no survivor.
Lawyers and notaries, ten ; survivor, L. W. Tazewell. Custom
House officers, twenty-one; no survivors. Marine Hospital,
three ; survivors, none. Post-office, four ; survivors, none. Navy
Agency, three ; survivors, none. Of course, but few remain,
after the lapse of nearly half a century. Death could not spare,
till the present time, many of those who had come to mature
age at the period here alluded to.
Mr. Simmons says of Norfolk, in 1806 : " At present, not
withstanding the great fires of 1799 and 1804, which consumed

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 115
the most extensive commercial part of the town, there are about
twelve hundred houses — the suburbs have nearly two hundred
dwelUngs. The number of inhabitants may be computed at
nearly ten thousand, and they are characterized by travellers as
generally polite, obUging, and hospitable.
" It carries on a brisk trade to Europe, the West Indies, and
the States, in tobacco, provisions, naval stores, and lumber, which,
in the last two quarters of this year, amounted to §1,852,883.
In 1805, the amount in domestic produce was §3,880,347, and in
foreign articles to §507,907.
" The number of vessels from foreign ports entered at Norfolk
in 1800, were three hundred and fifty-sis; in 1801, three hun
dred and sixty -nine; in 1802, four hundred and fifty- three ; in
1804, four hundred and eighty-four ; in 180-5, three hundred
and sixty-eight ; in 1806, three hundred and thirteen."
About this time the streets were labelled and the houses num
bered. January 3d, 1807. An Act of Assembly was passed empower
ing the court of Norfolk Borough to cause the streets to be
paved, on certain conditions.
" Your harbour," says an observant visiter, alluding to this
period, " capacious as it is, was filled with ships from foreign
ports. The coasting trade, which distributed your imports, em
ployed hundreds of vessels, whose streamers, mingUng on a gala
day with the flags of the foreign ships, presented a cheering
spectacle. A gentleman, recently deceased, who had come out
of the war in the South with a shattered constitution, and who
sought to recover his health by a sea trip to the North, informed
me that it was difficult even in 1787 to cross in a ferry boat from
Norfolk to Portsmouth, on account of the great number of vessels
in the harbour. Your warehouses were full of foreign and
domestic products. Besides your stated population, there was
always a body of transient people, respectable in point of num
bers, and demanding house-room and board. The houses ex
tended from the western end of Main and Broad Water to their
eastern extremity. Church Street was lined with tenements
from Main Street to the borough limits. The people Uved freely,

116 HISTORICAL AND
and indulged in those expenses which contribute to fill the trea
sury of a city. Horses, carriages, phaetons, chairs, carts, and
drays, almost beyond number, abounded. Your market stalls
alone at that day would have afforded a fine subject of taxation;
for the demand for provisions for your stated and floating popu
lation was so . great and so long continued, as to render every
acre of ground, and every beast of the field, and every fowl of the
air, within sixty or eighty miles around you, subsidiary to your
market." " The rapidity with which the borough rose from utter ruin in
1783 to the flourishing condition above described, attracted
unusual attention, and the conviction was general that, as it had
become so great from so poor a beginning in so short a time, it
would continue to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest)
commercial towns in the Union."
" Without yielding to the spirit of a laudator temporis acti,"
said a gentleman, alluding to some of the Norfolk people of those
days, " and willing to accord to the existing generation all that
its merits deserve, I must declare that I have rarely met, either
at home or abroad, with their equals. They possessed in an
eminent degree what may be called the chivalry of the commer
cial character, and displayed in their bearing a dignity and grace
which looked infinitely beyond an ignoble rivalry and the tricks
of trade. One may look long even now in the Northern cities
to find the counterpart of the counting-rooms of Pennock and
Myers, in the meridian of your commercial renown. I have often
regretted that the great merchants of your great epoch, crushed
by political events which no human foresight could have antici
pated, bequeathed to their descendants no remnant of the wealth
which flowed in upon them with every wind and from every shore.
But they lived at a period of great political trial. We can, how
ever, emulate their worth, their enterprise, their magnanimous
demeanour, and their comprehensive charity.
" It is also delightful to contemplate the characters of the
mothers and daughters of that day."
These were days "when," to use the forcible language of
another, " one might walk from Norfolk to Portsmouth on the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 117
decks of the vessels at anchor in the harbour — when the rich
products of the Indies were piled on our wharves, and stored in
our warehouses — when our merchants bought cargoes of cotton,
corn, and tobacco, and shipped on private account — when Rich
mond and Petersburg were tributary to Norfolk, and their mer
chants flocked periodically hither to purchase their supplies —
when the business of Norfolk was comparatively larger than that
of New York, and really larger than that of Baltimore — when
Norfolk, as proud then of her citizens, and as rich in intellect as
she was affiuent and progressive in trade, boasted a triumvirate
at the bar as brilliant as ever entranced a jury, or expounded
constitutional law; when our majestic Tazewell adorned the
Senate — when the gifted Taylor and Wirt wrestled in the Forum,
and surpassed the models of antiquity in elegance of diction,
power of eloquence, and splendour of forensic triumph.
*******
" The intellectual triumvirate is broken, not demolished ;
Taylor, the laborious student, in after years the able and inde
fatigable lawyer ; Wirt, the splendid jurist, the captivating orator
of the school of Cicero, whose magic eloquence aforetime gave a
still deeper tint of loveliness to the shades of Blennerhassett —
these sleep well. One polished shaft is stUl standing to tell of
bygone days, venerable with the ivy of age and eloquent of
almost classic memories: Tazewell, the astute statesman and
retired citizen, yet lingers in our midst."
In the summer of 1807 occurred the wanton attack of the
British frigate Leopard upon the Chesapeake, and the seizure
and imprisonment of several of her crew upon the aUegation that
they were British subjects.
The Embargo Act of December 22d, 1807, having become the
law of the land, the ports were of course closed ; exportation
nearly ceased, and business in the towns on the coast was sud
denly and sadly interrupted. " In a moment, the commerce of
the American Republic, from being in point of extent the second
in the world, was reduced to a coasting trade between the indivi
dual States."
1809. The embargo law was repealed, and " a ray of pros
perity burst through the general gloom."

118 HISTORICAL AND
The Mechanical Benevolent Society was organized this year.
In addition to the benevolent objects of this association, there is
a provision by which the amount paid in by a member, is re
turned two-fold to his family after his death. The annual in
come at this time amounts to about $3000. It was incorpo
rated by Act of Assembly, January 19th, 1811.
The following is the list of the places of amusement and re
creation in Norfolk and vicinity at this date, many of which
continued for years after : — A theatre, the Wigwam Gardens,
Vauxhall Gardens and Baths, Rosainville's Bower, Lindsay's
Retreat, Museum Naturae, and Botanical Gardens.
These were all pretty well attended and sustained. The gar
dens were frequented on Sundays, and on the evenings of the
other days of the week ; and they were crowded on public occa
sions. Not one of these places now remains. This may be some
evidence of the improvement in the morals of the community, to
whom it is hoped the churches, the family circle, the social even
ing party, and interesting books, present sufficient attraction to
supersede the necessity of any of the above-named places of
amusement ; although it is not denied that well-conducted gar
dens, affording the means of innocent recreation, and a pleasant
retreat from the noise and bustle of the city, without furnishing
the means of, and presenting temptations to, intemperance and
dissipation, and encouraging the profanation of the Lord's day,
would be a valuable acquisition to the city, and meet with the
countenance and support of the public.
The places above alluded to, probably received their principal
support from visiters, and from foreigners and other persons
connected with the shipping. But our citizens, old and young,
the fair daughters of Norfolk especially, feel the want of some
agreeable and pleasant place of resort as a promenade. We
have no pleasant and inviting parks* or groves here, in which
to take an evening ramble, and enjoy the balmy breezes in
spring, summer, and autumn times; with cheering strains of
* The public parks^of New York City are 10 in njimber, aud embrace a
space of more than 170 acres. The pubUc parks in PhUadelphia are 11 in
number, and cover a large space of ground.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 119
music to calm the troubled, agitated soul after the turmoil of
the day ; or, at '' morning's earliest hour," to listen with delight
to the cheerful notes of the feathered songsters of the grove.*
The expediency of condemning the property west of Bank
Street, opposite the City HaU, and of filling up the water-lots
and Back Creek, between Bank and Granby Streets, for a
pubUc square, has been favourably considered by the councils.
This would be an improvement of very great utUity to the city,
and, doubtless, increase the healthfulness, as well as the good
appearance of the place.
" The accompUshment of such a work has long been considered
a desiderattim to the improvement of the city, and, independent
of the removal of such an unsightly spectacle from the very
heart of the town, it wUl contribute in other respects to its sub
stantial advancement. We hope that the matter will be taken
up in earnest by the two councUs, and pressed with energy to
its successful completion."
January 11, 1811. Act of Assembly passed, authorizing the
corporation to erect lamps for the purpose of Ughting the streets.
January 5, 1812. This day was set apart by the Mayor for
an expression, on the part of the citizens, of condolence on ac
count of an awftd calamity, that had fallen upon the city of
Richmond — ^the burning of the theatre on the night of the 26th
December of the preceding year, by which more than seventy
Uves were lost. Governor Smith, and other distinguished indi
viduals, were among the victims ; — a most heart-rending scene,
one of those sudden and dreadful visitations that baffles all at
tempts at description.f The inhabitants of the borough of Nor-
* In the flourishing city of Memphis, on the Mississippi, in Tennessee, there
are large natural groves; and, but recently, the wild birds were warbling
there, and sporting among the dense green foUage of the taU forest trees.
J The theatre at Capo d'Istria, in Italy, fell, and crushed the performers and
audience to death, February 6th, 1794.
The theatre at Meutz was destroyed by fire during the performance, and, on
the faUing in of which, many were crushed to death, and above seventy burnt,
August, 1796.
The first play-house ever erected was that of Bacchus, at Athens, by PhUos,
B. C. 420. The ruins stiU exist.

120 HISTORICAL AND
folk, with those of other places, exhibited suitable evidences of
their profound sorrow for the mournful event.
The civil authorities, officers of the Army and Navy, the volun
teer companies, and an immense concourse of citizens, slowly
marched, with solemn music, through the streets. An urn was
carried in the procession ; the bells tolled a funeral knell, and
an appropriate discourse was delivered. The Herald states,
that " a more solemn and impressive scene -was never witnessed
in the borough."
September 5, 1812. A private in Lieutenant Swift's corps
of marines, stationed at the Navy Yard, having been sentenced
to be shot, for deserting his post while on guard, this was the
day appointed for his execution. " The awful moment was
announced by the solemn roll of the drum ; the delinquent was
conducted from the prison, with the usual ceremonies custo
mary on such occasions, and led to the fatal spot where he was
to suffer. The whole detachment were under arms, twelve of
whom were selected to execute the sentence. When the proces
sion halted, the lieutenant delivered an address, of which the fol
lowing is an extract : —
" ' Soldiers ! — An awful scene is now presented for your con
templation. You behold before you one of your comrades, about
to pay the forfeit of that crime, which it has been my constant
duty to warn you against ; he enlisted to serve his country — and
deserted. In peace, this is a crime of the first magnitude, and
Theatres were first introduced into England in 1566 ; opposed by the Puri
tans in 1633 ; revived by Charles II., 1660.
"Plays are unbecoming and pernicious pastimes." — Sockates.
"They raise the passions, aud pervert the use of them; and are, conse
quently, dangerous to morality." — Plato.
"They are lascivious vanities and contagious evUs." — Pluiakoh.
"Plays are pernicious, and corrupt youth." — Sir Matthew Hale.
"One play-house ruins more souls than fifty churches can save."— Judge
Bulstrade. " Mr. Macready, the eminent tragedian, now resides at Sherborne, in the
bosom of a most interesting family of twelve children. Among many exceUent
rules for the government of his family, is one from which, it is said, lie has
never deviated. It is that no one of his chUdren should ever, on any pretence,
enter a theatre, or have any visiting connexion with actors or actresses."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 121
its penalty death ; how enormous then is the transgression of this
man, who has deserted his country in her hour of peril.
******
" ' The benefit of the service requires that he suffer death, and,
in a few moments, he will be launched into eternity ! I beseech
you, soldiers, to take warning from his fate ; fulfil the solemn
obligations enjoined upon you, and refrain from the guilty path
into which he has wandered to his own destruction.'
"At the conclusion of the speech a solemn pause ensued ; — a
signal was given, and immediately the engines of death were
aimed at the devoted victim ; — another pause, and the arm of
death was arrested. An officer rushed through the crowd, hold
ing a paper in his hand. It was a reprieve !"

CHAPTER XIV.
1813.
War Declared — ^Warlike Preparations — Battle of Craney Island — Enemy's
Fleet and Troops — Dreadful Execution of our Guns — Shameful Depredations
of the British — Incidents of the Battle — Letter from General R. B. Taylor —
Extracts from the Herald.
Congress having declared war against Great Britain, Norfolk
was, of course, from its position, expected to be a prominent point
of attack ; therefore, a large force was concentrated here, and
preparations were made to give the enemy a warm reception,
whenever he might find it convenient to pay a visit to the hos
pitable old borough.
June 22, 1813. On this memorable day Craney Island was
attacked by the British, and defended in a manner that reflected
lasting honour upon the noble band of heroes who took part in
that important battle, as well as upon the State and country at

122 historical and
large. It was indeed a brilliant affair. The cool deliberation
and mature judgment ; the bravery and enthusiasm which were
so strikingly manifested on the occasion by our comparatively
small force, and the complete success of the day, all united to
render this battle one of the most decisive and victorious that
occurred during the war.
Craney Island lies about five miles from Norfolk, commanding
the inward approach from Hampton Roads ; and on its defence
depended the safety of the borough, as well as of Portsmouth
and the surrounding country. The splendid repulse of the
enemy there, doubtless, prevented a more severe and bloody
conflict, if not an exhibition of inhumanity and barbarity similar
to that which took place at Hampton, shortly after this engage
ment. The fortifications of this small island were ordered by Major
General Wade Hampton, during his command of this district,
and the works were executed under the direction of Colonel
Armistead. The enemy's fleet had come up to Newport's News on the
21st, and were soon in readiness to cover the intended attack of
the boats on the following day. The British presented a very
formidable and imposing array. There were about twenty ves
sels, consisting of seventy-fours, frigates, and transports, and an
armed force of about 4000 men.
A small battery was erected by the Virginians on the island,
mounting one eighteen-pounder, two twenty-four, and four six-
pounders. Our force consisted, principally, of about 400 militia
men, one company of riflemen, and two companies of light
artUlery, one of which was commanded by Captain Arthur Emer
son, of Portsmouth. General Robert B. Taylor, the command
ing officer of the District at this time, increased this small force
by a detachment of 30 men from Fort Norfolk,* commanded by
* This is a circular brick fort, on the north side of the river, aud about a
mUe from the western limits of the city. It has been long neglected, and is
fast faUing into ruins. Fort Norfolk is situated nearly ojiposite the U. S. Naval
Hospital, the site of old Fort Nelson. These forts were, of course, intended
to guard the entrance to the inner harbour. During the war, an immense
chain was extended across the' river from these two points.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 123
Captain PoUard, of the U. S. Army. Lieutenant Johnson, of
Culpeper, and Ensign A. Atkinson, of Captain HamUton
Shields's Company of Riflemen, from Isle of Wight, with about
30 volunteers, were also added, by order of the chief officer.
Lieutenants Neale, Shubrick, and Saunders, with about 150 sea
men, also joined our force, by the direction of Captain Tarbell,
of the U. S. Ship Constellation, then at the naval anchorage,
and they acted a brave and noble part in the battle. Captain
Emmerson and Lieutenant Thomas Godwin, each commanded a
twenty-four-pounder, and the eighteen-pounder was commanded
by Captain Rooke, who was at this time master of a merchant-
ship — the Manhattan, of New York — then at anchor in our har
bour. These three pieces of ordnance were served by men from
the Constellation. Lieutenant Howie, Sergeants Young and
Livingston, and Corporal Moffatt, separately commanded the
six-pounders, at which was stationed the artillery company of
Portsmouth. The whole force concentrated at the Island was in
command of Colonel Beatty, assisted by Majors Wagner and
Faulkner. " A long pole was got, to which the ' star-spangled banner'
was nailed, the pole planted in the breastwork, and the stars and
stripes floated in the breeze."
About 2600 of the British troops landed at a distance of two
miles below the Island, and the action was commenced by that
division of the enemy's force. Congreve rockets were thrown
upon the Island, from a house on the mainland, within cannon-
shot of our battery, and owned by Captain George Wise. Cap
tain Rooke, who was nearest this point, was ordered to flre into
the house, the view of which was partially obstructed by a thick
growth of trees. A brisk fire of grape and canister-shot was
immediately opened upon it ; and such was the precision with
which the guns were served, that the British were completely
routed, with a loss of many killed and wounded; among the
former, two of the officers. The eighteen-pounder, served as it
was with extraordinary rapidity, and aimed with unerring pre
cision, dealt death and destruction at every fire.* MeanwhUe,
* Captain Rooke had been a member of one of the companies in service, but
was discharged at his own request, and took command of the ship Manhattan,

124 HISTORICAL AND
the enemy was approaching the island with fifty large barges,
filled with soldiers, to the number of about 1500, advancing in
regular column-order, led on by the Admiral's boat of twenty-
four oars, and fifty-two feet long, with a brass three-pounder in
her bow. When Captain Emmerson supposed that they were
near enough to be reached by his twenty-four-pounder, he cried
out, in a loud, stern voice, "Now, boys, are you ready?" and
the quick response was, " We are ready." "Fire!" rejoined
the brave and enthusiastic Captain ; and the battery forthwith
opened upon them a dreadful fire of grape and canister. The
foremost boats advanced, however, until they grounded, " when
so quick and galling was the fire, that they were thrown into the
greatest confusion, and forthwith commenced a hasty retreat.
Four or five of the boats were sunk, one of them the Admiral's
barge ; and many others were so shattered that it was with diffi
culty they were kept afloat."
An eventful moment had come and passed ; and exceedingly
important interests were involved in the result of this engage-
of New York, which was at that time bound from Norfolk to Europe, with a
load of lumber. He was requested by Captain Emmerson to aid in the contest,
and consented. While the enemy was approaching the island, it was found, to
the dismay of our men, that the ordnance were not in a suitable position, and
would prove useless unless removed ; and yet it was thought impossible to
make the alteration in time. At this crisis. Captain R. asked for a certain
number of men, and the work was soon accompUshed; the guns were quickly
ready for the work of death.
Rooke was a man of astonishing energy and spirit ; of unwavering perseve
rance and dauntless bravery. Some thought, after the fight, that to his effi
cient services we were principally indebted for the decisive result in our favour.
He discovered, on the occasion, a British soldier, probably an ofBoer, up in a
tree, making observations, whereupon he immediately took aim, and the un
erring shot carried away one of the man's legs.
Captain R. died suddenly, at Key West, Fa., in June, 1834, aged 45. His
estimable widow resides in PhUadelphia. They had nine children, four sons
aud five daughters, all of whom are now living, and all, except one, have been
married. Five of them reside in Philadelphia, one in Norfolk, one in Ports
mouth, one in South Carolina, and one in Texas.
No legal claim can be made upon the Government by his heirs, as he had
been discharged when the battle took place. A special appropriation by Con
gress, would, under the circumstances, meet with the approbation of a grateful
people.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 125
ment. The enemy's force was large and formidable ; ours, com
paratively, as to numbers, inconsiderable. When the flring of
the guns announced the commencement of the action, hundreds
of our citizens, both male and female, young and old, hastened
to the shores on the northwestern part of the town; and as, with
straining eyes, they gazed upon the approaching enemy, and
witnessed the quick and vivid flashes from the engines of death,
their hearts beat with emotion ; for there were fathers, and sons,
and brothers there. And then, the day might not have been
gained, the victory might not have been won, by that gallant
band of heroes ; and who could tell their fate, and the sad con
sequences that might have followed a defeat ; the distress and
suffering that might have fallen with crushing weight upon the
inhabitants of the two towns, should the enemy have succeeded
in gaining possession of them ? But there were brave and
powerful men there ; and the zeal, activity, and fury of the Vir
ginians on this occasion, have seldom, if ever, been surpassed.
The execution of the guns was terrible. From the commence
ment of the firing, till the boats had retreated beyond the reach
of the balls, there was almost a constant blaze and one continual
roar ; while the mathematical precision with which the faithful
guns were served, from first to last, was truly wonderful. Every
fire appeared to deal death and havoc among the enemy's troops,
a number of whom were killed and many were wounded ; some
were drowned, whUe others clung to the sinking boats, and cried
piteously for help.
A ball from Captain Emmerson's gun is said to have almost cut
in twain and sunk the Admiral's barge ; some, however, gave the
credit to Lieutenant Howie ; while others thought that Sergeant
William P. Young, with his six-pounder, did the business. It
was, doubtless, very difficult to tell which gun did the most fear
ful execution ; although it is very generally conceded, that to
Captain E. a large share of the honour of the day was justly due.
The loss of the enemy in killed, wounded, and prisoners was
two hundred. The Virginians did not lose a single man.*
* Before the enemy's forces had left the main land, the remaining supply of
powder on the island blew up, from some unknown cause, and the sentinel
that guarded it was kiUed. Fortunately, the British troops did not discover
the accident.

126 HISTORICAL AND
Here, as in 1775, at the battle of the Great Bridge, fifteen
mUes distant, not one of the sons of freedom fell — no hero, over
whose mortal remains to erect a monument. It is believed, that
if a single life had been lost from the ranks of the Virginians, a
suitable and enduring memorial would have been speedily raised
to his memory.
During the action. Captain Shields's riflemen waded out for
some distance, hoping to get within reach of the enemy, but did
not generally succeed. Some of our men brought the Admiral's
boat, the Centipede, to the shore, with a number of guns, pistols,
and cutlasses. On board of this barge, one of the enemy's men
was found with both legs shot off. Our men carefully wrapped
him in the sails of the boat, and took him to the shore, where
death soon put an end to his sufferings. The twenty-four pounder,
commanded by Lieutenant Godwin, and one of the six-pounders,
were disabled by the breaking of the carriages, in consequence
of the heavy charges and rapid firing.*
That portion of the British troops that had landed, returned
to the shipping in the afternoon, after having committed most
shameful deprecations, such as "shooting hogs, sheep, &c.,
breaking furniture, cutting open beds, &c., in the dweUing-houses
near which they landed."
The following is an extract of a letter from General Taylor to
the Secretary of War, dated July 4th, 1813.
" The courage and constancy with which this inferior force, in
the face of a formidable naval armament, not only sustained a
position in which nothing was complete, but repelled the enemy
with considerable loss, cannot fail to command the approbation
of their government, and the applause of their country. It has
infused in the residue of the army, a general spirit of competi-
* The descriptions that have been pubUshed of this battie have generaUy
been very incorrect. Great injustice has been done to the chief actors. The
reader will scarcely beUeve that such a statement as the following could have
been made by one who had the means of furnishing all the particulars. This
is an extract from one of the several erroneous accounts.
"Major Faulkner and Captain Emerson, with the brave volunteers and
militia, were on the island, ready, no doubt, and anxious to take part in the
fight; but the enemy did not come within range of musket-shot, and the battie
was fought with three eighteen-pounders, worked by the seamen, and directed
by the ofScers, from the frigate ConsteUation."(!!)

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 127
tion, the beneficial effects of which will, I trust, be displayed in
our future combats.
" I cannot witjihold my grateful acknowledgments to Commo
dore Cassin, Captain Tarbell, and the other officers and crews of
the Constellation and gun-boats, who have, in every instance,
aided our operations with a cordiality, zeal, and ability, not to
be surpassed."
The following extract relative to the battle is from the Herald :
" Such a band of heroes as lately united their efforts to fortify
and defend the town of Norfolk, deserve the plaudits of their
country. It was very fortunate that Governor Barbour and
General Taylor were in office at a period so extremely critical ;
for no men could have exerted themselves more for the salvation
of the State. Aid was sent from all parts of Virginia. At
every alarm the whole people were in arms. The old and the
young were seen at their posts, and each seemed to rival his'
neighbour in alacrity and zeal. The defenders of Craney Island
are entitled to the warmest thanks of every true patriot. The
invading enemy was astonished, when he saw his attempts so
ably repulsed, and so soon rendered abortive. Thus the great
Ruler of the universe frequently permits the valour of a few to
defeat the wicked projects of the ambitious."*

CHAPTER XV.
1813.
Anxiety of the Citizens — General Taylor — Fortifications — Forts Tar and Bar
bour — 54th Regiment — Lieutenant Broughton — Orders to March to Slaugh
ter's Field — Excitement — False Alarm — Spirited Remarks of the Herald —
Excitement Increased — Mr. Broughton's Statement — The Independents —
54th Regiment — Juniors — Artillery — Admiral Cochrane — Militia — Eflfect of
the Repulse at the Island.
Great anxiety continued to be felt for the safety of Norfolk,
Portsmouth, and the surrounding country, and it was indeed a
* The anniversary of the battle of Craney Island should be celebrated, at
least by the gaUant volunteers of Norfolk and Portsmouth.

128 HISTORICAL AND
fortunate circumstance that officers so efficient and energetic
were in command here at the time. The enemy desired to
gain possession of the two towns, and had intended to make
a great effort to obtain them. Had success crowned the attack
of the British, the consequences would, doubtless, have been
lamentable ; and the towns once gained, it would have required
tremendous exertions, if not a second general conflagration, to
dispossess them. Consequently, the soldiers and citizens were
required by the officers to be exceedingly vigilant. It was feared
that they might land at some point on the bay shore, and pro
ceed by land to the town ; in view of which, a redoubt was thrown
up, south of Armistead's Bridge, called Fort Tar ; after which,
other fortifications were erected, with great labour and despatch,
near the northeastern extremity of the town, and called Fort
Barbour,* the remains of which are still to be seen on the east
of Church Street, and south of Princess Anne Road. ^
We are indebted to the Herald for the following editorial
remarks :
" On the day of the attack on Craney Island (June 22, 1813),
the 54th regiment, Norfolk Borough, was called out, en masse,
and the writer of this article (then a Lieutenant of the 54th) was
assigned the command of a draft of forty men, to escort the
prisoners and deserters from the British (about the same num
ber) to Richmond, to be delivered to the. United States Marshal.
The militia of the regiment were kept under arms on that occa
sion some ten or fifteen days, — during which time they were
turned out, one bright Sabbath morning, upon an alarm brought
to town by a vidette of the guard stationed at Sewell's Point,
that the enemy were landing on the shore between them and the
mouth of Tanner's Creek. The inteUigence came so direct, and
was related with so much circumstantiality, that no one pre
tended to doubt that the enemy had landed in good earnest, and
would be upon us in two or three hours at the utmost.
" Their orders were to march with all haste to Slaughter's Old
Field (ominous name !), about three miles from the city, on the
* A brick-kiln, just ready for burning, being on the line of this work, dirt
was thrown over it, and it assisted in forming the fortification. The remains
of the kiln were discovered in 1850.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 129
Princess Anne Road, and there wait the enemy's coming (which,
no one doubted, would be in less than an hour), and amuse him,
while the different regiments around the city were taking up
their most advantageous positions for defence. The excitement
was great among the women and children in town, and the feel
ings of their natural protectors, thus compelled to leave them to
the fate of war, were none of the pleasantest. They put a good
face on it, however, and with a dogged determination to do their
duty, they took the dangerous post assigned them. But it proved
to be a false alarm."
An officer rode impetuously through the ranks, announcing
that the enemy had really landed, and was preparing to enter
the town. The drums beat to arms, the greatest enthusiasm was
exhibited by many, and the most active preparations were made
to receive the hostile army. It was either on this or a subse
quent occasion, as we have learned, that the alarm given was
intentionally false, to test the readiness on the part of our troops
for an attack, and which proved quite satisfactory.
On April 5th, 1814, the following stirring, patriotic, and belli
gerent editorial appeared in the columns of the Norfolk Herald,
and tended to increase the anxiety and excitement, which were
already great, among both citizens and soldiers :
" The long talked of expedition which the enemy has been
preparing at Bermuda and elsewhere, to come against the Southern
ports of the United States is now, we may reasonably suppose,
on its way hither. Report says, that the armament composing
this expedition consists of a large number of ships of the line
and frigates ; also gun-boats, bomb-ketches, rocket vessels, &c.,
with all the various engines of death and destruction; and a
land force of five or six thousand marines and riflemen ! In a
few days, perhaps to-morrow, we may hear of their arrival in the
Chesapeake, or in Hampton Roads, for Norfolk will certainly be
the first point of attack. It would be mere idle boasting in us
to say, that the enemy, with a force which he has taken ample
time to prepare, and has, no doubt, adapted to the natural ob
stacles he will have to contend against, will come into our waters
merely to threaten and alarm us, and return without attempting
anything : such an idea would be absurd. They wUl assuredly

130 HISTORICAL AND
make a desperate attempt to get possession of Norfolk and Ports
mouth, but whether they will succeed is by no means so certain.
Indeed, let every man, whether citizen or soldier, go resolutely
to work, resolved to contend as long as life lasts, to repel the
invader or die in the attempt, and it will be morally impossible
for the town to be taken. The geographical situation of Norfolk
is such that it cannot be taken with its present defences, without
the enemy should meet with simultaneous success, from a simul
taneous attack by land and water. For let them land and gain
possession of the town, unless they have the harbour free for
their shipping to come up, they cannot keep it, and to retreat,
they would be cut to pieces. And where could they land their
six thousand men for the attack, that a complement of two thou
sand would not cut them up before they reached the town ?
The nearest point at which they could land would be thirteen
miles off, and their road (let them choose which they please),
would be principally through almost impenetrable thickets of
pine and myrtle, whose thick foliage would afford excellent am
buscades for our riflemen and light infantry. Besides this, we
' could throw such obstructions in the way of the enemy's march
as would, with the co-operation of judicious ambuscades, throw
them into disorder and render their capture or destruction in
evitable. Upon the known courage and skill of our gallant tars,
and the garrisons in the different forts, we may rely with confi
dence for the defence of the town in the event of an attack by
water. " Again we say, let every man who can carry a musket, or any
other weapon that will destroy the enemy, fly to meet him at the
water s edge, and dispute every inch of ground to the thresh
old of his own dwelling ; and there protect his property and fire
side while a drop of blood flows in his veins. Let us fulfll our
duty to our country, and those dear dependents on our protection,
our wives and children, and Heaven will smile upon and prosper
our efforts. But if we basely fly, or avoid the struggle, contempt
and infamy will pursue us to an ignominious grave. Who that
feels the honest glow of national pride, but instinctively feels
the blush of shame suffuse his cheek at the bare thought of an
important and flourishing town, situated in the heart of our

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 131
country, and at the threshold of the capitol, falling into the
hands of an invader ? Norfolk once taken by the enemy could
be held until given up by negotiation, or an act of grace. But
we have said enough. It were treason to doubt that the brave
sons of Virginia would not defend their soil and justify the highest
expectations of their country."
The following particulars are given by T. G. Broughton, Esq.,
of the Herald :
" In June, 1812, a new volunteer company was recruited from
the line of the 54th, called the ' Independents.' It was officered
by Captain Julian Magagnos, and Lieutenants George Lindsay
and John Capron. There was no further call upon the 54th
regiment, that the writer remembers, after the expiration of the
first six months' tour, which was in August, 1813, until the fol
lowing year, when, probably about the month of March, 1814,
the army having been greatly reduced in number, by discharges
on expiration of terms of service, our volunteers were again called
into service, with the addition of the new corps of Independents,
until new drafts could arrive froin the upper country. They
served a tour of three months."
******
" The army at this station (one regiment of U. S. Infantry in
the field, and one battalion of Artillery in the forts excepted)
was composed of volunteers and drafted militia, from all parts
of the State, and, towards the close of the war, from North Ca
rolina. The 54th regiment, Norfolk Borough, was frequently
called out, en masse, for brief periods, during the war; but the
volunteers served for specified terms. The Juniors, Captain G.
W. Camp; the Cavalry, Captain Thomas McCandlish, and the
Light Artillery, Captain George Ott, volunteered their services
at the commencement of the war, but were not mustered into the
United States service tUl the February after, when the enemy
having invaded our waters with his ships of war, for the first
time, on the 3d of that month, the Governor of Virginia (the
late James Barbour), issued his proclamation caUing out a mUi
tary force frpm the neighbouring and upper country, which con
tinued to arrive by companies, until, towards the close of the
month, there had assembled some three or four thousand men.

132 HISTORICAL AND
As fast as possible they were organized into regiments; and
although the 54th regiment was exempted from the requisition,
with a view to hold them in reserve, with good drilling, as minute
men, the volunteer companies before named applied for, and
obtained permission to join the regiment which was about being
organized. " In August, 1814, when the expedition under Admiral Coch
rane went up the bay to attack Washington and Baltimore, a
draft was made on the different militia regiments on the south
side of James River, below tide water, for a reinforcement of
one regiment. A company of one hundred men was drafted
from the 54th regiment, as its quota towards the new regiment;
which, when complete, was commanded by Colonel Bernard
Magnien, of the 7th regiment, Norfolk County. But the news
of the blow having been struck on Washington being received
soon after, the whole of the volunteers and militia of Norfolk
Borough, Norfolk County, and Princess Anne were called out,
en masse, and remained in service until about the 23d of Oc
tober, when the enemy's force having quit the Chesapeake, to
prepare for the expedition against New Orleans, they were dis
charged. Those who served in Magnien's regiment were (as the
writer believes) in service some two months and thirteen days ;
those subsequently called out in the 54th, en masse, served about
two months. The Juniors, Cavalry, and Artillery, served three
tours ; the Independents two. The precise period for which the
regiment performed service on sundry brief emergencies, have
escaped the recollection of the writer."
The quick and decisive repulse at the Island, had taught the
enemy a lesson not easily to be forgotten. The castigation,
though very severe, they knew to be only a trifle, in comparison
with what was to be expected from another and more general
engagement ; and the brave soldiers at this station had but little
further trouble with the chagrined and numerous forces of the
enemy.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 133
CHAPTER XVL
1813^1814.
General Taylor — OfiScers, &c., of the Army — Colonel Sharp — Major Camp —
Lieutenant Ferguson — Captain Capron — Major Maurice, Colonel McConico,
Captain Shields, &c. — Parade Grounds — Lieutenant Ball Assassinated —
Arrest — Trial and Conviction of a Sentinel — Schooner Tartar — Princess
Anne Militia — British Squadron — General Parker — Midshipman Hall Killed.
General Robert B. Taylor, for some time the chief officer of
the District, was an eminent orator and lawyer, as well as a dis
tinguished commander. He was justly regarded as one of the
most talented citizens of Norfolk, where he resided, and, in fact,
of the State of Virginia, which was " proud to consider him one
of her worthiest sons." His polished manners and rare attain
ments were highly appreciated by his fellow-citizens of the town
and adjacent counties.* Having retired from the command of
the army at this place, it was transferred to General Parker, on
Friday, February 4th, 1814.
The following editorials and communications appeared in the
Herald on the ensuing Tuesday :
"We cannot look back upon the term of General Taylor's
continuance in office, without adding our mite to the applause,
which he has so amply merited and universally received. Ap
pointed to an arduous command, involving the most serious re
sponsibility, at a period truly critical, and without the aid of expe
rience to direct him, he has triumphed over every obstacle ; and
by his zeal, perseverance, and vigilance, acquired that capability
in his new station, which, to a mind less active and intelligent,
would have been a work of years. Conscious, however, that the
worth and services of General Taylor do not require any eulo-
gium of ours to illustrate them, or impress them more firmly and
deeply in the minds of his fellow-citizens, we prefer presenting
to our readers the subjoined correspondencies, which we have
selected from among many others that have fallen into our hands.
Such honourable testimonials of his patriotism and public worth,
* See further description of General T., in another part of this work.

134 HISTORICAL AND
will better illustrate the high estimation in which he was held by
those whom he commanded, and their deep regret at his retire
ment from office :
" 'Extract from Adjutant-General's Office.
"'Norfolk, Feb. 6, 1814.
"'general orders.
" ' The Commanding General has been much pleased with the
condition of Forts Nelson and Norfolk ; and the Brigade of State
Troops has surpassed his expectations in its acquirement of the
knowledge of field exercises, and has, in the exercises of the 4th
and 5th inst., done honour to itself, and the Brigadier General
commanding it.
" ' By command, , '
(Signed) " ' James Bankhead, " 'Adjutant General.'
" ' The citizens of Norfolk and Portsmouth, desirous of offer
ing to General Taylor, upon his retiring from the army, some
evidence of the great respect they entertain for him — of the very
high consideration in which they hold the patriotic zeal that in
duced him originally to accept his late important command at
this place, and tp add theirs to the general and ample testimony
already furnished of the activity and skill he has at all times
displayed, as well as of the just and proper regard he has conti
nually paid to the civil rights of his fellow-citizens, during his
whole period of service here, beg the favour of him to meet them
at a public dinner, which they have caused to be prepared at
Ducoing's Long Room, on Wednesday next, at three o'clock.
" ' LiTT. W. Tazewell,
Moses Myers,
Richard Blow,
J. H. Fawn,
Francis S. Taylor,
P. Barraud,
Walter Herron,
R. E. Steed,
W. T. Nivison,
Wm. Cammack,
" ' Committee.
«' ' Norfolk, Feb. 5, 1814.'

descriptive sketches. 135
" ' Gentlemen : —
" ' Next to the approval of his own conscience, the most pre
cious reward, which a public officer can receive, is the confidence
of his countrymen. Judge, then, how deeply my heart is pene
trated by the testimony of approbation which the citizens of
Norfolk and Portsmouth, the constant witnesses of all my mUi
tary acts, have condescended to offer me. I dare not appro
priate them to myself; it is rather the offspring of their generous
regard for good intention than of actual merit. But in this
very proportion that my services have been overrated by their
generosity, wUl be my future gratitude to justify the partiality.
" ' I accept the invitation,
" ' And have the honour to be,
" ' Very respectfully,
" ' Your obedient servant,
(Signed) " ' Robert B. Taylor.
" ' To L. W. Tazewell, &c.
" 'A Committee on behalf of the Citizens.'

" ' Cavalry Quarters, 6th Feb., 1814.
" ' General Taylor : —
" ' Sir, — Language cannot describe the feelings of the Officers
of the Cavalry, in parting from you, as a commander in whose
favour they feel so strongly prepossessed. Although their ac
quaintance is short, and however incapable they may be of judg
ing, tliey feel an irresistible conviction, that you are eminently
qualified to conduct an army to victory, and shed on the Ameri
can arms that lustre which the freemen of Columbia are en
titled to.
"'We feel confidently assured, notwithstanding you have re
tired from the army, you will not remain an idle spectator in the
hour of invasion and danger, but will inspire all around you with
confidence and courage. The die seems to be cast — we are com
pelled to part — may your worth and services be always duly ap
preciated ; you carry with you our warmest feelings and most

136 historical and
sincere wishes for your future welfare and happiness, whether in
retirement, or in the service of your country.
" ' Thos. Hunton,
" ' Major Commandant of Cavalry.
'"Wm. R. Smith, Capt.
Joseph Sandford, Capt.
Nicholas Osburn, Lt.
E. Hunton, Adj.
Mesheck Laury, 1st Lt.
Joshua Osburn, 2d Lt.
John Brown, 2d Lt.
Bbnj. Manable, 1st Lt.
Saml. Weaver, Cornet.
David Lovett, Cornet.'
" ' Norfolk, Jan. 7, 1814.
" ' Gentlemen : —
" ' Accept my gratitude — 'tis the offering of a heart too much
enamoured of a soldier's life, to be indifferent to a soldier's
praise — your generosity has indeed greatly outstripped my de-
(J|l'«'j-Q 'I* 'I' '!• •(- -P -jt -I-
In every circumstance of my future life, it will be a precious sa
tisfaction to me that you have deigned to mingle your regrets
with those which I experience in retiring from the army.
" ' We separate. — My best wishes go with you. As soldiers,
may your standard be always glorious and triumphant. — As citi
zens, may you be honoured and happy.
" ' I have the honour to be,
" ' Very respectfully,
" ' Your most obedient servant,
" ' Robert B. Taylor.
" ' To Major Hunton, Commandant,
" ' The Officers of the Cavalry,
" ' In the U. S. service at Norfolk.' "
Among the officers and private soldiers assembled and in ser
vice at Norfolk during the last war with England, there were,
in addition to those mentioned, many men who were ornaments

descriptive sketches. 137
to society, and whose great worth of character reflected honour
and dignity upon the stations which they were called to flU.
The 9th Regiment was commanded by Colonel Wm. Sharp,
"who," said an officer that served under him during the cam
paign, at Norfolk, "was a gentleman, a patriot, and a chival
rous officer. He was tall ; as straight as the barrel of a rifle ;
and sharp, indeed, was the look from his dark eye. I loved him
truly, as did the whole of our regiment. He was careful of the
health of his troops, and vigilant in all things becoming a good
officer and soldier." Colonel S. was highly complimented by
Wade Hampton, a distinguished general officer, and the move
ments of his regiment spoken of in terms of great commenda
tion.* Major George W. Camp, who acted as brigade inspector, was
greatly esteemed by citizens and soldiers as an efficient officer
and accomplished gentleman. The rigid and impartial, yet mild,
manner in which he required a compliance with the rules, com
manded the most profound respect of the soldiery ; while his
intelUgence, poUte attentions, and great urbanity of manners,
endeared him to his numerous friends and acquaintances, with
the strongest ties of affectionate regard.f
Lieutenant Peter Ferguson (now of St. Louis, Missouri), who
performed the important duties of adjutant, was a very active
and excellent officer. Said a cotemporary, "he could get a
regiment ready for the commandant sooner than any man I have
ever seen attempt it."{
* Colonel S. was the father of Wm. W. Sharp, Esq., of this city, well and ex
tensively known as a lawyer of much experience and ability. As a talented
and successful forensic pleader, he ranks deservedly high among the members
of his profession, and the inhabitants of Norfolk and vicinity. Mr. S. has been
for a number of years, the efScient president of the board of directors of the
Exchange Bank; having been first elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the
death of Swepson Whitehead, Esq., who was also a lawyer of considerable dis
tinction, as weU as a gentleman of great worth of character.
f Father of George W. Camp, Esq., of this city, formerly attorney at law,
whose legal knowledge is extensive, and which he communicates with a clear
ness and readiness, indicative of a strong, well-balanced, and highly cultivated
mind. X Brother of F. F. Ferguson, Esq., of this city, assessor and commissioner of
revenue.

138 historical and
Captain John Capron also acted as adjutant after Lieutenant
Ferguson. " He was prompt in' his arrangements, and as quick
as a flash."
Among the officers, were Colonel Manning, Colonel A. J.
M'Conico, Majors Maurice and Richie, Captain HamUton
Shields* (whose activity, efficiency, and usefulness in directing
and supervising the several public works of defence, and whose
intelligence and gentlemanly bearing as an officer, rendered him
justly conspicuous in the army, and gained for him many friends,
and the esteem of the citizens of the borough generally) ; Captain
Taylor, of the Richmond Riflemen; Captain Arthur Gooper,f of
the cavalry ; Alexander Taylor, of the Petersburg Blues ; Court
ney, of King and Queen ; Magagnoes, of the Norfolk Independents ;
Marshall, of the Riflemen, from Powhatan ; M'Candlish, Jarvis,
George Ott, Thomson, Foster, and Graves ; Dixon and Smith,
Washington County ; Poindexter, from Louisa ; Woodson, from
Prince Edward; Sale, from Amherst; M'MuUion and Dickson,
from Rockbridge ; Baily, from Shenandoah ; Richardson and
Cromer, from Frederick; Rowland from Botetourt, Gregory,
from Berkeley ; Davenport, from Jefferson ; Cackley, from Bath;
Sergeants Buchanan and Jennings ; Lieutenants Newton, King,
Powell, &c.
There were also. Colonels ChUton, M'Donald, Coleman, and
Parker ; Majors Washington, and Hunter ; Captains Baker,
Quarles, Nimmo, Clark, Gilbert ; Adjutants Vincent and Ball ;
Lieutenants Campbell, Rogers, &c.{
The first place selected for a parade-ground and encampment
was on Briggs' Point, comprising the space bounded by Plume's
Cove on the north, Newton's Creek on the east, Marion Street
on the south, and Fenchurch on the west. This piece of land
was then a spacious and beautiful green. Here the tents were
* Subsequently founder and editor of the American Beacon.
f For nearly twenty years city inspector.
% In these statements, the reader may find that the names of individuals are
omitted who acted a prominent part in the mUitary affairs of this period.
If the name of any ofScer, however, who was justly distinguished is not in
cluded, the omission may be regarded as purely accidental.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 139
erected ; and the busy, bustling, and noisy, though monotonous
scenes of the camp, were experienced and exhibited for several
months. There was another parade-ground in a field near the
old Presbyterian Church, corner of Charlotte and Catharine
Streets, and there was one on the north of the lot now embraced
in the Cedar Grove Cemetery. It included the present Aims-
House grounds. The second regiment encamped and paraded
on a lot near Armistead's Bridge, and opposite a rope-walk and
tannery, then in operation on the west side of the road leading
to the bridge.*
During the exciting times, when the soldiery were congregated
at this place and vicinity, many interesting events transpired, —
quite enough to fill a large volume. But we must pass on with
out attempting to present them to th^ reader. There was one
circumstance, however, which claims a passing notice.
Adjutant Ball, of the 4th Regiment, and attached to a Rifle
Company from Winchester, Frederick County, was a young
gentleman of great respectability, and extraordinary promise.
He was highly distinguished for his genius, which had been cul
tivated by an excellent education. He manifested such remark
able talents as an artist, especially in the line of engraving,
etching, &c., that he had already attracted the attention of men
of long-established reputation in these important and useful de
partments of artistic skUl.
He was on his way with orders from Fort Nelson to Norfolk,
in May, 1813, and when about passing the post of one of the
sentinels, he was accosted, and accordingly answered as usual.
The sentinel, not being satisfied, apparently, with his answer,
called him, and he started towards him ; whereupon the sentinel
fired; and the ball passing through a vital part, he fell, — a
victim to an unaccountable intent to murder him thus voluntarily
and barbarously. The excitement was tremendous ; for he was
a favourite with all who knew him ; his attainments and gentle
manly deportment had rendered him conspicuously known in the
community. The law, however, after some difficulty, was allowed
* An account of the sickness among the troops will be found in another part
of the work.

140 HISTORICAL AND
to have its course with the guilty, murderous man. An immense
concourse of persons attended the funeral, and there was every
manifestation of sorrow and sympathy for the deceased, whose
remains were buried in the cemetery at Portsmouth, where a
suitable monument was erected to his memory by his fellow-
soldiers. The assassin was tried, and found guilty of murder ; but the
lawyers obtained a new trial for him, and he escaped with his life
to the penitentiary, where he remained for a long term, suffering
a punishment which only partially atoned for the dreadful crime
he had committed. The death of Adjutant Ball was not only
considered a loss to the army, and to his native town, but to the
State and the country, to which, it was thought by those who
knew him, that his mental ability promised highly important
services. On the night of the 20th of December, 1813, the privateer
schooner Tartar grounded on Cape Henry, and bilged. The
weather being severely cold, and the wind high, the sufferings of
the crew were exceedingly severe. Six of the men froze to
death, and many others were frost-bitten.
Towards the close of the following day, the British, after con
siderable trouble, succeeded in burning the vessel, together with
her cargo, consisting of nearly a thousand barrels of flour. A
small company of Princess Anne Militiamen kept them off for
some time with muskets, although the enemy returned a constant
and heavy fire of cannon at the shore. The British squadron at
that time occupied Lynnhaven Bay.
1814. "Brigadier General Parker, lately appointed to the
command of the army at this place," said a judicious writer of
this period, "has resigned, in consequence, we understand, of
the promotion over him of younger officers. This step must add
to the good opinion already so universally entertained of General
Parker ; for what officer, who could claim distinction in his pro
fession, would continue to serve under circumstances so degrading
and palpably unjust ? General Parker, as an old, experienced,
and meritorious officer, of courage and talents highly approved,
wanted not the splendour of an accidental achievement to light
him on to promotion ; and if favouritism has conferred that on

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 141
another which belongs exclusively to him, he had no honourable
alternative but to resign. There is no one, we believe, who is
any way interested in the safety of this place, but must regret
the circumstance of General Parker's resignation, though every
candid and honourable mind must accord in the sentiment, that
he could not do otherwise, consistently with the dictates of ho
nour. Until a new appointment takes place, the command will
devolve upon Lientenant-Colonel Freeman."
March 9th. The following melancholy accident occurred on
board the Constellation : Midshipman Hall, being in the mizzen-
top for the purpose of seeing the top-gallant yards sent down,
accidentally fell from thence upon the deck (a distance of a hun
dred feet), and aUghting on his head, was instantly killed.

CHAPTER XVIL
1814—1815.
Market-house, &c.. Destroyed by Fire — Carelessness — Inefficiency of Means ia
Extinguishing Fires — Want of System, Energy, aud Engines — Prices Current
— Dr. Slaughter's Will — Legacies — Colonel Nivison — PhiUp R. Thomson, Esq.
— His Honourable and Generous Conduct — The Slaughter Fund— American
Beacon — Its Founders and Editors — Destruction of the Office by Fire — Con
test for the Re-issue, &c.
March 25. A fire broke out in the market-house, which, with
fourteen tenements on the square, was consumed. The fire was
communicated by accident, in an apartment in the market-house
occupied by the watchmen of the town.
The means of extinguishing fires at that time certainly exhibit
a very striking contrast to the large and efficient companies,
splendid engines, and orderly arrangements, of our fire depart
ment, for stopping the progress of the devouring element at the

142 HISTORICAL AND
present day. The following account of the fire appeared at the
time : —
" It seems almost incredible that a fire should break out in
a market-house. Such an event we believe never occurred
before ; and, in the present instance, can alone be ascribed to
the unhappy circumstance of having an apartment in it for the
accommodation of the watchmen, through whose cruel neglect
the dreadful calamity has been brought upon our town.* It
appears that some of the watchmen, previous to retiring from
the watch-room, took the ashes out of the stove, and deposited
them in a barrel ; and, some live embers being among the ashes,
they set fire to the barrel, which communicated to the casings
of the room. How many accidents of this kind have been pro
duced by this dangerous practice ! and still we see there is no
thing more common.
" It has often been our painful duty to notice the want of
means and method at all the fires that happen in our town ; but,
on this occasion, there appeared to be an uncommon degree of
apathy in the crowd, who had assembled rather, it would seem,
to gaze at the sight than to render Service. But if every one
present had shown the best disposition to exert himself, his good
intentions would have been unavailing, for the want of means as
well as system and regularity. There was no one to direct, and
no one to command. The fire-wardens were not recognised, in
the general bustle, as possessing any authority, and if they gave
orders or directions, they were utterly disregarded. There was
one small engine, out of order, and that was private property ;
about a dozen buckets, and not a single axe or fire hook, ^uch,
in spite of all remonstrance, continues to be the state of things
whenever we have a fire ; and will still continue, we suppose,
until the town is fairly burnt down piecemeal."
The Norfolk Bible Society was organized this year.
October 28. "Prices, Norfolk Market. — Pork, $10 per
cwt. ; beef, $10 per cwt. ; mutton, 12 J cents per pound; veal,
12J cents per pound; butter, 62|^ cents per pound; salt (home
made), $4 50 per bushel."
* The present watch-house is in the south end of the market-house.

-DESCRIPTIVE sketches. 143
November 23. This is the date of the will of Dr. Augustine
Slaughter, who died shortly thereafter. He was a citizen of
Norfolk, and a physician of distinction. There are facts con
nected with the bequest of property in this instance, with regard
to the testator, the legacies, and some of the heirs, that are well
worthy of a record upon these pages. Dr. S., after having pro
vided for the emancipation and support of his slaves, and making
other provisions in his will, appropriated the interest of $3,000
as a perpetual fund for the education of several poor boys in
reading, writing, navigation, &c. ; said boys to be properly
equipped, and bound to the commander of a vessel of war, or
some discreet master' of a merchant vessel; and their places at
school, as soon as vacant, to be filled by others from time to
time. This the Doctor intended as his " mite towards fostering
our infant navy." The fund was faithfully applied according to
his will and desire.
Among several other bequests, he bequeathed to Colonel John
Nivison $1,000, as a " small mark of his gratitude for a service
he did him, when he was first struck with the palsy, although
his ample fortune luckily placed him far above regarding such
trifles." Philip Roots Thomson, Esq., of Culpeper County, was one
of the heirs ; and to whom he also gave a considerable sum. A
few years ago, this gentleman, being in our city, called at the
office of an eminent legal gentleman ; and, alluding to the parti
culars of Dr. Slaughter's will, inquired if there was not a tech
nical defect, which entirely annulled the bequest for the educa
tion of the poor boys, and which gave him a legal title to the
sum of $3,000, set aside for that purpose. He was answered in
the affirmative ; and the lawyer, of course, supposed that his ob
ject was to secure the money, and thus, sadly and effectually, to
frustrate the laudable and benevolent design of his deceased re
lative. But, instead of this, the attorney was soon surprised to
find that such was not his intention, and he had the pleasure of
witnessing an instance of generosity, which, though no more
than right, is rarely to be met with. He was requested to draw
up an instrument, confirming and establishing the devise beyond
cavil ; thus securing from future difficulty, the execution of the

144 historical and
original and benevolent design of the legator, as evinced in his
last will and testament. The instrument of writing was, of
course, prepared promptly and faithfully, and duly signed,
sealed, delivered, and recorded.
But this is not all of that gratifying specimen of strict inte
grity and honourable regard for the desires of the dead, as well
as the rights of the living. He asked his counsel to state the
amount of his fee, and was told in reply that, under such cir
cumstances, there was no charge, and more especially as only
a few lines were required to accomplish the object desired;
whereupon his client threw down several pieces of gold upon his
table, which, notwithstanding the repeated refusals of the lawyer
to receive it, he would not take back. Having thus consummated
his business, he left the office.
Now, this is a case of true and genuine honesty and whole-
souled liberality, which it is really refreshing to contemplate in
these days of covetousness, when the great and never-ceasing
struggle is for mammon, and "the selfishness of the purse" is
one of the prevailing sins of the age. There is no incident which
we have felt more pleasure in placing upon these pages ; and we
have chosen to write Mr. Thomson's name in full, that it may be
fairly and fully exhibited in connexion with his praiseworthy act,
in these local chronicles of the events of the past and the pre
sent, as an example worthy of imitation, and which will reflect
honour upon him ; although, as to the confirmation of the legacy,
it was no more than he should have done under the circum
stances. But, how many there are whose inordinate love of
money, and utter disregard for anything more than strict legal
right, would have induced them to grasp with unholy eagerness
and haste, as a precious treasure, the generous man's dying gift,
and the poor boys' fund !
The " Slaughter Fund," as it is called, is still regularly and
judiciously applied, according to the will of the generous indivi
dual whose name it, appropriately bears. There are now among
the students of the Norfolk Academy ten boys, who are receiving
a gratuitous education ; and this fund constitutes a large por
tion of the sum required to entitle them to so inestimable a privi
lege ; and which is rendered more valuable by the fact that we

DESCRIPTIVE sketches. 145
have yet no free schools of a high grade. Let the fund be in
creased by the bounty of others, who have "enough, and to
spare." April 7th, 1815. At this date, the American Beacon com
menced its useful career, under the auspices of Captain HamUton
Shields and Samuel Shepherd, Esq. At the expiration of about
twelve months, Mr. Shepherd retired, and WiUiam C. Shields,
Esq., formerly editor of the Daily Courier, and Mr. Charlton,
were associated with the accomplished gentleman first named.
In 1834, H. B. Grigsby, Esq., purchased the entire interest, and
after occupying the editorial chair with decided abUity and suc
cess for several years, he disposed of the paper to Messrs. Wm.
E. Cunningham,* H. B. Bagnal, and T. F. Boothby. In No
vember, 1847, the office and materials were destroyed by fire ;
whereupon, the partnership was dissolved, and the two junior
members of the firm, Messrs. Boothby and Bagnal, determined
to re-issue the paper with the least possible delay. Having en
gaged a gentleman well known as a talented writer to fill the
editorial chair, Mr. Boothby proceeded to Baltimore, where he
intended to have the first and several succeeding numbers printed,
and sent down daily by the steamer, whence they were to be
taken by carriers and delivered to subscribers. But the senior
editor of the old firm (Mr. C.) was also anxious to resume the
publication of the Beacon ; and soon hearing of the intention and
diligent efforts of the other party, he was exceedingly desirous
that his paper should have the benefit of the first appearance ;
which object he accomplished by availing himself of the facilities
afforded by the Advocatef Office, which were offered by the
editor of that paper. The Beacon, printed in Norfolk, made its
appearance again, one day in advance of the paper of the same
name, issued in Norfolk, but printed, as before stated, in another
city, to insure the earliest debut. Mr. Cunningham having
gained the advantage intimated above, his paper was soon re
established, and as extensively circulated and patronised as ever ;
while the other party relinquished their undertaking, and dis
posed of their interest to Mr. C, who shortly after associated
* Formerly member of the Legislature from Norfolk Borough.
t Published weekly in 1847-8. See another page.
10

146 HISTORICAL AND
with himself Richard Gatewood, Jun., Esq. On February 9th,
1852, the Weekly Beacon was issued from the same office. The
Beacon was neutral in politics till November, 1851, when Mr.
C. announced himself as sole editor, and stated that Whig men
and measures would thereafter be supported. This paper is de
servedly popular, especially on account of the variety of political,
commercial, naval, military, local, and general, information which
it usually contains.

CHAPTER XVIIL
1816—1819.
Female Orphan Asylum — Its Founder aud Conductors — Its Utility — Buildings
— Male Orphan Asylum Wanted — Manual Labour School — Neglected Child
hood — First Sabbath School in Norfolk — ^Union School — Separation — The
Sabbath School Cause — Miss M. Tucker — Council — Marine Society — Ward
and General Ticket System Compared — Improvements — Stone Bridge —
Tobacco Warehouse — Mayor Holt — Lancasterian School — Tobacco Inspec
tion — Norfolk Provident Society — Its Object, Utility, &c. — Act of Assembly —
Custom House Lot — The Trip to Baltimore — The Bay Line — Steamer North
Carolina — Wonder Booker — Longevity.
January 16th, 1816. Act of Assembly passed, incorporating
the Female Orphan Asylum.
This association was first known, it seems, as the " Female
Charitable Society," and its most commendable object was, "the
support and education of orphan girls." It appears that as
early as 1807 there was " an Orphan House for female children,
on Amelia Street." But we have learned from a reliable source,
that the first regular meeting of the present association, was
held in a framed building that formerly stood at the northwest
corner of Granby and Freemason Streets, and which was owned
and occupied, for many years, by the late Francis Butt, Sr.
The society was formed and organized at the instance of the
venerable and excellent Bishop Asbury, who may, therefore, be

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 147
justly considered as its founder. It has long been conducted, and
very properly too, by ladies connected with the several Protestant
churches, and whose constant and attentive efforts have been
instrumental in dispensing many a blessing to the homeless and
friendless female orphan. " There is one want," says a certain
author, ' ' that none can supply — there is one chord in the heart that
answers only to the touch of one hand — there is one magic spell
that hangs around the heart in all after life, that none, perhaps,
can know and understand, whose lips have been unused to say,
mother. One of the noblest charities of the human heart is that
which provides an asylum for the little ones bereaved." May
the smiles of Heaven ever rest upon an institution so necessary,
in every large town especially, and whose merciful and beneficial
tendency and influence are so strikingly manifest !
The contributions to the society enabled the managers to build
a handsome house on Holt Street ; which, however, on account of
its insecure foundation, gave place, in 1847, to a more suitable
and substantial building ; and the establishment is still in a
prosperous condition.
The propriety of establishing in Norfolk a house for male
orphans has been frequently urged ; and it is sincerely hoped
that some enterprising and benevolent individuals will, ere long,
take the matter in hand, and give the citizens an opportunity of
contributing to the support of such an institution. The indigent
orphan boys certainly have a strong claim upon the people ; and
the good that might be accomplished, and the evil prevented by
the establishment and proper management of an asylum of this
kind, would amply repay all the labour, trouble, and expense,
that might be incurred in placing it upon a firm basis, giving it
a fair start, and continuing it in its career of usefulness.
These remarks are not made without some knowledge of the
number and condition of those who would be the legitimate bene
ficiaries of such an asylum.
" Some such institution," says a judicious writer, " as a
manual labour school for indigent boys — to support, educate, and
prepare them for a trade, and make them useful members of
society — is sadly needed in our community, and presents strong
claims to the attention and action of our philanthropic citizens.

148 HISTORICAL AND
The ' Female Orphan Asylum,' under the auspices of the ladies,
has been eminently successful, and the means of rescuing hun
dreds from starvation, misery, and wretchedness. Let a small
farm be obtained in the vicinity of the city, and in a short time
it would be supported and maintained from the labour of the
inmates of the establishment. A number of subjects are daily
running wild through our streets, exempt from all control or
protection, engaging in every kind of mischief and vice, and
treading that path which must inevitably lead them to crime and
infamy. Humanity, as well as a wise policy, demand that they
should be removed from their abodes of wretchedness, and placed
in a situation where they might be fitted for a career of useful
ness and honour. Peed, clothe, and educate them — teach them
some useful trade, and instil into their minds the excellence of
truth and the beauty of holiness. He, who by his labour causes
a blade of grass to grow where it has never grown before, is
looked upon as a benefactor of his race ; how much more then,
should that man be appreciated, who, by deeds of charity, saves
an intelligent soul from misery in this life, and perdition in that
which is to come."
"There is not a plea on earth," says an observant Christian
writer, " so piteous and touching as that cry of neglected child
hood — saying, ' Take care of us — watch over us — keep and guard
us from the evils that we know not of, but that ye know — save
us from the dark and sorrowful years — teach us betimes what is
good — teach us obedience, teach us truth and wisdom, lead us
in the way in which we should go.' Oh ! the hopes of coming
years — shall they all be crushed down in the mire of city vice
and vileness ? While all other youth is bright and fair, shall
this, the youth of man alone — be marred and ruined ? This poor,
crushed childhood — shall it experience a lifetime of misery, ere
it blossoms into life ?"
" The young lambs are sporting on the meadows.
The young birds are chirping in the nest ;
The young fawns are playing with the shadows.
The young flowers are blowing towards the west.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 149
" But the young, young children, 0 my brothers !
They are weeping bitterly ;
They are weeping in the playtime of the others.
In the country of the free."
The first Sabbath School in this place was formed in the spring
of this year, by the laudable exertions of a few ladies, belonging
to the several Protestant Churches* (the Episcopalian, Presby
terian, Baptist, and Methodist). During the year, three schools
were organized, and the union thus agreed to " did not interfere
with the regulations or direction of any school connected with it,
but was only intended to concentrate the efforts of the friends of
the good work, and to provide means to enable them to carry
the design into fuller effect."
The report of the Union Schools, in giving an account of their
condition, says :
" Two of our teachers have professed religion since they
joined, and eight of the scholars. We feel assured that the in
fluence of the schools has been of incalculable advantage both to
the children and their parents. Many have been led to the
house of God, who have never been there before. We have seen
the good effects of our instructions, particularly in the life and
death of one pupil. In her last moments, she blessed the Sab
bath School as the means of bringing her to a knowledge of sal
vation, and felt that she could 'read her title clear' to glory."
It was not long after this period that the "Union" was dis
solved by mutual consent, and the different denominations esta
blished and conducted separate schools, under the management of
officers and teachers connected with their respective churches.
The cause continued to prosper under the fostering care of those
upon whom the management devolved, and it now presents an
interesting field of labour for the Christian philanthropist.
Hundreds and thousands of the rising race and hope of the coun-
* " It is stated in An Historical Sketch of Sunday Schools in the United
States, pubUshed by the American Sunday School Union, that ' The first per
manent Sunday School organization of which we have any authentic record,
was The First Day or Sunday School Society. It was estabUshed in PhUadel
phia, January 11, 1791.' A Sabbath School was taught in the house of
Thomas Crenshaw, of Hanover County, Va., in the year 1786; and, in the fol
lowing year, the Rev. John Charleston was converted in that school."

150 HISTORICAL AND
try, are weekly gathered together, for the noble purpose of re
ceiving instruction in those sacred truths, which alone tend to
true greatness in this world, and a blessed immortality in the
regions of bliss above. No pen can portray, no mind conceive,
the benefits resulting to the human race from the benign influ
ence of Sunday Schools.
The Sabbath School cause in this city, in its incipiency, gra
dual progress, and ultimate usefulness, may be justly considered
as being indebted, in a great measure, to the diligent, prayerful,
and well-directed efforts of Miss Margaret Tucker, a lady of
much intelligence, and of devoted piety, who, with other excel
lent Christian ladies of Norfolk, in days that have passed, "went
about doing good." Indeed, her zealous and self-sacrificing de
votion, sound judgment, and generosity, were manifested in her
exertions to advance the interests of several other benevolent
enterprises; among which we may mention, the Dorcas Society,
and the Female Orphan Society. She was emphatically a friend
to the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy, the suf
fering and the sorrowful ; was highly gifted in prayer and ex
hortation ; possessed very considerable knowledge of human
nature, and was respected and beloved for her consistent piety
and usefulness by all classes of the community. Her works of
love are done ; her useful career is ended. She has entered the
rest above, and enjoys the reward of the faithful.*
On the 27th of January, 1816, an act was passed changing
the mode of electing the Council, and adding one to the number.
On the 24th of June of every year " seventeen fit and able men,
being freeholders," were, under this act, to be elected by baUot
or general ticket. From this it would seem that the change con
sisted in the election by general ticket, as that mode is here for
the first time prescribed.
February 7th, 1817. Act of Assembly passed, incorporating
the Norfolk Marine Society.
About this time some alterations were made in the government
of the town, and a very commendable spirit of improvement ap-
* "And I heard a voice from Heaven, saying unto me, AVrite, Blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." — Rev. xiv. 13.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 151
peared to be abroad in the community. The foUowing extract
from one of the city papers, of a recent date, will prove interest
ing to the reader :
"UntU the year 1817, the 'Borough' was divided into eight
wards, each electing within its own bounds two Common Council-
men. But about that time it was believed by everybody that it
would be a decided improvement to adopt the general ticket
system. Experience has shown that some of the wards must
often send members to the Council who had no weight or influ
ence, or go unrepresented, — and finally that important branch
of the Corporation had begun to be looked upon as little better
than the fifth wheel of a coach. It had but little power then,
and that little seems to have been exerted very sparingly for the
improvement of the town. After the peace of 1815, the citizens
began to feel a lively interest in the subject of improvement, and
the first step towards action was to change the ward for the
general ticket system in the election of Common Councilmen.
The first CouncU, under this new state of things, was remarkable
for the number of men of talents and influence who composed it ;
and they soon commenced the work of improvement by ordering
the construction of a stone bridge in Granby Street ; the erection
of a tobacco warehouse on Town Point ; the purchase of a lot
($7,000) adjoining the Court House lot, on which to erect a
dep6t for the produce of the Roanoke, at a future day; the dig
ging of a mammoth well in the centre of Main Street, and fixing
a pair of pumps in it, &c. And besides all this, they effected
some salutary changes in the general police of the borough. In
deed, to this day the city is indebted to the first Councils elected
under the general ticket system, assisted by that intelligent and
indefatigable officer, Mayor Holt, for most of the ordinances by
which it is now governed."
In 1852, the ward system was again adopted ; the city having
been divided into only four wards.
January 22, 1818. Act of Assembly passed, incorporating the
Trustees of the Lancasterian School.
January 31st. An act for establishing inspection and storage
of tobacco in Norfolk was passed this day.
May 15th. Ordinance passed in CouncU authorizing a loan

152 HISTORICAL AND
for the erection of a stone bridge over Back Creek, at Granby
Street. 1819. Norfolk Provident Society organized. This Associa
tion was incorporated by Act of Assembly, passed January 27,
1820. It has proved to be one of the most useful institutions
ever established in the town. After a trial of more than thirty
years, during which time its beneficial tendency has been felt in
very many instances by the widow and the orphan, it is believed
to be in a safe and prosperous condition.
The following brief history of the association, furnished by one
of its oldest members, will no doubt be interesting to all who are
anxious to make a post obit provision for their families, beyond
the reach of the ordinary vicissitudes of life :
" In the year 1819, the idea of a society for the purpose of
providing a fund for the benefit of the families of the deceased
members thereof, was suggested by an individual, on a plan pro
posed by him. On this suggestion a subscription paper was cir
culated, which was subscribed to by twenty-two members, who
met together in the month of April of that year, formed a Con
stitution and By-laws for its future government, and obtained a
Charter from the Legislature.
" By the terms of their Constitution each member is required
to pay $10 at the time of subscribing, under prescribed rules,
and to contribute monthly thereafter the sum of one dollar at
regular stated meetings; for which payments their families only
should be entitled to receive at their death, after one year's
membership, and within three years of their admission, twice the
amount of their regular payments ; and at any time a member
might die after three years' membership, three times the amount
so paid in. If the death of a member should occur within the
term of one year, the amount paid by him to be forfeited to the
Society ; but under no circumstances can any member withdraw
his contributions, and on a failure of twelve months payment, he
ceases to be a member, and all his previous payments are for
feited to the Society.
"It will thus be seen that twenty-two individuals associated
and established this society, with a capital of $220 in the month
of AprU, 1819, — now nearly thirty-four years, and it appears by

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 153
the records that in this time it has contributed to the relief of
the families of seventy-five of its deceased members the sum of
$31,168 75, and by an accumulation of its members, with semi
annual interest on its investments, it now has a fund of $30,300
invested in 6 per cent. State and City Stocks, together with a
balance exceeding $300 to its credit in bank.
" The benefits of such an association must be obvious in a
community where the relief it' has afforded to many distressed
families, in time of their utmost need, is notorious, and this, too,
so far differing from ordinary societies for such purposes, as to
authorize a legal demand, in lieu of a dependence for a charitable
donation." The following is a summary of the principal Acts of Assembly
relating to Norfolk in its early history, and prior to this period:
1680. Act concerning settlements, &c.
1705. Titles to lands, establishment of the town, &c.
1736. Charter and its confirmation.
1752. Charter explained, and privileges enlarged.
1757. Power enlarged, ferries, &c.
1762. Privileges, and limits.
1763. Taxes, watch, and lamps.
1764. Vestry, ministers, &c., E. River Parish.
1766. Trustees, limits, &c.
1769. Confirmation of "An agreement made by Thomas Tal-
butt." 1772. Taxes.
1783. Powers enlarged.
1787. Charter amended.
1788. Rights, courts, &c.
1789. Seat of Justice removed.
1790. PrivUeges.
1796. Lotteries.
1798. Provision for the poor.
1801. Docks and wharves.
1802. Charter amended.
1802. Donation of Mr. Godfrey to the poor of Norfolk County.
1803. Charter.
1804. Extension of Church Street.

154 HISTORICAL AND
1804. Norfolk Academy.
1806. Militia.
1806. Flood-gates across Back Creek.
1806. Surveyor.
1806. Hustings Court.
1807. Paving of streets.
1807. Northern boundary.
1808. Hustings Court.
1809. Jurisdiction of County and Corporation Courts.
1810. Ferry to Hampton.
1811. Lamps.
1811. Port Wardens.
1811. Mechanics' Benevolent Society.
1811. Concord Street.
1812. PUots.
1812. Extension of Bermuda Street.
1813. Removal of obstructions in Bute Street.
•1816. Suppression of SmaU-pox.
1816. Incorporation of Library Company.
1816. Female Orphan Society.
1816. Salary to Mayor.
1816. Election of Councilmen.
1816. Extension of Granby Street.
1816. Commissioner of Revenue.
1817. Extension of Catharine Street.
1817. Norfolk Marine Society.
February 1, 1819. Act of Assembly passed, authorizing the
Governor to cede to the United States the jurisdiction over a cer
tain lot of land, in the borough of Norfolk, for the purpose of build
ing a custom-house thereon. The act required a custom-house to
be erected on this lot, within the space of five years after the ses
sion at which the act was passed ; and that " if, at any time
thereafter, the said custom-house and public stores shall be suf
fered to fall into decay, or be rendered useless as to the purposes
aforesaid, and so continued for the space of five years, then, and
in those cases, the jurisdiction over such territory shall revert to
the Commonwealth."*
* At a very early period in the commercial history of this section, applica-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 155
At this period, the trip by steamboat, from this place to Bal
timore, was performed in about twenty-four hours ; and this was
considered a very short time for so long a distance. The
steamers that run hence to New York by sea, require less than
this length of time to perform the trip ; and one of the boats on
the Bay Line, now runs the distance, from this city to Balti
more, in a little over eleven hours.
We may remark here, that this line is so well and ably con
ducted, that accidents seldom or never happen. The boats are
very superior, kept in the finest order, and are in charge of offi
cers of long experience, and well-tried skill and judgment. The
North Carolina, a very large and splendid new boat, has recently
been placed upon this line ; and, under the able management of
Captain Russell, presents unusual attractions to the traveller,
who desires to go north by the pleasant and delightful bay
route. Died, this year, in Princess Anne County, Wonder Booker, a
coloured man, aged 12G years. He was remarkable for the
strength of his physical constitution, and worked in his master's
garden at the age of nearly 120 years. When he was born, his
mother was nearly threescore ! It is stated, as an undeniable
fact, that she had arrived at the good old age of 58 years, when
she gave birth to a son who was so remarkable for his longevity
and vigour of body. She gave him a very appropriate name ;
and we have thought fit to book the wonder.
The writer has also been informed of other extraordinary cases
of longevity in Princess Anne. The age of one old lady, at her
death, was just 99 years, 11 months, and 30 days, requiring
only one day to complete her hundredth year. She left a female
servant, who is said to have attained the age of 120 years.
tion was made for a custom-house by both Norfolk and Portsmouth, as consi
derable business was done on both sides of the river. Norfolk was finally
selected as the location. The custom-house was long situated on Town Point,
prior to the erection of the present building on Wide Water Street.

156 HISTORICAL AND
, CHAPTER XIX.
1820—1821.
Navigation Act — Trade of the West Indies — Commercial Distress — United
States Bank — Colonization Society — Brutal Murder of Lagaudette — Startling
Discovery — Arrest, Trial, Conviction, and Execution of the Murderers —
Exciting Scene at the Gallows — Bungling Work — The Murderers aud their
Victim — Thieves — Highway Robbery — Awful Thunder Storm — A Gloomy
Year — Sickness — Terrific Hurricane — The Great September Gale — High
Tide — Effects of the Storm — Booth — Day of Humiliation and Prayer — Public
Meeting — Navigation Law — Trade of the West Indies Declining.
May 15, 1820. On this day the Navigation Law was passed ;
which restricted vessels from bringing the produce of the British
colonies to our ports ; and from taking in return that of the
States. The effects of this law were of course injurious to the
commerce of Norfolk. Notwithstanding which, the exportations
to the West Indies alone, amounted to $118,000, and the importa
tions in sugar, molasses, fruit, rum, &c., were considerable ; but
the succeeding year the amount was much less. Norfolk was
about the only port at that time on our coast, at which assorted
cargoes of produce could be conveniently obtained. Tobacco,
grain, flour, meal, lard, fish, and many other articles, required
by the West Indies trade, were furnished here at fair prices.
For many years previous to this, Norfolk showed manifest
signs of advancement in appearance and in commerce ; but a
sad reverse in the commercial affairs of the place occurred about
this time. Some of the principal merchants were compelled to
suspend payment, others faUed for large amounts, while some of
the small traders were reduced to poverty. There was very
considerable interruption to the West Indies trade, and the gene
ral business of the place suffered greatly. One cause of the
embarrassment and pressure was the liberal accommodations that
had been afforded by the branch of the United States bank,
which had been established here ; very large sums were borrowed,
and a heavy business was done. But suddenly and unexpectedly,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 157
a reactioii was experienced, and the consequences were ruinous,
especially to the mercantile portion of the community.
December 26. Colonization Society of Norfolk organized.
March 20, 1821. On this day there was perpetrated in the
borough, one of the most inhuman and diabolical murders ever
placed upon the dark catalogue of crime. A small and unsightly
frame building,* on  street, was occupied by three men, two
of whom were Spaniards, named Castilano and Garcia, and the
other, a Frenchman, whose name was Peter Lagaudette. Their
appearance was rather strange, and calculated to excite suspicion ;
although it seems they had attracted no special notice prior to
this occasion.
It was said, that a lass who was passing the house on her way
to school, hearing loud screams, succeeded in getting a view of
the interior through a back window, just in time to witness the
bloody affair; and her statement was in substance, that one of the
Spaniards, with the violence and desperation of a fiend incarnate,
was levelling powerful and deadly blows at the Frenchman, who
imploringly begged for mercy, and tried in vain to escape from
the murderous hand of the bloodthirsty Spaniard ; that he ran
up the stairs, shrieking for help, but the
" Staunch murderer, steady to his purpose,
Pursued him close."
And that both coming quickly down again, the wretch dealt his
victim another dreadful deathblow with an axe, and accomplished
his fiendish purpose ! Be this as it may, before the house was
entered, Castilano and Garcia had both made their escape, and
fled beyond the limits of the town. With extraordinary haste
and precision, the body of the murdered man was dissected at
the neck, shoulders, and knees, and, excepting the head, depo
sited in a trunk and secreted in the house. The head was not
found, and is supposed to have been burned ; which supposition
was strengthened by a most unpleasant smell about the time at
which the murder was committed. They intended, it was said,
to preserve the mutilated remains by salting them, and then re-
* The house is stiU standing (1853).

158 HISTORICAL AND
move them. The excitement and indignation of the citizens on
account of the shocking disclosures were very great.
Proper efforts were made as early as possible to apprehend
and bring to justice the murderers ; and they were arrested at
Lambert's Point, about five miles from the city, on the second
day after the discovery of the remains, and imprisoned in the
county jail at Portsmouth. After an examination, they were
duly remanded for trial, at which they were found guUty of
"murder in the first degree." They were sentenced by Judge
Parker to be hung, and were executed on Friday June 1st.
CastUano, the elder of the two, who was a physician, and who
doubtless had " O'er the subject hung,
Aud impolitely hewed his way through bones
And muscles of the sacred human form ;
Exposing barbarously to wanton gaze
The mysteries of nature,''
was sullen and indifferent on the dreadful occasion, and appeared
quite undaunted to the last. But Garcia, who was quite a young
man, energetically protested against the proceedings, and ear
nestly declared that he was innocent of the crime for which he
was to suffer.
An immense concourse of people from Norfolk, Portsmouth,
and the neighbouring counties, witnessed the executions; and
the scene at the gallows was painful and exciting in a high de
gree. Captain Emmerson, the sheriff, one of the noble heroes
of Craney Island, and who quailed not at the approach of a
powerful, hostUe army, is said to have manifested considerable
mental agitation, and the executioner was greatly alarmed.
Garcia was first executed ; and when the hangman was placing
the fatal rope about his neck, Castilano told him that he was
doing it improperly, and instructed him how to place the noose.
His directions were, however, not followed by the affrighted
novice of an executioner, and the culprit was slowly choked to
death ! CastUano, who witnessed, with the crowd, this bungling
work, and participated in the general feeling of dissatisfaction
that was manifested, requested the privUege of adjusting the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 159
rope about his own neck, which was readily granted ; and when
the platform fell, his death was sudden, — a few convulsive strug
gles only, and his spirit, too, departed from earth to a solemn
tribunal above.
Lagaudette is said to have been a very handsome man, of
agreeable, fascinating manners. Castilano, as before stated,
was a physician, and, indeed, an experienced surgeon ; for the
body of the victim was most skilfully dissected. He was a
larger, as well as an older man than Garcia, his companion in
crime and infamy.
It appears that they were a trio of desperadoes, thieves, and
highway robbers ; perhaps a portion of a gang who perpetrated
other dark deeds in those days. But a short time previously to
the murder, the passengers in a stage-coach had been robbed in
the vicinity, the lives of the travellers having been saved by the
presence of mind and good management of a lady ; and these
men, it was supposed, committed the act. They had quarrelled
over their booty, on the Sunday preceding the murder ; and it
appears that the two Spaniards concluded to settle the difficulty
by killing the Frenchman, and taking each a half, instead of a
third, of their ill-gotten spoils.
At the time the discovery was made, large quantities of
jewelry, plate, &c., were found concealed in the house, a portion
of which was recognised as the property of individuals from whom
it had been stolen.
On the 27th of June, an extraordinary and awful thunder
storm was witnessed by the citizens of Norfolk and vicinity. The
flashes of lightning were almost incessant for nearly an hour ;
several houses were struck ; the thunder was exceedingly loud ;
the wind high, and the rain fell almost in torrents.
1821 was a gloomy year. Business was dull ; the West India
trade declining, and funds growing scarce. There was conside
rable malignant sickness in one part of the town, during the
month of August (in consequence, as there was good reason to
beUeve, of the arrival of a vessel at Woodside's Wharf, from a
foreign and infected port), and on September 3d, occurred a
most destructive and terrific hurricane.
The great September gale of 1821 is weU recollected by many

160 HISTORICAL AND
now living. The wind blew with fearful violence ; and the storm
of that year has scarcely ever had its equal, in the recollection
of " the oldest inhabitant." Many houses in Norfolk and Ports
mouth were damaged. Some unroofed, and others entirely de
molished. Chimneys, trees, and fences were blown down, and
several lives were lost. The power of the storm is said to have
been truly frightful and astonishing —
" The winds
Held oft a momentary pause.
As spent with their own fury ; but they came
Again with added power — with shriek and cry.
Almost unearthly ; as if on their wings
Passed by the spirit of the storm."
The tide rose to a great height ; the Norfolk Drawbridge was
sWept away, and the damage to the shipping was immense.
In the summer of this year, Booth, the celebrated tragedian,
who had but a short time before, left London, arrived in Norfolk
from the island of Madeira. From this place he went to Rich
mond, and astonished the citizens by his wonderful genius. His
appearance, on his arrival there, is said to have been somewhat
singular. He was nearly twenty-five, but looked seven years
younger, and " wore an old straw hat, and a linen roundabout ;
and, without the least shadow of pretension, he sauntered along,
gazing at everything he saw." He died in the fall of 1852.
Thursday, September 15, was set apart in the borough as a
day of humiliation and prayer.
The commerce of the place and the general interests of the
community, suffered so greatly from the effects of the Naviga
tion Law, that a public meeting was held on the 21st of Decem
ber, for the purpose of adopting suitable measures to have it
repealed as soon as possible.
The exportations to the West Indies for this year amounted
to only $94,384, being $23,616 less than the preceding year.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 161
CHAPTER XX.
¦ 1821—1824.
Team Ferry Boat — Steamboats — Reduction of Ferriage — PrivUeges — Acts of
Assembly — Receipts — Competition Needed — Improper Restrictions — Draw
bridge — Strange and Alarming Light — Painful Event — Loss of Life — Death
of Rev. E. M. Lowe — Arrival via Dismal Swamp Canal — Lamented Deaths —
City Inspector.
Jan. 19, 1822. A slowly moving teamboat, which had been
built to convey passengers across the river, was tried, and found
to answer the purpose. The poor blind horses that were used,
were transferred, after some eight or ten years, to a more appro
priate position on the mud-machine, and steam ferry-boats were
introduced, which, after paying all expenses, yield a very con
siderable revenue to the county.
It is believed that if the ferriage were reduced to two or
three-fifths of the present sum (which is five cents), the receipts
would be as much as they are now, and perhaps more. There
would be more passing across the river between the two towns,
which would have a good tendency. The citizens would thereby
become better known to one another ; and a more social feeling
and friendly spirit, calculated to advance the mutual interests of
both sides, might be the pleasing result. But this remains to be
tested by experience.*
" All ferry privileges are intended to promote the public con
venience. There is no vested right conferred by the grant, and
it is, at all times, subject to such change and modification as the
legislature may, in its wisdom, deem expedient and proper. The
convenience and accommodation, not of the inhabitants of a par
ticular district of country alone are concerned, but of a large
portion of the travelling public.
* After the above had been put in type, the writer learned that the court of
Norfolk County passed an order to reduce the price of ferriage, after the first
of January, 1853, to three cents. The court also decided, to run one of their
boats from the railroad depot, to transport freight and passengers to Norfolk.
11

162 HISTORICAL AND
" The first act passed on the subject was in 1748. According to
the Act of 1757,* the ferry-keepers were required ' to give imme
diate passage over the said ferries to all inhabitants of the said
county, without any fee or reward.' In November, 1766, it was
enacted, ' that the justices of the said county of Norfolk be, and
they are hereby empowered and required to contract and agree
with proper persons, who will give most for the privilege of
keeping the said ferries, and to apply the money arising there
from towards lessening the county levy.' There was another
act in 1792 ; and, by the act of 30th January, 1817, the county
court of Norfolk County was authorized to rent or lease it for a
term of years. They generally receive $3,000 for it per annum.
"It will be seen that it was contemplated by the act of 1757,
to keep up the ferries by a levy upon the tithable inhabitants of
Norfolk County. Now, the people of Norfolk, of Princess Anne,
of Nansemond, and the travelling world, are taxed, one hundred
years after its establishment, to sustain a ferry transportation,
in order that a portion of Norfolk County, principally interested,
may be exempted from all taxation.
" The receipts of the present ferry have been estimated at from
$16,000 to $20,000 per annum. The boats are run just so long
after dark, as the superintendent of the ferry pleases, and take
their own time in communicating between the two towns in the
day-time. Passengers and freight are delayed, too, by the stop
pages at Washington Point. Competition alone can secure the
public convenience.
" On March 24th, 1838, a ferry privilege was granted to the
city of Norfolk, but with restrictions. If these restrictions
are proper, the new ferry ought not to have been authorized.
If the city of Norfolk had an equal right to the privilege, pro
vided the public convenience is promoted, as all must concede it
has, the restriction is unjust. If the county ferry has a right
to claim from the legislature a protection against fair competi
tion, it has the same right to monopolize the privilege altogether.
All such principles have been repudiated by the legislature of
this, as well as of other States, long since. They are the avowed
foes of all chartered companies, which do not study to promote,
* See page 65.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 163
and actually do promote, the public convenience and accommo
dation." July 22, 1822. The new draw-bridge was completed.
On the night of the 16th of September, the citizens were
greatly surprised by a strange and very luminous light, that ap
peared in a northwesterly direction, differing in appearance both
from the aurora borealis and an artificial light. Very serious
apprehensions, about the destruction of the world, were felt by
the credulous.
Exportations this year to the West Indies only $74,303 — less
than the preceding year $20,081.
1823. On the night of February 2d, a destructive fire took
place on the west side of Market Square, during the progress .of
which a most distressing event occurred. Mr. B. W. Talbot, an
estimable gentleman, a native of Baltimore County, Maryland,
and, at that time, one of the firm of AUyn & Talbot, merchants
of Norfolk, lodged in an upper room of one of the buildings
destroyed. Having, as was supposed, retired to bed, every effort
to rescue him failed of success, and he perished in the flames.
A feeling of horror appeared to thrill every one present, and
profound sympathy was manifested throughout the community.
Some remains of the body were found, and carefully deposited
in an urn ; and the most impressive funeral ceremonies were ob
served on the occasion.
A Mr. Barret, from the county, was killed, and several young
men were seriously injured, by the falling of the walls.
February 26. Departed this life. Rev. Enoch M. Lowe, the
beloved pastor of Christ Church, in the thirty-third year of his
age. April 28. The commercial portion of the, denizens were much
gratified by the arrival, via Albemarle Sound and the Dismal
Swamp Canal, of the schooner Rebecca Edwards, Captain Bur
gess, of Halifax, North Carolina, with a cargo of cotton, flour,
tobacco, hogs, &c., &c., to Messrs. J. and P. E. Tabb, and J. and
W. Southgate. This, it appears, was the first vessel that passed
through the canal, with freight for Norfolk ; and so advantageous
a means of communication with the adjoining State of North
Carolina soon proved to be of great benefit to the town. The

164 HISTORICAL AND
arrival was, therefore, very appropriately hailed with joy by
the citizens generally.
September 7th. Departed this life, Major George W. Camp.
On December 7th, just three months later, Colonel William
Sharp, a near relative of the former, was also numbered with the
dead ; and in their deaths, the community felt the loss of two of
its most respected, intelligent, and useful members.
June 21, 1824. An ordinance was passed by the Council, pro
viding for the appointment of an inspector of the corporation —
salary to be $400 ; bond and security required in the sum of

CHAPTER XXL
1824.
Illustrious Guest — Lafayette's Visit to the Borough — The News Circulated —
People from the Country, &c. — Excitement — Anxiety to see the Old Hero —
Patriotism — Surprise of the Simple-minded — The Reception — Entertainment
— Illumination — Portsmouth — Bonfires — Grand Banquet — Ball in Portsmouth
— Ball in Norfolk — Congress — The Nation's Gratitude and Joy— His Charac
ter — His Errand — Services in Liberty's Cause — Subsequent Visit.
Friday, October 22d. This was a great day in the old borough ;
one of the most memorable in its history. Lafayette, the
venerable friend of America and of Washington — he who, during
the darkest hours of our great struggle for freedom, had been
the nation's friend indeed, and then its honoured and honourable
guest in its bright and prospering career of glory — having ac
cepted an invitation from the authorities to visit the borough,
accordingly arrived on the above day, and we record with great
pleasure that his welcome was most " cordial, respectful, and
gratifying !"
The news of the visit soon spread from the town to the country,
and the neighbouring towns and vUlages, whose population con-

descriptive sketches. 165
verged with astonishing rapidity to Norfolk, the centre of attrac
tion. Very many who had been to the great State Festival at
Yorktown, foUowed the hero hither. Boats, in miniature fleets,
descended every river and creek that winds its circuitous way to
our broad estuary, and were moored fast by the great attracting
point. Nearly every road and by-path leading to the town was
thronged with the multitudes who were eager to look upon the man
whom the nation loved to honour. The old, the young, the
grave and the gay ; the learned, the ignorant, the white and the
coloured — both sexes, each party, every sect — all who could,
went forth to see him. The pale invalid, scarcely convalescent,
but partaking of the general excitement, and reanimated by the
common sentiment of patriotism that moved the hearts of thou
sands, arose from his couch, and tottered out to take a look ;
and the halt and the crippled hobbled out too, to catch a glimpse
at the long-tried and inflexible old friend of liberty, and enemy
to tyranny and despotism.
Some of the simple-minded, not exactly comprehending the
cause of the wonderful excitement and stir, were somewhat sur
prised to see nothing more than a fine specimen of nature's
noblemen, in the person of the venerated French warrior and
philanthropist. But to the reception.
Two pieces of artiUery, commanded by Captain George Ott,
were stationed, in due time, at the Ferry Wharf; and as the
steamboat Petersburg rounded Town Point and appeared in sight,
the roar of the great guns answered the double purpose of
saluting, in a suitable manner, the far-famed chieftain, and of
announcing to the citizens the near approach of their distinguished
guest. For some time previously to the salutation, a large con
course of citizens had assembled on the wharf and on Market
Square, anxiously and impatiently waiting to witness the arrival
of the patriot.
The two volunteer companies, viz., the Independents, Captain
Capron, and Juniors, Captain Gibbons, and the two Portsmouth
companies, the Rifle Corps, Captain Young, and the Grays,
Captain Langhorne, were in readiness at the place of landing.
Captain (late Commodore) Warrington, George Newton, and
William Maxwell, Esqrs., composed the committee deputed to

166 historical and
receive him. They embarked in an elegant barge to the boat,
which lay in the stream, some distance from the densely crowded
shore. Accompanied by his suite and his son, George Washing
ton, and amid the long, loud shouts of the enthusiastic multitude,
and the louder thundering of the ordnance, the brave old General
was landed.
He was received at the wharf by the excellent Mayor of the
borough, John E. Holt, Esq., after which, a procession was
formed, composed of the authorities, the ' volunteer companies,
the corporate societies, clergy, schools, and the citizens gene
rally. The General was assigned an appropriate position in the
ranks, and the procession moved slowly up the Square ; while
the huzzas of the excited throng made the welkin ring again.
A magnificent civic arch, with a graceful curve, stretched
across Main Street from the corner (now Newton's), and pre
sented a truly imposing appearance. It was tastefully hung
with evergreens and flowers, and beautified with well-wrought
designs, and the words "Welcome, Lafayette," stood out in
full relief.
The children of the different schools were neatly dressed and
prepared for the joyful occasion ; many of them carrying baskets
of flowers, with which they thickly strewed the pathway of the
noble-hearted visitor, of whose generous, heroic deeds they had
heard and read, and which they had been taught by their parents
and teachers to hold in grateful remembrance. This is said to
have been a "most interesting and heart-touching scene," at
which the General was much affected, and he expressed himself
in terms of high gratification.
An appropriate address was delivered by the Mayor, standing
under the arch, which was responded to in a suitable style by
the venerable chief. There was another spectacle of intense
interest attending the visit and triumphal march of the honoured
and victorious chieftain througli the densely crowded avenues of
our town. The doors, windows, and piazzas of the houses, were
thronged with ladies, "who," says the Herald, "although not
equalling in number those who, in similar situations, greeted
the arrival of the nation's guest in the larger cities, might, we
think, justly claim the palm of beauty."

descriptive sketches. 167
They waved their handkerchiefs, and the benignant smiles
from thousands of blooming faces, appeared to thrill again the
old hero's heart with emotions of delight, and combined to add
another chapter of glory to the interesting and romantic history
of his eventful career, and his memorable journey on the happy
shores of the great country, in whose behalf he had freely given
some of the best years of his useful Ufe ; to whose suffering sol
diers he had freely opened his purse; in whose battles, near
fifty years before, he had bravely fought, and conquered, and
spUt his blood.
He was escorted to Mrs. Hansford's boarding-house, a fine
buUding then, but recently erected by Captain Robert E. Steed,
at the west corner of East Main and East Streets, subsequently
owned and occupied by Purser Fitzgerald, U. S. N., and now
by H. B. Grigsby, Esq. With the entertainments and accom
modations there, the venerable visiter was highly pleased. At
night, the town was most brilliantly iUuminated. The citizens
of Portsmouth were busy, too, in showing, on the interesting oc
casion, "honour to whom honour" was due, and that town also
exhibited " a blaze of joy." The shores and river, in front of
the town, were lighted up with forty-two bonfires, producing a
splendid effect.
On the following day (Saturday), the General received crowds
of visiters ; among whom were, of course, our most prominent
and respectable inhabitants. A grand banquet was held in the
afternoon, at which there was soul-cheering music, as well as a
plentiful supply of the delicacies of the season. The most cour
teous and respectful attentions were paid him there also by the
citizens, and at night Portsmouth gave him a grand ball.
After he had rested (on Sunday) from the fatigue of his jour
ney and reciprocal courtesies, the citizens of Norfolk were ready
again, on Monday, to manifest in a most cordial and hospitable
manner, the evidences of the lively sentiments of gratitude which
swelled their hearts, for the valuable services of the brave and
magnanimous Frenchman. At night a splendid ball was given
him in the spacious rooms of the new Custom-House (there not
being a more suitable place), which were elegantly arranged

168 historical and
and beautified for the occasion ; and a very large and fashionable
assemblage here, again, paid their respects to him and those who
accompanied him.
The reception and entertainment of Lafayette were highly
creditable to our citizens, and those of the contiguous town.
Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the surrounding country, joined
heartily in the " spontaneous burst of acclamation and rejoicing"
that rung through the length and breadth of the land.
It is gratifying, by the way, to reflect upon the manner in
which Lafayette was received, when he visited the happy land
which he had so generously aided in becoming free and indepen
dent. As some evidence of the nation's gratitude. Congress very ap
propriately voted him $200,000, and a township of land, for his
ample means had now been greatly reduced by reverses of for
tune ; and from north to south, from east to west, on a line of
travel reaching near 5,000 miles, in city and town, and village
and country seat, he was greeted with joy and delight, and ar
dent wishes for long life, health, and happiness, on account of
the benefits he had conferred personally, and by his instrumen
tality, directly and indirectly. These important services had
justly endeared him and his countrymen to the hearts of our
people with the strongest ties of affectionate regard. When he
left his home and friends, and came to expose himself to the
hardships of war for the benefit of an oppressed people, he was
no mercenary in search of money and self-aggrandizement.
" He was no nameless man, staking life for reputation ; he
ranked among nobles, and looked unawed upon kings. He was
no friendless outcast, seeking for a grave to hide his cold heart ;
he was girdled by the companions of his childhood ; his kinsmen
were about him ; his wife was before him.
" Yet from all these he turned away, and came. Like a lofty
tree that shakes down its green glories, to battle with the win
ter's storm, he flung aside the trappings of place and pride, to
crusade for Freedom in Freedom's holy land. He came, — but
not in the day of successful rebellion — not when the new-risen
sun of Independence had burst the cloud of time, and careered
to its place in the heavens.

descriptive sketches. 169
" He came when darkness curtained the hUls, and the tempest
was abroad in its anger ; when the plough stood still in the fleld
of promise, and briars cumbered the garden of beauty ; when
fathers were dying, and mothers were weeping over them ; when
the wife was binding up the gashed bosom of her husband, and
the maiden was wiping the death-damp from the brow of her
lover. He came when the brave began to fear the power of man,
and the pious to doubt the favour of God. It was then that this
one joined the ranks of a revolted people. Freedom's little
phalanx bade him a grateful welcome. With them, he courted
the battle's rage ; with theirs, his arm was uplifted ; with theirs,
his blood was shed.
******
" After nearly fifty years, that one has come again. Can
mortal man tell, can mortal heart feel, the sublimity of that
coming? Exulting milUons rejoice in it; and their long, loud,
transporting shout, Uke the mingling of many winds, rolls on,
undying, to freedom's farthest mountains. A congregated na
tion comes around him. Old men bless him, and children reve
rence him. The lovely come out to look upon him ; the learned
deck their halls to greet him ; the rulers of the land rise up to
do him homage. How his full heart labours. He views the
rusting trophies of departed days ; he treads upon the high
places where his brethren moulder ; he bends before the tomb of
his father ; — his words are tears — the speech of sad remem
brance. But he looks round upon a ransomed land and a joyous
race ; he beholds the blessings, those trophies secured, for which
those brethren died, for which that FATHER lived ; and again his
words are tears — the eloquence of gratitude and joy. "

170 HISTORICAL AND
CHAPTER XXIL
1824—1827.
Lieutenant G. — Shipwreck — His Wife aud ChUd — Affecting Scene — Sudden and
Singular Death — Mrs. G. — Fire^Court-House and Jail Destroyed — Mr.
Taylor and Dr. Slaughter — Court-House — Storm — High Tide — Destruction
of Property — New Burying-Ground — Legacy of EUzabeth CrommeUne — Ex
ports — Non-intercourse Laws — Mr. Tazewell — General Smith — Trade De
clining — Destructive Fire — Christ Church, &c.. Burned — Loss and Distress —
Countryman Frightened — Reports the Town on Fire — Ordinance concerning
the Erection of Wooden Buildings — Lyceum — Its Name — ^Aristotle's School
— Odd Fellows' Hall — Lancasterian School-Room — Interments in St. Paul's
Graveyard Prohibited — Mild and Unseasonable Weather.
" In the winter of 1824, Lieutenant G  , of the United
States Navy, with his beautiful wife and infant child, embarked
in a packet at Norfolk, bound to Charleston, South Carolina.
For the first day and night after their departure, the wind con
tinued fair and the weather clear ; but, on the evening of the
second day, a severe gale sprung up, and towards midnight, the
Captain, judging himself much farther from the land than he
really was, and dreading the Gulf Stream, hauled in for the
coast ; but with the intention, it is presumed, of lying-to when
he supposed himself clear of the Gulf. Lieutenant G. did not
approve of the Captain's determination, and the result proved
that his fears were well founded ; for towards morning, the vessel
grounded. "Vain would it be to attempt a description of the horror
which Avas depicted on every countenance, when the awful shock,
occasioned by the striking of the vessel's bottom, was first ex
perienced. The terror of such a situation can be known only to
those who have themselves been shipwrecked. No others can
have a tolerable idea of what passed in the minds of the wretched
crew, as they gazed with vacant horror on the thundering ele
ments, and felt that their frail bark must soon, perhaps the next
thump, be dashed to pieces, and they left at the mercy of the
billows, with not even a plank between them and eternity. First
comes the thumping of the vessel ; next, the dashing of the surge

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 171
over her sides ; then, the careening of the vessel, on her beam
ends, as the waves for an instant recede ; and lastly, the crashing
of the spars and timbers at each returning wave ; the whole form
ing a scene of confusion and horror which no language can
describe. " But awful as is the shipwrecked sailor's prospect, what are
his feelings compared to the agony of a fond husband and /a^^er,
who clasps in a last embrace his little world, — his beloved wife
and child. The land was in sight ; but to approach it was
scarcely less dangerous than to remain in the raging sea around
them. Lieutenant G. was a seaman, and a brave one, accus
tomed to danger, and quick in seizing upon every means of
rescuing the unfortunate. But now, who were the unfortunate
that called on him for rescue ? Who were they, whose screams
were heard, louder than the roaring elements, imploring that aid
which no human power could afford them ? His wife and child!
0, heart-rending agony !
" But why attempt to describe what few can imagine ! In a
word, the only boat which could be got was manned by two gal
lant tars. Mrs. G. and her child and its nurse were lifted into
it ; it was the thought of desperation ! The freight was already
too much. Mr. G. saw this, and knew that the addition of him
self would diminish the chances of the boat's reaching the shore
in safety ; and horrible as was the alternative, he himself gave
the order, — ' Push off, and make for the land, my brave lads !'
— the last words that ever passed his lips. The order was obeyed ;
but ere the little boat had proceeded fifty yards (about half the
distance to the beach), it was struck by a wave, capsized, and
boat, passengers and all, enveloped in the angry surge. The
wretched husband saw but too distinctly the destruction of all
that he held dear. But here, alas ! and for ever, were shut out
from him all sublunary prospects. He fell upon the deck, power
less, senseless, a corpse, — the victim of a sublime sensibility.*
* It has been stated that the words, " Push off, and make for the land," &c.,
were not the last that were spoken by the devoted Lieutenant G. ; and that the
giving of further orders, when the boat upset, together with the powerful ad
ditional mental excitement which it occasioned, in all probability caused the
rupture of a blood-vessel, or some sudden and fatal derangement of the heart.

172 HISTORICAL AND
" But what became of the unhappy wife and child ? The an
swer shall be brief. Mrs. G. was borne through the breakers to
the shore by one of the brave sailors ; the nurse was thrown upon
the beach, with the drowned infant in her arms. Mrs. G. was
taken to a hut senseless, continued delirious many days, but
finally recovered her senses, and with them a consciousness of
the awful catastrophe which, in a moment, made her a childless
widow." February. A fire occurred on Main Street, which destroyed
the old court-house and jail buildings, which stood at the head
of Market Square. They had been, some years before, converted
into stores, which were occupied mostly by persons now living.
The site of the large block of buildings at the head of Market
Square, now owned by the heirs of General Robert B. Taylor,
was occupied by this old hall of justice. This property belonged
jointly to Robert Taylor, Esq., the father of General R. B.
Taylor, and Dr. A. Slaughter. Dr. S., as before stated, died
in 1814, since which time the lots alluded to have been the pro
perty of the heirs of Mr. T. The old jail buildings were
located between the court-house and Talbot Street, on the
site on which now stand the houses belonging to the heirs of
Thomas Talbot and Tildsley Graham, Esq. ; including the large
dry-goods buildings occupied by Messrs. Stewart and Jones, and
belonging to the respected heirs of Mr. Talbot.
The contracted and incommodious court-house, that was situ
ated on East Main Street (but recently taken down and removed),
was buUt in 1790.
In 1825, there was a violent storm, accompanied with an as
tonishingly high tide, which almost entirely inundated the lower
portion of the town, materially damaging many articles of mer
chandise, such as sugar, salt, tobacco, &c., and floating away
quantities of lumber and fire-wood.
January 8. Act of Assembly passed, authorizing the Common
Council to appropriate a piece of land as a new burying-ground.
March 31, 1826. Ordinance passed providing for the esta
blishment of a new cemetery.
July 11. An ordinance passed, providing for the disposition

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 173
of legacies, left by Elizabeth Crommeline to Christ Church, and
the poor of the borough.
She bequeathed, by wiU, one thousand dollars for the use of
the poor, to be vested in stock, or placed at interest ; and the
same amount for the benefit of Christ Church.
For the year ending 30th September, the exportations from
this port amounted to $219,912, being $19,412 more than those
from Baltimore for the same year. The exports from Norfolk
were, with a few exceptions, in American vessels. From Balti-
timore, produce to the amount of $43,174, included in the above
calculation, was taken away in British vessels.
This year the effect of the Non-intercourse Laws and commercial
restrictive system, existing between the United States and Great
Britain, with regard to the trade of the West Indies and the
British Colonies, were very seriously felt by Norfolk ; indeed, it
was highly detrimental to the trading interests of the southern
ports generally. The commerce of our town now began very
perceptibly to decline ; disastrous consequences ensued, as pre
dicted by Mr. Tazewell, of Norfolk, and General Smith, of Bal
timore ; whose able debates and efforts, with regard to this inte
resting and important, though complicated, subject, are well
remembered by many at the present day.
1827. On the morning of March 9, between one and two o'clock,
a fire broke out in a frame workshop, at the southeast corner of
Main and Church Streets, where now stands the National Hotel.
The shop was occupied by a most industrious and estimable me
chanic, a coachmaker and wheelwright, now living.
The wind blew a gale from about sbuth by west. The work
shop was very soon destroyed, together with several adjacent
buUdings on Main Street. But the sparks and even the burning
embers, were blown to a considerable distance up Church Street,
on which, and on the western part of Mariner Street, the loss was
very great. The Protestant Episcopjil Church, which stood
where the Presbyterian Church now stands, was consumed. It
was a large and lofty buUding. The block of buildings known
as Murray's Row, was also destroyed. At this place, Mariner,
between Church and Fenchurch Streets, the fire raged with fear
ful violence.

174 HISTORICAL AND
" It was a fearful night;
The strong flame sped
From street to street, from house to house.
And on their treasures fed."
The flames from the houses on either side of the street, united in
one vast column, which towered above the highest houses, strew
ing the fiery missiles for many rods. The entire northeastern
section of the town was menaced by the flames, and it was saved
only by the most active exertions of the firemen and citizens.
The large and handsome framed mansion, erected by Mr. Plume,
and at that time occupied by Walter Horron, Esq., corner of
Church and Wood Streets, was set on fire by embers from the
church, at a distance of half a mile below, and was also con
sumed. Every part of the town was most brightly illumined, and,
indeed, the light of the conflagration was visible for many miles
around. About sixty houses were burned. The flames, gather
ing strength and power from the sti;ong wind that blew, filled
the citizens on Church and Fenchurch Streets with great con
sternation and alarm. Many families were deprived of a shelter,
and the loss of property was very considerable. It was stated
that an individual from the country, on his way to market, on
seeing the rapid spreading flames, and the showers of burning
embers, concluded that the whole town was on fire ; whereupon he
turned his horse, made the best of his way home again, and re
ported accordingly !
March 10th. Ordinance passed in CouncU, prohibiting the
erection of wooden buildings of more than ten feet square and
one story high, " on any lot or piece of land lying on Mason
Street, as extended from Newton's Creek on the east, to Eliza
beth River on the west ; or on any lot or piece of land lying
southwardly or westwardly of said street."
The immediate cause of the passing of this necessary prohibi
tion, was, doubtless, the destruction of property on the preceding
day. The ordinance has been frequently violated, although the
penalty is quite severe, viz., $20 for each offence, and $5 for
every week thereafter, until the building is removed or taken
down. By a recent ordinance, the prohibition extends to all
lots south of Bute Street.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 175
March 23d. The Lyceum was opened. This was a neat, one-
story building of brick, situated on the north side of Wolfe
Street, and intended by the proprietor, Wm. Maxwell, Esq., for
public lectures, the meeting of literary associations, &c. The
name is the same as that of the place in which Aristotle instructed
his pupils in philosophy. By adhering to his relative, Calis-
thenes, this philosopher lost the favour of his pupil Alexander,
and, therefore, removed from Mytilene to Athens, "where he
set up his new school. The magistrates received him kindly,
and gave him the Lyceum, so famous afterwards for the con
course of his disciples."
The Norfolk Lyceum was purchased, in 1839, by the Odd
Fellows, and greatly enlarged and improved, a second story
having been added, for the purposes of that useful and respec
table Order. There are three commodious rooms on the first
floor, which are occupied by schools and debating societies.
August 7th. Ordinance passed, providing for the buUding of a
new Lancasterian school-room.
Ordinance passed, prohibiting the burial of persons in the old
church-yard of St. Paul's, whose near relations had not already
been interred there.
There was no frost in Norfolk or vicinity during the month of
October, and in December following there was neither frost nor
ice.

CHAPTER XXIIL
1828.
Dry Dock at Gosport — Summer Days in Midwinter — Vegetables, Flowers, and
Birds — Melancholy Accident and Loss of Life — Three Midshipmen Drowned
— Mr. Hunter's Fortitude, &c. — Snow — Ordinance concerning Fire-wood —
Suggestion — Prices — Christ Church — Ministrations — Present Pastor — The
Clock — Original Plan — Present Condition — Bell.
January 1st, 1828. On this day was commenced that exten
sive and splendid piece of masonry, the Dry Dock, at the Navy

176 HISTORICAL AND
Yard, Gosport. This day was remarkably warm, and on the 5tli
of the month, the inhabitants found it most agreeable to dispense
with flres, except those who could not consent to depart so far
from the fashion of the season. Summer clothing was most
comfortable ; blankets could not be endured at night, the doors
and windows were thrown open, many sat in their porches, and
enjoyed the evening's balmy air, while numbers of ladies and
gentlemen promenaded the principal thoroughfares. Asparagus
and other spring vegetables of mature growth were offered for
sale in the market. The trees and shrubs budded. The blue
bird, the wren, and others of the sparrow kind, returned and
resumed their matin songs. The sweet-scented hyacinth, and
the lovely violet, with other gentle spring flowers, bloomed and
perfumed the ambient air. The seasons, which
" Gave warning of the lapse of time, that else
Had stolen unheeded by,"
appeared almost to have changed their wonted course ; for in
the month of January, instead of the usual supply of ice and
snow, and the chilling breath of Boreas, the air was mild and
pleasant, the south and southwestern zephyrs blew, and all na
ture began to assume the pleasing and enlivening aspect of the
vernal time.
On Saturday, April 5th of this year, a most melancholy oc
currence took place in the harbour. Midshipmen William J.
Slidele, Frederick Rogers, Robert M. Harrison, and Bushrod
W. Hunter, were out on a short pleasure excursion, in a saU-
boat, which unfortunately capsized, and the three first-named
gentlemen were drowned. They were all young men of fine
promise, and very respectably connected ; and theii^ sad, sudden,
and unexpected fate was greatly lamented. The bodies were
recovered, and those of Harrison and Slidele were among the
first committed to the silent tomb in the new cemetery ; whither
they were conveyed under very solemn and impressive circum
stances, and with every mark of respect for their worth, and
sympathy for their untimely death.
Mr. Hunter was rescued from his perilous situation, when life

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 177
was nearly extinct. He had endeavoured, with uncommon for
titude and presence of mind, to cheer his drowning companions,
and encouraged them to continue their efforts to save themselves.
He still lives, an ornament to our gallant Navy, to the church,
and to society.
On the 7th of April, it snowed considerably ; an interval of
two years having elapsed since any had fallen in the borough or
its neighbourhood.
On June 20th, was passed " An Ordinance to amend and re
duce into one, the several ordinances concerning fire-wood."
Among the requirements of this law, there is one which provides
" that the cord of wood shaU measure eight feet in breadth, four
feet in length, and four feet in height ; and that each and every
piece or log of wood shall be soimd, straight, free from project
ing knots, and of full length."
It has been suggested, and perhaps very properly, that the
measurer of wood, for house-keepers, should keep a correct daily
record of all sales, purchasers' names, prices, &c.
The price of hard wood, per cord, in the Norfolk market,
varies, in the spring and summer months, from $2 00 to $2 50 ;
and of pine, from $1 75 to §2 25. In the fall and winter sea
sons, the price seldom exceeds $3 50 for hard, and $3 for pine;
although, in very severe weather, the price has risen to $6, $7,
and even $8.
This year Christ Church (Protestant Episcopal) was erected.
That beautiful btulding exhibits, as yet, but little of the usual effects
of time. It was built with great care, and was truly a handsome
offering to Him whose exalted name it bears. May it long re
main, as it now is, a monument of the liberality of the numerous
and highly-respected congregation that assembles within its
sacred walls ; and of the faithfulness, taste, and skill of its chief
builder, Mr. L. Swain. The situation was well chosen ; being
central, airy, and affording a good view of the edifice from several
points. Its solid waUs of brick are well stuccoed ; the windows are
arched; two massive columns stand at the front of the main
entrance and partly support the gable and steeple. On each
side of the entry is an ascent to the gaUery. This neat edifice
12

178 HISTORICAL AND
stands at the northwest corner of Cumberland and Freemason
Streets, and fronts on the latter, being the oldest of three
houses of worship, prominently situated, but a short distance
from each other, on the west side of the last named street, and
which combine to add greatly to the good appearance of the
central part of our improving city.
The excellent condition in which this sanctuary is kept, the
good order always preserved during service, the devout elo
quence of its ministrations, and the sacred and soul-thrilling
strains of its choir, accompanied by the solemn, soft, and deep-
toned music of a very large and superior organ, combine to ren
der it a peculiarly attractive place of Divine worship.
The clock attached to this building — that large and faithful
time-piece, whose long-swinging pendulum has, for a quarter of
a century, measured off the fleeting moments — contributes much
to the convenience of the citizens, with regard to that which is
but seldom, if ever, properly appreciated —
" 'Tis folly's blank, and wisdom's highest prize."
Christ Church, for some reason deemed sufficient by the build
ing committee, was not built exactly in accordance with the ori
ginal plan ; of which the steeple was better proportioned than
that of the present building, which, it is thought, would have a
finer effect, if considerably higher. Both the interior and exte
rior of the house have been recently painted, and the former im
proved and supplied with the means of being brilliantly iUumi
nated with gas. The bell of this church is very large and
sonorous, having a rich, bold, and musical tone, which is some
times heard for more than ten mUes.
The present devoted and popular pastor of this church, Rev.
Geo. D. Cummins, is a gentleman of great ability as a theologian
and pulpit orator. Many of his discourses are characterized by
peculiar dignity and beauty of style, and energy of delivery.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 179
CHAPTER XXIV.
1828.
ReUgious Revival — Lieutenant in the U. S. Army enters the Ministry — Talents
— Preaches in Uniform — The People go in Crowds to Hear Him — Descrip
tion of a Camp Meeting Scene — The Young Preacher — Solemn and Impres
sive Devotions — Extraordinary Sermon — The Preacher's Style, Subject, &c.
— Thrilling Interest .and Wonderful Effect — Exciting Scene — The Preacher
Overcome — Revivals — Melancholy Statement — Pastor of St. Paul's, New
York — -Other Preachers — Panny Baker — His Success and Usefulness — Affect
ing Scene — His Death — Presidents — Professors, Editors, &c. — Appropriate
Work of Methodist Ministers — ilethodism — Principles of Truth do not Change
— Men Change — Reformation.
About this period (1827-8), there was an extensive revival of
religion in several of the churches of the town, and many others
in the neighbouring counties, and, we believe, in various sections
of the country. Many of our citizens date their permanent reli
gious impressions and the commencement of a life of piety, from
this time.
Some time during this or the preceding year, commenced, in
this vicinity, the clerical career of a young gentleman of prepos
sessing manners, who exhibited commanding talents as an orator,
and whose pulpit efforts soon placed him prominently before the
public as a successful revivalist, and an able minister of the
gospel of Christ, while his fruits were sufficiently manifest, and
his trophies sufficiently numerous, to attract the favourable
notice and excite the fondest hopes of the church with which he,
about that time, united. He was an officer in the United States
Army, a lieutenant, we believe, and ¦^fras then attached to a body
of soldiers connected with that branch of the national defence,
and garrisoned at Fortress Monroe. He was educated at West
Point, where, at an early age, he had received strong religious
impressions under the pious ministrations of Bishop Mcllvaine,
of the Protestant Episcopal Church. At a revival of religion,
which he attended in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Hamp
ton, about this period, he was a seeker after a deeper work of

180 HISTORICAL AND
grace and higher religious attainments ; and he was among the
happy number who there partook largely of the divine influences ;
shortly after which, he joined the Methodist Church. Manifesting
very considerable religious zeal, and, as intimated above, decided
abUity as a speaker ; and, moreover, professing to be " moved
by the Holy Ghost to preach," he became a member of the Me
thodist ministry, and promptly engaged in the awfully responsible
work of proclaiming the " unsearchable riches of Christ." His
preaching soon attracted great attention ; for it " was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power." In Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, and
elsewhere, even his early efforts were highly commended. His
style was pleasing, his delivery fluent, and his language chaste ;
his voice agreeable and musical, his gestures graceful, and his
whole manner in the pulpit exceedingly animated and impres
sive.* There was not observable, it is true, in the young orator,
extraordinary acuteness of reasoning, nor was there any great at-
temptat deep and learned theological iiivestigation ; these were not
yet expected. But his illustrations were apt and striking ; and
his thoughts upon the subjects chosen were expressed in a clear,
winning, and graphic manner. Before he finally resigned his
commission in the army, he occasionally spoke in undress uni
form, and, as may be supposed, he drew very large audiences to
hear him.
In 1828, he officiated at a camp meeting, held by the Metho
dists at " Nimmo's," a place famous, especiaUy in those days,
for striking exhibitions of Divine power, in the conversion of
sinners, and for the copious outpouring of the spirit of the living
God. The location is in the good old county of Princess Anne,
about twenty-one miles from the city, and two miles below the
court-house, in a section in which the Methodists have long pre
dominated. * " Let the rising ministry take warning ! Awkwardness in the pulpit is a
sin ; monotony a sin ; dulness a sin ; and all of them sins against the welfare
of immortal souls.
"It is as easy to be graceful in gesture and natural in tone, as to be gram.
matical."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 181
A discourse, which he delivered at that time and place, is re
membered by many living at the present day. It was a quiet,
bright, and beautiful Sabbath morning in August. The rudely
and hastily constructed board tents, on the " camp-ground," were
arranged in rows, forming three sides of a spacious square, amid
a magnificent natural grove of oaks and beech, of gigantic growth,
whose wide-spreading branches cast a dense shade, which an
swered well for the protection of the numbers who congregated
beneath them, from the rays of the sun.*
These lines of the poet, doubtless, express the feelings expe
rienced by many a devoted servant of God, at that place and on
that occasion : — " God! thy greatness here I feel.
Heeds my heart thy love's appeal.
At thy forest shrine I kneel ;
AU my sins confessing !
" Here, with strength, my soul imbue,
Light thy altar-fires anew.
Aid me to be pure and true.
Father ! with thy blessing !"
The voice of prayer and praise arose, and resounded far down
in the deep green woods, where, too, the singing-birds sported
and carolled merrily, as if rejoicing in their existence. The
winds, as they came in gently from the sea, that rolled along in
its might and majesty but a few miles distant, made melancholy
music among the thick foliage above ; and, at intervals, the mur
muring sound of the breaking waves of " old Ocean," that
" Played low upon the beach,
Their constant music,"
mingled harmoniously, though solemnly, with the "moaning
echoes of the wind."
The young officer, who had been but recently transferred from
the service of his country to the army of the "Lord of hosts"
* That beautiful and extensive grove has long since disappeared. The
"woodman" should have spared those trees.

182 HISTORICAL AND
and the " God of battles," and who had united with the " Sol
diers of the Cross," to fight in the bloodless warfare against the
enemies of his Heavenly King, drew, as may be imagined, a
large crowd to hear him on this occasion : a great concourse of
people from the town, and from different sections of the sur
rounding country, were rapidly collecting together.
At an early hour, he seemed in deep meditation, upon the
works of God it may have been, as they were there manifested
in the charming beauties of Nature, as well as upon the solemn
message that he was about to deliver.
At the hour specified for the sermon, a horn was blown ; and
the seats beneath a capacious shelter, formed by the thick green
branches of trees thrown upon a framework of poles, were all
quickly filled with people of both sexes, old and young ; the fe
males being seated on the right, and the males on the left of the
principal aisle, which divided the rows of benches ; while multi
tudes stood around.
The coloured people, who were rapidly gathering too, from all
directions, in their shady location a few rods distant, had not
yet commenced their loud shouts, nor were they yet sufficiently
excited to engage in their frantic dance of joy, while, hand in
hand, they formed a ring around the converts ; and their melo
dious, though simple notes of praise, were not yet too distinctly
heard to break in upon the impressiveness of the scene; the
whole vast assemblage anxiously awaited the appearance of the
young preacher, and the commencement of his discourse.
He soon walked from "the preacher's tent," accompanied by
several other clerical brethren, and, with a light and graceful
step, he ascended the "stand," or pulpit, which was buUt of
rough boards, beneath the dense, umbrageous foliage of one of
those tall old sons of the forest,
"Whose deep-dug roots are twisted around the stout ribs of the globe.
That mocketh at the fury of the storm, and rejoiceth in summer sunshine."
An appropriate hymn was sung in a solemn tune ; and again
those " wUd old woods" resounded with the voice of praise. The
music made there, by thousands of the most charming of all in
struments, that of the human voice, mingled and arose in one

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 183
great volume of melody, swelling out in loud, full, clear tones,
while the concordant reverberations were heard around, appa
rently inspiring the hearts of all with solemnity ; calming down,
perhaps, the agitated feelings of even the most hoary-headed
sinner present, and impressing the mind of the gay and thought
less with the importance of eternal matters. A fervent prayer
was offered at the throne of grace ; after which another hymn
was sung, and then the preacher arose.
" He glances at the assembly ; but, although that glance is
momentary, yet it speaks volumes, which those who mark can
easily understand. His hearers feel that their best interests are
dear to him. They sympathize with the travail of his soul. He
opens the sacred volume, and all listen as if God himself were
speaking. He announces the subject of discourse, in which all
must feel interested.
" In commencing he is deeply serious, although far from being
loud and boisterous. The thoughts and feelings which have been
confined in his breast at first escape in gentle accents.
" He addresses the understanding of his audience, knowing
that they require to be informed before they can be excited ; that
the way to the heart is through the understanding. His descrip
tions are clear. His pictures are vivid. His aim is direct. His
hearers cannot mistake him. They feel the tendency of his
thoughts, and they eagerly anticipate the object at which he is
aiming. There is no dry detail ; no eccentric starting from the
line which his peculiar and solemn circumstances have marked
out for him."
The great necessity of a speedy repentance and regeneration
was urged ; the danger of delaying a prompt, decisive, and entire
consecration of the heart to the Great Author of life, and the
" Giver of every good and perfect gift ;" the wretchedness atten
dant upon, and surely following a life of impenitence ; the merits
of a crucified Redeemer — the only hope, yet all-sufficient source
of safety and deliverance from the impending dangers to which
the deathless spirit of man is exposed ; the final doom of the
lost ; the never-ending glory of the redeemed —
" Time gone, the righteous saved, the wicked damned,
And God's eternal government approved."

184 HISTORICAL AND
These, we believe, were some of the most prominent points in
the sermon.
" The only effectual method," says Blair, "to become pathetic,
is to be moved yourselves. There are a thousand interesting
circumstances suggested by real passion, which no art can
imitate, and no refinement can supply. There is obviously a
contagion among the passions.* And Cicero said, that the in
stances in which he was most successful, were those in which he
abandoned himself to the impulses of feeling." Thus it was now
with the speaker, very shortly after he announced the text. He
appeared to feel, and doubtless did feel deeply, the importance
of his subject ; he spoke fearlessly, forcibly, and convincingly,
the overflowing sentiments of his heart, and the effect was most
powerful, solemn, and extraordinary.
His language was well chosen and appropriate ; but the tone
of his voice, his looks and gestures, interpreted the emotions of
his full heart. " For a while, an almost breathless anxiety pre
vailed, deeply impressive and solemnizing from its singular intense-
ness." But this did not continue long, for it was soon broken
by the audible and increasing responses from the other preachers
and the more devotional part of the auditory ; and he had not
spoken longer, perhaps, than half an hour, before a scene, such
as has been rarely witnessed, began to manifest itself in the
assembly. " As he proceeds along, he seems to gather a mysterious
energy, arising not from wiredrawn theory or splendid creations
* The following brief extract will serve to prove the truth of this statement
of Mr. Blair, and to convey an idea of the style and manner of a successful
preacher of an earlier period in the history of the church.
" Lord save the sinner — save him .'" he cried, in the highest pitch of his voice.
"Death is upon him, and hell follows. See, the bony arm is raised! The
fatal dart is poised ! 0, my God ! save him — save him ! for if death strikes
him, he falls, hell receives him ; and, as he falls, he shrieks, 'Lost! lost!!
Lost ! ! ! Time lost ! Sabbaths lost ! Means lost ! Heaven lost ! All lost ! !
and lost for ever !'
" The effect was so overwhelming that two of the congregation fainted, and
it required all the preacher's tact and self-command to ride through the storm
which his own vivid imagination and powerful appeal had roused."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 185
of fancy, but from the clear plain sentiments of truth.* The
light which he at first scattered now begins to diffuse heat. He
soon becomes an altered man.
" The powers of the world to come seem to take possession of
his spirit. He draws the curtain which conceals the invisible.
Earth and all its busy scenes vanish. Heaven and hell are re
vealed ! Every countenance reveals the light of the one or the
gloom of the other. There is not a careless or inattentive man
in the place ; all are compelled to look in the direction in which
he points. He now feels that he has got access to the immortal
souls with whom he is surrounded, and he does not fail to im
prove the precious moment. He urges with divine energy the
things which belong to their eternal peace. He presses with re
sistless eagerness the inquiry, ' What shall I do to be saved !'
He appeals to the conscience in a tone which it dares not refuse
to answer. The affections and passions are raised at his com
mand. Love, and fear, and hope, start from their slumbers, and
the whole moral being becomes intensely awake."
Tears were seen coursing down the cheeks of many of the
listeners, while others turned pale, and trembled, as though their
eternal doom had been sealed, and they stood upon the verge of
destruction. Men and women shouted aloud ; but the speaker's
voice, rising almost to its highest pitch, was yet distinctly heard
by many whose eyes were intently fixed upon him, and who ex
hibited evidences of the deepest emotion, which continued until
some fell suddenly upon the ground. This, indeed, was a fre
quent occurrence before he concluded.
It was soon evident that the speaker's emotion was also gain
ing the mastery ; and his energy, excitement, and pious exulta
tion, still rapidly increasing, he was completely overwhelmed by
the intensity of his feelings ; and he suddenly fell prostrate upon
the floor of the pulpit or stand, from which he was removed to
one of the tents.
An enclosed space in front of the pulpit, thickly covered with
clean stalks of wheat, and furnished with benches, was crowded
* The foundation of all that can be caUed eloquent, is good sense and soUd
thought. — Blair.

186 HISTORICAL AND
with kneeling penitents, while others lay at full length upon the
straw, and many were to be seen under great excitement, and in
attitudes of prayer, in different parts of the congregation. Seve
ral were so much affected, appeared so happy, so transported by
the divine influence, that the body appeared to be scarcely
capable of retaining the spirit ; and such rejoicing and cries for
mercy, and general manifestations of mental agitation and ex
citement as took place on that occasion, especially after the
speaker himself had fallen, have rarely, if ever, been witnessed
since ; and it is a well-known fact, too, that this meeting was
remarkable for deep, powerful, and genuine religious convictions,
and for the large number of hopeful and unwavering converts.
The scene resembled those which were often witnessed during
the extraordinary pulpit efforts of the celebrated Whitefield;
when, to use his own words, "the whole congregation was
alarmed; crying, weeping, and wailing, were to be heard in
every direction ; many were seen falling into the arms of their
friends ; and my own soul was carried out till I could scarce
speak any more."
May we not appropriately put the question. Why are not such
manifestations of God's convicting, converting, and sanctifying
power, witnessed more frequently at the present day? Divine
power is undiminished; grace as freely bestowed ; "Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."
It may be said of this, as of other kindred religious revivals,
that it was all the result of sympathy, or mere " animal excite
ment," — a sudden and transient ebullition of feeling, soon to
evaporate, — "A brightly flashing, glowing fire.
That burns, — but only to expire."
To some extent, or with some individuals, doubtless, the excitement
was transitory ; evanishing too soon, alas ! and leaving no trace
of any real good effect. But, that truly religious impressions, and,
in many cases, a most gratifying change from sinfulness to deep,
permanent piety, and extensive usefulness, were the happy re
sults, cannot be reasonably doubted, — to the truth of which,
the closing hours of life, ay, and many a death-bed scene, have

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 187
testified plainly and unequivocally. How often, indeed, has the
dying Christian joyfully pointed back to a season of religious
excitement, resembling, in many respects, that described above,
as the commencement of the life of devotion, which enabled him
to launch out fearlessly upon the death-stream, triumphing in
the blissful hope of entering safely the bright and peaceful haven
of eternal repose ; leaving a comforting assurance for the conso
lation of surviving friends, and exclaiming, with his last expiring
breath, " All is well, all is well."
The indulgent reader must excuse another allusion to this sub
ject. The writer has heard an individual, a man of intelligence,
who heard the discourse described above, and who concealed and
stifled his convictions, declare that his refusal to yield then and
there, to the poweirful influences of the Spirit of God, and to
accept the offers of pardoning mercy upon the just and simple
terms of the gospel, was the most unhappy incident of his whole
history, — a circumstance which, has embittered his life for a
quarter of a century.
Rev. Martin P. Parks, now of Saint Paul's, Broadway, New
York, formerly Professor at Randolph Macon College, Chaplain
at West Point, &c., is the esteemed clergyman whose pulpit minis
trations, long years ago, are still so well recollected. His devout,
though much less impassioned eloquence, has often been heard in
Christ Church in this city.
There were several other excellent preachers present on the oc
casion alluded to ; among them were Rev. Bennet T. Blake, Rev.
Dr. Daniel Hall, and Rev. John P. Baker, or, as he was familiarly
called, "Panny Baker." They were then members of the Vir
ginia Conference, and were generally esteemed for their useful
ness, and abundant success as ministers of the gospel. We offer
some remarks relative to one of the three whose names we have
given. Rev. Panny Baker, who is well remembered by persons in this
city, but especially by many of the good people of that section
of Princess Anne County to which we have alluded, was, in some
respects, an extraordinary man. Illiterate, homely in person,
of an indifferent physical constitution, he was, nevertheless, a
man of wonderful faith, — powerful in the place of prayer, or at

188 HISTORICAL AND
the seeker's bench ; and it is very probable that his labours were
more successful, and more signally blessed, than those of any
minister who has succeeded him upon that " circuit." His health
was early sacrificed to the cause in which he laboured. " Con
sumption, that sly and deceitful destroyer," fastened its deadly
fangs upon his vitals. Pale, emaciated, broken down, perhaps
by over-exertion, but "rejoicing in hope," and patient in suffer
ing, he appeared upon the camp-ground ; hundreds flocked around
the carriage in which he reclined ; and as he reached forth his
trembling hand, and looked upon the people with an expression
of deepest tenderness and concern, assuring them that he should
see them no more in this world, and entreating them to meet him
in Heaven, whither he was hastening, tears flowed most copiously
down many a cheek, and from eyes unused to weeping ; while
stout hearts, which, perhaps, he had failed to move before, were
now made to feel. It has been stated that not one among the
hundreds who took leave of him, on that occasion, failed to shed
tears freely, and to feel most deeply.
A few weeks thereafter, at the residence of Rev. Dr. Webb,
he breathed his last breath, and his pure and happy spirit tri
umphantly ascended to Him, whom he had so faithfully endea
voured to serve on earth.
We wUl observe, and, we trust, without incurring censure for
indulging in what may be considered an unprofitable digression
here, that it has been a source of controversy and regret among
some of the members of the Methodist Church, in this and other
sections of our State, and elsewhere, that several of its ablest
ministers have heeded and accepted a call, to retire from the
regular duties of the itinerancy, to act as presidents and profes
sors of colleges, editors, &c.
It is thought, by many judicious persons, to be an unwise
policy to deprive the church of the immediate influence of their
personal ministrations upon the people — of their ministerial
efforts in the "travelling connexion," inasmuch as their present
places, as it is declared, might be supplied by local preachers or
laymen. It is affirmed that the work of Methodist ministers
is to travel and preach; " to go," using the words of the founder
of Methodism, " not only to those who want them, but to those

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 189
who want them most ; to spend and be spent in the work." The
pulpits and altars of the churches, the meetings for prayer and
praise, the family circle, the couch of the sick and dying, the
damp hovels of the wretched, the prison-houses, the cottages
of the poor, and the palaces of the rich, too — these, it is thought,
constitute the legitimate fields of labour for Methodist ministers ;
not merely in some particular and favoured locations, but (in its
regular turn) in every part of the territory embraced in the juris
diction of the Conferences to which they belong. But strong and
convincing arguments have been adduced in justification of the
course pursued by the church, and alluded to above.
There are some persons, who, on taking a glance at the church-
going portion of the community, are wont to exclaim, " Metho
dism has changed." But doctrines and principles, if properly
based upon the infallible Word, alter not in their nature. The
rise and fall of empires ; the heavy, onward tread of hostile
armies, sated with the blood, and hardened by the fearful and
unavailing shrieks of injured innocence ; earth's deep heavings
and convulsions; the "crush of worlds;" the ample sweep of
unmeasured and immeasurable eternity, all combined, will not
suffice, it is well enough known, to produce a change in a single
well-established principle of divine truth. It is man, unstable man,
that changes, and wanders into error. The delusive effects of
sin and satanic agency upon his heart, seduce him into forbidden
paths, away from the once adopted and immovable standards of
Christian faith. There are many, however, both in this and the
other branches of the church militant, " who hold fast the pro
fession of their faith without wavering."
The impatient reader will say we have travelled quite far
enough from our proper course ; and so, perhaps, we have. But
who will declare, after taking a look at the " signs of the times,"
that some great reformer, with a big, unfaltering heart like
Luther's, — firm, resolute, steady to his purpose; urged onward
by the all-powerful principle of love to God, and the souls of
men, — would not find work to do in orthodox churches of every
persuasion, in pointing professors back to the holy standards of
faith and practice, which, at the present day, are in too many
cases, sadly neglected ?

190 HISTORICAL AND
CHAPTER XXV.
1828—1832.
Dismal Swamp Canal — Methodist Protestant Church — Naval Hospital — Snow
storm — Population — Dr. M'Alpine — Cold Weather — Anniversary Celebra
tion — Procession — Interesting Display — Oration, &c. — Strange Solar Ap
pearance — Insurrection in Southampton — Its Effect — Increasing Commerce
— Mayor — Singular Weather — The Cholera — Death of the Mayor — Death of
John Tunis, Esq. — His Enterprise, &o. — Philanthropic Remark — Benevolent
Idea — Reflections — Riches— Dr. Johnson — Utility of Poverty — Old Methodist
Church Taken Down — New Building Dedicated — Dr. William A. Smith.
On Wednesday, December 31st, the Dismal Swamp Canal was
completed, and opened for the uninterrupted passage of vessels;
The Methodist Protestant Church was organized this year
(1828). The theatre that stood on Fenchurch Street was pur
chased by that denomination, and converted into a house of wor
ship. This having been burnt a few years after, the present
neat building, on Church, near Freemason Street, was bought,
and the members still worship there. Rev. John Whitefield is
the present able and esteemed pastor.
1829. The Naval Hospital, near the site of Old Fort Nelson,
was commenced this year. It is a very large and exceedingly
commodious and handsome stone building, finely adapted to the
important purpose for which it is intended. The location was
well chosen, being healthful, retired, and convenient. This mas
sive structure is a splendid ornament to the harbour, and pre
sents its beautiful and lofty front for the admiration of the
beholder on coming up the river, or from the Norfolk side. The
strictest order and discipline are observed at the establishment,
and its utility at this great naval depot is obvious.
March 19, 21. Great snow-storm.
1830. Population of Norfolk, 9,860.
Died, this year, in Kempsville, Princess Anne County, Doctor
James M'Alpine, a physician of great popularity, and remarkable
for his skill and success in the treatment of disease, as well as for
the deep interest which he manifested in his patients of every

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 191
class. His death was sudden and unexpected, and the sad news
spread with astonishing rapidity through the length and breadth
of the county. Old and young, white and coloured, were startled,
and greatly distressed by the intelligence ; and, indeed, a death
has seldom, if ever occasioned more general sorrow in Princess
Anne County. A large concourse of persons attended the
funeral, and very many gave unmistakeable evidence of their
sincere grief for the great loss which the county had sustained.
1831. During the month of January, the weather was exceed
ingly cold. The usual trips of the old steamboat Hampton,
Captain S. Selden, were prevented, on one or more occasions, by
the ice, which was of considerable thickness in the harbour ; and
on the 18th, a severe snow-storm commenced.
The anniversary of American Independence was celebrated
this year in a style that far surpassed all other occasions of the
kind in Norfolk. The recollection of such an evidence of de
voted patriotism on the part of our citizens twenty years ago, is
pleasing, especially to those who witnessed the splendid display
which marked the return of the fifty-fifth birthday of the nation.
The rising of the sun, on that bright morning, was greeted by
heavy discharges of artillery, and, at an early hour, a procession
was formed, comprising the different volunteer companies, and a
long train of large cars, or carriaq:es, which consisted of plank
platforms on wheels. On these, the different trades were repre
sented, and as they passed along, drawn by fine horses, it was
truly animating to behold the different mechanical operations, by
a judicious and ingenious arrangement, all busily and systemati
cally going on, — the carpenter at his bench, amid the shavings
that curled rapidly from his jack-plane ; the brick-mason, amid
his bricks and mortar, causing the shrill sound of his trowel to
resound far and wide ; the blacksmith, with his dingy face and
brawny arms, his roaring bellows and heavy sledge, causing the
sparks to fly, like a "fiery shower," from the glowing bar, and
" fall like golden rain around him ;" the painter, the hatter, the
cordwainer, kc, kc, each in his respective car, was to be seen
engaged at his useful and indispensable avocation.
The procession, after marching through the principal streets,
halted on Freemason Street, at about eleven o'clock ; at which

192 HISTORICAL AND
hour, H. B. Grigsby, Esq., formerly editor of the Norfolk Beacon,
delivered, in Christ Church, an oration, which was characterized
by well-chosen subjects, as well as great strength and beauty of
language, conjBined with superior rhetorical skill, and a graceful
delivery. After the conclusion of the address, the procession
again took up the line of march. Salutes were fired ; fine bands
of music cheered the hearts of the multitudes ; the government
and merchant ships were handsomely dressed with maritime flags;
the streets were thronged with visiters from the neighbouring
towns and counties, and never in any place of the same size was
there a more charming exhibition of female beauty than on that
exciting and interesting occasion. But, alas ! there were some
who mingled in the gay and cheerful crowd that day, that were
marked as victims of the dreadful scourge of the succeeding year,
then already on its mysterious and ra^id course to the western
continent. True it was, that some of those, whose hearts beat
with the liveliest emotions of pleasure then,
"Ere the twelve months made their round again,"
were reposing in deep sepulchral stillness.
The citizens were much suf,prised, on the morning of August
13th, by the very strange appearance of the sun. Owing to some
change or derangement of the atmosphere of that great central
luminary of our Sg^stem, q^Very^^ihguJ^rnh^npmenon was exhi
bited. The si^tf s' *isk seemed, on rising, to have changed from
the usual brilliant golden colour to a pale, greenish tint, which
soon gave place to cerulean blue, and this, also, to a sUvery
white. In the afternoon, he appeared like an immense circular
plane of poUshed silver ; and to the naked eye there was exhi
bited, on his surface, an appearance that was termed a " black
spot." The sun shone with a dull, gloomy light, and the atmo
sphere was moist and hazy. These phenomena excited much
wonder and astonishment among the people. The credulous
were induced to believe that some awful calamity was about to
happen ; and among the various speculations of the more intelli
gent part of the citizens, none appeared to be satisfactory. It

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 193
was evident, however, that some were waiting in considerable
suspense to witness what would come next.
During this month, came the startling intelligence of the
bloody affair in Sotrthampton County. Mounted forces, well
armed and equipped for battle, proceeded from Norfolk, Ports
mouth, and elsewhere, to assist in quelling the insurrection, and
in arresting the deluded and inhuman wretches. The diabolical
plans of Nat Turner, and his wicked and misguided followers,
were soon effectually defeated, and the ringleaders brought to
justice and condign punishment. We refrain from a statement
of the particulars of this affair, in which some estimable residents
of a neighbouring county came to a violent death, and by which
the voice of mourning was caused to be heard in several highly
respected families of this city.
The excitement on this occasion was, of course, immense ; and
no little alarm and mistrust was induced, especially among the
female portion of the community, which the lapse of more than
twenty years has scarcely sufficed to eradicate from the minds
of all. The immediate effect of this insurrection was to tighten
the reins of servitude, to cause a more ^ntire subordination to
be insisted upon by masters, and to excite a greater degree of
vigilance over the movements of servants. ] J
1832. This year, gloomy as are the recoUqctions of it, in some
respects, was noted as the beginning of a brighter period in the
mercantile history of the town of Norfolk. Commerce began to
flourish; the number of vessels, both large and small, arriving
in our port, rapidly increased. Although against wind and tide,
the old borough now began to move slowly and surely onward in
her career of prosperity. To the lumber trade, for which Nor
folk has long been noted, a fresh impulse was given ; and, in
deed, in all the different branches of business a reaction was ob
servable, notwithstanding the sad and fatal pestilential visitation
of that year.
Jan. 20. Act of Assembly passed, vesting in the freeholders
and qualified voters the privilege of electing the Mayor of the
borough. The weather, during the month of May of this year, in this
section of the country, was remarkable for the season. Gentle
13

194 HISTORICAL AND
easterly winds prevailed; and nearly the whole month was
humid, cloudy, and dreary. The atmosphere was light and en
feebling, and exhalations floated near the surface of the earth.
These circumstances combined to prepare .the physical system
for the ravages of the approaching destroyer, of whose presence,
a few weeks after, the dying and the dead gave painful and un
mistakable evidence.
Among the victims of the cholera, during its first visit to the
town, there were some valuable citizens, whose sudden departure
cast a deep gloom over the community ; yet, it must be admit
ted, that a large majority of those who fell a prey to the dire
and mysterious disease, were generally persons of enfeebled con
stitution, whose health had been impaired by age, protracted
disease, or intemperance ; or whose habits of life were irregular
and uncleanly. Those enjoying a good state of health, who
yielded to the effects of the scourge, had prepared the system
for it by imprudence in diet ; and many of such cases might
have been cured, had the nature of the disease been better under
stood by the physicians. It was a melancholy time, indeed ; all
appeared sad, many were greatly alarmed, a number of the citi
zens left the place, and some of the stores were closed.
During the summer of this year, the celebrated Indian war
rior, Black Hawk, passed through the town.
October 13th, departed this life, John E. Holt, Esq., who
had been for twenty years Mayor of the borough. He was an
intelligent and efficient officer, and manifested a lively interest
in the welfare of the town.
On the 8th of December, Norfolk lost another valuable citizen,
John Tunis, Esq., who was distinguished for his public spirit
and usefulness in advancing the local interests of the borough.
As an opulent merchant, he was noted for his liberality, inte
grity, and general information. His plans for future operations,
and schemes for the advancement of the town, were extensive
and judicious; some of which had already commenced. But,
alas ! he was called away from the busy scenes of this life, ere
he could realize the consummation of his arrangements.
This enterprising gentleman remarked, 'but a short time before
his death, that if his plans should succeed, and he was not often

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 195
mistaken in his calculations, there would not in a few years be
a man or woman in the borough necessarily withoubemployment.
"If my abilities were equal to my wishes," said the brilliant
Addison, " there should be neither pain nor poverty in the
universe." Here was a grand and benevolent idea, but, at the
same time, a still more grand impossibility, far beyond the reach
of the limited powers of man or angel ; and an implied desire of
doubtful propriety, even though it could be carried out ; for God,
in his wisdom, sees fit to inflict pain and poverty on many a noble
sojourner here ; and the most unmixed, unalloyed happiness, is
frequently to be found in the humble walks of life, and even
beneath the roof of extreme poverty. Listen, as you pass, at the
silent twiUght hour, the humble and quiet abode of some devoted,
though indigent, old "mother in Israel;" and you hear her
chaunting the praises of God. The lonely pious widow, or the
devout poor man, far retired from the busy world, amid great
earthly privations, is often to be found in the enjoyment of real
happiness ; as " cheerful as an angel of love on an errand of
mercy," and rejoicing in the anticipation of the "rest that re-
maineth for the people of God." Poverty is sometimes of great
utility; "necessity is the mother of invention." Nevertheless,
riches are very desirable, and are often the means of usefulness
and happiness. Besides, as said the " colossus of English litera
ture,"* who had suffered the inconvenience of indigence, and who
had been sorely pressed by circumstances of absolute want —
scarcely able to procure the common necessaries of life :
" This mournful truth is everywhere confessed :
Slow rises worth, by poverty distressed."
It is this, however, that sometimes lights up the latent or
smouldering fires of genius. Poverty and distress often excite the
mind of man to action, and nerve him to the performance of what
he would not dream of undertaking in prosperous circumstances.
And as the strength of the old oak, standing alone upon the moun
tain side, is often greatly increased by exposure to the fury of the
roaring tempest, taking deeper root when rudely rocked by the
* Dr. Johnson.

196 HISTORICAL AND
howling storm-god ; so misfortune and distress often combine to
render the strong man still stronger.
But the object determined upon by the individual, the date of
whose death we record, was considered by him to be quite within
the range of possibility, and not beyond the reach of perseve
rance, and extensive, well-directed personal effort ; and a suitable
appropriation of ample facilities and large capital, the great
essential elements of all vast enterprises. And although the
wish implied was limited in comparison with that of the " Chris
tian philosopher," yet it was an evidence of generous impulses
and a noble soul, that felt deeply for the welfare of others.
Hence the record of his remark here.
The old Methodist church on Cumberland Street was taken
down this year, and a very large and commodious house erected,
which, in March, 1833, was dedicated to the service of God by
the Rev. Wm. A. Smith, through whose instrumentality it was
buUt.

CHAPTER XXVL
1833—1836.
Public Square — Portsmouth and Roanoke RaUroad Company — Extensive Fire —
New Buildings — Meteoric Phenomenon — Citizens alarmed — RaUroad Stock
— Roanoke Navigation Company — City Debt — Railroad BiU passed — Demon
strations of Joy — Sabbath Desecration — Commercial Prosperity — Great Guns
and Fireworks — Failure of the Road — Rebuilding of the Road, and its Pros
pects — Death of General R. B. Taylor — City Inspector — Earthquake — Back
Creek — Shipping — Cold Weather — St. Paul's Cemetery — Religious Revival —
Almshouse — Another Railroad Subscription.
1833. February 27th. Act of Assembly passed, authorizing
the filling up of that portion of Back Creek, on the east of Bank
Street, to establish a public square.
April 3. Ordinance passed, authorizing a subscription for
stock in the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad Company, to the
amount of $60,000 — twelve hundred shares.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 197
On the night of November 4th, an extensive fire occurred on
the south side of Main Street, which consumed some eighteen or
twenty old wooden buildings, extending from a few doors east of
Market Square to Marsden's Lane. This fire was considered a
public benefit. That important portion of the city, including
Newton's Row, and the Mechanics' Hall in particular, presents
a striking contrast to the unsightly, hip-roofed, sharp top, and
rickety hovels that fed tho flames on that occasion.
On Wednesday morning, November 15th, the well-remem
bered meteoric phenomenon was exhibited to the view of those
of the citizens who were so fortunate (?) as to be early aroused
from their slumbers, and great was the consternation and asto
nishment of the beholders of the great starry shower. Some
fell on their knees and cried for mercy, as if at the eleventh
hour, tremblingly expecting the near approach of the end of aU
earthly things ; while others rejoiced in anticipation of the coming
of the " mighty angel from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a
rainbow upon his head, and his face, as it were, the sun, and his
feet pillars of fire," to swear "that there should be time no longer."
A few calmly viewed the strange and sublime appearance, and
with profound awe, wonder, and humiliation, adored nature's
great Author, patiently awaiting the result.
December 4. The council agreed to a farther subscription to
the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad stock, of $40,000, being
800 additional shares.
" The city had previously subscribed $20,000 to the old Roa
noke Navigation Company, to prolong its existence. The whole
of that appropriation was sunk, together with $80,000 more,
subscribed by public-spirited individuals, anxious to secure that
valuable trade, without stopping to calculate the chances of
profit or loss from the investment per se. But did the corpora
tion lose its $20,000 ? No, not a dollar of it. In the place of
the defunct Roanoke Company, there sprung up a spirited and
thrifty trade with the Roanoke, and other rivers in North Caro
lina, on individual account, to which the expenditure of the
capital of that company had pioneered the way, and the in
crease of business in the city, and of the revenue therefrom to

198 HISTORICAL AND
the coffers of the corporation, sufficed to cover its loss of $20,000
in three or four years, as may be seen by reference to the com
missioner's books of that period.
" The increase of the city debt, about this period (1833-4), con
sisted : 1st, in the subscription of $100,000 to the Portsmouth aad
Roanoke Railroad Company, authorized by the almost unani
mous vote of the citizens; 2dly, an expenditure of nearly
$40,000 in getting up a separate ferry ; and 3dly, an appro
priation, by the Common CouncU, of $13,000 to prop up the
railroad when it was on its last legs. Total, $153,000 — out of
which there remains, as property, about the sum of $10,000, in
a wharf in Pgrtsmouth, and improvements to the corporation
ferry wharf in Norfolk. The balance, $143,000, was virtually a
total loss, though, in reality, it was offsetted by no inconsider
able increase of revenue from the trade on the railroad, during
the seven years of its existence ; and the estimated amount of
ferry stock ($10,000) has been, for a number of years, produc
ing an income of $1,000 per annum."
1834. On the evening of the 19th of January, came the intel
ligence that the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad BUl had
passed. It was unfortunate that the news was received on Sun
day ; for the Divine injunction, the serenity and calmness of the
Sabbath evening hour, and all the hallowed associations insepa
rably connected with the sacred day of rest, were insufficient to
induce a large portion of the citizens of both towns to repress
their feelings of rejoicing. It was a close vote, but the bill was
now a law of the State; the battle had been fought, and the vic
tory just barely won ; and the inhabitants of Norfolk and Ports
mouth looked eagerly out, as it were, upon the brightening
future, with cheering anticipations of prosperity, wealth, and
commercial greatness. So the bells rung a merry peal ; great
guns announced the glad news for thirty miles around. Several
field-pieces had been placed at suitable distances on the road to
Suffolk, to which place the information was carried, by succes
sive firing, in a few moments after it was known here. The
evening being cloudy, and the air favourable for the communi
cation of sound, the effect of the rapid and consecutive firing
was somewhat singular. For many seconds, there was a loud.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 199
irregular, continuous roar, very much resembUng successive and
heavy peals of thunder. Bonfires blazed on the wharves, and
in some of the principal streets ; — Church Street was briUiantly
Ulnmined. Kegs of powder were moistened, and fired along the
shores ; hundreds of rockets shot forth over the river ; and, " for
more than two hours, the town rang with notes of rejoicing."
After a succession of insurmountable difficulties, this road
became useless, and was abandoned ; the hopes of those who had
been most sanguine of its success, and of its inestimable advan
tages to Norfolk and Portsmouth, were blasted; and the evi
dences of disappointment and gloom then exhibited, are too weU
remembered to need a record here.* May not the unjustifiable
desecration of the Sabbath, on the reception of the news of the
success of the biU in the legislature of the State, have been one
cause of its rapid downfaU ? But it has risen again under cir
cumstances calculated to inspire the most confident hopes o
complete success, and it \s-Ul doubtless prove highly beneficial to
this commtinity.
AprU 13. Departed this life, Judge Robert B. Taylor, an
eminent jurist, to whom aUusion has been, and wUl hereafter be,
made in these sketches.
July 1. Ordinance passed, increasing the salary of the City
Inspector to §800.
August 27. Tuesday — between the hours of 6 and 7 a.m., the
shock of an earthquake was very sensibly felt in Norfolk and
vicinity. November 25. Ordinance passed, providing for the filling up
of Back Creek, above Bank Street Bridge, for a pubUc square.
1835. In the month of January, there were more square-
rigged vessels in our harbour than there had been, at any one
time, since 1820. Among them were a number of British brigs
from the West Indies.
February 10. Exceedingly cold ; mercury in thermometer 26°
below zero ; river frozen over.
* The faUure of the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad was caused by bad
management, over which Norfolk had no control, and which she was powerless
to remedy.

200 HISTORICAL AND
February 29. All interments in the old burying-ground (St.
Paul's), prohibited from this date.
During this year, there was an extensive religious revival in
the several Protestant churches in Norfolk and vicinity.
June 8th, 1836. Ordinance passed, providing for the payment
of the contract with Wm. McLain, for the erection of the new
Almshouse. An ordinance was also passed at this date, authorizing a sub
scription of $50,000, for stock in a proposed railroad from Eden-
ton to Norfolk.

CHAPTER XXVIL
1836.
Centenary of the Borough Charter — Reflections — Centennial Celebration —
Procession — Mace — Oration by Wm. Maxwell, Esq. — Hymn — Aquatic Ex
cursion — Fireworks — Serenade — Reflections.
September 15th. A century had now elapsed since the
Royal Charter was granted, and this was a day of very conside
rable interest in the history of the borough ; a day both of re
joicing and serious meditation. The man of reflection could not
but go back upon the swift wing of thought, and linger awhile
"in solemn contemplation," amid the varied scenes of that long
interval, pregnant as it had been with changes, revolutions, and
commotions, political and religious, at home and in distant
lands ; affecting not only the welfare of our town and its resi
dents, but also that of the State and the country at large — in
volving the highest interests of the vast Western Continent and
of the whole world. Kings and crowns had fallen ; great con
querors had arisen — had run their course of glory, and returned
to the peacefulness of retirement, or ended their days in the
dreariness of exUe. A check had been put upon the power of

DESCRIPTIVE sketches. 201
despotism. Rivers of human blood had been shed ; but anarchy
and oppression had given way to the reign of justice ; and the
darkness of superstition had been succeeded by the brilliant
light of truth divine. The edicts of injustice and cruelty had
come over the wide and heaving bosom of the ocean ; but a man
ful resistance had been offered ; a noble and a glorious compact
had been signed ; eloquent voices from the Old Dominion and
elsewhere had rung out long and loud, and an oppressed people
had heard and heeded the spirit-stirring and truthful appeals.
A great though unequal contest had commenced, progressed, and
ended gloriously for the sons of freedom, in " Freedom's Holy
Land." Hard blows had been aimed by the sacrilegious hand of
fanaticism at the sacred ties that bind the different members of
this great confederation ; but thus far the Union had remained
"one of many," firm as the Andes in their rocky foundations,
and was still dispensing the untold blessings of its example, and
the bright light of its influence upon the present happiness and
eternal destiny of earth's babbling millions.
A hundred long years had sped on their course, and were lost
in the deep obUvious ocean of the past. During their rapid
flight, how many of those who had acted their part in life's short
drama, had retired, at its conclusion, behind the impenetrable
curtain which Death drops between time and eternity ! Of
the inhabitants even of the town of Norfolk and its vicinity,
what numbers had been laid low in their cold and narrow beds,
and had long been sleeping the deep, undisturbed sleep of death,
awaiting the loud blast of the trumpet that "shall sound!"
Two generations had ascended the stage of life, had pressed
quickly by, and gone down to the gloomy regions of silence and
forgetfulness ; and a third was then departing and foUowing on
in the beaten track. The old and the young ; the most honoured
citizen and the least regarded mendicant ; the tender babe, the
joyous youth, and the strong man in his prime — all, all had been
arrested by Death, and forced to submit to the sad penalty to
which Adam's sin rendered man amenable. The bright eye of
beauty had closed ; the cheek of roseate hue had grown pale in
death ; cheerful voices had long been hushed and forgotten, and
forms that had mingled in many a social scene and contributed

202 HISTORICAL AND
to its joy, had fallen under Death's cold, palsying touch ; all lay
concealed beneath earth's teeming surface ; and, in accordance
with the Divine declaration, were strangely commingling with its
dust. War, pestUence, storm, flood, and fire had done their work of
desolation. Norfolk had shared largely in the calamities of
the Revolution. Once in ruins, she had, by a noble exertion,
arisen again, and with increasing strength and beauty, had
already taken a respectable stand among the towns of the At
lantic coast. Many a severe blow had been levelled at the
prosperity of the old borough ; but all seemed willing, on this
auspicious centennial day, to acknowledge that she had right
bravely and successfully contended with every difficulty, and,
agreeably to the views and declarations of Jefferson and others,
was now surely, though slowly, rising in the scale of commercial
importance. These and other considerations were duly regarded, and the
authorities and citizens, generally, very appropriately determined
that the hundredth anniversary should not pass without a suit
able celebration, and the necessary arrangements were accord
ingly made for the occasion.
At sunrise, there was a salute of twenty-six guns, and the bells
rang for service in the churches ; whither many of the inhabi
tants repaired, and most properly commenced the day with the
exercises of prayer, thanksgiving, and praise. At half-past
eight o'clock, in front of the old Town Hall, a grand civic pro
cession was formed, in which were the mayor, aldermen, and
other officers of the corporation ; the clergy, the different com
panies and associations ; the schools, and. a very large number
of the citizens. There was a military parade at the same hour ;
and the volunteer companies joined the general gathering at the
Court-House. The procession was a very large one for the size
of the town. Captain John Capron was chosen' as marshal, and
he manifested very commendable activity and spirit on the occa
sion. By the assistance of his aids, he succeeded in preserving
exceUent order. William MaxweU, Esq.,* a distinguished lawyer,
had been judiciously chosen as the orator of the day.
* Now residing in Richmond, and editor of the Virginia Historical Register.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 203
The procession marched through the principal streets ; martial
music cheered the hearts of the moving, animated mass ; the
stores were closed ; very many visiters to the town united with
the procession and thronged the streets ; the sun shone brightly
and the air was balmy; "chUdren and sires," people of all ages
and classes, were gathered in large groups, and on every thorough
fare through which the procession passed, in the doors, windows,
and piazzas, sparkling eyes, and bright and cheerful smiles, and
looks of beauty and words of love, added an irresistible charm to
the occasion.
The venerable Thomas Newton, Recorder, acted as standard-
bearer : on one side of whom walked Wm. W. Lamb, Esq., De
puty-Sergeant, bearing the " beautiful and bright," though
ancient, silver mace* of the corporation, and on the other, John
Williams, Esq., Clerk of the Court, carried the original charter,
with its ancient signet. The procession, after quite a long march,
halted at the new Presbyterian Church, then nearly completed,
which was soon most densely crowded ; hundreds, of course,
faUing to obtain seats or even an entrance within the walls of
the building. An appropriate and fervent prayer was offered ;
after which, the talented and eloquent orator arose, and, in his
peculiarly happy style, delivered an address, which was acknow
ledged to be exceedingly appropriate to the occasion.
His manner was calm and dignified. He had, it is believed,
no notes to refer to ; his memory required no help, no prompt
ing. There were but few studied periods, and not the least
affected attempt at display. Indeed, the speaker was a man of
too much experience, taste, and judgment, to essay to edify his
hearers with a mere flourish of words at such a time. His
address appeared to reach the hearts of his auditors ; and while
there was not a manifestation even of the mental effort that some
had expected, yet, all appeared to be greatly pleased. The
orator proceeded with a deliberation and self-possession that
* The mace was presented to the corporation of Norfolk by Robert Dinwiddle,
Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1753. It weighs several pounds, and
is a beautiful piece of work. It was formerly carried before the mayor on
going to court, and in aU pubUo processions.

204 HISTORICAL AND
relieved, at the outset, the minds of his auditors of all unpleasant
suspense as to the result.
" He touched eloquently upon the old inhabitants of the
borough, whose descendants had come up that day to commemo
rate their work, while their own worth was such as to entitle
them to the grateful remembrance of those who will succeed
them on the stage of life.
" What added peculiar interest to this part of his address was
the circumstance, that the grave-yard, where nearly all the
charter-men and our early inhabitants were buried, was in front
of the building and of the orator while speaking. He dwelt
with great effect upon the Stamp Act, and upon the proceedings
of the Norfolk Sons of Liberty, who protested against that mea
sure ; and he took occasion to pay a glowing tribute to the
memory of Patrick Henry, for his exertions in the House of
Burgesses on that occasion.
" He discoursed most happily upon the American Revolution ;
and when he came to the acknowledgment of the guardian care
of the Deity for so many years over our fathers and ourselves —
he was superlatively grand."*
* A talented writer, in a description of Mr. Maxwell, written in 1827, remarks
as follows: "The principal characteristic of his eloquence is imagination,
chaste, sparkling, and luxuriant. It fills the mind with kindling delight and
increasing rapture ; and the impressions left with the hearer are those which
Longinus describes as the criterion of true eloquence ; a general aud vivid
feeling of delight ; and au absolute inability to point out the immediate parts
of the oration which produced it. In conducting a cause, he often reasons with
great ability, but his reasoning is not a chain of dry sophisms and lifeless logic ;
every step of the demonstration is lightened by flashes of fancy so bright and
beautiful, as to show in the strongest colours, and in the fullest Ught, the
forms they were designed to illumine. On some occasions his whole heart
seems to liguesce, and be poured forth in the streams of eloquence that flow un
ceasingly from his lips ; while his hearers catch the feeling with the rapidity
of the electric fluid, and believe, as they retire, that they have felt almost all
that eloquence can make men feel. This feeling he hath wrought alike on the
learned and illiterate, the nobly great and meanly low, the enemy and the
friend. ******
" He is a master magician over certain classes of feeling. He pleases and
enraptures, but never astonishes his audience. I have seen a numerous audi
tory now held iu silent rapture by his eloquence, and I have seen it again
thrown into a universal titter by his resistless ridicule."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 205
The following stanzas, which were composed for the occasion,
were sung with fine effect at the conclusion of the exercises in
the church : " God of our fathers, hear us now.
As in thine earthly courts we bow ;
Accept our thanks for mercies past.
And blessings brightening to the last.
" Of old, beneath these smiling skies.
Thou bad'st our beauteous borough rise ;
And, fostered by thy guardian care.
The scion grew and flourished fair.
"0, be it Lord, thy gracious will.
And it shall flourish fairer still ;
And children's chUdren in their days.
As we do now, shall sing thy praise."
In the afternoon, there was a grand aquatic excursion, com
manded by Captain Jacob Vickery, aided by Captains James
Connick and Thomas Ivey. They procured a number of beau
tiful barges, kc, of different shapes and sizes —
" The long boat, the joUy boat.
The pinnace, and the yawl ;
The skiff, and the sailing-boat,
The fishing-boat and aU."
These were soon filled with ladies and gentlemen, sweethearts
and beaux, boys and girls, the gay and the beautiful, the loved
and the loving, — all as cheerful as they could be made by agree
able company, handsome scenery, and a bright sun, whose golden
rays were reflected by the " breeze-ridden ripples" that danced
merrily along to the shore, while the soul-thrilling music from
the majestic war- vessels in the harbour floated upon the balmy
air of that " Eve of Autumn's hoUest mood."
This long line of crowded boats, as they proceeded down the
river, presented an exceedingly novel and imposing scene, and,
commanded by those gallant men of the sea, who had often suc
cessfully crossed the agitated bosom of old Ocean, they returned

206 HISTORICAL AND
with their invaluable freight without loss or accident to mar the
festivity of the interesting occasion.
At eight o'clock, a hundred rockets soared and exploded over
the lively old borough ; the closing hour of whose flrst centesi
mal anniversary was cheered by a delightful instrumental sere
nade. Long will the pleasing occurrences of that day be remembered
by many now living. But who, of those that witnessed the first,
will be here to mingle in the moving crowd, and mark the in
teresting circumstances that may attend the second centenary of
the charter ? All, who lived then, will probably be gone to their
eternal destiny, and others will have risen up to fill their places,
and perform the complicated task of life ; other forms, other
faces, and other minds, will be here ; and they will think of the
few whose memory time will fail to obliterate ; but all, of
"every nation, every tongue," will be gathered, recognised, and
identified, at the last great day of accounts.

CHAPTER XXVIIL
1836—1840.
PresbyterianChurch — New Organization — Ministers — Services — Membership —
Prices Current— Fire — Distinguished Visiter from France — Pleasing Incident
— French's Hotel — Important Commercial Era — Unwise Legislation — Lieu
tenant Maury's Statement — Ocean Steam Navigation — What Norfolk might
have Done — Real Estate — Exploring Squadron — Commercial Convention —
Common Council — Destructive Fire — Explosion — Fire in Portsmouth — Loss
of Life — Nuisance Removed — Public Square — Buildings — Avon Theatre —
City Prison — Norfolk Academy — C. Hall, Esq. — Academy Square — Character
of the Institution — The Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald.
October. The New Presbyterian Church was completed this
month. That large and commodious house of worship is situated
nearly opposite St. Paul's Church, being on the east side of
Church Street, a few feet south of the western terminus of Holt.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 207
Street. A tall and handsome cupola, or dome, with a gilt ball of
several feet in diameter placed over the apex, was subsequently
added to the building, greatly improving its external appearance.
On Saturday afternoon, November 19th, the church was organ
ized, and the members registered ; and on the following day —
Sunday, the 20th — the house was dedicated, by Rev. Dr. Wm.
S. Plumer. The membership is numerous, highly respectable,
and devout. This church has been for several years past, blessed
with zealous and eloquent ministers, among whom were Rev.
Messrs. CasseUs and Anderson. Rev. George D. Armstrong,
an able and zealous minister, was elected, in the spring of 1851,
to fill the vacancy occasioned by the removal of Mr. Anderson
to St. Louis.
The good order in which the house is kept, the respectful atten
tion to the accustomed ordinances of worship, the singing, the music
of a fine-toned organ — these, with the impressive appeals from the
pulpit, have long rendered this church an attractive place of re
sort for religious worship, especially on the holy Sabbath. These
remarks are only in strict accordance with the public sentiment.
Another observable feature in this collective body of Christians
may not be inappropriately alluded to here. The Presbyterians
of Norfolk are remarkably united as a church; the members
appearing truly endeared to one another; and while there is
also manifested a liberality of feeling and sentiment with regard
to other Christians, each member appears to take a special in
terest in the welfare of his brother or sister in Christ. This is
surely a commendable trait in any religious association. But it
is no more nor less than a Christian duty, enjoined, not only by
the sacred obUgations of brotherhood, but by the holy oracles of
Divine truth. Nor are these remarks intended as the least pos
sible reflection upon any of the other esteemed associations of
Christians, whose piety and prayers have doubtless assisted in
securing the blessings of Providence upon the place, and per
haps averted many a calamity, or tended to lessen the force and
severity of the misfortunes with which the town has occasionally
been visited.
The following are some of the prices current in the Norfolk

208 HISTORICAL AND
market at this period : pork, hog round, 10 to 12 cents per lb. ;
beef, 10 cents ; mutton and veal, 10 to 12 cents ; bacon hams,
20 cents ; turkeys, in demand, $1 to $1 25 ; meal, $1 ; fire
wood, $3 to $5.
March, 1837. A fire broke out at night on the east side of
Market Square, near Main Street, and six or eight large brick
buildings were consumed, including a fine lofty edifice at the
corner, then known as Reilly's. The weather being very cold,
the engines were worked witti difficulty, and great efforts were
required to arrest the progress of the flames. The vacuum
caused by this destructive fire, by which several persons sus
tained considerable loss in goods, furniture, &c., is now filled by
Newton's beautiful row, extending south from the east corner of
Main Street and Market Square.
On the 19th of April, Norfolk was visited by a distinguished
"Stranger, who has since made no little noise in the world, as
the head of the great nation over which he now presides with an
ability that even his friends hardly expected. Le Prince Napoleon,
Louis Bonaparte, then an unfortunate eiile ; now Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte, Emperor of France, arrived with his suite on this day,
in the French frigate L'Andromede, which was accompanied by
the Sirene. The Prince was well entertained, during his short
stay in the borough, and very appropriately and politely mani
fested and expressed his grateful sense of the attentions which he
received. He was a fine-looking man ; erect, dignified, and manly
in his person, without possessing, however, as much resemblance,
in his features, of his illustrious uncle, as some of his relatives ;
but in the shape of his head, his shoulders, and his chest, bear
ing, as is asserted by those who saw and noticed him well, and
who were capable of judging, a striking likeness of the great and
powerful Emperor Napoleon.
There was one incident of interest, and worthy of note, which
took place on the eve of his departure hence in the steamer
Kentucky for Baltimore. He noticed a small ornament of gold,
a striking resemblance of the great French conqueror, in a
standing attitude, which was worn by a young relative of one of
our most respected merchants, who accompanied the noble

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 209
Frenchman to Portsmouth. He was much pleased, and ex
pressed his satisfaction with considerable energy, on finding that
the memory of his world-renowned relative was thus honoured
across the waters, and on being informed that there were many
here who showed, in a similar way, their regard for the illus
trious dead, and who cherished the recollection of the extraordi
nary and wonderful deeds of the eventful life of him whom God
raised up to " break down despotic governments, and humble the
pride of kings."
The day on which the Prince arrived, French's Hotel, now the
National, was opened; and it is remarkable that this distin
guished person and suite were the first guests received and en
tertained in that large and commodious establishment.
The National Hotel is the largest in the place, and is well
adapted to the accommodation of travellers, or permanent board
ers. The building covers an area of 7,065 square feet, fronting
152 feet 9 inches on Church Street, and 54 feet on Main Street,
standing at the southeast corner of those two thoroughfares.
It is five stories high, being the highest house in the city, and
contains 84 rooms, including 13 sitting rooms and parlours.
There are several spacious passages, and seventy-five fireplaces.
At the principal entrance, on Main Street, there is a plain
Ionic portico, supported by two columns 15|^ feet high. The
principal dining-room is 68 feet long, and 27 feet wide. The
cistern connected with the building contains 12,500 gallons.
The exterior walls are well stuccoed, and painted a dark brown,
darker even than the dull, frowning Quincy granite colour first
adopted. A coat or two of white, or of some -light colour,
would have a much more pleasing effect.
A hotel, upon a more extensive plan, is greatly needed in this
city, and the erection of one is now under consideration.
This was certainly a most important, or, perhaps, we should
say unfortunate, era in the commercial history of our city, and,
in fact, of our State. The reader wiU see, by the following
statement, how much Norfolk has lost by injudicious legislation,
in one instance alone. Do not all who feel an interest in the
welfare of the State, and especially of Norfolk, deprecate, with
14

210 HISTORICAL AND
feelings of mortification and regret, the unwise policy pursued
by our law-makers in former years ?
" In 1837, commenced the era of Ocean Steam Navigation,
though, twenty years before, the South had sent out an avant
courier from Georgia. The South, however, rested content with
the honour of being the first to stride across the Atlantic under
steam. For though, at that very time, various conventions were
held at the South, binding the merchants of the South, like the
oath Neptune administers to sailors crossing the line, ' never to
kiss the maid when they can kiss the mistress, unless they like
the maid best,' the South stood still; whUe Great Britain, by
means of the ' Sirius,' the ' Liverpool,' and the ' Great Western,'
actually and practically demonstrated the great problem of Ocean
Steam Navigation.
" Still another opportunity was presented to the South, of en
tering upon the great race for commercial supremacy and inde
pendence, but only to be neglected. France was looking for a
port in the United States, from which to, establish an opposition
line ; and it was proposed that the South should take stock, if
France would select Norfolk as the terminus of the line. Ap
plication was made to the legislature of Virginia to grant only a
charter for that purpose, but they refused to grant it ; and so it
was established at New York, but it was soon abandoned. If
the charter had been granted, Norfolk would, at this day, have
been the centre of steam navigation for the United States. The
lines to the Isthmus would have belonged to Norfolk, and pro
bably, the lines to Havre and Bremen. But Boston got the line
of steamers,- sent its ships to Liverpool, and recovered all the
trade, and more, too, than it had when the steamers first began
to ply." New York, for ten years, looked quietly on, feeling the way
with English capital, as Norfolk might have done with France,
until she got the federal government committed for many mil
lions of her steam-ship enterprise ; and then she launched her
ocean steamers, and now she leads the world in that navigation."
1838. Value of the houses in the city at this time, $2,188,625 ;
and, $2,704,430,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 211
August 18. The Exploring Squadron, in command of Lieute
nant Wilkes, sailed from this port.
November 12. On this day a commercial convention was held
in Norfolk. There was a large attendance of able and talented
delegates, from different sections of our State and of North
Carolina. The meetings were held in the Methodist Church,
and the session continued for four days. Governor, now ex-
President, Tyler, presided with much dignity. Resolutions were
passed concerning Direct Trade, Agriculture, and Internal Im
provements. Able reports were presented on these and other
interesting subjects. The debates were animated and entertain
ing, and called together a large assemblage of both ladies and
gentlemen. The speakers on the occasion were, Messrs. Tyler,
Venable, Hubard, James, Segar, Millson, French, Cunningham,
Tabb, Southgate, Hayne, M'Farlaine, Soutter, Woodis, AUyn, &c.
1839. " On the 14th of February of this year, an act was
passed, increasing (nominally only) the number of councUmen
to twenty-six, but requiring them still to be ' fit and able men,'
and to be elected in pursuance of the act of 1816. These
twenty-six, at their first meeting on the 28th of June, were to
elect, from their own body, a recorder and eight aldermen, for
one year ; that being done, the remaining seventeen persons con
stituted the Common Council."
March 14. A destructive fire occurred on Newton's Wharf.
It broke out in the auction store of Messrs. Nash k Co., which,
with several other warehouses, and a large amount of merchan
dise, was consumed ; one or two kegs of powder exploded, causing
much fright and scampering, but destroying no lives.
April 3. Fire in Portsmouth, on High Street, nearly opposite
the court-house. Several buildings destroyed, including a book
store, tin factory, and the printing office of the " Portsmouth
Times," John T. HUl, editor. Mr. Godwin, a cabinet-maker,
was kUled by the falling of a wall.
This year, the cove, which extended east from Bank Street
nearly to the southern terminus of Cumberland Street, was filled
up, enclosed, ornamented with shade trees, and denominated the
"Public Square."
This cove was, for many years, an eyesore to the inhabitants,

212 HISTORICAL AND
and was justly deemed a public nuisance. The malaria that
arose therefrom, on a hot summer's day, at low tide, was not at
all pleasant. View the spot now. That noble structure, the
City HaU, standing upon its firm foundation, in the centre of the
lot, which rises gradually from Bank, Williams, Cove, and Avon
Streets, until it reaches an elevation of several feet above the
level of those streets, and immediately over what was formerly
the middle of the cove. The green turf, paved walks, substan
tial and ornamental railing, &c., all tend to form a very striking
contrast to the unsightly bog of former days, and present an
excellent example of the improving taste of the " city fathers."
The Clerk's and Register's Offices, two neat (though rather
small) fire-proof buildings, are located nearly in the rear of the
City HaU. The site and foundation of Avon Theatre, which
was erected this year (1839), and destroyed by fire in 1850, is
on the east, or in the rear of the above public buildings. The
lot was purchased by the Corporation as the site of the new City
Prison, which was completed in 1852. " The exterior dimen
sions of this edifice are sixty-one by ninety-one feet ; the main
front wall is thirty-three feet high, including battlements ; but
is surmounted by buttresses at each corner ; and in the centre
by a tower forty feet high, in which the great city bell is to be
hung. The style is the Gothic of the time of Queen Elizabeth,
and shows off the building as if it were of far higher dignity than
that of a jail." The cells and other interior arrangements, are
well calculated for the purposes intended. The thick granite
walls, and heavy iron bars, hinges, bolts, &c., present an appear
ance of great strength, solidity, and security. Architect, Mr.
John H. Sale.
May 25, 1840. The corner stone of the Norfolk MUUary
Academy was laid on this day with appropriate ceremonies.
This is thought by many to be the handsomest building in the
city. Those capable of judging, pronounce it to be " a perfect
specimen of architectural beauty." It is of the Grecian Doric
order, the model having been copied from the temple of Theseus
at Athens. The length of the building is ninety-one feet, breadth
forty-seven. There is a handsome portico at each end, with six
symmetrical columns, fronting west on Catharine, and east on

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 213
Cumberland Street. The walls are stuccoed in a very durable
stjde. The plan was drawn by Mr. Walter, a celebrated archi
tect of Philadelphia, and the building was erected under the
supervision of C. HaU, Esq., an intelligent and opulent book
seller of this city, which is indebted to his taste and enterprise
for some of its finest improvements. The situation is most
favourable. It stands in its pride in the centre of a beautiful
green of about four hundred feet square, bounded west by
Catharine, north by Charlotte, and east by Cumberland Street,
and on the south by a line extending from the first to the last-
named street. The ground rises regularly from the boundaries
of the lot to the building, which adds considerably to its imposing
appearance. This large and beautiful lot of land, the improve
ment of which has augmented the value of property in its vicinity,
was set apart some years before the Revolution as a church
glebe, and was intended for the parsonage of the clergyman who
officiated in St. Paul's ; but after the Revolution it was assigned
to the trustees of the Norfolk Academy.
This institution of learning is well conducted, and stands de
servedly high in the estimation of the community, the best evi
dence of which is the liberal patronage which it enjoys. " A
cheering demonstration has been afforded by the annual exami
nations at the Academy of the efficient manner in which this
institution continues to be conducted by its present able and
indefatigable professors. The proficiency shown by the pupils
under examination, in the several branches of Mathematics,
Greek, Latin, French, English, Geography, Astronomy, and
Chemistry, evinced their close application to study, and the judi
cious and skilful course of tuition pursued by their instructors.
The specimens of composition are of a high order of merit.
Under such successful auspices, we may confidently anticipate
that this cherished institution will continue to prosper."
August 13th. The Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald was, on
this day, just forty-six years after the commencement of its pros
perous career, changed from a tri-weekly to a daily and tri-weekly
publication, and we record with pleasure the fact, that the judi
cious proprietor found the experiment a successful one.

214 HISTORICAL AND
CHAPTER XXIX.
1840—1844.
Commercial Depression — Politics — Prices Current — Population — High Tides —
Festivities — General Harrison — Fire — Hailstorm — Walters's Hotel — Judi
cious Management — Fire, and Loss of Life — Roman Catholic Church — Bap
tist Church in Portsmouth — Death of one of the Heroes of Craney Island —
Death of an Old Citizen — Mayor Delany — Artesian Well, alias Market Square
Pump — Cisterns — C. Bonsall, Esq. — Supply of Water from Deep Creek —
Arrival of Henry Clay — Procession— Festivities — Speeches — Colonel Garnett
— The Ladies — Joseph H. Robertson, Esq.- — Governor Tazewell — Mr. Clay's
Visit to Portsmouth — The Courier — Caterpillars.
Business, at this period, was in a very depressed state ; and
while politics was the all-absorbing topic of the day, the condition
of the commerce of the place was but little better than it was
during the embargo of 1808. Norfolk suffered, as she had
before, and has since, from the deleterious effects of legislative
restriction to the shipping interests. There were very few
vessels in port. Produce was low : flour, ^4 25 ; corn, 35 cts. ;
bacon, 8 cts.; firewood, $1 75; and staves, "below zero."
Population of the borough, according to the census, 10,920 ;
population of the county, whites, 11,280, slaves, 7,845, free
coloured, 1,967 ; total, 21,092.
During the month of November, the tides were unusually
and unaccountably high ; the wind, at no time during their con
tinuance, blowing above a moderate breeze.
Thursday night, November 19th. There was a brilliant illumi
nation, and a great festivity, on account of the Whig victory
which had been gained in the election of the now lamented
President Harrison.
December 9th. Drummond's rope-walk destroyed by fire.
December 17 th. Hail, from 3 J to ^\ inches in circumference,
fell in the afternoon of this day ; great destruction, of course, to
window-glass, &c.
January 1st, 1841. Walters's Hotel, now the " City Hotel,"

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 215
was this day opened by Bray B. Walters, Esq. The judicious
arrangements and active exertions of the gentlemanly and liberal-
hearted proprietor have been crowned with success. This esta
blishment is, and well deserves to be, decidedly popular, with
both residents and travellers. The tables are well supplied
with the various productions with which the Norfolk markets
abound, while the numerous apartments and rooms of the house
are kept in very neat and comfortable order.
1842, June 2d. Twenty-five tenements destroyed by fire, on
Little Water Street, Holt's and Woodside's Lanes ; boy killed
by the falling of a wall.
July 10th. The new Roman Catholic church was dedicated.
It is a very handsome building, ninety-six feet long by fifty
wide, of the Grecian order. The entrance is by three ascents
of granite steps. There is a mitred recess for the altar ; and,
in the basement, a commodious Sunday-school room. WiUiam
CaUis, architect and carpenter. The Rev. A. L. Hitselberger,
a distinguished and very eloquent divine, is its pastor.
July 17th. This is the date of the dedication of the new
Baptist church in Portsmouth. It is a neat, handsome struc
ture, of seventy by fifty-five feet ; cost, $16,000. Rev. Thomas
Hume is the able minister in charge.
June 7th. Departed this life, Captain Arthur Emmerson, of
Portsmouth, one of the noble heroes who engaged so unequally,
and yet so successfully and triumphantly, with the British at
Craney Island, in 1813. He was greatly respected and loved
by all who knew his worth of character. His loss was deeply
felt and sincerely deplored by his friends and feUow-citizens.
He w5s for a number of years Clerk of the County Court,
which office is now fiUed by his worthy son, Arthur Emmerson,
Junior. July 24. Died on this day, Robert Soutter, Esq., merchant.
He was a native of Scotland, but had resided in Norfolk for
many years, having long been an extensive and prosperous dealer
in foreign and domestic produce. This gentleman was greatly
esteemed by a large portion of his feUow-citizens, for his devoted
piety, his modest and unpretending demeanour, and incorruptible
integrity, which great essential elements of character he had

216 HISTORICAL AND
borne throughout his career. A massive and truly beautiful
granite monument, standing in the centre of a neatly enclosed
lot in the new burial ground, marks his "resting-place." It is
the largest and tallest within the limits of that solemn repository.
On one side of the base is carved, the word Soutter, and on the
opposite, " Resurgimus."
1843. March. Twelve buildings burned on Little Water
Street. June 24. Wm. D. Delany, Esq., was on this day elected
mayor of the borough, and received annually, until 1851, a large
majority of the suffrages of the qualified voters. Of his faithful
ness as an officer during the lapse of eight years, the decided
vote with which he was regularly honoured, even when opposed
by gentlemen of acknowledged ability and merit, should be con
sidered the best evidence.
During this month there was issued in Norfolk by the writer
and G. W. Shields, Esq., one of the former editors of the Courier,
a specimen number of a monthly publication, in pamphlet form,
entitled the "Religious Visitor," which was to be devoted to
moral, religious, and literary information. The number published,
the object and plan of the work, were severally commended by
the press, but the subscription list did not fully justify its con
tinuance. This year the pipes of the Artesian well in Market Square
were sunk.
It affords a supply, as far as it goes, of tolerably good water,
although the name " Artesian well" is very improperly applied.
Market Square Pump being much more appropriate. " An
Artesian well," says Dr. Buckland, " is a well that is always
overflowing, either from its natural source, or from an artificial
tube; and when the overflowing ceases, it is no longer an
Artesian well." This pump has nevertheless proved to be a
most useful and necessary addition to the means of obtaining
water. Much the larger portion of the regular supply is now
obtained from cisterns. These are brick reservoirs built below
the surface of the earth, and supplied by means of pipes leading
from the gutters at the eaves of the houses. The cisterns con-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 217
tain from one or two thousand to fifty thousand gallons, and the
water is generally pleasant to the taste, cool, and healthful.
The late C. Bonsai, Esq., is said to have had the first cistern
sunk in Norfolk. It was on his lot on Main Street, head of
Market Square.
" Several plans to furnish the city with a plentiful supply of
water, have been suggested. One contemplates the erection of
a tower near the basin of Deep Creek, from which the water
would be conveyed by means of iron pipes, passing the southern
branch of Elizabeth River above the mouth of Deep Creek, thence
in direct line to the Eastern Branch bridge, under which they
would pass to a distributing reservoir to be located on some con
venient site in Norfolk.
" Another plan is to have an iron steam water boat, capable of
carrying fifteen hundred barrels of water, which might be forced
by means of steam pumps from the vessel into the distributing
reservoir. United States vessels, the Navy Yard, and the com
mercial marine could also be supplied by this means."
1844, April 24. On this day, Hon. Henry Clay arrived in the
city ; and on the following day he was received in due form, as
the guest of the citizens of all parties.
A procession was formed on Main Street (at the head of Mar
ket Square), in the following order:
Music.
MUitary.
Consisting of the Light ArtiUery Blues, Captain R. W. Bow-
den ; Junior Volunteers, Captain F. F. Ferguson ; Norfolk
Riflemen, Captain Dunstan; and Virginia Guards, Captain Lloyd
W. Williams. Corporate Authorities.
Committee of Reception.
Citizens and Strangers generally.
The whole forming a long extended line.
The procession moved up Catharine Street to the residence of
Colonel Myers (western intersection of Catharine and Free
mason Streets), where Mr. Clay was received in an elegant
barouche, and brought into the line of the procession, which pro
ceeded along Freemason to Granby Street, down that street to

218 HISTORICAL AND
Main, and through Main till it came to Church Street, and turn
ing up Church Street passed through Cove, Cumberland, Wolfe,
and Catharine Streets, till it came again into Main Street, and
thence passed up Talbot Street to Ashland Hall, where it halted
amid the roar of a salute of twenty-six guns from the field-pieces
of the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues.
At the site on the north side of Ashland Hall (now occupied
by an engine house, and the Clerk's and Register's offices, and
a portion of the City HaU Square), a spacious arbour Avas erected,
and a collation spread, at the upper end of which a platform was
raised for Mr. Clay, from which he addressed the assembled mul
titude. " The arbour occupied a space of seventy by one hundred and
forty feet, and was formed of a covering of sails supported by
three rows of piUars. Five rows of tables, nearly the entire
length of the arbour, were set, each table adapted to accommo
date two hundred persons in single file ; and upon the social
system of fire and fall back, thrice that number were enabled
to partake of the viands, which were abundantly provided for on
the occasion. The interior of the arbour was decorated with
national flags, evergreens, and flowers fresh from the forest, in a
style highly creditable to the taste and industry of those who
had the arrangement of this part of the fete, and attracted the
admiration of all. At the upper end of the arbour, and imme
diately under two of the windows of the Hall, was the platform,
upon which Mr. Clay was to receive his welcome from the Pre
sident of the day, Colonel Wm. Garnett. The Hall was also
handsomely decorated, and the letters. Welcome, Henry
Clay, two feet in length, were braided against the walls in
leaves of laurel ; and the spacious room (forty by eighty feet)
was devoted exclusively to the accommodation of the ladies, of
whom there were at least one thousand within its walls. They
were enabled to see and hear Mr. Clay through the windows
near which he spoke, the sashes of which had been taken out for
that purpose.
Mr. C. was welcomed by Colonel Wm. Garnett, in behalf of
the people, in a concise and beautiful address. Mr. Clay's re
ply was most graceful and powerful, " enchaining and enchant
ing the minds of his audience by a flow of forensic eloquence

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 219
and irresistible argument. The speech, as it was delivered,
awakened a lively feeling of interest and pleasure, which was
manifested by frequent and enthusiastic plaudits from the audi
ence. " At the conclusion, Mr. Clay, playfully, and in an under tone,
observed to those who stood near the platform — 'Now I wUl
leave you Philistines, and pay my more willing respects to the
ladies.' So saying, he turned and entered the HaU.
" At two o'clock he returned to the arbour, attended by the
committee of reception, and the whole company, numbering some
three or four thousand, took their places at the tables.
"Among the toasts, the following was prepared by a spirited
and beautiful tribute to the illustrious individual who was the
subject of it, in a short address delivered by Joseph H. Robert
son, Esq., in his own graceful and eloquent manner, during
which the sage, it is said, shed tears :
" ' Our distinguished guest, Henry Clay ; his services in de
fence of our national honour, in the vindication of the rights of
man, and his patriotic efforts during the most alarming domestic
dissensions, entitle him to the gratitude of the American people.'
" To which Mr. Clay made a feeling and happy response.
" At three o'clock Mr. Clay retired from the arbour, and in the
interval of the time appointed for the call of the Portsmouth
Committee (five o'clock), visited Governor Tazewell, who had
made him a friendly call on the day of his arrival. It is grati
fying to notice this circumstance, as showing that great and
liberal minds are incapable of being influenced by party spirit to
stifle the kinder suggestions of social feeling.
" At flve o'clock, Mr. Clay was waited on by a committee from
Portsmouth, by whom he was escorted to the residence of Cap
tain Samuel Watts, and during the evening he was introduced to
a large number of ladies, for whose reception the hospitable
mansion of Captain Watts was thrown open for that purpose."*
Many joyous and spirit-stirring incidents marked his recep
tion by the citizens of the sister town.
* Captain Watts, of Portsmouth, has very ably represented Norfolk County
in the Legislature. He was the Whig candidate for the ofBce of Lieutenant
Governor, in 1850. He is justly regarded as a strong man by his party, and
stands deservedly high in the estimation of the community as an orator and

220 historical and
The Evening Courier, a spirited penny paper, commenced its
course this year, William C. Shields, Esq. (formerly of the Bea
con), editor and proprietor. The Courier was subsequently pub
lished by Messrs. G. W. & J. E. Shields, sons of the former
editor. On the 13th of January, 1851, the name was changed
to the " Daily Evening Courier." This useful paper was ori
ginally neutral in politics, but for several years advocated, with
considerable ability and spirit. Whig men and measures.
It was announced in December, 1852, that from the first of
January following, this paper would resume its neutrality in
politics ; be printed by Mr. James H. Finch, and edited by Mr.
R. J. Keeling.
The summer of this year was noted for immense numbers of
caterpillars, which destroyed the foliage of the shade and fruit
trees, and the vegetables. In many parts of the town and
vicinity, these insects were unusually abundant and exceedingly
annoying.

CHAPTER XXX.
1845—1847.
Norfolk becomes a City — Objections — Improvement — Effect of a Name — Con
gratulations of the Petersburg Intelligencer — Lynnhaven Oysters — Concho-
logy. Ichthyology, &c. — Richmond Times and Compiler — Kind Remarks —
Sources of Prosperity— Amendments to the Charter — Evidences of Advance
ment — Court-House in Portsmouth — Methodist Protestant Church Burned
— Animal Magnetism — Professor De Bonneville — Severe Storm — Extraordi
nary Tide — Destruction of Property — Exciting Scene — Loss of Property on
the Coast — Lame Boy, Dog, and Cat — Loss of Life — Distressing Scene—
Sabbath-School Celebration — Interesting Sight — The Ladies — Addresses —
Temperance Reformation — John B. Gough — Remarks — Mexican War —
Volunteers — Captain John P. Young — Captain 0. E. Edwards.
1845, February 13th. At this date, Norfolk, by Act of As
sembly, became a City, and various alterations were made in the
enlightened politician. His speeches are generally characterized by sound
argument, superior oratorical skill and energy, and the evidences of extensive
reading, careful investigation, and uncommon mental capacity.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 221
charter. The change, though strangely and strenuously objected
to by some of the citizens, was certainly a judicious one. It ap
peared to have a good effect upon the people and the affairs of
the place generally.
Mr. Jefferson predicted, it is said, that Norfolk would com
mence a career of prosperity and importance about this period of
its history, and quite sure it is that the business of the place and
the general aspect of affairs all seemed to improve ; and what
ever other causes may be assigned for the improvement, unex
pected as it was by many, it was believed that the change in the
appellation of the place had no inconsiderable effect both at home
and abroad.
" Some have said. What is iu a Name ? — most potent plastic influence :
A name is a word of character, and repetition stablisheth the fact.
-** -IS- ******
And greatest is the power of a name, when its power is least suspected."
The following pleasant remarks appeared in the Herald, shortly
after the passing of the legislative act above mentioned :
" We recognise the obeisance of our friend of the Petersburg
Intelligencer on the occasion of our promotion to a higher rate
(as he deems it), by the legislative act which has made us the
' citizen of a city ;' and if he behaves himself, we promise him
the first lieutenancy of our ship. It is strange that this incorri
gible wag can never turn his thoughts towards Norfolk without
letting them run upon oysters. From congratulations and good
wishes on the event of our said promotion, he whisks off to talk
to us about oysters : —
" ' By the by, Commodore (quoth he), speaking of turtles —
were those 'Lynnhaven pets,' that were sent to Dix at Baltimore,
really seven inches long? We cannot believe in such oysters
until we see them, — and we have no small curiosity about the
matter. Not that we care to eat them. Our curiosity is en
tirely scientific, for we have lately been studying a treatise on
Oonchology and Ichthyology, with which Colonel Swan furnished
us. If we had a bushel or two, we should deUver a highly
popular lecture on them.'
" ' Not that we care to eat them.' — Oh no ! The cause of science

222 HISTORICAL AND
is much more to the taste of our phUosophic friend of the Intel
ligencer than a Lynnhaven oyster, of course I Really he has
such a persuasive way with him, that (as we have before had
occasion to remark), like Goldsmith's author, he can ' wheedle
milk from a mouse ;' but we very much doubt whether he can
tickle us into opening oysters for him of the length he speaks of !
Such rarities never cross our path ; though we are told they are
sometimes to be met with ; and ' mine host' Mr. Walters, who
knows whom to speak to for the best of everything in the eating
line, is the only man who could command such ' spirits from the
vasty deep,' where these seven-inchers are said to inhabit.
" We are glad to see the jocularity of the Intelligencer taken
up and treated in the amiable vein, and with a judicious disposi
tion to harmonise all rival feelings between the three principal
towns of the State, by its neighbour, the Richmond Times and
Compiler, in the following article :
" ' The old Borough of Norfolk has been declared by legisla
tive act to be a ' city,' and our neighbour of the Petersburg In
telligencer seizes the opportunity to doff his beaver to the worthy
editor of the Herald, and tender him his best wishes upon this
accession of new honours. This is all right and neighbourly,
and we join our neighbour in making a most respectful bow to
our friends of the Norfolk press and their fellow-citizens, and
tender them our most sincere good wishes -for their prosperity,
individually and collectively. May the city of Norfolk grow
rapidly, and become a great, a very great city.
" ' But let us say, in passing, to our friends down there, that
the policy of Virginia must be stimulated considerably to make
their city what it ought to be, and they ought to help to impart
this added energy. They must co-operate with us in effecting a
communication with western and southwestern Virginia. Nor
folk now has command of the Dismal Swamp Canal and the
Roanoke River ; and the only remaining source from which she
can hope for prosperity, is from the trade to be attracted to
James River by this communication with the West. When that
communication is effected, and the connexion between the canal
and tidewater here made, she will participate with this city in
the advantages of the trade thereby acquired. We feel warmly

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 223
for her welfare. We ardently desire to see Norfolk one of the
greatest maritime cities of the Union. Whether this gratifica
tion is in store for us, we know not. But this we do know, that
if she does not become what we desire to see her through the
trade to be conveyed to her wharves from the James River, she
cannot by that from other sources. Let her, therefore, join with
us in advancing the common interest of Virginia, and of Nor
folk and Richmond. Let her discard her misgivings, and let her
energies be found in co-operation to effect the grand object which
all the people of Virginia should have so much at heart.' "
The following are among the provisions in the amendments to
the Charter :
The rights, privileges, &c., formerly vested in the Common
Council, to " be vested in two bodies, to wit : the Select Council
and the Common Council."
Thirty-seven freeholders to be elected triennially for the Coun
cils, the Recorder, and Aldermen.
The officers of the city to be elected annually in general meet
ing of the two Councils.
The Recorder and eight Aldermen to be chosen triennially
from the thirty-seven persons elected, and with the Mayor, to
constitute the Court.
In the intervening years, twenty-eight citizens to be elected
for Councilmen.
The twenty-eight Councilmen to elect by ballot, annually,
eleven of their number for the Select Council ; the remaining
seventeen to constitute the Common Council.
Each body to have a president, vice-president, and clerk.
All ordinances to originate in the Common Council ; and,
having passed that body, to be sent to the Select Council for
concurrence or amendment. Amendments to be reported to the
former, and, in case of disagreement, the two bodies to assemble
together, elect a president fro tern., and the proposed measure to
be decided by two-thirds of the members composing the united
bodies. A majority of the members of each body to constitute a quorum,
whether acting separately or in general meeting.

224 HISTORICAL AND
The court to appoint only the clerk of the court, the prose
cuting attorney, and the constables.
The power over the public property of the corporation, such
as lands, tenements, streets, wharves, &c., transferred from the
court to the councils.
Sergeant to be elected triennially, on the 24th June, by a
plurality of the qualified voters.
The act passed February 13th, 1845, was amended March
20th, 1850, and among other provisions is one, making it lawful
for the councils to establish, at their discretion, free schools
within the city, and for that purpose build school-houses, and
annually assess and levy upon the property and inhabitants of
the city to pay for the same.
Of the advancement of the " city" from this time, the increase
in real estate to the amount of $122,048, for the year ending
1st February, 1846, is conclusive evidence, as also the increase
of tonnage entered and cleared at the custom-house of more than
100 per cent.
The new court-house for Norfolk County, located in Ports
mouth, was commenced in 1845.
The site chosen for it is the lot on which the old clerk's office
and jaU formerly stood. The buUding presents a front of seventy-
eight feet on High Street, and fifty-seven on Court Street ; a
conspicuous situation, in which it is almost compelled to meet
the eye of every stranger who visits Portsmouth. The exterior
plan, which was designed by Mr. William R. Singleton, of St.
Louis, Mo. (but a native of Portsmouth), is in fine proportion
and classic taste. The front on High Street has a projecting
portico, elevated fourteen feet from the ground, of four Doric
columns, three feet in diameter at the base ; after the model of
the temple of Jupiter Stator. The Court Street front presents
a recess portico entablature, supported by two columns, simUar to
the portico on High Street. The roof is surmounted by a hand
some cupola, supported by eight columns of the Ionic order.*
For the interior, the committee adopted the plan of Mr. Wil-
loughby G. Butler, of Portsmouth. The main floor is elevated
* This has been removed.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 225
fourteen feet above the ground, the basement beneath being
divided into rooms for elections, on the right of the entrance
from High Street, and for clerk's offices on the left — the latter
being entirely fire-proof. The principal floor contains the court
room, fifty- seven by fifty-four feet; height of the ceiling twenty
feet. In the rear of the court-room are two jury-rooms, each
nine by twenty-four feet ; and two in front, one on each side of
the vestibule, nine by seventeen feet.
" The plan of the jaU is exclusively Mr. Singleton's, and shows
quite an ornamental front on High Street, whUe its interior
arrangements are designed to be all that could be devised for
the security of the prisoners, and the health and cleanliness of
their apartments.
" The court-house of Norfolk County was at one time in the
Borough ; and from thence the seat of justice was removed to
the town of Washington (called Ferry, or Washington Point).
By an Act of the General Assembly, passed January 20, 1801,
it was again removed and located in Portsmouth. The lot and
buildings on Washington Point were vested in Wm. Wilson,
Robert Thompson, Samuel Hatton, Wm. Godfrey, and Enos
M'Coy, Esqs., as Commissioners, who were empowered to sell
the same and apply the money arising therefrom to the building
of the new court-house, which was finished in 1806, and was just
forty years old when the present building took its place.
1845. March 6th. On the evening of this day, the Methodist
Protestant Church, on Fenchurch Street, formerly a theatre,
took fire, and was destroyed.
June. During this month, a very considerable excitement was
produced among the inhabitants by Professor DebonnevUle, a
celebrated lecturer on animal magnetism. His lectures and ex
periments drew great crowds, and were for several days the prin
cipal subject of conversation among many of the citizens, both
male and female.
Friday, February 27th, 1846. A snow-storm of almost unpre
cedented severity commenced on this day, the wind blowing a
gale from the northeast.
Saturday, 28th. The snow was several inches deep, and rain
began to fall during the day, which continued untU noon on
15

226 HISTORICAL AND
Monday, March 2d, when the rain gave place to haU, which
fell rapidly, the wind continuing with unabated violence till
midnight, when it increased to a terrific hurricane, which tore
off the roofs of buUdings, uprooted trees, and demolished fences.
The tide soon rose to an extraordinary height. Never since
1825 had it risen so high. Wide Water Street, and the streets,
lanes, and wharves below, were completely inundated, and very
large quantities of merchandise, such as sugar, salt, lime, &c.,
were destroyed. The loss of the merchants was estimated at
$100,000. West Wide Water Street resembled a narrow river,
with high perpendicular banks ; and the number of boats pass
ing through this and Commerce Street, Roanoke Square, &c., the
bustle among the merchants, and the merry, free, and care-little
laugh of the sable boatmen, now and then increased to a loud
and joyful ha ! ha 1 as some hapless passenger chanced to tumble
overboard, in the cool and briny water; the howling of the storm,
and the breaking of the waves against the walls, all united to
present a scene of great novelty, activity, and confusion. The
shipping in port suffered considerably. Large piles of firewood
and lumber were floated away. Drummond's Bridge was swept
off, and also a large steam-mUl in Portsmouth.
From Cape Henry to Whale's Head, on the coast, the fences,
and many of the out-houses, were floated away. Nearly all
the cattle and sheep, and immense numbers of hogs, and even
some horses, were drowned, numbering in all, according to esti
mate, about 10,000 head, besides poultry in great quantities.
Vessels were driven ashore, and farm-houses were unroofed and
blown to pieces. One small tenement, which had been deserted
by all its inmates, except a lame boy, a faithful dog, and a cat,
having been removed by the tide, the roof and other portions
were scattered upon the rolling surges, while the remainder of
the building, with its affrighted occupants, who were fortunately
provided with a ham of bacon, was driven furiously about by the
wind. The hopeless trio nestled closely in a bed, exposed for
twelve long hours to the violence of the pitiless storm ; but the
frail ark of safety was snugly moored among the trees of the
forest, many rods above the usual high-water mark, whence the
wet and shivering creatures were taken, and properly cared for.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 227
On Nott's Island, in the neighbouring county of Currituck,
the loss and damage were exceedingly severe. It was reported,
and announced in some of the papers, that several families were
swept away, besides immense numbers of cattle.
On Tuesday, the wind ceased, and the swollen waters sub
sided, when it was truly distressing to behold the scenes of
destruction caused by that memorable storm.
July 4th. In addition to the usual exhibition of patriotic
regard for the birthday of American liberty, there was a most
interesting display made by the different Sabbath-schools of the
city. At seven o'clock, the bells reminded the scholars and teachers
that the hour was approaching at which they were to repair to
their usual places of meeting. Thence, at about eight o'clock,
the several schools — eight in number — under the direction of their
respective superintendents, proceeded in regular order to the
Academy lawn. Having met and united in one general gather
ing, the procession marched through some of the principal streetfe.
At the head of each school there was carried a beautifully-
painted banner, with an appropriate motto.
It was a charming sight ; and the pleasing emotions which it
excited were plainly betrayed in the countenances of the crowds
of all ages who gazed upon it. The sun appeared occasion
ally from behind the fleecy clouds that obstructed his rays,
(rendering the day unusually pleasant), and looked forth with
peculiar brightness, as if well pleased with the holy and joyful
scene. The children connected with the Orphan Asylum walked
in front.
In that large procession, numbering about one thousand chil
dren, of almost every age, from four to sixteen, what a diversity
of talent and disposition ! The ladies connected with the schools
were present, and walked in the procession, thus evincing their
devotion to so noble an institution. It was an occasion calcu
lated to encourage the highest hopes of the Christian and philan
thropist for the well-being of the rising generation. Might not
a great company of ministering angels have hovered in gladness
over the cheering scene ?
The schools having assembled in the Presbyterian Church,

228 HISTORICAL AND
appropriate addresses were delivered by Rev. Mr. Wadsworth,
of the Methodist Church, to' the children, and by Rev. Mr.
Caldwell, of the Episcopal Church, to the officers and teachers.
The remarks of the reverend gentlemen were highly appropriate,
and well calculated to inspire all present with an increased de
votion to, and interest in, a cause, upon which rest in a great
measure the hopes of the country — a cause which has been so
abundantly blessed by Heaven, and whose influences, for time
and eternity, are far beyond the limited stretch of the imagina
tion of man.
During this and the following years, and, in fact, for several
years antecedent to 1846, considerable excitement was produced
in the minds of quite a large portion of the community by the
Temperance Reformation. The reformed inebriate and talented
lecturer, John B. Gough, and others, visited the city, and deli
vered addresses to large assemblages ; very many persons took
the pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks as a
beverage, and numbers of inebriates were apparently reformed.
This, it must be admitted, is a useful and a good cause, and its
tendency has, to a great extent, been advantageous and benefi
cial to the community. And yet it cannot be reasonably doubted,
that some have exhibited too much fanaticism in their efforts,
while much less real good has been accomplished in some in
stances than was expected. The seemingly reformed have,
in many instances, returned to their cups ; and hundreds have
paid too little regard to the obligations under which they have
been placed by the pledge. The effect of the movement, how
ever, upon the rising generation, is considered highly beneficial
and quite salutary. One unpleasant feature in the progress of
this reformation is, that some apparently pious men, have been
led by their devotion to its objects, to neglect their religious ob
ligations — to lessen their attention to the ordinances of the
church and_ the means of grace. The true Christian will, gene
raUy, be virtually all that any association, secondary to his
church, can require of him ; and if he cannot attend to the less
important, without neglecting the greater, it is decidedly unwise
and improper to engage in the former ; hence, it is the opinion
of some great and good men, who entertain the highest regard

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 229
for this reformation, that it should be conducted entirely by
non-professors. We venture not, as yet, however, to embrace
this view of the subject. Time wUl be required by many to test
its soundness, and we cannot fully agree with the supporters of
the theory.
On the 16th of December, 1846, a meeting was held in Ash
land Hall, at which patriotic speeches were made relative to the
Mexican War. A company of volunteers was soon raised, being
composed of young men of the city and county of Norfolk, and
of Princess Anne. On the 26th, an election of officers took
place, and 0. E. Edwards was chosen captain.
January 1, 1847. A company having also been raised in
Portsmouth, John P. Young was elected captain. On the 12th,
this company went to Richmond, and was suitably received and
disposed of by Governor Smith. The company proceeded to
Mexico, but was not favoured with an opportunity of engaging
with the enemy.
Captain Edwards's company was also offered to the Governor
for his disposal, but not being received, the offer was made to the
Governor of North Carolina ; being again refused, proposals were
then made to the United States Government, and promptly ac
cepted. Captain E. having received a commission as captain,
in a regiment of voltigeurs, embarked, on March 27th, for Fort
M'Henry, near Baltimore ; after which, the company proceeded
to Mexico, where Captain E. was assigned to the command of
the howitzer battery attached to the regiment. During the en
gagement at the National Bridge, and elsewhere. Captain E.
and his company fought with great gallantry. After his return
to the city, he was presented, by some of the citizens, with an
elegant sword, as an evidence of their appreciation of his brave
conduct and distinguished efforts in the service of his country.
He has since died in California, leaving a wife and several chil
dren, who reside in this city.

230 HISTORICAL AND

CHAPTER XXXL
1847.
Destructive Fire — Frightful Accident — Boys Burnt — Suffering and Death —
Rev. Mr. Beall — Marble Tablet — Virginia Temperance Advocate — Grain
Business — High Prices — Unseasonable Weather — Fish — Moonlight Excur
sions — Prices of Grain — Rev. Mr. Anderson — Indian Corn — Demand from
Ireland — Shipments — Sabbath-school Celebration — Rev. Mr. Cummins —
U. S. Ship Pennsylvania — Grain and Corn — Death of Colonel Newton — Death
of Dr. Moseley — City Hall — Corner Stone — Ceremonies — Oration — Rev. Mr.
Hitselberger — New Orphan Asylum — View of the Old Church at Jamestown
— Gift of the Norfolk Ladies — PubUc Buildings — Streets Paved — Spirit of
Improvement — Beacon Office Destroyed — Snow aud Thunder.
January 16, 1847. At an early hour, a destructive fire broke
out on the south side of Main Street, two or three doors east
from the corner of Market Square, which consumed several very
valuable buildings, and a large quantity of goods. Newton's
beautiful block on Market Square, and the property on the
north side of Main Street, were seriously menaced by the flames ;
but for the very active exertions of the several fire companies
of this city, and of Portsmouth, on this as on other occasions,
the destruction would have been very great. The loss was esti
mated at $60,000.
A frightful accident, attended with loss of life under very
painful circumstances, occurred after the fire had been subdued.
Several boys, among whom were Robert Brown and Barlow
Daniel, were endeavouring to extricate, from among the smoul
dering ruins, a large tin can, containing a quantity of spirits of
turpentine, camphine, or other explosive liquid, which had been
kept in the cellar of one of the stores destroyed. Just as they
succeeded in pulling it out from a pile of hot bricks, it ignited
and exploded, scattering the combustible substance in every
direction, and simultaneously saturating, and setting on fire, the
clothes of the unfortunate boys above named. It was, to them,
an awful moment, of the intensest agony and horror. The poor
boys were, in an instant, completely enveloped in a thick sheet

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 231
of glaring white flame, which arose several feet above their
heads. No martyr at the stake, nor any act of savage cruelty,
had, probably, ever presented an instance of more excruciating
bodily torture, so completely enwrapped were they in the fierce,
flashing, devouring element, fed as it was by the fiery fluid ; — a
lamentable condition, truly, for human beings to be placed in.
Daniel, who was a sprightly and intelligent youth, ran screaming
to the so-called Artesian well, which was within a few rods of the
ruins, while Brown, a stout, active boy, of about fourteen, made
the best of his way over the piles of rubbish, inhaling the white
flame as he proceeded. Happening in the daytime, a number of
persons hastened immediately to witness the frightful scene,
which words are scarcely adequate to describe. Terror was
strikingly depicted in the countenance of every man present.
The beholders stood, for a few moments, aghast, with uplifted
hands, and uttering exclamations of horror. At flrst it seemed
difficult, and even hazardous, to render assistance. A gentleman,
however, had sufficient presence of mind to throw his cloak over
Daniel, in his rapid, fiery flight ; but he disengaged himself, and,
with almost superhuman effort, hurried on to the pump, where
copious streams of cold water were quickly thrown upon him.
The stores near the ruins were soon emptied of their occupants.
Some came with water, others with blankets ; one of which was
thrown over Brown, the flames extinguished, and the remaining
fragments of half-burnt garments removed, after he had fallen
upon a heap of rubbish.
Too much pain has already been inflicted upon the feelings of
the reader, and perhaps this narrative should end here ; but
having commenced it, the sad conclusion may be expected. Be
sides, it may not be improper to show the extent of physical
suffering to which the unfortunate creatures of earth are some
times subjected.
The half-stifled screams of " Put me out ! put me out !" thrUled
the hearts of those present with indescribable pain, and the dis
torted and bUstered condition of poor Brown's body, and that of
his helpless companion in misery, was too shocking to behold,
and the reader would sicken at a further detaU. The unfortu
nate youths both received the most prompt and skilful medical
and maternal attention ; but death relieved them of their suffer-

232 HISTORICAL AND
ings on the following day. They both had widowed mothers,
whose emotions of deep, heartfelt, agonizing sorrow must be
imagined. March 10th, 1847. Departed this Ufe, Rev. Upton Beall, for
merly of Frederick, Maryland, the esteemed pastor of Christ
Church. The members of his charge caused a handsome mar
ble tablet, with an appropriate inscription, to be prepared and
placed in the church, on the west wall, near the northwest cor
ner ; and they also had erected to his memory, in Cedar Grove
Cemetery, a beautiful monument, with an epitaph and significant
emblems. May 15th. On this day was issued the first number of 'the
Virginia Temperance Advocate, a weekly paper, edited by the
author of these sketches, and devoted to temperance, morality,
literature, health, &c. It was favourably noticed by the press,
and well received by the community; the subscription-list in
cluded the names of many of the most intelligent citizens in
town and country. It was subsequently edited by W. W.
Davis, Esq.
A very heavy and extensive grain business was done in the
spring of this year ; the principal cause of the demand being the
scarcity of food in Ireland. A large number of English and
American vessels were freighted with corn, flour, meal, pork, &c.,
&c., and a scene of great activity was exhibited in the commercial
portion of the city. Some of the enterprising and more expe
rienced merchants were greatly enriched, while the injudicious
and incautious sustained heavy losses. There were some who
might have adopted the following lines :
" Of all the days since I was born,
I hate the day I dealt in corn ;
And long shall I lament the hour.
When I resolved to trade iu flour.
And, what is worse, I've had no ease.
Since buying up the beans and peas.
Alas ! how wretched do I feel.
Whene'er I'm told the price of meal.
Oh ! had I dealt in pork aud lard,
I would not say the times were hard.
But curse upon all speculation,
Which ruined me, if not the nation."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 233
May 21st. Corn was this day quoted at $1 05 ; fine flour, $10 ;
superfine, $11; family, $12.
During the month of May, the weather was remarkably cool
for the season. Fires were comfortable, and overcoats were
worn. So plentiful was the supply of fresh fish in the market, during
the latter part of this month, that half a dozen fine large gray
trout sold for only six and a quarter cents.
Moonlight excursions down the river in steamboats, to Hamp
ton Roads and the Capes, with music and dancing, became very
popular among the pleasure-loving, and the "loved and loving"
in particular.
June 11th. Price of corn, $1 15 ; oats, 55 cents.
Sunday, June 13th. Rev. S. J. P. Anderson was this day in
stalled pastor of the Presbyterian Church.
June 24th. For the quarter ending this day, 750,830 bushels
of Indian corn were reported as having been inspected in the
city, and all the returns had not been made.
This article of food was now becoming somewhat scarce, even
in this land of plenty and of inexhaustible resources. The long,
loud cry which came booming, as it were, over the broad bosom
of the Atlantic for bread, and which had been so nobly and
generously heeded and responded to, had almost imperceptibly
reduced the supplies, even in this great corn region, below the
mark which prudence might have dictated. Vessel after vessel,
laden with this invaluable fruit of the soil, had descended the
various rivers, which drain the fertile valleys in our vicinity.
The warehouses groaned and cracked beneath the immense pres
sure of the nutritious substance, and it was transferred in vast
quantities to the ample holds of the vessels, which bore it rapidly
away before the ocean breezes to the shores of unhappy Ireland,
for the relief of the famishing inhabitants of that oppressed
island ; where the cries of the starving thousands of all ages,
first loud and clamouring, then growing weaker and fainter, were
still unheeded by many, till they were hushed in death, and the
trembling tenements fell in ruins as the spirits ascended to their
God. July 4th. On this day, in addition to the usual display of the

234 HISTORICAL AND
military, there was another large Sabbath-school procession,
numbering about one thousand children, besides the teachers ;
all of whom were under the general supervision of Walter H.
Taylor, Esq., assisted by Wm. H. Hunter, and Harrison Robert
son, Esqrs., whose vigUant attention was instrumental in pre
venting the occurrence of a single accident to cast a shade of
unpleasantness upon the splendid picture. Who that witnessed
that scene did not entertain the wish that the numbers of young
hearts then beating with life, and love, and joyfulness, might
ever be preserved from the contaminating influences and ruinous
consequences of sin ? Able and eloquent addresses were deli
vered by Rev. Mr. Hendrickson, of the Baptist Church, and
Rev. Mr. Anderson, of the Presbyterian Church.
On Sabbath, July 10th, Rev. George D. Cummins, who had
been duly elected Rector of Christ Church, to supply the vacancy
occasioned by the death of Rev. Mr. Beall, preached his intro
ductory sermon to a densely-crowded audience. The discourse
was very interesting and appropriate, evincing a high order of
rhetorical talent, as well as an exalted sense of the dignity and
responsibUities of his sacred office, and of his new and important
charge. July 24th. The U. S. ship Pennsylvania — that giant among
vessels — moved majestically down from the mouth of the Southern
Branch, opposite the navy-yard, to the anchorage off Smith's
Point. As an evidence of the great depth of water in the har
bour, although the tide was unusually low when the ship was
removed, she met with no interruption whatever, but passed
steadily along, in silent grandeur, to be a magnificent ornament
to our capacious haven. Her dimensions are as follows : — 220
feet, lower deck ; 217 feet, length aloft ; 190 feet, length of keel
for tonnage ; 56 feet, 9 inches, moulded breadth of beam for
tonnage ; 59 feet, moulded breadth of beam outside of wales ;
23 feet, depth of hold ; 51 feet, extreme depth amidships ;
3,306 23-95, tonnage; guns, 140; 18,341 yards duck, one set
of sails ; 14,624 yards duck, bags, hammocks, boat-sails, awnings,
&c. ; total, 32,965 yards ; 11 inches, shrouds ; 10 inches, main
stay ; 278 feet, mainmast ; 110 feet, mainyard ; 82 feet, topsail

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 235
yard ; 52 feet, topgallant yard ; 36 feet, royal yard ; 10,000 lbs.
sheet anchor ; 1,521 yards main-topsail.
This ship, which cost the nation $800,000, was built at PhUa
delphia, and is now lying at the Gosport Navy- Yard. She is the
largest ship in the American Navy, and the most costly. The
only voyage she ever made was from Philadelphia to Norfolk.
July 23d. Corn at this date was quoted at 65 cts., and flour
at $6 50, exhibiting a very considerable fall in price within a
few weeks.
August 5th. Departed this life, aged 79 years, Hon. Thomas
Newton.* Saturday, August 14th. Dr. Moseley, an eminent medical
gentleman of Norfolk, died suddenly, of apoplexy, in his office.
Monday, 23d. The corner-stone of the large and beautiful
City Hall was laid this day. The volunteer companies. Free
masons, Odd-Fellows, Sons of Temperance, Rechabites, Druids,
city authorities, officers of the Navy, the clergy, and the citizens
generaUy, accompanied by a fine band of music, moved in pro
cession through some of the streets, and then assembled at the
northeast corner of the foundation of the intended hall of justice.
A box, containing coins, papers, and other memorials, was
placed in a square cavity, hewn out of a large piece of granite,
upon which was placed another piece, and on this the thick and
solid foundation-stones were laid, there to remain, perhaps, for
ages, undisturbed, and concealed from the view of the busy
crowds by which it will often be surrounded. An able Masonic
address was delivered by Mr. J. C. M'Cabe, after which the Rev.
A. L. Hitselberger, of St. Patrick's Church, who was selected as
the orator for the occasion, delivered an address, which was cha
racterized by elegance of style, combined with highly appropriate
and classical allusions, and patriotic sentiments. " It was, in
deed," says the Herald, " one of the most masterly efforts of
eloquence which we have ever listened to, and in which the gifted
speaker exhibited extensive learning and familiarity with the
history and jurisprudence of ancient times."
September 8th. The corner-stone of the new Orphan Asylum
was laid, under the supervision of the lady managers of the insti-
* See pages 54, 55, 71, &c.

236 HISTORICAL AND
tution, assisted by John Tunis, Esq., and several other gentle
men. No oration was pronounced, on account of the illness of
the person selected to perform that duty.
October. A beautiful token of attachment to the home of
their nativity was shown by two Norfolk ladies, then residents
of another city, who had lithographed, at their own expense, an
accurate view of the ancient church at Jamestown (the first built
in Virginia), intended especially, as expressed on the plate, for
the Norfolk Female Orphan Asylum.
During this year, several public buildings were commenced.
Freemason and other streets were paved, new streets were opened,
and a spirit of improvement, such as had not been manifested in
the place before, began to diffuse itself.
Saturday evening, November 27th. Beacon office and reading-
room destroyed by fire.
Dec. 21. At an early hour it commenced snowing, with a
strong wind from northeast. The ground was soon covered to
the depth of two or three inches. At three o'clock, in the midst
of the violence of the storm, the inhabitants were startled by
several peals of thunder, the heavy, dull, and yet loud sound of
which, echoed and rolled along beneath the lowering clouds for
many seconds after each explosion.

CHAPTER XXXIL
1848—1849.
Southern Argus — Its Peculiarities — Remarks of Bulwer — Methodist Church
Destroyed — Destructive Conflagration — Suffering — Insurance — Bethel
Church, &o. — Philharmonic Association — Youthful Heroism — Narrow Es
cape from Drowning — Captain Hamilton L. Shields, U. S. A. — Captain Ed
ward H. Fitzgerald, U. S. A. — New Baptist Church — California — Reflections
— Visiters — Internal Improvements — Cumberland Street Methodist Epis
copal Church — Unsuitable Location — General Millson — The Cholera — Nor
folk Female Institute — Dr. Selden — Gas-Works — New Buildings — City Reve
nue — Death of M. King, Esq.
January 8th, 1848. On this day the first number of the
Southern Argus was issued, by S. T. Sawyer, Esq., editor and pro-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 237
prietor. This paper is very ably conducted, and zealously advocates
the principles and tenets of the Democratic party, a liberal sys
tem of internal improvements, the interest of the merchants,
&c. It also presents, dailj'', an interesting variety of useful se
lections, which have rendered it popular as a family paper, as
well as a valuable commercial and political journal. There is
one peculiarity about the Argus, which is observable by its
readers : it seldom notices or copies the particulars of the
frightful accidents of so frequent occurrence in various sections
of the country, and generally omits those extreme cases of in
humanity, suffering, or cruelty, which occupy so large a place in
the columns of some papers. Perhaps this may be the wiser
course, in view of the effect which the reading of such accounts
has upon the minds of some persons.
"It may be observed," saj's Bulwer, "that there are certain
years in which, in a civilized country, some particular crime
comes into vogue. It flares its season, and then burns out.
Thus, at one time, we have burking, at another, swingism — now
suicide is in vogue ; now poisoning trades-people in apple-dump
lings ; now little boys cut each other with penknives ; now com
mon soldiers shoot at their sergeants. Almost every year there
is one crime peculiar to it ; a sort of annual, which overruns the
country, but does not bloom again. Unquestionably, the press
has a great deal to do with these epidemics. Let a newspaper
give an account of some out-of-the-way atrocity, that has the
charm of being novel, and certain dejraved minds fasten ta it,
like leeches. They brood over and resolve it ; the idea grows
up a horrid phantasmalian monomania ; and all of a sudden, in
a hundred different places, the one seed sown by the leaden
types, springs up into foul flowering. But if the first reported
aboriginal crime has been attended with impunity, how much
more does the imitative faculty cling to it. Ill-judged mercy falls,
not like dew, but like a great heap of manure, on the rank deed."
March 2. The Methodist Episcopal Church, situated on Cum
berland, near Cove Street, was destroyed by fire. It was a large,
handsome, and commodious building, erected in 1832-3 ; dedi
cated March, 1833 ; cost about $18,000 ; insurance nearly
$14,000.

2a8 HISTORICAL AND
June 14. A fire broke out in the lumber-yard of Messrs. Fer
guson and Milhado, the contents of which, and of an adjoining
one, belonging to Mr. John Tunis, each containing a very large
quantity of plank, scantling, shingles, &c., &c., were consumed,
together with hundreds of barrels of pitch, tar, and turpentine,
and several very large warehouses filled with foreign and do
mestic produce. The fire spread with fearful rapidity, sweeping
both sides of Woodside's Lane, every building on the south side
of Wide Water, from this lane to Fayette Street, and a long row
on the opposite side of Water Street. The Mariners' Bethel, a
new and handsome Gothic structure, shared the same fate. The
flames bursting from the windows and steeple of this building,
presented a grand and imposing scene. Many valuable build
ings on Fayette and Kelly Streets, including Harris's extensive
bakery, were also destroyed. The unsparing element soon
reached West Main Street, on which a number of valuable family
residences were also laid in ruins. More than sixty buildings,
exclusive of kitchens, stables, &c., were destroyed. Great quan
tities of produce were burnt, including thousands of bushels of
corn, a very large amount of sugar, molasses, coffee, cotton,
naval stores, several horses, &c., &c. The loss was estimated at
$200,000. Many families were left in a most destitute condition, and ex
cited the profound sympathy of the community. The councils
met on the Thursday following ; promptly voted an appropria
tion of $500 for the relief of the sufferers, and appointed a com
mittee to solicit aid in their behalf. Many of the buildings, and
a considerable portion of the produce, were insured, although
many of the merchants were heavy losers. The Bethel Church
was insured for $5,000. Among numerous painful instances of
suffering and destitution, we record one only, — that of a mother,
with an infant in her arms, and three or four small children
gathering closely around her for protection. They had fled from
the fury of the flames, having saved only a few pieces of furni
ture. On Thursday, the 22d, the Philharmonic Association gave a
concert at the National Hotel, for the benefit of the indigent
sufferers by this calamitous fire, and the musical entertainment

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 239
proved to be one of a highly interesting character. The large
saloon of the National was crowded by a fashionable audience,
who appeared much delighted with the " concord of sweet
sounds." A number of ariosoes, rondeaus, duetts, &c., were
most admirably sung, manifesting a highly cultivated musical
taste and talent, and producing a thrilling efl'ect upon the audi
ence. This Association is composed of young gentlemen whose native
musical genius has been carefully cultivated. Their voices being
happily harmonized, the various intonations are clear, full, and
distinct ; and whether in solo, duett, quartette, or " in full chorus
joined," the music swells out a tempo giusto, and in strong, deep-
toned, and thrilling melody — rising or falling with singular har
mony and calm cadence — some of the closing strains resembling
those produced by a well-trained instrumental band.
On Tuesday afternoon, July 18th, a son of E. S. Pegram,
Esq., merchant, while bathing in the river, was swept off by the
current, and in imminent danger of being lost ; whereupon,
Bryant Ward, aged ten years, a son of Wm. Ward, Esq., imme
diately swam out and succeeded in reaching his companion, but
not having sufficient strength to rescue him, both were soon ex
hausted, and would have perished, but for the timely arrival of
a boat sent to their aid. The little hero remained insensible for
some time, and when questioned as to his temerity, replied : " I
could not bear to see him drown." A noble example of youthful
heroism, well deserving of a record here. He was suitably re
warded by the father of the lad for whom he had freely hazarded
his life, and the generous act was deservedly commended by all
who were made acquainted with the circumstances attending it.
On Thursday, 20th, an elegant and costly sword was pre
sented to Captain Hamilton L. Shields, of 3d Artillery, U. S. A.,
a native of this city, as a testimony from his fellow-citizens of
their appreciation of his gallant services in the war with Mexico.
Captain S. entered the army from West Point, and took part in
the siege and capture of Vera Cruz ; after which, he was in very
nearly every engagement from that place to the city of Mexico,
and greatly distinguished himself by his bravery and soldier-like
conduct.

240 HISTORICAL AND
Captain Shields received, in 1850, the honourable and import
ant appointment of Judge Advocate of the Eastern Division of
the United States Army.
Subsequently to the above presentation, a splendid sword was
tendered by the citizens to Captain Edward H. Fitzgerald, U.
S. A., of Norfolk, in testimony of their approbation of his gal
lantry and noble conduct in several engagements with the enemy
on the ensanguined fields of Mexico.
August 15. The corner-stone of the Freemason Street Baptist
Church was laid in the afternoon of this day. The situation of
this beautiful building was most judiciously chosen, being on the
north side of Freemason, and east side of Catharine Streets, and
at the northeast corner formed by their intersection, which is
very near the centre of the city, affording a fine view of the
structure from four or more different points.
During a portion of this and the succeeding year, considerable
excitement was manifested in the city on account of the extraor
dinary mineral developments in California; and some enterprising
young men and a few of the middle-aged, proceeded hence with
all possible despatch to the land of promise — the land of glitter
ing gold ; and doubtless they were cheered on their devious,
weary way by the bright anticipation of future wealth, honours,
and happiness, when in the enjoyment of the great object of their
toilsome journey. Some, it is gratifying to record, have suc
ceeded quite well in their expectations ; while others, who were
unused to the hardships and perils of a long and tedious route,
and the privations of a new, unsettled, uncultivated country,
became sadly discouraged, and after many a day of disappoint
ment, sickness, and sorrow, returned to the cherished home of
their childhood and youth — glad enough, indeed, to see again the
familiar faces of relatives and friends, and to enjoy the pleasures
and comforts of life. Some, alas, sickened, and lingered in pain
awhUe ; then closed their eyes in death, far, far away from the
embrace of friends and the kindly attentions peculiar only to
" home, sweet home."
" The spades and mattocks with which they hoped to exhume
the buried treasure, have been used for a mournful purpose, -and

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 241
thousands are sleeping their last sleep, entombed among the glit
tering dust that has lured them from home and family.
" The misery and suspense of the friends and relatives of the
emigrants, at home, are scarcely less painful to contemplate than
the sufferings of the gold-hunters themselves. The fate of many
of the latter will never be known to those they left behind.
Among the lists of deaths, the words ' stranger' and ' un
known' frequently occur, and hundreds have died and will die
in that far-off land, of whose decease not even these anonymous
memoranda will be made. The story of the overland emigration
has not been half told. Thousands are yet struggling through
the grassless and unwatered plains between the Council Bluffs
and California, as the first crusaders struggled through the
marshes of Hungary, and their line of march like that of the
crosses, will hereafter be known by the graves and bleaching
skeletons in their track."
" Gold many hunted, sweat and bled for gold;
Waked all the night, and laboured all the day ;
And what was this aUurement, dost thou ask ?
A dust dug from the bowels of the earth.
Which, being cast into the fire, came out
A shining thing that fools admired, and called
A god; and in devout and humble plight
Before it kneeled, the greater to the less.
And on its altar, sacrificed ease, peace.
Truth, faith, integrity, good conscience, friends.
Love, charity, benevolence, and aU
The sweet and tender sympathies of Ufe."
During the last week in December, several members of the
Legislatiu:e paid a visit to Norfolk and Portsmouth, among whom
were Messrs. Burwell of Bedford, Boyd of Wythe, and M'Cue
of Augusta. They addressed the people of the two towns on the
subject of internal improvements. The principal object of their
visit was to direct attention to the Lynchburg and Tennessee
Railroad, and the extension of the Louisa Road to the Ohio.
They aroused a very fine feeling, apparently, in behalf of those
great measures.
Sunday, Jan. 8th, 1849. The new Methodist Church, on Cum
berland Street, was this day dedicated by the Rev. J. E. Edwards,
16

242 HISTORICAL AND
the minister in charge, whose discourse on the occasion was elo
quent and appropriate. This edifice occupies the site of that
which fell a prey to the devouring element on the night of 2d
March, 1847.
" The building is of the Grecian Doric order, designed by its
architect and constructor, Mr. William Callis, of this city. It is
sixty-four feet front, eighty-four feet deep, with an elevation of
thirty-nine feet from the level of the street to the apex of the
roof. " The front presents an open vestibule, supported by two
handsome columns, of about three and a half feet in diameter,
and four bold ant^s or pilasters, all supporting a neat entabla
ture, and pediment, in plain Grecian Doric taste. The sides are
also ornamented with antses, and a continuation of the entabla
ture from the front.
" The entrance to the chapel is by two flights of commodious
granite steps, fronting the street, — seven on either side, landing
on a platform of eight feet square ; and six more turning right
and left, land on a platform of ten by thirty feet, the front of
which is enclosed with a very neat, cast-iron raUing, finishing to
two ornamented lamp-posts of cast-iron. Three doors in the
vestibule open into the chapel, and two lead to the galleries.
" The basement, which is of nine feet pitch, and neatly
finished, is divided into a lecture-room, sixty by fifty-seven feet ;
four class-rooms of fourteen by twenty-four feet (unnecessarily
large); and one of ten by fourteen, including the minister's
study. There are, also, a wide passage, and the necessary fuel
and sexton's rooms.
" The church proper, or chapel story, is about twenty-six feet
pitch in the clear. On the lower floor are three aisles and one
hundred and twenty-eight seats, which will accommodate seven
hundred and fifty persons ; the galleries, which are commodious,
will accommodate four hundred more, on the sides, beside the
front, occupied by the Choir, which will accommodate about one
hundred and fifty;"
This large and commodious house of worship has been pro
nounced, by competent judges, to be, both externally and inter
nally, one of the neatest, and most symmetrical buildings in the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 243
State ; but whUe it answers well all the purposes of the nume
rous membership and congregation, for whose accommodation it
was erected (excepting the Sunday-school room, which is rather
small, owing to the unusually large size of the class-rooms), it
must be admitted that, on account of its unfavourable location,
it is comparatively concealed from view. Situated on a narrow
street, which abruptly terminates at a row of buildings, a few
rods below, and on the south ; being immediately opposite an
other lofty block, and between buildings, which project, on
either hand, several feet farther towards the line of the street
than its beautiful front, it can only be seen to advantage by
standing off, at a very short distance, on the opposite side of the
street on which it stands. The burning of the other church
afforded an excellent opportunity for obtaining a more suitable
site, which was greatly desired, and even insisted upon by some
of the members ; but there were others who had worshipped for
nearly half a century just there, who naturally felt a strong at
tachment to that particular spot, and who, perhaps, deemed a
change of location very unwise, if not almost sacrilegious. But,
in addition to this, it was found very difficult to obtain a more
suitable lot, at a fair price ; consequently the present structure
(Uke the former) though in a central situation, is comparatively
but little ornament to the city.*
Rev. Mr. Edwards, who served this church the first two years
after its erection, was succeeded by Rev. Robert Michaels ; and
Rev. Nelson Head was appointed for the conference year, com
mencing Nov. 1, 1852.
April. On the fourth Thursday of this month. General John
S. Millson, attorney at law, a native and resident of this city,
was elected, by the Democratic party, a member of the House
of Representatives from the First Congressional District of Vir
ginia. He was re-elected in October, 1851.
General M. ranks high, among his political friends, as an
efficient, firm, and faithful representative. By his talents, close
mental application, and diligent attention to his professional
* The writer has been informed that a proviso in the original deed of the
ground to the trustees, is to the effect that no other building than a church
shall be erected thereon ; othelrwise the lot wiU be forfeited.

244 HISTORICAL AND
duties, he rose rapidly in the estimation of his fellow-citizens, as
a lawyer, while his urbanity of manners, fidelity, exalted moral
and social qualities, and unostentatious dignity of character,
command the respect of his constituents. His style of oratory
is energetic, forcible, and attractive, yet calm and deliberative,
although he sometimes indulges quite freely in a dramatic or
theatrical order of declamation. He is justly regarded as an
eloquent and able advocate and defender of the leading principles
and doctrines of the Democratic party.
An intelligent writer thus alludes to one of his addresses, de
livered in October, 1852:
"We have heard many and effective speeches during the pre
sent canvass ; numerous points urged with vigour and argument
deserving the highest approval; but General Millson adds to
these usual ingredients of Democratic addresses, a novelty which
attracts and absorbs the attention of his hearers."
The qualities which we have mentioned are such as, it is be
lieved, will continue to elevate the General in the scale of popu-
lary, at least with his party ; and, as he is yet, comparatively,
but a young man (about 45), he will probably receive more im
portant honours, than those that have been hitherto conferred
upon him by his fellow-citizens.
May 17, 1849. On this day, that fearful disease, the Asiatic
cholera, again visited the town, after an interval of sixteen sum
mers. Its attacks were generally much less fatal than in 1832.
The alarm was, nevertheless, great among many of the inhabi
tants ; and this, in some instances, doubtless prepared the system
for its ravages. The progress of the disease was, in many cases,
very readily arrested by the physician, when called in before the
patient had begun to sink too rapidly, to yield to the effects of
medicine. Some cases terminated fatally, in a few hours after
the first symptoms ; others lingered a day or two. A few reco
vered quickly, and others gradually; requiring, in some in
stances, the lapse of months for the restoration of the system.
It proved, as in '32, to.be truly a mysterious malady; quite
manageable in some cases, in others baffling the highest profes
sional skill ; defying the most searching investigation as to its
real cause ; now, seemingly overcome by some simple and newly-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 245
discovered antidote, and anon, pursuing its destructive course,
despite all remedies, all attention.
Some persons insisted that it was contagious ; others, to the
contrary. It appears that there is yet much to be learned about
it, by those whose profession may again bring them in close con
tact with its unseen power. We close now this digression, and
leave the subject, serious indeed as it is, for the consideration
and study of that invaluable class of citizens above alluded to,
among the number of whom, in this region, one, at least, fell be
neath its irresistible strokes.
July. The " Norfolk Female Institute'* was established this
month. The principals are Rev. Aristides S. Smith, A.M., and
Rev. Leonidas L. South, A.M., gentlemen who have proved them
selves to be qualified for their duties ; and we state with pleasure
that success has crowned their efforts, and the prospects of the
Institute are pleasing and favourable. This establishment is
justly deemed a useful acquisition to the city, being " designed
to furnish to parents and guardians in the South, a school in
which they can secure as thorough a classical, English, and po
lite education as can be obtained in any of the seminaries of the
North." " The buildings are spacious and elegant, and admirably suited
for a boarding school for young ladies. They are located in a
retired part of the city, on the most elevated spot of ground
within its limits. The grounds attached to them are beautifully
laid out, and ornamented with a profusion of trees and shrub
bery. Embracing, too, more than an entire square, they furnish
ample room for both amusement and exercise."
Died, this month. Doctor Wm. Selden, aged 77, a physician
who acquired an enviable distinction, and who was greatly es
teemed during a long life, sedulously devoted to his profession in
this city.
October 1st. The G-as Works, having been established by a
company composed of enterprising and wealthy citizens, the
first exhibition of the lights in the streets and buildings of the
city took place on this day.
The works first erected are situated on Briggs' Point, near the
eastern extremity of the city, at the southwest corner of Mariner

246 HISTORICAL AND
and Third Cross Streets. The retort-house is forty-five by twenty-
five feet, built of the best Baltimore bricks, and presents quite a
handsome and ornamental front. From the centre of the build
ing an immense chimney springs up, nearly eighty feet high.
There are two wings, fifteen by twenty-three feet ; one on the
east and the other on the west of the main building. Connected
with the establishment are two large cisterns, each holding
50,000 gallons. These buUdings will be abandoned, another
location having been selected on James Street, near Armistead's
Bridge, and buildings erected on a much more extensive scale.
The works at the new location will go into operation early in
1853, when important improvements will be introduced in the
manner of generating the gas, &c.
" When the storm howls, and the tempest shakes our dwelling-
place at midnight, it is pleasant to look out upon the city below,
all mantled with a silvery light. Here and there, on this side
and that, as far as the eye can reach, the friendly lamps are
seen, like so many faithful sentinels at their post, keeping watch,
while the storm-king threatens destruction on every hand. These
lights are like the bright stars that gleam out upon the mariner,
when rocked by the billow on the bosom of ocean, amid the
shout of the tempest. They cheer many bleeding hearts. Light
is pleasant to eyes that are accustomed to weep, and never more
pleasant than of a stormy night. Our gas lights confer this
blessing upon many who have not the means, otherwise, to com
mand it. Let them burn on quietly and beautifully. We would
not have them extinguished to be lighted no more, for any con
sideration."* Surplus of revenue over expenditures of city this year,
$8,757 50.
December 8. Died on this day. Miles King, Esq., a gentle
man who possessed great worth of character, having filled in
Norfolk several offices of public trust and confidence. He was
some time Captain of the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues, and
afterwards filled the office of Navy Agent in this place ; he re
presented the borough in the Legislature of the State; after
* The use of gas for Ughting streets was introduced in London in 1814.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 247
which, he was, for years, regularly elected Mayor. In 1843,
his health began to decline, and he retired from public life.

CHAPTER XXXIIL
1850.
Internal Improvement Meeting — Delegation from Clarksville — David Shelton,
Esq. — Doctor Wilson — Extracts from Interesting Letters — Unseasonable
Weather — Launch of the Powhatan — Engines — The Gosport Iron Works —
Norfolk Iron Works — Mechanics' HaU — Its Utility, &o. — Avon Theatre De
stroyed — Fire in Portsmouth — Cadets of the Virginia Military Institute —
Their Visit to Norfolk, &c. — Acknowledgments — Snow-Storm — General Scott
— Fire in Gosport — Fruit, Vegetables, &c. — Farms — New City Hall — Loca
tion — Architecture — Dimensions — View — New Baptist Church — Description
— Ashland HaU — Drought and Warm Weather.
Friday evening, January 11th, 1850, a very large meeting of
the citizens of Norfolk was held at Ashland Hall, for the pur
pose of conferring with a delegation of the citizens of Clarks
ville, Mecklenburg County, Va., on the subject of a railroad
connexion from that town with the Seaboard and Roanoke Rail
road, at a point at or near Gaston, North Carolina.
"David Shelton, Esq., one of the delegation, explained in a
lucid and forcible speech, the increasing interest which was felt
in the Roanoke country in the great subject of internal improve
ments. The delay and difficulties in the navigation of the
Roanoke River, owing to the bad management of the Roanoke
Navigation Company, were pointed out, and the speaker an
nounced the determination of those he represented to have a
railroad connexion with Norfolk and Portsmouth. ' The port of
Norfolk was their natural market, and here they meant to come.'
Mr. S. stated the cost of freights to Petersburg and Richmond,
and the great tax upon the planters of the Roanoke."
Dr. Wilson, of Clarksville, followed Mr. Shelton in some very
appropriate remarks.

248 HISTORICAL AND
An account of the further action of the city, with regard to
this and other roads, will be found in another part of this work.
The following is an extract of a letter from Dr. Wm. A. Smith,
addressed to the delegates above mentioned, on the object of
their mission.
" The road to Clarksville should be the commencement of one,
in due course of time, to Memphis, Tenn., to connect with the
prospective Government road, through the territories, to San
Francisco, in California. The use of steam from thence to
China, must result in the introduction of imports from China
(tea, in particular) into this country. These must find a ship
ping port on the Atlantic coast. What point offers the advan
tages of the port of Norfolk ? None ; emphatically, none. The
best port on the coast, it Ues on nearly the same parallel of
latitude with Clarksville, Memphis, and Francisco. To talk,
then, of allowing that vast portion of this trade that would reach
Memphis from Francisco, seeking the Atlantic coast, to wind
around by way of Lynchburg and down to Richmond and Peters
burg, and thence to sea, when it can be brought in a straight
line, varying only three-fourths of a degree from Francisco to
Norfolk, is idle in the extreme."*
* Rev. WiUiam A. Smith, D.D., President of Randolph Macon College, from
whom the above letter was received, is distinguished not only for his extensive
acquirements as a theologian, and for his talents as a pulpit orator, but also
for his general knowledge and usually correct views of those measures which
affect the great commercial and political interests of our State aud the country
at large. This letter is somewhat characteristic of the man ; and it is believed
that his judgment in the premises may be relied on.
Dr. Smith is well known in Norfolk, having served the Church here for six
or eight years, since his first appointment to this station, which was about the
year 1831. About two years subsequently, he met with the sad accident (a
fall from his carriage) which rendered him a cripple for life.
Iu the great reUgiouS revival here in 1834-'35, his labours, notwithstanding
his lameness, were arduous, unceasing, aud abundantly blessed.
He has a mind of great strength and inherent power, aud which, when
brought to bear upon a subject, especially iu a debate, throws upon it a degree
of light which generally carries conviction irresistibly home to the minds of
his hearers. He is considered a very able logician. His style of rhetoric is
original aud commanding, his enunciation full and clear, his manner aud gesti
culation dignified aud impressive ; aud all combine to produce the desired effect
upon large and promiscuous assemblages. He is remarkably ready and origi-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 249
" Dr. S. has subsequently presented the matter in a captivating
point of view, so far as the city of Norfolk is concerned. With
a prophetic fingei^ he pointed away to California, and told us
that the day would come when a long train of cars would roll
on, freighted with the rich products of that distant region,
for the Norfolk market. The teas and silks of China, even, he
thought, would eventually traverse this portion of the North
American Continent, seeking a shipping-point on the Atlantic
coast, for their final destination in Europe."
We add, also, an extract of a letter to the citizens of Norfolk,
from a committee appointed by the citizens of Clarksville :
" A glance at the map of the Roanoke country will satisfy the
most sceptical of the importance to Norfolk and Portsmouth of
securing the trade of this extensive and immensely fertile region.
Ours is a point of extraordinary concentration. Here the Dan
and Staunton come together, both navigable for many miles for
batteaux ; and, within ten or twelve miles, the rivers Banister
and Hyco (one running through one of the most fertile regions
of Virginia, and the other through the best part of North Caro
lina), empty their waters into the Dan ; both of them being also
navigable for many miles. Your Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad,
when completed, wUl run within forty miles of our town. Yours
is our natural market ; but the supineness of our people, as well as
yours, has left us, up to this time, no alternative but to send our
native. Some of his extemporaneous efforts on particular occasions, with but
Uttle or no time for preparation, have been marked by extraordinary strength
and concentration of thought and oratorical skill. He is a most fearless and
spirited debater, discovering and exhibiting, with much adroitness, the weak
points iu the arguments of his opponent, and possessing the enviable tact of
bringing the strongest points of his own argument to bear with great force
upon the question at issue. Yet it must be admitted that it requires a deeply
interesting subject, or a powerful opponent, to Ught up fully the fires upon the
altar of his vigorous mind. His information, theological, legal, political, and
general, is such as to render him pecuUarly fit for the responsible duties of
his present office, and even to induce the belief that he could, at very short
notice, plead with abiUty a desperate case at the bar, or deliver a learned and
eloquent address on any of the great questions that agitate the pubUo mind at
the present day. These remarks are in accordance with the views of persons
of good judgment, correct taste, and different reUgious sentiments, who have
had sufficient opportunity to form an opinion.

250 HISTORICAL AND
produce to Petersburg or Richmond. Should the road . contem
plated be constructed, and we be enabled to send our produce
directly to Norfolk and Portsmouth, we shalf be saved the ex
pense of a tedious and circuitous transportation, and your cities
will be flooded with the productions of our hills and our valleys,
until you will not have a place to hold them. Besides, should
foreign invasion ever again threaten you, our hardy and brave
sons will be able to roll down like a mighty flood to overwhelm
your enemies. This latter consideration is particularly worthy
of your notice."
The greater part of this month (January), was remarkably
warm for the season. Some of the fruit and shade trees germi
nated, flowers bloomed, and nature bore, thus early, much of the
appearance of the early spring-time.
February 14th. St. Valentine's day. — The splendid new war
steamer, PoAvhatan, was this day launched at the Navy Yard, in
fine style. That vessel is one of the most beautiful pieces of
naval architecture ever sent forth from this or any other esta
blishment. " The launch of the Powhatan was effected at the precise time
appointed — in the morning, forty-five minutes past ten — when she
glided from her ways into the watery element, with the grace of
a swan and the truth of a rifle — without varying a hair's breadth
from a straight line. As she measured her length in the water,
she kicked off her trammels and took a plunge for the opposite
shore, whieh was vainly essayed to be checked by two twenty-
two inch cables, which she snapped asunder like pipe stems.
" It was decidedly one of the best ordered and the most beau
tiful launches which has ever been witnessed. Commodore Sloat
and his officers. Captain Farragut and Lieutenant Glisson, threw
open their houses on the occasion, and displayed a generous and
whole-souled hospitality — each having provided a profuse and
elegant collation, worthy of an occasion which had redounded so
much to their credit and proved to them a source of so much
real self-congratulation.
" The Powhatan's keel was laid in July, 1847, and she was
constructed under the superintendence of S. T. Hartt, Esq.., the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 251
Constructor of the Yard (by the way, he is esteemed one of the
brightest jewels in Uncle Sam's casket) according to draughts
furnished by Francis Grice, Esq."
The engines of this large government steamer were constructed
at the Gosport Iron Works, a private establishment of great
capacity and powerful facilities for extensive operations, and which
was wisely located in Gosport a few years since by A. Mahaffey,
Esq., a liberal, wealthy, and enterprising gentleman from Penn
sylvania. The boilers alone weigh about 250,000 pounds — cost,
nearly $120,000 ; cost of the copper alone, $90,000.*
On the evening of the 14th", the Mechanics' Hall was flrst
opened and Ughted for the reception of visiters, and hundreds,
of all ages, male and female, comprising many of the gay and
beautiful, congregated in the main hall, which is truly a most
desirable acquisition to the city. The situation of this building
was well chosen with regard both to convenience and ornament ;
being on the south side of Main Street, the principal thorough
fare, and only a few doors east of Market Square.
The front is of the Tudor Gothic order, presenting a bold and
highly ornamental exterior, which is stuccoed and laid off in the
most beautiful and durable style ; indeed, the finish of the entire
building is very creditable to all the workmen, and especially to
Mr. John H. Sale, the architect, and (aided by Mr. Samuel
Butt), the chief builder. The entire buUding covers an area of
5670 square feet, being ninety feet long, by sixty-three wide ;
height, fifty-four feet to the coping of the battlement. The
great hall, which is one of the largest in the State, measures fifty-
four by ninety feet ; pitch, eighteen feet. There are ten rooms
on the third floor, and on the first floor there are three large
and elegant stores and one office.
The erection of this handsome structure, affording as it does,
* The Norfolk Iron Works, on Wide Water Street, Mr. N. Cory proprietor,
are prepared for extensive operations in making and repairing machinery.
The ingenious aud enterprising gentleman at the head of this establishment
has recently enlarged his buUdings, and made arrangements which enable him
in many respects to compete successfully with other works. His castings and
polished work in iron, steel, brass, &c., sometimes very ponderous and compli
cated, give great satisfaction.

252 HISTORICAL AND
what the people of Norfolk have long felt the want of, a large,
well-finished room, conveniently located, for public exhibitions,
concerts, fairs, lectures, &c., proves, no doubt, a profitable in
vestment to the large and useful association, whose property it
is (The Mechanical Society), and for whose benefit it was erected.
The hall has already witnessed many occasions of great interest
and animation. Melodious and charming streams of music resound
within its walls, the eloquence of the orator has echoed there ;
many of the fair and lovely have congregated there too. In the
brilliant light afforded by the " invisible and combustible fluid,"
for the burning of which it is well supplied with beautiful chande
liers, there is presented many a lively and deeply interesting
scene. On the morning of the 15th, between the hours of one and
two, Avon Theatre was discovered to be on fire. All efforts to
save the large and commodious building proved entirely futile,
and with the furniture, paintings, drapery, &c., it was in a few
minutes, a shapeless heap of ruins.*
Wednesday evening, 20th. A destructive fire occurred on
High Street, Portsmouth.
23d. The cadets of the Virginia Military Institute being in
Richmond, on the occasion of the laying of the corner stone of
the Washington Monument, accepted an invitation to visit our
city, and arrived in the Richmond boat in the afternoon of this
day, and remained for several days ; during which time, they
partook of its hospitalities and sociabilities. This large and
well-disciplined corps of young men, with its accomplished offi
cers, by their gentlemanly deportment and soldier-like move
ments, made a most favourable impression upon the citizens, who
were highly pleased with the exhibitions of their extraordinary
skill as tacticians, upon the parade ground ; while the gallant
young soldiers from the mountains expressed themselves, in
terms of great satisfaction and gratification, with regard to the
circumstances attending their visit to the salt-water region of
the State, and relative to their reception and stay in the city of
* There was formerly a theatre on the east side of Fenchurch near Main
Street. It was a neat, stuccoed building, of moderate size.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 253
Norfolk. " For four consecutive days and nights there was one
perfect scene of entertainment and merry making."
The following is an extract of an eloquent and beautiful
letter, addressed by the Cadets to Richmond, Norfolk, &;c., after
their return to Lexington : —
" Lavish as we have been of our thanks, in what vocabulary
shall we find words sufficiently warm, glowing, and sincere, to
express to you, citizens of Norfolk, our heartfelt gratitude for
your hospitalities ? Elsewhere, we were received as friends —
you received us as brothers. Domesticated in your houses, in
troduced as old acquaintances to your families, surrounded with
every attention that fancy could conceive, or friendship execute,
we felt that, among you, we were really and truly at home.
Ties were formed, which time, destroyer as he is, will smilingly
pass by, and leave to brighten in eternal youth; friendships
there linked together, which the lapse of years can only render
stronger. We know not, ladies of Norfolk, in what language to
speak of you. We know not how to requite the gentle affability,
the kindness which uniformly marked your demeanour towards
us. To the volunteers of Portsmouth, as to those of Norfolk,
and to Commodore Sloat, and the gallant officers under his
command, we must pay our meed of thanks."
April 17. On this day there was a considerable snow-storm.
It commenced snowing rapidly,^ and in large flakes, at 9 o'clock,
and continued for several hours. It froze at night, destroying
much of the fruit, such as peaches, apricots, cherries, the first
growth of figs, &c.
April 24. The city was this day visited by the hero of
Lundy's Lane, Vera Cruz, kc General Scott attracted a
crowd of eager spectators, who were naturally anxious to look
upon one of the most renowned and successful chieftains the
world ever knew. A salute was fired, on his arrival, by the
Artillery Blues; and, with his suite, he was escorted, by the
volunteer companies, to the National Hotel.
May 1. Destructive fire in Gosport — thirty houses burned.
For the purpose of conveying some idea of the business done
here, in fruit and vegetables, at this season, we present the

254 HISTORICAL AND
following statement : — On the 17th of this month, six hundred
•bushels of green peas, and five hundred quarts of strawberries,
were shipped to Baltimore. Four hundred bushels of peas were
also shipped to Washington. This may be considered a tolerably
fair business, for so early a day in a very backward season.^ An
intelligent writer thinks that, " Since the line of steamers between
New York and this place have been in operation, the farms, in
this vicinity, are more profitable than the mines of the modern
El Dorado."
In 1852, the shipments of early fruit, vegetables, &c., had
wonderfully increased ; a very heavy and profitable business was
done. Wednesday, May 29. The Worshipful Court of the city of
Norfolk convened on this day, for the first time, in the court
room of the new City Hall.
This large and handsome building, to which allusion has al
ready been made, occupies a portion of the space formerly in
tended as a public square ; bounded by Bank, Cove, Avon, and
Williams Streets. This site was judiciously selected, in prefer
ence to that on which the old court-house stood, being more cen
tral, and affording a fine view of the building from the harbour.
The erection of this beautiful structure, is said to have been " a
triumph of mechanical skill." Its walls rest upon solid rows of
piles, of sufficient capacity, in the opinion of the most experienced
architects, " to sustain any weight of superstructure that could
be raised upon them. In this particular, the most important of
all, especial care was taken to secure a permanent and immovable
foundation." The length of the building is eighty feet (north and south) by
sixty in width. The portico, fronting west, and seen from Bank
Street, Granby Street, and the harbour, is supported by six mas
sive columns of the Tuscan order ; it is sixty feet long, leaving a
recess of ten feet at each end. The cupola adds greatly to the
beauty and the bold and commanding appearance of the building,
being thirty-two feet in diameter, and fifty-two feet high. A
passage, thirteen feet wide, extends through from the front to the
rear entrance. On the north side of the passage is the court-room ;

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 255
and on the south, the mayor and sheriff's offices. On the second
floor, and north side, is a spacious room, in which the United States'
Court, for this district, is held. The council-chambers and jury-
rooms are also on the second floor. The front wall is faced with
granite, and the exterior of the others stuccoed in the most
durable manner, and made to represent the same kind of stone.
The entrance from the ground is by steps of granite, which ex
tend nearly the entire length of the portico. The building also
presents a handsome view on the eastern side, where there are,
also, handsome stone steps to the entrance. The foundation
walls are of granite, and rise from the piles eight feet to the sur
face of the ground, and thence of hewn stone flve feet above.
The walls are strengthened, to sustain the piers above, by re
versed arches ; and a cylindrical brick arch, of elaborate con
struction, supports the platform and pillars of the portico.
Height of the main building, fifty-eight feet ; entire height to
the summit of the cupola (from which there is a fine view of the
harbour and surrounding scenery), one hundred and ten feet,
above which is erected a tall fiag-staff, from which, on public oc
casions, a very large ensign, with the stars and stripes, is un
furled to the breeze. Attached to the lightning-rod, a few feet
above the top of the staff, is a gilt vane, five feet long, in the
shape of an arrow.
Beneath the principal passage, on the first floor, there is a
large cistern, holding about forty-five thousand gallons. The
roof is covered with tin. The original plan of the building was
drawn by Mr. William R. Singleton, architect, formerly of Ports
mouth, and now of St. Louis, Missouri; some alterations were
suggested by Mr. Walter, of Philadelphia, which were adopted.
General superintendent of the work, Mr. Thomas Constable ; car
penter, Mr. Isaac M. Smith; stone-mason, Mr. 0. H. Rand;
plasterers, Messrs. Holmes and Tarral ; painter, Mr. John W.
Belote ; tin-worker, Mr. G. L. Crow. Cost of the building, in
cluding the clerk's and register's offices, about fifty thousand
dollars. The piles were driven by the machinery and workmen
of Mr. N. Nash, ship-buUder. The situation affords an excellent
view of the structure from several different points. It is on a

256 HISTORICAL AND
line with that portion of Main Street, east of Church, from which
the cupola is plainly seen. The view, from the harbour, on the
west, and approaching the city, is full, and really imposing. It
is seen, also, for a considerable distance, on the Seaboard and
Roanoke Railroad.
"The first eight miles of the road (to Bowers's Hill) is per
fectly straight ; and riding on an open platform, the traveller
has the benefit of an interesting perspective view of it as it re
cedes in the long vista of forest trees on each side ; and it is
quite remarkable, that the dome of the City Hall in Norfolk
stands precisely in the centre of the vanishing point of vision,
and continues in full view for four miles, when the projection
of the trees gradually shut it in. The City Hall was located
without a thought of its relation to the railroad ; and its position
presenting it as a prominent land-mark and object of vision
through a Vista of many miles of the latter, is really a curious
coincidence." May 30, Thursday. On the evening of this day, the Freemason
Street Baptist Church was dedicated. An able sermon was
preached by Rev. Dr. Fuller, an eminent divine of Baltimore.
This is one of the handsomest, and is unquestionably the most
ornamental building in the city. It is, indeed, a noble temple of
worship, — a splendid monument of human art, and of the taste
and liberality of those who have been instrumental in its erection,
on so favourable and well-chosen a spot, — the northeast corner
of Catharine and Freemason Streets. It is truly an ornament
to the city, and would be to any in the Union. It is justly prized
and admired by all. That tall spire, shooting up towards heaven,
far above all surrounding objects, and observed for miles around,
standing forth in its symmetrical beauty — who does not admire
it ? May it remain there, in its pride, for ages, witnessing the
rise of other "tall piles," and the extension of this old town for
miles to the north, to the east, and to the west.
"The style of architecture is the florid perpendicular Gothic
of the fifteenth century, which, from its beauty of outline, the
variety and boldness of its parts, is one well adapted and most
appropriate for religious purposes. The design was furnished
by the well-known architect, Thomas U. Walter, of Philadel-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 257
phia. The building, measuring from buttress to buttress, fronts
sixty-five feet on Freemason Street, and its length on Catharine
Street, including the tower, is one hundred and five feet. The
buttresses have a massive appearance, indicative of strength and
stability. The tower is one of the best proportioned and pic
turesque we have ever seen of this style, and we have examined
most of the old Gothic edifices in the north of England and south
of Scotland. It combines, in a high degree, strength and
beauty — is both massive and graceful. Its height from the street
is two hundred feet.
" The basement comprises a handsome lecture-room, fifty-two
feet square ; well supplied with commodious seats, and lighted
with gas. In its rear are two spacious rooms, one of them fur
nished with every convenience for the pastor's use as a library
and study room. The other is designed as a committee-room.
"The entrance into the main body of the church is made
through a large vestibule, to which we ascend by a series of Con
necticut stone steps. On either side of the vestibule are Tudor
doorways communicating with the side aisles, and a still larger
one of the same order leading to the centre one ; on entering
which, the eye is arrested by a beautiful prospect painted on the
chancel wall, in the rear of the pulpit, forming a recess. ' The
groined arches, clustered pillars, tessellated pavement, present
the appearance of reality,' and make the recess seem to be much
larger than it actually is, until a nearer approach dispels the
illusion. The chancel is elevated from three to four feet above
the floor, and the front is chastely ornamented with open-worked
panels. The baptistery is placed in the centre of the chancel,
and on either side of the chancel is a dressing-room. On the
main floor are one hundred and twenty-four handsome pews,
cushioned, and each capable of seating from flve to six persons.
The galleries contain about forty pews of different sizes. The
fronts are ornamented with open-worked figures in the lancet
form, each separated from the other by a pinnacle shaft. The
front gallery is furnished with a fine-toned organ, from the ma
nufactory of Mr. George Jardine, of New York. The edifice is
also adorned with well-executed coloured windows.
" On the whole, this may be justly deemed the finest and most
17

258 HISTORICAL AND
striking Baptist edifice in the State — a credit to the denomina
tion and to the enterprising society to whom it owes its erection.
Their buUding cost, at least, $35,000."
Rev. Tiberius G. Jones, an eloquent and devoted minister, an
able writer, and an accomplished scholar, is pastor in charge of
this beautiful church.
June. The councils directed the enlargement of Ashland
HaU, for the accommodation of public meetings. For some
reason, it was not completed till October, 1852. It is now a
large and airy building, with two spacious rooms — ^the lower one
being the hall proper, for public assemblages, and the upper
being the head-quarters of the Norfolk Junior Volunteers. The
location is on Talbot Street, near the City Hall.
During this month, and a portion of July, there was very little
rain, and the weather was exceedingly warm, the mercury in the
thermometer often as high as 96°. So oppressive and protracted
a drought had not been experienced, perhaps, since 1785. Vege
tation suffered much, the cisterns were empty, and the demand
for water was great.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
1850.
Steam-Packet Communication — Foreign Trade — Convention at Old Point-
Sad Intelligence — Death of the President of the United States — Funeral Ob
sequies — Oppressive Weather — Tornado — Hon. Henry A. Wise — Internal
Improvements — Canal from Norfolk to Albemarle Sound — Surveys — Mrs.
Mary B. Johnston — Survey of the Harbour — Stone Wall — ^New Custom
House — Powder Magazine — Church Street Paved — Its Former Condition —
Advance in the Price of Property — Dry Weather — Doctor Mallory appointed
Navy Agent — His Qualifications — George Loyall, Esq. — Colonel Garnett ap
pointed Collector of the Port — Conway Whittle, Esq. — Seaboard and Roanoke
Railroad — Extension to Suffolk — Its Completion to Weldon.
July 1st. A meeting of the citizens was held at the City
Hall, for the purpose of appointing delegates to co-operate with

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 259
those of Richmond, Baltimore, &c., who were to meet in conven
tion at Old Point, on the 4th, to consider the plan of establishing
a steam-packet communication with Europe.
Eloquent addresses were delivered, appropriate and spirited
resolutions were passed, and fifty delegates were appointed.
The convention of delegates assembled, according to appoint
ment, in the spacious ball-room of Old Point Hotel (which was
tendered by John S. French, Esq.), at 5| o'clock, and the sub
jects of Direct Trade, and a Steam N^-vigation Company, were
duly considered. H. L. Kent, Esq., of Richmond, presided.
Able addresses were delivered by Hon. John Y. Mason and
Robert G. Scott, Esq., of Richmond, and George Blow, Esq., of
Norfolk. July 10th. The sad intelligence was received of the death of
General Z. Taylor, President of the United States. The flags
were half-masted, and the bells were rung; and on Saturday, the
13th, business was suspended from twelve till two o'clock, the
bells tolled, and a feeling of deep solemnity seemed to rest upon
the public mind in consequence of the death of the hero.
July 17tli. Stormy ; wind east ; increasing to a gale by mid
night, and continuing with great violence till eight o'clock on the
18th ; prostrating a number of trees and fences, and unrooflng
some houses. The wind changed to the south in the evening,
and to southwest at an early hour on the 19th, when, to use the
language of an extravagant modern writer, " the orient beams of
expanded morning burst asunder the fettering ties of the sombre
shroud, which had trammelled the earth in its darkening folds."
In Portsmouth on the 25th, and in Norfolk on the 26th, there
were suitable and impressive funeral obsequies, in honour of
the successful and illustrious conqueror, who had been suddenly
called away from the performance of the duties of the most
exalted station that earth affords. In each town, a long proces
sion, comprising the soldiery and very many of the citizens,
marched through the principal streets, and an eloquent oration
was delivered in Portsmouth by Captain S. Watts, and in Norfolk
by T. C. Tabb, Esq.
On the 30th, the range of the mercury in the thermometers

260 HISTORICAL AND
was ninety-six to ninety-seven, and on the following day it stood
at ninety-four degrees.
August 23d. A tornado of surpassing violence passed through
the southern part of Princess Anne and Norfolk Counties, and
several others west of those, leaving destruction and ruin in its
track. Stout oaks and slender saplings were alike torn up by
the roots, or snapped off at the trunk ; the fences were scattered
like the leaves of the trees ; the corn was levelled, and the fodder
separated into narrow, worthless shreds ; houses were lifted from
their foundations, and the timbers scattered in broken fragments,
by the force of the wind. Horses, cattle, hogs, poultry, &c.,
Avere driven furiously along ; and several persons lost their lives.
As an evidence of the extraordinary power of the wind, a plough,
standing in a field, was taken up and carried by the wind to the
distance of two hundred yards. Those who were within the
track of the hurricane, — which was only two or three hundred
yards widej — represent the occasion as one weU calculated to
appal the stoutest heart ; for the crashing noise made by the
falling of houses, timbers, trees, and fences, was completely swal
lowed up and lost in the tremendous and furious sound of the
wind, which was heard for miles, like the rumbling of the distant
cataract ; then increasing to an overwhelming continuous roar,
like the breaking of the swollen surges of the great deep against
the rocks, or the deafening thunders of Niagara.
On the evening of September 26, Hon. Henry A. Wise, of Ac
eomac County, of whom the reader will find some personal remarks
on other pages, delivered, in Mechanics' Hall, a very able and
eloquent address on the subject of connecting Norfolk and Ports
mouth with the interior, by means of railroads and canals. He
alluded, in very appropriate terms, to great works of internal
improvement now in progress, and in contemplation. He spoke
with startling eloquence, and most convincing power of argument,
of the reason that Norfolk is not already a great city, and of the
means by which she may become a great southern emporium.
The propriety and necessity of the contemplated canal from the
southern or eastern branch of Elizabeth River to the waters of
North Carolina, and other important improvements, were urged
with great energy and clearness.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 261
" One line of communication alluded to, was to commence at the
head of the east fork of the south branch of Elizabeth River, a few
miles above Great Bridge, from which point a canal, six mUes in
length, is required to connect with North River, in Virginia, which
empties into Currituck Sound, and a canal, only three or three
and a half miles in length, will continue the navigation from the
lower end of Currituck Sound to North River, in North Carolina,
which empties into Albemarle Sound a few miles below. The
river and sound navigation, all the way from Norfolk to Albe
marle Sound, is never less than six feet in depth ; and if the
canalling is made sixty feet wide, as is contemplated, the whole
route will be the same as river navigation, with the exception of
one lock only in the Great Bridge Canal."
The following is an extract of a letter from G. P. Worcester,
of New York, who surveyed the route of the proposed improvement.
" By a reference to the maps of my survey, it will be seen
that the line of water communication commences at the harbour
of Norfolk, and continues up the Elizabeth River to Great
Bridge, crosses the swamp by means of canal into North River,
continues down the North River into Currituck Sound, through
the Sound into a small bay, and crosses a belt of highland
by means of a canal, into Doctor's Creek, opening thereby an
easy and useful navigation with Albemarle Sound, and its tribu
tary streams. And, it is to be presumed, that after this line of
water communication shall be completed, and a line of steam
tow-boats in readiness, that boats, carrying the produce from
the interior, and the coast of North Carolina, would daily tra
verse the entire distance from Albemarle Sound to the harbour
of Norfolk, with a saving of labour and expense, and without
any direct rivalry. And if any conclusion can be drawn from
the amount of transportation which must necessarily follow, it
must be admitted that this canal, when completed, will not only
sustain itself, but make a handsome return for the capital ex
pended in its construction, besides enriching the counties through
which it passes, by the reduced cost of transportation which it
will effect, compared with any facilities now in existence for that
object. From the foregoing data as a basis, I think a canal of

262 HISTORICAL AND
fifty feet surface and seven feet depth, with the improvements
of the navigation, may be estimated for the foUowing sum."
The estimate specifies the several amounts necessary for
dredging, excavating, bridges, locks, &c., all of which amount
only to the comparatively small sum of $131,386.
A survey was made by Colonel Crozet, in 1840, of a canal
route from Whitehurst's Landing, on- the Eastern Branch near
Kempsville, to the head of North River. The detailed estimate
of the work of cutting the canal amounted, in the aggregate, to
$380,000, including excavation, dredging, bridges, superinten
dence, &c., kc The following is an extract of Colonel C.'s
report : —
" The appearance of the country is very deceiving. It was
supposed to be much lower, and the work expected to be much
less, than an actual measurement has disclosed. I fear that the
estimate here exhibited will disappoint the expectations of some
of the friends of the scheme ; but it is certainly preferable that
they should have a full view of the difficulty before them, than
to be taken unawares after having embarked in the enterprise.
The difference of the tide in North River and Elizabeth River,
the tide in the latter being that of the ocean, and the «ther re
gulated by the winds only, will be so small as to produce but an
ordinary current on either direction, and, consequently, no locks
will be required at the ends of the canal. But a bar may be
expected to be formed at the opening into each river, by the os
cillations of the waters lifting up the sand into the canal; this is
an unavoidable evil in all such canals, and occasional dredging
must be expected.
"As regards the object of the canal, it would take a great
deal of timber to market to Norfolk, from the extensive swamps
of Currituck, Back Bay, and in North Carolina, as well as the
common produce of the country, the cultivation of which it would
promote and secure. Steamboats, and other crafts, would pass
this short route to Currituck, Albemarle, and Pamlico Sound;
and this would greatly benefit the commerce of the lower part
of North Carolina, bordering on the Sound, and produce to that
section of country, a short, safe, and easier way to market than
by any other route, and particularly that by Ocracoke Inlet, the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 263
only opening now remaining between Pamlico Sound and the
Atlantic, and which is not likely to have the fate of the former
Currituck Inlet — a probability which favours the project under
consideration. It will then be readily seen, that a very exten
sive country is included in this scheme ; but as regards the exact
revenue and benefits to. be derived from it, I do not think that
any person is now qualified to make a statement to be relied
upon. "The extent of the subscription, by the persons immediately
interested, will be, I conceive, the surest and most decisive cri
terion to judge by."
September 27. Departed this life at Lebanon, on Tanner's
Creek, the seat of her late husband, Mrs. Mary B. Johnston, aged
eighty-six, a native of Philadelphia. She had been a member of
the Methodist Church for sixty years, and died in great peace.
Her father fell in one of the battles of the Revolution ; after
which she visited Norfolk ; but the only indications of a town
to be seen, were immense heaps of ruins, and three new build
ings. She came to attend to some business connected with a
claim upon the Government, growing out of her father's services,
and meeting with Captain John Johnston, formerly well known
in Norfolk, they were shortly after married. She witnessed the
rise and progress of the town, from its ruins to its present limits
and prosperous condition. She was one of the first resident
Methodists in this section of the country, having had a distinct
recollection of Bishop Asbury, and the first preachers who visited
Virginia. A long and capacious room, in which her aged and
coffined remains were placed for the performance of the funeral
solemnities, was built with a view to the accommodation of the
small flock that gathered there in the early days of Methodism ;
which has since increased from scores to hundreds and thousands.
VerUy, great works have been wrought, both temporally and
spiritually, within the limits of one eventful lifetime.
October 1. The CouncUs passed a resolution, requiring the
appointment of a joint committee to inquire into the propriety of
a survey of the harbour, with reference to an application to Con
gress for the purpose of running a stone wall from Town Point
to Fort Norfolk. This was in contemplation many years ago.

264 HISTORICAL AND
Should the work ultimately be accomplished, it will prove a great
and striking, though costly improvement to the harbour and to
the city.
The General Appropriation Bill passed at the recent session
of Congress, very properly made provision for fifty thousand
dollars for a new custom-house at Norfolk, — a building greatly
needed here, in consequence of the dilapidated condition of the
old one, and the anticipated increase in the commerce of the port.
In 1852, the appropriation was increased to $100,000. The
site chosen for the building is on the south side of Main, nearly
opposite Granby Street.
"The design is by A. B. Young, Esq., Government Architect.
The building will front on Main, running back one hundred and
thirty-five feet to Broad Water Street, and will be three stories
high. The front basement is to be used for a post-office, the
entrance to which will be on each side of the main entrance to
the first story, which, together with the rest of the building, will
be used for a custom-house. A porch extending the whole width
of the buUding and supported by six columns will ornament the
front, in the centre of which the main entrance will be. On
each side of this entrance, there will be an entrance to the post-
office. The structure is to be of granite and is to be finished in
a plain and substantial manner, but when completed according
to the plan will be one of the most imposing and showy buildings
in the city."
An extensive powder magazine is also to be erected by the
U. S. Government, at the site of old Fort Norfolk.
October 9th. On this day the centre stone-laying and curbing
of Church Street, north of Town Bridge was completed by Mr.
R. Dalrymple the contractor — distance, 1166f yards. The
improvement was exceedingly necessary and important. This is
the principal thoroughfare out of the city to Princess Anne,
and a portion of Norfolk County, and yet in wet weather the
traveling had been through mud, mire, and water, and in dry
seasons, through the dust, which rose in clouds, and was scat
tered by the winds, to the great annoyance of both travellers
and residents. It is now a long and handsome though crooked
street, and "affords a wide field for the spirit of progress to

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 265
pursue the onward work of improvement in. ' To it, then,
my masters 1' and let us see in the next ten years, the whole
of the newly paved division of the street buUt up with handsome
houses, and another application to the City Councils for autho
rity to pave the extended part of Church Street (or Centre Street
at it should then be called), from its present terminus to Lind
say's Gardens.
" The appreciation of lots on Upper Church Street goes ahead
of everything we have heard of. We might safely say that it
averages one hundred per cent. ; for in not a few instances, to
our knowledge, it exceeds that rate. And yet this is not the
result of a spirit of speculation ; for those who offer to buy do so
with a view to buUd."
The months of September and October were exceedingly dry
for the season. To this date (15th October), there had been no
rain for four or five weeks.
November 1. Dr. Francis Mallory, of Elizabeth City County,
formerly member of Congress, entered this day upon his duties
as Navy Agent at this station, to which he was appointed as
successor to George Loyall, Esq. This new appointment ap
peared to give very general satisfaction, inasmuch as the Doctor
is not only well qualified for the discharge of the responsible
duties of the office ; but he is also a gentleman of great
urbanity of manners, whose private character is marked by a
happy combination of agreeable social and moral qualities.
He is, moreover, an able and zealous advocate of some of those
measures which are believed to be well calculated to advance the
prosperity of the city.
An intelligent writer thus appropriately alludes to the appoint
ment :
" I am pleased that the office has been bestowed upon the
Doctor, than whom Virginia does not possess a purer and more
courteous gentleman. Besides, his qualifications for its duties
must be of a high order, from his practical knowledge of the
Navy, and the interest he evinced in its extension and usefulness
while a member of Congress. When removals are made, the
intelligent friends of the removed cannot otherwise than feel
gratified when the mantle falls on those equally deserving and

266 HISTORICAL AND
patriotic — and not on the shoulders of professional office-seekers,
and impertinent demagogues."
Mr. Loyall had held the office for thirteen years, during which
time he disbursed more than $14,000,000 of the public money
without the loss of a cent to the treasury.*
Colonel Wm. Garnett was, during the past year, appointed
Collector of this Port, in place of Conway Whittle, Esq. Mr.
W. had been in office for a number of years, and was also a most
correct and faithful public officer. The present esteemed incum
bent, is considered well fitted for the discharge of the responsible
duties of the office.
Saturday, Nov. 9th. On this day the Seaboard and Roanoke
Railroad (which takes the course of the old Portsmouth and
Roanoke road) was completed to Suffolk ; and, by invitation of
the obliging President of the Company, some five or six hundred
of the citizens of Norfolk and Portsmouth made a trip in the
cars to the above-named pleasant little town. The track is laid
with the best imported T iron, and the road, thus far, is said by
those well entitled to an opinion, to be one of the most level and
best constructed in the country. This important work was com
pleted, in 1851, to the rich and fertile valley of the Roanoke.
* Mr. Loyall is a gentleman of no ordinary talents. The following remarks
respecting his style as an orator, are from the pen of one who had listened to a
political speech which he delivered more than twenty years ago.
* * * " His manner was pleasing and impressive ; and his action evidently
reflected that polish which true oratorical taste and long experience only can
impart. His voice is full and its tones are remarkably distinct.
-*****
" He advances openly and honestly in the demonstration of his subject. The
main obj ect of the investigation is perpetually exhibited to the eye of the un
derstanding, aud the hearer follows the orator in the clear and luminous track
of his argument, without being confounded by subtile wanderings, or bewil
dered by needless intricacies. His course is onward ; he is seldom fascinated
by the golden glitter of an ornament, or beguiled by the fading beauty of a
flower ; his occasional illustrations do not appear to have been previously culled
and collected, and are almost as well adapted for one subject as another; but
they spring directly from the one under consideration. Hence, he invariably
leaves a distinct and lasting impression on the mind of the hearer."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 267

CHAPTER XXXV.
1850.
New Methodist Episcopal Church — Description of the Building — Workmen —
Pew System^Seating of a Congregation — Pews and Free Seats — Dedication
— Rev. J. E. Edwards — Membership — Dr. Doggett — Quarterly Review — La-
beUing the Streets and Houses — Census.
In November, another house of worship was completed in the
city, — the new Methodist Church, situated at the northeast cor
ner of Granby and Freemason Streets, fronting on the latter.
It is a very neat structure, of the Ionic order, fifty-five by
seventy-five feet, covering an area of four thousand one hundred
and twenty-five square feet, and measuring forty-five feet from
the ground to the apex of the roof, and thence to the top of the
cupola, sixty-six feet, making the entire height one hundred and
eleven feet. The front is ornamented by a beautiful and hand
somely finished portico, with four large fluted pillars. The ex
ternal appearance of the church is singular and striking, although
improvements could be made in the plan of this as well as other
public buildings in the city. There is considerable raised and
indented square work on the outside of the walls, which are well
stuccoed, showing several different colours. The entrance is by
two ascents of granite steps, which rise to a platform paved with
hexagonal bricks.
The seats, which are in strict accordance with the "pew sys
tem," as it is generally called, have the appearance of rows of
mahogany sofas ; being beautifully flnished, and cushioned with
fine black hair-cloth. They form a curve, from wall to wall, of
an eighth of a circle. Two massive fluted columns rise from the
floor of the pulpit, which is in a recess built in the rear. The
pulpit-desk is a neat piece of joinery ; and the railing of the
altar being handsome figured work, assists in giving beauty and
appropriateness to the whole interior. On the first or basement

268 HISTORICAL AND
floor, is a commodious Sabbath school-room, besides four class
rooms, a passage, and a stairway.
Architect, J. J. Husband ; Chief Carpenter, William Callis ;
Bricklayer, H. E. Herbert ; Painter, B. W. Gatch ; Stone
mason, R. Dalrymple ; Plasterers, Hall and Brooks.
Without intending our remarks to apply particularly to this
edifice, we will observe, that although the pew-seat system has
among its advocates some of the most worthy friends and pious
members of the M. E. Church in Norfolk, it does not generally
meet with the approval of the Methodists here ; being considered
by some as an innovation of doubtful utility, if not an unwise
departure from an established custom. But the objections to
appropriated seats, although their introduction appears contrary
to the economy of Methodism, as set forth in the Discipline, as
well as to the advice of its sage founder, are surmountable here,
as well as in England, and in different parts of this country.
The seating of a worshipping congregation is regarded by
many persons, even among those connected with the Methodist
denomination, as a matter which may, with considerable pro
priety, be left to the choice of those who are most interested.
There should certainly be large and commodious churches in
every city, where all may enter and worship, the stranger as
well as the citizen, of every grade, in one common, indiscrimi
nate mass ; and it will be conceded, perhaps, by all, that the
free-seat system has long supplied this want. Yet it appears
equally essential that there should be provision made for those
who, being permanent residents, and settled in their religious
views and feelings, desire particular seats, which they can claim
as their own property, for the especial accommodation of them
selves, their families, and friends ; to which they can go without
the embarrassment that often attends the search for a seat in a
free church, especially when a strange and "popular" preacher
officiates ; or on a bright and pleasant Sabbath morning ; where
they may quietly sit, and in which they may be free from the
annoyance during service of crowding, whispering, the fumes,
stains, and odious sight of tobacco juice, and from a super
abundance of carbonic acid gas ; and free from the trouble, after
dismission, of a search (sometimes fruitless) for the scattered

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 269
members of the household, or for the man with the wrong cloak,
hat, cane, or umbrella.
But even these difficulties and inconveniences might be pre
vented, it is thought, at least in a great measure, by abolishing
the unnecessary and unreasonable custom of seating the males
and females separately ; and there are many who are o'pposed to
renting and selling pews, who would not object to the appropria
tion of particular seats for the accommodation of such families
as prefer to sit and worship together. This method is adopted
in some places, and works well.
We allude to this question merely as a legitimate subject of
local history, and yet without intending our remarks to apply
particularly to this city ; for it is well enough known that pews
have been introduced by the Methodists in their churches in
many other places. We will add, that the wisest policy of all
religious associations is to carry out those principles in their
government which effect the greatest good to the greatest num
ber ; which afford Gospel privileges to all classes ; which extend
the genial influences of the Christian religion alike to the rich
and the poor, the high and the low.
We may state, in this connexion, that among the churches in
this city that are furnished with pews, or appropriated seats,
there are two, in which, although there are some vacant seats,
there is seldom a pew for sale or rent. At the present date —
December, 1852 — all are taken, all appropriated.
It seems necessary that, in every house of worship, at least a
small portion of the seats should be free, and their location well
designated, even by the words " Free Seats," over the doorway
leading thereto. A plan of this kind appears requisite, in view
of the accommodation of strangers and others, who may not
be able to rent or buy permanent seats. Nor can this plan
always be superseded by the attention of the doorkeeper (if
there be one) or the sparseness of the congregation. The free-
ness of the Gospel, the sensitiveness of some persons, the general
interests of the Church, and its great and benevolent mission in
behalf of immortal souls, may all be mentioned in support of
such an arrangement.
The edifice to which we have alluded above was dedicated on

270 HISTORICAL AND
Sabbath morning, December 8th, of this year. An appropriate
discourse was delivered on the occasion by Rev. John E. Edwards,
the appointed minister for the first two years after its completion,
and who was much esteemed by the members of his charge, as a
fluent and attractive preacher. During his pastoral charge of
the Cumberland Street station for two years preceding the erec
tion of the second church, more than three hundred additional
members were received.
A portion of the pews of the " Granby Street Church" were
rented December 12th, at which time the membership numbered
more than a hundred ; to which there has since been a conside
rable addition.
Rev. David S. Doggett, D.D., an able divine, distinguished
for his talents as a preacher, as well as for his superior literary
attainments, was appointed to this station for the Conference
year, beginning November 1st, 1852. Dr. D. served the church
here in 1836-'37. He is 'now editor of the Quarterly Review
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which he conducts
with acknowledged ability, and which has greatly increased in
popularity, circulation, and usefulness, since his appointment by
the General Conference to so important and responsible an office.
During the summer of this year, by direction of the Councils,
signs of cast-iron, with the names of the streets, were put up at
the corners and intersections, shortly after which, the houses
were all numbered.
The following table shows the aggregates of the three classes
of population in the City, according to the census of this year,
as taken by Deputy Marshall Wing, to which are annexed the
aggregate of the same classes according to the census of 1840 :

Whites, .
Free Coloured,
Slaves,

1850.
9,068 957
4,295

Dec.

1840.
6,185
1,026 3,709

Increase. 2,883 586

1840,

14,320 10,920

10,920
of free coloured.

3,469 69

Increase in 10 years.

3,400

3,400

The above figures exhibit the remarkable result, that whUe

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 271
our white population has increased in the last ten years at the
rate of 46|- per cent., the slave population has only increased
in the ratio of lof per cent. ; and there has actually been a de
crease of 6f per cent, in the free coloured population. The
aggregate increase of the city population within the ten years,
is 31^ per cent.
The census-taker for Norfolk, in 1840, included the officers
and seamen on board the Pennsylvania, and other U. S. vessels
in port ; but in taking the last census, the Deputy Marshal was
instructed to pursue a different course ; and therefore the actual
increase in ten years, of the population, was nearly one thousand
more than it appears to have been, according to the above state
ment.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
1851.
The Daily News — The Weather — ^Deaths — Caleb Bonsai, Esq. — Commodore
Barron — The Chesapeake Affair — Decatur — Correspondence — Commodore
Bainbridge — Capt. ElUot — The Duel — Barron severely Wounded — Decatur
KiUed — Commodore B.'s Social and Ofiicial Character — Death of a Venerable
Lady — Simon S. Stubs, Esq., elected Mayor — Description of his Honour — Visit
of President Fillmore — Gale — The Norfolk Directory aud Statistical Register
— Its Kind Reception — ^Acknowledgments — Encouragements — Its UtiUty —
Opinions Respecting Norfolk — Erroneous Impressions Corrected — Notice of
the Work — Death of an Old Citizen — Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad —
Severely Cold Weather — Fire-wood — Skating — Mineral Springs.
January 1st, 1851. On this day was issued the first regular
number of " The Daily News," T. F. Boothby & C. H. Beale,
editors and proprietors. Terms, daily paper, $5 per annum, or
10 cents a week, payable to the carrier. Country or Tri-weekly,
$3 per annum, payable in advance.
The character of its editorials, and the judgment manifested
in its selections, as well as its typographical execution, give good
evidence of the suitableness of its conductors to the important

272 HISTORICAL AND
duties which their responsible station enjoins upon them. The
"News" is considered a valuable addition to the list of dailies in
the city.
"We desire," said the editors, in their first number, "to issue
a truly independent paper, and this desire will be sedulously
kept in view ; unbiassed by favour or affection, undisturbed by
party prejudice, we wish to observe calmly the busy scenes and
fierce turmoils of partisan warfare; and, if possible, by a word
fitly spoken to soften the bitterness hitherto existing between
the opposing ranks. At this era in the history of our country,
momentous and big with important results, especially do we
deem this course demanded by every sentiment of patriotism,
by every obligation of duty."
Since October, 1851, this paper has advocated with much
ability the measures and doctrines of the Democratic party.
The weather, during the month of January was unusually
mild and pleasant for the season, until Wednesday, 29th, when
the wind shifted to northwest, causing a very great and sudden
change in the. temperature, which increased until Sunday morn
ing, following. The weather for three days was exceedingly
cold. Ridley's Pond, at the Springfield farm, was frozen suffi
ciently hard to afford good skating, and the coves of the river
were also frozen over.
April 21st. Departed this life, on this day, two of the oldest
and most respected citizens of Norfolk, Commodore James Bar
ron, aged eighty-three, and Caleb Bonsai, Esq., bookseller, aged
seventy-six. Commodore Barron was buried on the morning of the 23d, with
distinguished military, naval, and civic honours, and Mr. Bonsai
in the afternoon of the same day, with the marked evidences
of respect, so justly due from those in whose midst he had lived,
and whose esteem and affection he had enjoyed for so many years.
Mr. B. was a native of the city of Wilmington, Delaware,
and became a resident of Norfolk (pursuing the business of a
bookseller and stationer) nearly fifty years ago. Possessing not
only the requisite qualifications for business, but, in a high de
gree, those embellishments of mind and manners which are alone
attainable by intellectual culture and refined associations, his

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 278
career to wealth and eminence was onward and rapid. Other
ties than those of business in due time bound his destiny to the
community in which he had cast his lot ; and in the relations of
domestic life he was distinguished by the most exemplary quali
ties of husband and father. In subsequent years, he filled many
places of public trust, and amply justified the confidence of his
fellow-citizens by his fidelity to their interest. In all his trans
actions he was liberal and just; in his conversation he was
characteristically sprightly and amusing, — often entertaining and
instructive ; and all his impulses and instincts were in beautiful
harmony with a kind and benevolent nature."
" James Barron, the younger,* was too young to take part in
the revolutionary struggle. He did not enter the service until
1798 ; but by close attention to his duties, and a careful study
of his profession, it was not many years before he reached the
rank of Captain. In 1807, he commanded the ill-fated Chesa
peake. Every school-boy is familiar with the circumstances of
her encounter with a British ship of the line, before whose su
perior metal she was compelled to strike her colours. It is well
known that Captain Barron's surrender, after a brief contest,
inflicted a severe blow upon our national pride, and under the
smarting sense of what was regarded as a disgrace, his character
was assailed with accusations, which, of all others, are most de
grading to an officer in the navy. The public, ever prone to
condemn unjustly, attributed his conduct on that occasion to
cowardice ; and a court-martial, influenced undoubtedly by the
prevailing prejudice, suspended him from his rank for a consider
able length of time. For this reason, he had no opportunity,
during the late war, of erasing, by gallant deeds, this reproach
from his name. All are familiar with the causes which led to
the duel, in 1820, between him and the gallant Decatur, which
terminated so fatally for the latter. We believe it is a well-au
thenticated fact, that on his deathbed, Decatur recanted all
imputations upon Commodore Barron's courage, and acknow
ledged that he had taken up a wrong impression with regard to
* He was a midshipman and aid to his father, who was Commodore of the
Virginia State Navy of the war of the Revolution. 18

274 HISTORICAL AND
his conduct in the affair of the Chesapeake. Certain it is, that
an impartial posterity has since done him justice. He has gone
down to his grave, leaving behind him an irreproachable name,
and the esteem and respect of a wide circle of friends."
The following particulars of the duel may not be inappropri
ately inserted here.
" On the 12th of June, 1819, Barron commenced the corre
spondence with Decatur, by addressing him as follows :
" ' I have been informed in Norfolk, that you have said you
could insult me with impunity, or words to that effect. If you
have said so, you will no doubt avow it ; and I shall expect to
hear from you.,'
" Decatur replied, on the 17th of the same month, disavowing
the offensive expression attributed to him. Two other letters
followed, explanatory of the first ; the correspondence ended for
the time, and Decatur considered it at an end. Nearly four
months afterwards, on the 23d of October, Barron again wrote
Decatur, complaining of his attempts to injure him with his
friends, and considering him as having expressed a willingness to
meet him in the field, which he regarded as an invitation to fight,
he informed him that he accepted it. Decatur replied in an
elaborate and insulting letter; but disclaiming all personal
enmity. Finally, after some further correspondence, Decatur
left the sole adjustment of the terms of meeting with his friend.
Commodore Bainbridge. On the 8th of March, 1820, Commo
dore Bainbridge was visited on board the Columbus, seventy-four
(then lying in the Potomac, preparing for sea), by Captain Elliot,
as the friend of Commodore Barron, for the purpose of making
final arrangements for the meeting.
" The duel took place at Bladensburg, near Washington City,
on the 22d of March, 1820, and was fought with pistols, at the
distance of eight paces, or yards, the shortest that is customary.
This was done by the seconds to accommodate Commodore Bar
ron, whose vision was defective. On taking their stands. Com
modore Bainbridge informed them that he would give the word
quickly, — ' Present ! one, two, three ;' and they were not to fire
before the word ' one,' nor after the word ' three.' Commodore
Barron observed to Commodore Decatur, 'that he hoped, on

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 275
meeting in another world, they would be better friends than they
had been in this.' Commodore Decatur replied : ' I have never
been your enemy, sir.' No proposal for reconciliation was sug
gested. The concerted words were, pronounced by Commodore
Bainbridge. At the word 'two,' both fired so exactly together
that only one report was heard. Commodore Barron fell,
wounded in the right hip, according to the announced intention
of Decatur, who declared that he would hit Barron in that part
of his body. Decatur stood for a moment erect, but was observed
to press his hand on his right side. He then fell, the ball having
passed through the abdomen. He remarked : ' I am mortally
wounded, — at least, I believe so ; and I wish that I had fallen in
defence of my country.' He was raised, and supported a short
distance, where he sank down exhausted, near to where Commo
dore Barron lay. The latter ' declared that everything had been
conducted in the most honourable manner ;' and told Commodore
Decatur ' that he forgave him from the bottom of his heart.'
" Commodore Decatur was borne from the field to the home of
his afflicted family, in the carriage which had conveyed him to
the ground. He lingered in great agony until half-past ten the
same night, when he ceased to breathe.
" Commodore Barron slowly recovered from the effects of his
wound, and was soon afterwards placed by the Navy Department
on shore service.
" In social life, as in his official station. Commodore Barron
was governed by a high sense of honour, and bore himself with a
dignity, courtesy, and affability, which gave a charm to his
society. And although of a temperament not to brook the
slightest indignity, there was in his nature all the milk of human
kindness and benevolence, and the promptings of ardent friend
ships and enduring attachments, which, when once formed, were
held sacred to his latest hour.
" In his family circle he was cherished with unspeakable fond
ness and affection ; and this whole community, in which he was
for so large a portion of his life beloved and esteemed, will ever
honour and revere his memory."
AprU 24th. Died, this day, Mrs. Sarah Ingram, aged about
ninety-two.

276 HISTORICAL AND
" This venerable lady was descended from the family of Cal-
verts, who were among the early settlers of Norfolk. Her father
moving to Philadelphia, married there, and there she was born,
on the 22d of August, 1760. In 1773, he returned to Norfolk,
and the subject of this notice, a few years after, married Colonel
Thorogood, of Princess Anne County.
"The Revolution had then commenced, and the British were
overrunning this section of the State. Her husband being ac
tively engaged in the cause of liberty, she was left to provide as
she could for her own safety ; and she chose to stand her ground
at home, her residence then being near the site of the old Plea
sure House, at the 'Bay side.' As might be expected, she was
not overlooked by the vigUant enemy, who made her house their
head-quarters, much to her annoyance, though it gave her no
alarm ; for she was a sturdy Whig, and resolute in her adherence
to her country's cause. Being importuned by the officer in com
mand to write to her husband to take a parole of honour ' not to
molest the British troops, on condition that he might go at large
unmolested by them,' her reply was worthy of a heroine of the
Revolution: ^ I would rather see him dead.' Her firmness and
decision of character were suited to the times ; but the milder
virtues of her sex shone conspicuous, and adorned the society in
which she moved. Kind and affectionate in her family circle, she
was not less devoted to the duties of charity and benevolence,
and her greatest pleasure was in doing good by conferring bene
fits on the poor and needy."
June 24th. On this day, Simon S. Stubbs, Esq., attorney-at-
law, — a graduate of old William and Mary College, and formerly
member of the General Assembly from this city, — was elected
Mayor. Of course, Mr. Stubbs is not universally popular as an officer.
His Honour does not give entire satisfaction to all. This should
never be expected from any person holding such a station. As
to the discharge of his duties in his official capacity, it has been
said that he is too lenient with the accused and convicted, and in
some of his decisions in the Mayor's Court, to incline sometimes
to the side of mercy, when the demands of justice are thereby
improperly withheld. And yet, in such cases, when the trouble

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 277
has been taken by impartial persons to ascertain the particulars,
his course has been fully justified.
Self-interest, passion, and prejudice, often blind the mental
eye, even of the intelligent, when engaged in litigation or legal
difficulties before a municipal officer ; and then, a nice and just
discrimination cannot be made by them between truth and error,
or between innocence and guilt ; and justice may seem to be
wronged by withholding the severest penalties of the law in
its strictest construction. Intelligence, thus blindfolded, leads
and influences the ignorant, the thoughtless, and the loqua
cious. Then, the complaint, if not the outcry, is heard against
the decisions of the calm, dispassionate, and impartial officer,
whose responsible duty it is to sit in judgment upon the conduct
of his fellows. Besides, it is a humiliating fact, by no means
creditable to human nature, that some persons delight in the
punishment of others, and even manifest disappointment if the
extreme penalty of the law be not inflicted upon the unfortunate
and the guilty. To such persons Mercy ever pleads her cause
in vain.
These remarks apply, in some measure, to the administration
of the present incumbent of the Mayoralty in Norfolk. His
policy is not at all tyrannical. He does not inflict severe punish
ment when he believes a milder course wUl have the desired effect
upon the accused ; when this can be lawfully and safely adopted,
and that, legally dispensed with. And, of course, he sometimes
errs in judgment, as all others do. Competent as he is allowed
to be as a judge of the law, and firm as he has often proved him
self to be when he has formed an opinion which he believes to be
correct, still, he is probably in a situation that is uncongenial to
his feelings and the general turn of his mind. Ever ready to
sympathize with the unfortunate, retiring, unobtrusive as he is
in his manners, and feelings, too, we should think he would pro
bably prefer to withdraw from the scenes of contention, crime,
wretchedness, and human frailty, with which he is frequently
and of necessity brought in contact, and with which it is his
sworn duty to deal impartially. Yet, without adulation, we may
say that he is deemed, by those who know him best, to be a dis
creet and attentive officer, who is ready to give his decisions

278 HISTORICAL AND
promptly, after duly weighing the evidence and all the attending
circumstances, in every case of importance that comes before
him. Mr. Stubbs is one of the most unostentatious men in the city,
possessing little or no aristocracy ; and as to mere pride of office,
if he has any, it is in too small a measure to be observable.
Though but little on the shady side of forty, he is a man of
much experience in the diversified affairs of life. His sound,
discriminating, practical knowledge of a great variety of subjects
is, perhaps, inferior to few in the city. This is, of course, much
to his advantage as a municipal officer.
As an orator, he could, if he desired it, soon acquire conside
rable distinction ; although, as an extempore or off-hand speaker,
we do not admit that he greatly excels. He appears, on some occa
sions, to lack fire, and a sufficiency of those energetic, quickening
impulses, so essential in a public speaker, and which, at a moment's
notice, sometimes, thrill the heart, animate the spirit, and excite
the popular mind to action. Nevertheless, he certainly has the
ability to be very happy in his oratorical efforts ; of the truth of
which we could, if necessary, adduce very satisfactory evidence.
Finally, as a writer, he is clear and perspicuous. The pro
ductions of his pen give evidence of a mind accustomed to close,
patient, and careful investigation, with the capacity to grapple
with error in defence of the claims of truth, morality, and sound
principles. Mr. S. is a native of Gloucester County, Virginia.
On this day, MUlard Fillmore, the President of the United
States, who had been for several days sojourning at Old Point,
visited Norfolk and Portsmouth. " The steamer Engineer, with
the President and his suite on board, reached the wharf at Nor
folk at three o'clock, when he was received by the Mayor,
Recorder, Aldermen, and City Councils, and under a military
escort of the Artillery Blues, Junior Volunteers, and Academy
Cadets, proceeded to the National Hotel, where his Excellency
and the Secretary of the Interior were introduced to as many of
the citizens as could find admittance through the dense crowds
which filled every avenue to the audience-chamber. A generous
flow of feeling to honour a President of the United States, who, in

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 279
a trying crisis, had maintained the peace of the country by his
steady devotion to the Constitution, regardless of sectional in
fluences, seemed to pervade all classes and all parties ; and, in
deed, it may be said, at least for this occasion, that the ' monster.
Party,' was strangled."
August 25th. Severe storm from the southeast.
A Directory and Statistical Register of the city, edited and
published by the writer of these sketches, made its appearance this
month. It was very favourably received, quite liberally patro
nised, and generally circulated. It contains the names, profes
sions, places of business, and residences, of the merchants, traders,
manufacturers, mechanics, heads of families, &c., in the city of
Norfolk ; a list of the public buildings, with their relative posi
tion ; the names and situations of the streets ; a register of the
public officers, companies, associations, and institutions of learn
ing, in Norfolk and Portsmouth ; an account of the situation,
improvements, natural advantages, and commercial resources, of
the two towns ; officers of the Navy Yard ; the steam-packet,
railroad, and stage lines and routes ; distances to other places ;
rates of commission, storage, wharfage, and postage ; rates and
rules of interest and discount ; directions about notes ; the rivers,
bays, mountains, raUroads, colleges, resources, and obligations of
Virginia ; the courts, census returns, public appropriations, quali
fications of voters, and law of taxation ; officers of the Federal
and State Governments ; and a variety of other statistical and
miscellaneous information, carefully collected from authentic
sources. The very kind reception of this work, the generous disposition
manifested by an enlightened community to encourage and sus
tain it, and the patronage which was readily and ungrudgingly
bestowed, placed its author under many obligations, whUe it
proved that no inconsiderable number of the people of Norfolk
are ready to foster an object that may appear in some measure
worthy of their regard, and which frankly and fairly asserts its
claims to their support.
To the respected and intelligent gentlemen at the head of the
Press,^ in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, &c., for the very
polite and complimentary manner in which they were pleased to

280 HISTORICAL AND
notice his work — for the strong and significant terms employed
in recommending it to the favour and patronage of the commu
nity, he tenders his sincerest thanks. Commendations of so
pleasing a nature, so beneficial and so efficacious, from those
whose sagacity and experience justly entitle them to an opinion,
were scarcely expected. Nor should he fail to embrace the pre
sent occasion to express himself in terms of respectful acknow
ledgment, for the many assurances of approbation, and testimo
nials of commendation, received from other sources, of great
respectability and intelligence. He does not choose to affect a
stoical indifference to those kind evidences of approval. They
are gratifying, and are duly appreciated. Such expressions of
approbation are not unfrequently of real value, and often exert
a salutary influence upon the efforts of man. Falling upon the
ear like the soft and soothing melody of music, they sometimes
reach down deep into the heart, and rouse into exertion the
slumbering faculties of the drooping soul ; while the chilling
breath of discouragement often withers, and effectually blights
in the bud, the humble effort to benefit society, or even, in some
degree, to increase individual happiness. True generosity of
soul forms a striking contrast, especially in relation to new en
terprises, to the calculating, contracted, and discontented spirit,
sometimes manifested amid the diversity of human character,
which not only withholds support and encouragement, but seeks
to disparage the works of others, and even repines under some
circumstances, at their success ; a frailty, by the way, which is
generally betrayed by its possessor, who rarely succeeds in his
efforts to conceal its existence, or to hide his moral deformity
from the eye of scrutiny.
It has afforded the writer much pleasure to learn, from many
patrons of the Directory, that it has been found useful, especially
to men of business, and to strangers visiting the city. It is
gratifying also to be apprised of the fact, that it has proved
beneficial, interesting, and instructive, to persons unacquainted
with Norfolk — its size, government, commercial facilities, &c.
Indeed, it was not supposed, until after the experiment, which
to some appeared of doubtful utility, had been tried, that it
would create an agreeable surprise in the minds of intelligent

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 281
citizens, even of Virginia, with regard to the seaport of the
State. There are many thinking, practical, and intelligent men, who
believe that Norfolk, at some not very distant period in the his
tory of the world, will be a great city. Every person, who
thinks upon the subject at all, knows well enough that the place
is not what it ought long since to have been. But there are
some also who have thought, or who have, at least, appeared to
think, that it is far inferior to what it really is, in extent, im
provements, business means and sources of wealth, and facilities
for extensive commercial transactions. The writer has long
been aware of this fact ; and, as the circulation of the work is
not confined to Norfolk, nor even to the State, it appears that
it has tended, in some measure at least, to remove prejudice,
correct false impressions, elicit favour, and inspire confidence;
and he regards this as not the smallest item in the compensation
which he has received, for the labour and pains bestowed upon
an undertaking, which, although it has found favour with many,
has also been regarded with apparent indifference by, at least, a
few, who, it was thought, would be most anxious, for several rea
sons, to afford their encouragement and patronage.
The following, from a Norfolk paper, is one of the complimen
tary notices of the work by the Press : —
" It is truly a valuable, and to everybody throughout Virginia,
who feels a proper concern in the affairs of one of its chief com
mercial marts, a manual of much interest and convenience. It
is not more desirable from its accurate record of our population,
their pursuits and locations, and its judicious arrangement
throughout, than as a valuable compendium of the statistics of
our city, exhibiting its business concerns, its commercial facul
ties, public and private edifices, institutions, mechanical skill and
enterprise, in their best attractions, and furnishing so truthful a
view of the rapid progress and improvements of our beautiful
little city, as cannot fail to enlist an interest in its welfare, at
tract new residents, and inspire all with a conviction that our
destiny, as a commercial city, is upward as well as onward.
" Finally, its typographical execution is in the best style of
that invaluable art ; and the entire work commends itself to the

282 HISTORICAL AND
patronage of all our citizens, not only by its intrinsic utiUty,
but as a stimulant to enterprise, industry, and good taste."
Tuesday, November 4. "Died, at his residence in this city, Mr.
John M'Phail, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Born in
Glasgow, Scotland, he came, in early life, to this country, and,
for more than half a century, had been a resident of this city.
Mr. M'Phail took an active part in the formation of the First
Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, and, for many years, filled the
office of a ruling elder in that church."
Thursday, November 27. The Seaboard and Roanoke Rail
road was this day completed to Weldon, N. C.
" The cars left Portsmouth at half-past eight o'clock in the
morning, crowded to excess with passengers, and reached Weldon
in three hours and a half, running time — distance eighty miles.
The train from Wilmington had already arrived with a large
number of passengers, from that city and its neighbourhood,
who, mingling with their friends from Virginia, a cordial welcome
was reciprocated and felicitations were mutually passed on the
joyous occasion of opening this new commercial and social
medium of communication between their two States."
December. The weather, for a portion of this month, was
severely cold, and Wednesday the 17th was the coldest day, so
early in the season, within the last seven years, according to
those who pay attention to the seasons.
The winter of 1851-52, was the coldest that has occurred
here for fifteen years or more. Fire-wood at one period sold as
high as $8 per cord. Whitehead's Pond frequently presented a
most interesting and exciting scene ; hundreds of men and boys
being engaged in the delightful exercise of skating, while large
numbers of the fair sex gathered upon the shores of the pond,
-and upon the thick ice, to witness the sport.
Some time during this year (1851), "the congregation of the
Methodist Episcopal Church worshipping in the small frame
edifice known as ' Zion's Meeting-house,' two miles from the city,
on the Lambert's Point Road, caused a well to be dug on their
lot. The work was undertaken by Mr. Whitehurst, whose land
adjoins the lot a few feet from the spot selected for the well.
When he had dug to the depth of about fifteen or eighteen feety

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 283
he struck a spring from which issued water very strongly im
pregnated with alum — so much so as to render it utterly unfit
for ordinary use, and it proved to be in reality a bona fide alum
spring. Such a discovery almost anywhere else would have pro
duced quite a sensation in the neighbourhood, and led to imme
diate steps to bring it into notice and turn it to account. But
here, for the period of nearly a year,, it seems to have been re
garded almost with indifference, and it was not until the curative
efficacy of the water had been tested in some obstinate cases of
disease that it begun to attract the attention due to its import
ance." " The ' Alum Spring,' as it is called, bids fair to be a place of
general resort. All who have drank of its waters — and their
name is legion — testify to their wholesome properties, and it is
thought by many that the spring will prove a source of great
benefit to our city, by attracting persons to spend the summer
months here for their health, instead of seeking for that sine qua
non in the mountains or on the sea-shore. The water contains
alum and iron in large quantities — heavy deposits of both are
precipitated by letting it stand for a short time, or by heating
it ; and physicians have pronounced it very valuable as a tonic
and remedy in a great many complaints. The spring being
on church property, the public are at liberty to go there and
drink to their heart's content. The ride is one of the most plea
sant in the neighbourhood — or the distance may be walked with
ease over a shady road."
Avaluable mineral spring was also discovered, in 1851, on the
Magnolia Farm, owned by David Jordan, Esq., of Nansemond
County. Magnolia is fourteen miles from Norfolk, and about
three from Suffolk ; and the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad
runs directly past the residence of Mr. Jordan, a circumstance
greatly in its favour.
" Professor Stewart, of Baltimore, to whom the test was con
fided, has pronounced it to be probably one of the most efficient
and valuable medicinal waters in the world. It combines the
properties of the Saratoga with that of the White Sulphur waters ;
and may be said to represent perfectly the water of the far-famed
Harrowgate Springs. Professor Stewart in his report says : ' I

284 HISTORICAL AND
have never met with any mineral water that appeared so highly
charged with sulphuretted hydrogen ; and when you have a
copious spring so easy of access, in our own country, that possesses
the qualities of the celebrated Harrowgate Springs of England,
I should think it hardly possible that you should fail in obtain
ing for it the commendation of our most eminent medical men.' "

CHAPTER XXXVIL
1852.
Ordinance — Virginia Bank in Portsmouth Robbed — Conviction and Sentence of
one of the Robbers — Cold Weather — River Frozen Over — Remarkable Hail
storm — Destructive Effects — Work on Internal Improvements, &c. — Judge
Baker — Clerk of Court — Commissioner of Revenue — Commonwealth's Attor
ney — Wm. T. Hendren, Esq. — Internal Improvement Meeting — Norfolk and
Petersburg Road — Able Discussion — Mayoralty — Candidates — Election of
Oflicers — Objectionable Feature iu the Law — City Ofiioers — Councils — Me
lancholy Intelligence — Death of Henry Clay — Funeral Obsequies — Proces
sion — Oration — The Weather — ^Death of the Oldest White Inhabitant — New
Catholic Church in Portsmouth — Patrick Robinson's Bequest — Death of
BiUy Ingram, the Oldest Coloured Inhabitant — Incidents in His Life — His
Great Physical Strength — Coincidence — Corporation Scrip, in Sums of $100,
S50, aud $1 — IntelUgence of the Death of Webster— Wm. B. Lamb, Esq. —
Doctor Cowdery — Illumination, &c. — Agricultural Fair — Commendable Dis
play of Agricultural Productions — Premiums — Princess Anne County — Bri
tish Consul — Line of Packets to New York — Railroad Subscription.
1852, January 1st. On this day, an ordinance called "the
Cow Law" went into operation. Cows, which had been allowed
to go at large in every part of the city, and get into all kinds of
mischief, to the great annoyance of the citizens, generally, and
to the women and children, particularly, are now kept in enclo
sures, or driven without the city limits. It is manifestly a wise
and necessary law ; in support of which several very good rea
sons could be mentioned. There are, nevertheless, many per-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 285
sons who pronounce it unnecessary and unjust. The wonder is
that it was not passed fifty years ago. The propriety of passing
the law was urged in a communication from Mayor Stubbs to the
Councils. Jan. 18. On the morning of this day, it was discovered that
the Branch Bank of Virginia, in Portsmouth, had been robbed of
a large amount. The entrance was made by means of crowbars,
drills, &c., through a window in the rear of the building, and
through the doors and bars of the vault to the money, of which
the thieves took, in gold, silver, and notes, about $66,000. In
September, a man named Rand, of Boston, was convicted of
being concerned in the robbery, and sentenced to ten years' im
prisonment in the penitentiary. Other persons were arrested,
but Rand was the only person convicted. On account of some
informality in the proceedings, he was granted a new trial ; but
he got out of prison and made his escape, as also did one Jack
Stevens, who had been confined in the same jail, some months
before, on the same charge. At the date of this writing (Decem
ber, 1852), the money has not been recovered. This, however,
does not injure the credit of the bank, which is in a sound and
prosperous condition.
On the 23d of this month (January), the Elizabeth River was
frozen over from shore to shore, for the first time in a number of
years. The ice was not sufficiently thick, however, to obstruct
navigation. April 8th, Thursday. About five o'clock on the afternoon of
this day, a very dark and heavy cloud arose rapidly from the
west, and soon the inhabitants of Norfolk and vicinity witnessed
one of the most remarkable and destructive hail-storms with
which this section was ever visited. The frozen balls, as large
as marbles, fell in great quantities — the wind blowing from the
west. The storm was attended with wind, flashes of lightning,
and heavy peals of thunder. Much damage was done to vege
tables and fruit ; and window-glass to the amount of thousands of
dollars was demolished.
May. About the flrst of this month was issued in the city, by
the writer, a work of about one hundred pages octavo, with the
following title :
" Norfolk and the Interior ; or, Railroads extending from the

286 HISTORICAL AND
Seaboard through Virginia, North CaroUna, Tennessee, &c., to
the Great Valleys of the West : being a Compendium of Facts
and Statistics, showing the Prospective Beneflts of Internal Im
provements to the Seaport of Virginia; together with State
ments relative to the Commerce and Commercial Facilities of
the City of Norfolk : to which are added, the Business Cards of
Merchants, Manufacturers, &c."
An edition of about one thousand copies was taken by the
merchants. The following remarks comprise a portion of a no
tice of the work by the American Beacon :
" It contains many interesting facts relative to the commercial
advantages of our city in connexion with the various railroads
that are built, and are to be built, connecting us with the great
West and South. All who feel an interest in the prosperity of
Norfolk, will find this work exceedingly interesting and instruc
tive, and will be well compensated for the time by reading it."
May 27th. On this day Richard H. Baker, Esq., a gentle
man of great worth of character, and high legal distinction, was
re-elected Judge of the Circuit Court, an office which he has filled
with ability for a number of years. John Williams, Esq., an old
and faithful incumbent, was re-elected Clerk of the Circuit
Court, and Finlay F. Ferguson, a most efficient officer, was re
elected to the office of Commissioner of Revenue.*
On this day, also, Wm. T. Hendren, Esq., was elected by the
people Commonwealth's Attorney for the Circuit Court. He holds
the same relation to the Hustings Court of the city, having been
elected thereto under the new constitution, June 24th, 1852.
His fellow-citizens have evidently manifested great confidence
in his talents, legal inteUigence and good judgment, by appoint
ing him to so responsible an office, especially in view of the fact,
that he is quite a young man ; and it is believed there will be no
reason to think that their confidence is misplaced. We may
appropriately say, that Mr. Hendren possesses a sufficient
amount of talent and experience to sustain the character and
dignity of the office. His mind is active, vigorous, and well
* The late William B. Lamb, Esq., a venerable aud most estimable citizen,
formerly Mayor, long held the of&ce of Sergeant of the city, and his son, Wm.
W. Lamb, Esq., has been for years the esteemed and faithful Deputy Sergeant.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 287
cultivated. His educational advantages, and his early oppor
tunities as a lawyer, were such as to bring out and develope the
strength of his intellectual faculties, at an early age ; and his
friends have not yet been disappointed in their expectations with
regard to him. Yet, it may be admitted that his mind, like that
of many others, who have nevertheless come to judicial distinc
tion, is rather too much after the fanciful, poetic order, to find the
most congenial and successful field for mental effort, in deep and
profound legal investigation and research.
It is gratifying to oTaserve, that when changes are made in
offices of responsibility, which have been long held by able, and
faithful persons, young men are chosen, who may justly and
fairly assert their claims upon the confidence of all classes of the
community. May 12th. Internal Improvement Meeting, held on Wednes
day night, in Mechanics' Hall, in relation to the proposed rail
road from Norfolk to Petersburg. It was numerously attended,
and its proceedings were highly interesting and satisfactory.
Thfe magnitude and importance of the subject under considera
tion were presented, and the resolutions before the meeting were
discussed, with marked ability and sound judgment, by Messrs.
Harrison, Robertson,* A. F. Leonard, R. E. Taylor, and others.
Mr. L. " delivered an admirable speech, which went largely into
the merits of the subject, and demonstrated by incontrovertible
facts the certain success and countless advantages which would
result to our city from the proposed railroad."
June 24th. Simon S. Stubbs, Esq., re-elected Mayor. The
other candidates were Colonel Simon Stone, Major Samuel T.
Sawyer, and Captain Wm. D. Delany. On this day the principal
officers of the corporation, were, according to Act of Assembly,
elected by the votes of the people, instead of being appointed by
the Councils, as heretofore. f Owing to a singular and unneces-
* Mr. Robertson was, in October, 1851, elected to represent the city in the
General Assembly. He is a young gentleman of strong and active mind, im
proved by a liberal education. His high moral worth of character, together
with his talents and legal qualifications, combined to make him the choice of a
majority of the voters of the city, for the above station.
•J- The votes of the citizens were taken on the adoption or rejection of this
law, the majority being in favour of adopting it.

288 HISTORICAL AND
sary provision of the act, requiring the name of each voter to be
announced by the Sheriff, with that of the candidate, and then
recorded ; it was found impossible to receive all the votes. Very
many persons were therefor^e compelled to forego the privilege
of voting. This disfranchisement, as may be supposed, gave
great dissatisfaction. The objectionable feature in the law will
be, repealed.
The following are the principal officers chosen by the voters,
according to the new law regulating the city elections :
Register, Jos. H. Robertson ; Attorney of the Hustings Court,
Wm. T. Hendren ; City. Attorney, Hunter Woodis ; Clerk of the
Court, John Williams ; Assessor, Finlay F. Ferguson ; City Col
lector, Wm. H. Hunter ; City Inspector, Cary Fentress; Sur
veyor, John Williston ; Ganger of Liquors, &c., James M. Steed ;
Keeper of Almshouse, Wm. Hawkins ; Physician to Almshouse,
Dr. Geo. W. Cowdery; Clerk of the Market, EU CuthrieU;
Wood-measurers, John R. Wyatt and F. A. Johnston ; Keeper
of Magazine, Chas. W. Constable ; Hay-weigher, H. F. Hard
ing; Sealer of Weights and Measures, Thos. R. Lee; Captain
of the City Watch, E. Guy.
The following appointments were, according to law, made by
the Governor : Inspector of Salted Provisions, Alexander A.
Martin ; Inspector of Flour, James M. Steed ; of Lime, William
Loyall ; of Naval Stores, Alexander M. Cunningham.
The following are some of the appointments made by the
Councils :
Wright Southgate, Chr. Hall, H. B. Rear don, T. G. Brough
ton, Sr., and Wm. Selden, Board of Health ; F. F. Ferguson,
Chief Engineer, Fire Department ; Jas. M. Steed and D. W.
Glass, Assistant Engineers ; Jas. Cornick, Jacob Vickery, and
Horatio Moore, Port Wardens ; Jas. L. Hipkins, J. S. Fatherly,
Wm. Drew Roberts, Harbour Masters.
The following gentlemen were on this day elected to compose
the Common and Select Councils, according to the Ward system
of voting:
First Ward.— J. B. Whitehead, John WiUiams, F. W. South-
gate, R. W. Silvester, W. T. Harrison, N. C. King, G. W.
Camp, E. C. Robinson, Josiah WiUs.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 289
Second Ward.— Wm. Denby, Sr., G. W. Bluford, W. F. Mal
lory, Wm. Ward.
Third Ward.— H. B. Reardon, C. IlaU, R. Capps, John Dick
son, T. G. Broughton, Sr., A. L. HUl, W. D. Roberts, Jr.,
S. March.
Fourth Ward. — J. G. H. Hatton, Francis Mallory, C. F. Stone,
R. H. Chamberlaine, J. R. Spratley, T. J. D. ReUly, W. Phil
lips. Wm. D. Roberts, Jr., Esq., was chosen President of the Select
Council, and John Williams, Esq., President of the Common
Council. June 29th. On this day was received in the city a telegraphic
despatch, announcing the sad intelligence of the death of the
great statesman, Henry Clay. The bells were tolled, the flags
of the shipping were half-masted, and a general feeling of gloom
and profound sorrow was manifested.
July 1st. This being the day appointed for the funeral of
Hon. Henry Clay at Washington, business was suspended, and
the bells were tolled from twelve till three o'clock.
July 21st. This day having been set apart, at a public meet
ing, for the city to pay a suitable tribute to the memory of Mr.
Clay, the funeral obsequies accordingly took place; and they
were of a most solemn and impressive character. The pageant
was truly grand ; and all parties united in showing their respect
for the lamented and illustrious dead. Business was again sus
pended. The authorities, societies, companies, naval and military
officers, &c., with a very large concourse of citizens, including
very many from Portsmouth, Hampton, &c., as well as from the
counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne, formed a long procession,
which, after marching through the principal streets, assembled
in the Methodist Episcopal Church on Cumberland Street, where
a very able, impressive, and appropriate oration was delivered by
Dr. F. MaUory.
There had been but Ught rains, with long seasons of dry
weather, for several years, until about the middle of this month,
from which time, for many weeks, it rained heavily ; and " more
rain fell than during the entire two years previous."
August 19. Died, this day, Mrs. EUzabeth Martin, aged 96.
19

290 HISTORICAL AND
She was the elder sister of Mrs. Ingram, whose death is men
tioned AprU 24, 1851. Mrs. M. was, in all probabUity, the
" oldest (white) inhabitant." Her sight was much impaired, but
she conversed sensibly, and walked unsupported about her house,
only a short time before she died. From Mrs. M., we obtained
some interesting revolutionary details, which, in all probability,
would never have been recorded, but for the timely conversations
which we sought opportunity to have with this ancient and vene
rable descendant of one of the oldest and most respectable fami
lies of the borough.
A new Catholic Church was commenced in 1851, in Ports
mouth, which, at the close of the following year, was rapidly
approaching its completion. It is situated on the north side of
High Street, on the site of the old building. The style is
purely Gothic ; and it is, indeed, a beautiful structure. The
steeple, which is very handsome and well-proportioned, and a
considerable portion of the main buUding, are plainly seen
from the harbour and the Norfolk side, forming a very striking
ornament to our sister town. The size of this edifice is 57 by
84 feet; cost $17,000.
In 1809, Mr. Patrick Robinson, an Irishman, bequeathed an
estate to the pastor of the old church, which has been recently
sold for $7,750, and vested in the new church.
Friday, October 15th. Billy, a servant of the late Mrs.
Sarah Ingram, died in this city on this day, at the age of one
hundred and seventeen years. " He was a native of Hanover
County, Virginia, born in the service of Peter Garland, Esq. ;
was at Norfolk when it was burnt in 1776, and was pressed into
his Majesty's service by Governor Dunmore. He was at the battle
of Great Bridge, and remembered all about the siege of York-
town. Billy was strong, hale, and heartj', even to the day of his
death. He was employed as a drayman until he was seventy-
five years old, and at the age of sixty-eight could roll a hogshead
of sugar weighing fifteen hundred pounds, on his dray without
assistance. He was always good-humoured, well-disposed, and
scrupulously honest. It is a remarkable coincidence, that for
the last sixty years he lived in a family, three of the inmates of
which, have died within the last two years, two at the ages of
ninety-two and ninety-six, and one at the age of seventy-six."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 291
Saturday, October 16th. The Select Council on this day called
up and passed the bill from the Common Council (which had
passed that body on the 18th of February last, and been laid on
the table in the Select Council), making provision for the issue
of corporation scrip to the amount of .$20,000, in sums of $50
and $100, bearing six per cent, interest ; and $10,000 in sums
of one dollar, bearing an interest of one half of one per cent, per
annum.* October 25. On this day, was received in the city, inteUigence
of the death of Daniel Webster. There was a very general ex
pression of sorrow on account of the loss the Union had sustained
in the death of its greatest statesman and diplomatist. The
flags of the shipping, kc, Were half-masted ; and on the 26th,
minute guns were fired in commemoration of the illustrious dead.
How great, hov.' learned, how wise a man had fallen ! But his
fame is world-renowned, and he needs no eulogy here. Truly,
the writer did not imagine that the demise of both Clay and
Webster would be alluded to on these pages, and in one and the
same chapter.
November 14. Died, this day, Wm. B. Lamb, Esq., aged
eighty-nine, " one of the few remaining patriarchs, whose founda
tions of future usefulness and distinction, as members of our
community, were laid in the last century." He was an alderman
of the Borough from 180-3 tiU 1810 ; and mayor from 1810 tiU
1815. " Well does the writer remember," says a respected
citizen, " with what fidelity and at what sacrifice of time and
personal comfort, he discharged the duties of that office (then
without emolument), during the period of war, from 1812 to
1815, when the preservation of public order within the town
often called him from his family at all hours of the night, and
not unfrequently during the entire night. His judicious and
energetic course on such occasions was always effective, and his
services were duly appreciated by his fellow-citizens.
"In 1815 he was elected President of the Virginia Bank, and
continued in that office till his resignation in 1827, when he
accepted the office of Sergeant, conferred on him by the Hustings
* At a subsequent meeting of the Common CouncU, the Committee on Ordi
nances were directed to bring in a bill to repeal this ordinance, and an amend
ment thereto, passed November 9.

292 HISTORICAL AND
Court of Norfolk, and which he held at the period of his death
— the greater part of the time by the suffrages of his fellow-
citizens." November 20. Died, this day, aged eighty-five. Doctor Jona
than Cowdery, the oldest surgeon, and the oldest officer in- the
United States Navy. He chose Norfolk as his home and the
residence of his family, nearly fifty years ago.
" In all the relations of life, he was a most exemplary gentle
man, and will long be remembered and venerated by the citizens
of this city, to whom he has been so familiarly and kindly known.
" He was a native of Massachusetts, and after graduating in
one of the medical colleges of that State, he entered the navy
more than half a century ago, and has faithfully and uninter
ruptedly served in his useful department, in peace and in war.
" He was one of the medical officers of thefrigate Philadelphia
in 1803, when that ship, under the command of Commodore
Bainbridge, and whilst in pursuit of the Tripolitan corsairs, ran
upon a reef and fell into the hands of the enemy. Along with
Porter, Jacob Jones, Renshaw, Biddle, Patterson, and other young
heroes, who afterwards so signally iUustrated the naval history of
our country, he was thrown into the prison of Tripoli, and whilst
there it was the good fortune of Dr. Cowdery to render impor
tant professional service to the Bashaw, during a severe illness ;
which had also the happy effect of mitigating the rigours of the
confinement of his fellow-prisoners. It was an event of much
note at the time, and added greatly to the professional reputa
tion of the young surgeon, especially as the medical attendants
of the royal Mussulman were wholly unable to relieve their
patient. In the war of 1813-'14, and since that time, at home
and abroad, his services have been efficient."
November 22d. On the evening of this day, during a heavy
fall of rain, the Democrats celebrated their late victory, by il
luminating their houses, by fircAvorks, marching through the
streets, &c.
" The houses of the Democracy, were generally illuminated,
many with great taste and display of wreaths, flags, and trans
parencies. Nothing occurred to mar the enjoyment of the occa
sion, except the heavy fall of rain, and that was not sufficient to
dampen the zeal of those who participated in the demonstration."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 293
On the 23d and 24th of this month, the first Fair of the Prin
cess Anne Agricultural Society was held, at the beautiful village
of Kempsville. The enterprising farmers of that county deserve
much praise for the extensive display which was made on the
occasion, of stock, grain, fruit, vegetables, poultry, &c., &c. ; and
too much cannot be said in commendation of the exhibition of
articles of domestic manufacture — the handiwork of the indus
trious matrons and fair maidens of the county.
" On Tuesday, the first day of the Fair, the committee of ar
rangements having, by ten o'clock, classified and marked the
various deposits intended for exhibition, the judges proceeded to
discharge their duties of examining, reporting, &c.
"At twelve o'clock," continues the report of the committee,
" the gates were opened for the admission of spectators, and in a
short time the whole enclosure presented a very interesting and
animated appearance.
" The cattle, both of blooded and of native stock, were very
fine ; and among those of the blooded stock, were a large num
ber which would do credit to any fair in the country. Praise is
richly due to our own citizens, and especially to many farmers
of the surrounding counties, who, with much trouble and ex
pense, exhibited largely on the occasion, and contributed much
in giving interest and variety to the Fair."
" A large shed, forty feet long, was filled with various samples
of the choicest and finest market vegetables, some of enormous
size ; and it may well be doubted, whether any of the northern
agricultural fairs could have competed with us in this branch.
The large and fine collection of agricultural implements and ma
chines exhibited by Messrs. March and Borum, of the neigh
bouring city of Norfolk, deservedly attracted universal attention.
" A house about sixty feet in length was appropriated to ar
ticles belonging to the dairy, and the various branches of do
mestic economy ; and the delicacy of the arrangements, and the
beauty of the display in this department, excited general admi
ration, and showed at a glance, without any mention of the fact,
that it was under the management and supervision of the ladies.
" This Fair, which, before its occurrence, was regarded by
some as a doubtful experiment, has far exceeded public expecta-

294 HISTORICAL AND
tion ; and its triumphant success should be a subject of rejoicing
to the members of our infant society, and to the friends of agri
culture in this section of our State. It proves beyond all con
troversy, that the farmers of the extreme eastern portion of Vir
ginia, have the spirit and the means to present an agricultural
fair which can equal, in variety and interest, local exhibitions of
the same kind in any part of the country.
" On Wednesday, the second day of the Fair, a ploughing
match took place, the address was delivered, and the premiums
awarded. The ploughing match, an exciting and well-conducted
contest, took place in a neighbouring field, the spectators mani
festing much interest in the result.
" The large concourse of spectators having returned to the
grounds, the Hon. F. Mallory, himself a practical farmer, who
had politely consented, on invitation of the society, to be the
orator of the occasion, having been presented to the audience by
E. H. Herbert, Esq., the President of the Association, delivered,
a practical, interesting, and instructive address of about an hour's
length, on the subject of agriculture.
" The address being concluded, the President of the Society
proceeded to read the award of premiums made by the several
committees of judges.
A long list of premiums has been published. We record, with
pleasure, that one was awarded to Mr. Edgar Burroughs, of
Princess Anne, for an essay on worn-out lands ; and another to
Doctor Wm. Tatem for an essay on draining. It was found that
the best-conducted farms were those of Captain James Cornick,
and Messrs. Thomas Ballentine, Wm. S. Wright, Wm. Godfrey,
and E. H. Herbert.
The committee on agricultural productions reported that there
were four competitors for the best acre of corn, to wit : J. N.
Baxter, D. M. Walke, Jonathan Hunter, and Thomas BaUen-
tine ; that the product of the first was 87 bushels, the second 72
bushels, the third 68f bushels, and the fourth 66 bushels, and
awarded the premium for the best acre to J. N. Baxter ; for the
best acre of wheat to Edgar Burroughs ; for the best quarter
acre of rutabagas, to James R. Walke, the product being 71f
bushels of roots, weighing 68 pounds to the bushel.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 295
This is said to be the first fair of the kind ever held in Vir
ginia, and the " eminent success which attended the effort, will
inspirit the farmers of Princess Anne and of other counties in
this district to repeat it. They have set the ball in motion, and
shall it stop here ? No ! Let it roll onward through every dis
trict and county in the State."
" The county of Princess Anne is destined in a few years to
become the garden spot of the State. (The same may be said
of a large portion of Norfolk County.) Independent of its
proximity to navigation and its inexhaustible piscatorial re
sources, it contains, to the extent of its territory, a larger body
of valuable and productive land than any other county in Vir
ginia. In 1852, one of its enterprising farmers realized from
eight acres near eleven hundred dollars ; and pitched on the
same land a second crop, which probably brought him five or six
hundred dollars more. Such a profitable yield from the same
area of cultivation is hard to beat in any part of the United
States. A judicious system of agriculture is now being intro
duced in the tUlage of the soil of this county, and its public-
spirited farmers are making every effort to promote improve
ments in this noble pursuit."
G. P. R. James, Esq., the celebrated English novelist, having
been appointed British Consul for Virginia, to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the death of Mr. Waring, the former incumbent,
arrived in Norfolk this month, and entered upon the duties of
office. Mr. James is " rather below the general stature, stout in per
son, with a somewhat measured, theatrical walk. He is exceed
ingly prepossessing in appearance, has a fine, large, expressive
eye, commanding forehead, regular features, and is, apparently,
about fifty-two years of age."
December. About the first of this month, a new line of packets
between Norfolk and New York, was established by some of the
merchants of the former place.
On the 10th of this month, the councils, in accordance with
the wishes of a majority of the voters of the city, appointed a
committee to subscribe $200,000 to the capital stock of the Nor
folk and Petersburg Railroad Company, with certain provisions.

296 HISTORICAL AND
one of which is, that, if the road is built, there shall be a satis
factory connexion with the Southside Road, at or near its ter
minus in Petersburg.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Opinions respecting Norfolk — Mr. Jefferson's Prediction — Views of Mr. Madison
— Unwise Legislation — Internal Improvement — James River and Kanawha
Canal — Products of the West — The Norfolk Market — Productions of the
Forest — Coal — Railway to the Pacific — Norfolk the Commercial Centre of a
large Extent of Country — Coasting Business — The Harbour — The Norfolk
and Petersburg Railroad — Its advantages — Surveyor's Report — Convention
at Union — New Orleans and Memphis Road — Norfolk the Atlantic Terminus
— China and East India Trade — The Consequences — Weldon and Gaston,
and Clarksville and Ridgway Roads — Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad —
¦ Subscriptions by the City — Arrangements of the Company with the City —
Ferry and Bridge Connexion — Trade — City Subscription — Baltimore Steam
Packet Company — Wilmington and Manchester Road — North Carolina Road —
Charlotte and Columbia Road, &c. — Continuous Lines from Norfolk — Enter
prising Men Wanted — Enterprise and Progress — Supineness, Neglect, and
the Downward Tendency.
In this chapter we present a few remarks, from our pamphlet
on the means, resources, and prospects of Norfolk, and which
were originally intended for this work.
Many judicious and reflecting men have entertained the
opinion that Norfolk would, at some future day, rival the
greatest cities of America. They who felt a deep interest in
the welfare and prosperity of our State, long ago expressed their
convictions in significant terms on this subject. The views of
the gifted Jefferson, whose powerful mind seemed to penetrate
deeper in the uncertain future than that of most other men of
his day, are familiar to the intelligent reader. The author of
the Declaration of Independence, examined the different loca
tions and resources of various sections of this great country, and
especially those of his own loved Virginia ; and when he de
clared that Norfolk would be the "great Emporium of the Chesa-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 297
peake," his opinion had been formed from a knowledge of the
advantages of commerce possessed by this particular site. Its
deep, capacious, and land-locked harbour, its central position on
the Atlantic coast, its mild climate, and its exhaustless regions
of back country, south, west, and northwest — these had been
duly noticed by the sage of Monticello, and his inference was,
that they must, if properly appreciated and improved, render
this port the pride of the State, the chief exporting and import
ing city of Virginia, and of the South.
There was another master mind that turned hitherwards —
another distinguished son of the Old Dominion — whom she and
the Union delighted to honour — who freely expressed himself
with regard to this location. The accomplished Madison con
curred with Jefferson in his views about the facilities of this port
for extensive commercial transactions. He declared it to be "the
true interest of Virginia to foster the prosperity of Norfolk, as
among the prime objects of her policy." But sad to say, Virginia,
or rather, her misguided legislators, did not heed these words of
wisdom.* They lost sight of the "true interest" of the good old
commonwealth, and while other states "fostered the prosperity"
of their chief seaports, our law-makers wasted the resources of
the State on wild and unproductive schemes, and discoursed most
eloquently indeed, upon " abstract questions of political economy,"
until the chief avenue to wealth and greatness was well-nigh closed,
our resources became comparatively dormant, and our treasures
passed off to enrich other states. Hence the declination of
Virginia from the first to the fourth state in the Union, and
from "one-fifth to one-fifteenth of the political power of the con-
federacy."t We now give the views of several individuals of experience
and sound judgment relative to works of internal improvement
and other matters in which Norfolk is deeply interested.
* " The State has expended $20,000,000, principaUy intended for the improve
ment of Richmond ; and the trifling sum of $190,000 for the benefit of Norfolk,
all of which latter sum has been repaid up to this date to $2,357, including the
$9,500 they received from the last Dismal Swamp Canal dividend."
•)- These, and some other remarks of ours on this subject, were copied from
a certain work, and erroneously published as the production of another.

298 HISTORICAL AND
"The James River and Kanawha Canal," says a writer of
much ability, and of close observation, " will afford a Southern
water line of transportation for the heavy products of the West,
which must be, for a long period of the year, without a compe
titor, owing to the ice in the waters north of it. Such articles
of commerce as would pass upon a canal in preference to a rail
road, would prefer this, for the reason that -it would lead to the
nearest Atlantic harbour, and consequently the cost upon it
would be the least for internal or domestic transportation. A
canal boat at Columbus, Ohio, laden with pork, hemp, tobacco
or iron, would greatly prefer going to Norfolk upon this canal,
to passing through the lakes and the Erie Canal, to New York,
if the market was as good at the one place as the other, for the
simple reason that the distance would be greatly shorter and the
navigation much safer from interruption by ice and from the
dangers of the lake. The market would be as good at Norfolk
as New YorJc, because the trade would be intended for foreign
nations, and of course the foreign price would regulate that at
the port at which it would be purchased for transportation. A
common standard would regulate the price at both ports, and
would of course render it uniform. It is plain, therefore, that
such trade as would prefer water carriage, and as now reaches
New York from the heart of Ohio, would find its way to the
ocean through Virginia, by means of her canal. But the trade
of Ohio, and the West, is not by any means the only inducement
offered for the completion of this work. I will hazard the
opinion, that the timber bf our forests bordering upon the line
of the canal, and accessible to it by way of the Upper Kanawha,
or New River and its tributaries, will in a few years produce to
Virginia a larger sum of money than the whole amount required
for completing the canal. I doubt if in America' there are to be
found such forests for ship-builders as those growing in the sec
tion of country referred to. The completion of this work will
also open a thoroughfare for the transportation of coal from the
prolific mines of Kanawha, Coal, and Guyandotte Rivers to Nor
folk, which would make that city the depot whence the whole
steam-marine of the Atlantic would be supplied with fuel. The
discovery of cannel coal in that quarter of the State, in large

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 299
quantities, and of the most superior quality, establishes beyond
doubt the fact that, with a cheap mode of transportation, the
best fuel in the world for steam would be supplied at Norfolk
cheaper than any accessible point on the Atlantic border. The
coal and timber trade from the western part of our State, would
alone make the stock in this canal productive.
"A single glance at the map will present Norfolk as the At
lantic terminus of the contemplated railway to the Pacific, and
also as the best point of departure from the United States to
Europe and the Mediterranean. She will also become, next to
New York, a commercial centre of importation for the West, and
southwest portions of the Union, being geographically the com
mercial centre of a larger extent of country than any other At
lantic city. Her position is pre-eminently advantageous to the
whole coasting business of the United States, being in fact the
only good harbour on the Atlantic coast south of New York, and
more favourably situated than any other port to distribute the
agricultural products of the interior along the whole seaboard of
the Union.
" The Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, when viewed in its
proper light, and its important bearing upon the railway economy,
not only of our own State but of the whole country, cannot but
strike the reflecting mind as one of the most essential lines of
intercommunication which are now either in contemplation, or
under actual construction, 'to unlock those rich treasures so much
needed to invigorate the commercial enterprise,' not only of our
seaboard towns, and our own back country, but of the whole
South and West, from Memphis on the Mississippi, to Cincinnati
on the Ohio. It is the last, but by no means least, link in the
grandest scheme of internal improvement ever projected in the
United States, forming, as it were, the trunk of a gigantic tree,
deriving soil for its nourishment at Hampton Roads, and ramify
ing with its immensely long branches. Western Virginia, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, and even Missouri ; Southwestern Virginia,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana,
and Arkansas ; and it may, at no very distant day, thrust one of
its topmost leading limbs, even to the Pacific Ocean, while its

300 HISTORICAL AND
tap root is insinuating its minute fibres into every European
port. " This road (the contemplated line from Norfolk to Mem
phis, via Petersburg), will be one thousand and thirty miles
long, — of the same gauge throughout, without break — and with
only two regular termini ; one of them being Memphis and the
other Norfolk.
" This one thousand and thirty miles of road will be but a
BASE LINE, or trunk, with which twenty or thirty other tributary
railroads will unite, and in which they will merge themselves.
Most of the tributaries will be of the same gauge ; others will be
of a different gauge. That I am within the mark, you will at
once see when I can mention seven in Virginia alone, that wUl
mingle with the main line. And for all these roads (within
certain limits) Norfolk will be the most convenient outlet."
We condense from the Surveyor's Report, the following in
teresting particulars :
" The survey commences at the intersection of Main and Wide
Water Streets (at the Draw-bridge), crossing the Eastern Branch
and the County Road in a southerly direction. Three miles from
Norfolk, it takes a southwesterly course, and crosses the Southern
Branch and the Dismal Swamp Canal, at a distance of six miles
from the starting-point; thence a^more westerly course to Suf
folk, making the entire distance from Norfolk nearly twenty-one
miles, which, compared with the distance from Suffolk to Norfolk,
via Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad, of eighteen and a quarter
miles, is a loss of two and three-quarter miles, which loss is but
a secondary thought, taking into consideration the peculiar situ
ation of Norfolk, and the advantages which it is believed will
accrue to that city, by this direct communication of her wharves
and warehouses with the avenues to the Western trade.
:i: :}: :i< ^ * :i: H«
"At Suffolk, the line crossing the Seaboard and Roanoke
Railroad near the depot, takes a northwesterly direction toward
Petersburg, and from this point will compare favourably with any
other road in the country in point of directness."
The following remarks are from the report of the delegates

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 301
from Norfolk to an Internal Improvement Convention, held in
Union, in this State, in September, 1852 :
" The undersigned, from a careful investigation and consider
ation of statistics and other information relating to this important
subject, express their belief that, upon the perfection of the great
Western line of improvement, from Norfolk to the valley of the
Mississippi and of the Ohio, an important trade and travel must
ensue, which will not only contribute largely to the treasury of
the Commonwealth, but must necessarily inure to the prosperity
and great advantage of Norfolk, presuming always that the pro
per energy exists here to avail itself of the vast resources which
will thereby be rendered tributary to our city.
" In concluding their report, the undersigned cannot omit a
reference to the solicitude for the advancement of Norfolk, which
was very generally evinced by the members of the Convention.
The most of them seemed to anticipate with commendable pride,
a speedy and permanent connexion with our city, — and were san
guine that the recommendations of the Convention, if entertained
by the Legislature, must not only greatly conduce to the develop
ment of the vast and wonderful resources of the State, but that,
by the same means, Norfolk would be enabled to assume that
position as a commercial mart to which her admirable advantages
justly entitle her."
'"The New Orleans and Memphis Road, if ever built,' says
an intelligent correspondent of the Daily News, ' must terminate
on the Mississippi, at Memphis. San Diego or Monterey wUl be
its Pacific terminus, and in the event of the road from Norfolk to
Petersburg being built, Norfolk wUl be its Atlantic terminus. The
China and East India trade generaUy, must pass over the road.
What then, I ask, will the consequences be to Norfolk, if some
eighty or one hundred steamships (this may seem extravagant to
some, but not to you, for you are one of the progressives) ply to
and from her wharves, — hundreds of thousands of people passing
through her yearly,' " &c.
The city of Norfolk subscribed, in accordance with the vote of
the citizens, the sum of $200,000 to the Weldon and Gaston, to
the Clarksville and Ridgway, and to the Seaboard and Roanoke
Railroads ; $75,000 being the amount appropriated to the latter.

302 HISTORICAL AND
" In consideration of this subscription, the President and Di
rectors of the Company offered to the city all the facUities neces
sary to an efficient connexion by ferry with their road, and for
the transportation over it of freight and passengers, to or from
Norfolk, on terms of fairness and equality."
" If, after a trial of five years, commencing with the subscrip
tion by the city of $200,000 to the roads above mentioned, or
from the completion of the Seaboard Road to Weldon, the ferry
transportation should, in the opinion of the Councils, be found
unsatisfactory, the Seaboard Road guarantees to the city of
Norfolk a connexion with said road by means of a branch rail
road, commencing at the engine shop or outer depot of said road,
near the outer limits of the town of Portsmouth, and connecting
by means of bridges with the city of Norfolk by the nearest
practicable route over the southern branch of the Elizabeth
River which may be sanctioned by the Legislature of Virginia.
" To this compact, has been obtained by the RaUroad Com
pany, the assent of the Trustees of the town of Portsmouth, as
will be seen by reference to their resolutions enclosed to the
Committee by the President of the road — thus avoiding future
difficulty here or elsewhere, that might possibly grow out of this
arrangement between the City and the Seaboard Company.
"By the employment of $200,000 of the credit of the city in
the shape of a subscription to these works, our trade and busi
ness will reap the same advantages as if Norfolk had expended
$1,500,000 on her own account. Others, including states and
individuals, have provided six-sevenths of the amount expended, or
required to complete the line of improvements from Norfolk to
Raleigh and Clarksville, and we are called on to supply the re
mainder. This the people have directed to be done, provided,
in the judgment of the CouncUs, a suitable arrangement could be
made with the Seaboard Road and other interests."
Some time before this arrangement was effected, Norfolk pro
posed to subscribe $200,000 to the capital stock of the Seaboard
Company, as embraced in the estimate of cost, between Ports
mouth and the intersection of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad ;
and also to subscribe the further sum of $100,000 (or more, if
the cost should exceed this sum), to construct a lateral road, ac-

DESCRIPl^IVE SKETCHES. 303
cording to the report of Mr. Williston, by which this city should
connect with the main stem : in consideration that the RaUroad
Company would keep the lateral road in repair, and transport
passengers and freight as cheaply to Norfolk as to Portsmouth,
&c., &c.
The polls were opened for the votes of the people to bo taken
upon this subject, and a considerable majority were in favour of
the subscription, with the understanding that the southern and
eastern branches of the river should be bridged, and a train of
cars should arrive at a depot in the city. The authority to con
struct the bridges' was, however, not allowed by the Legislature
— a most determined opposition having been made by Ports
mouth — and the subscription was accordingly declined. An
arrangement has since been effected with the Baltimore Steam
Packet Company, by which the two lines are connected ; the
Baltimore Company having taken the remaining stock unsub
scribed for on certain conditions agreed to by the Railroad
Company. The Wellington and Manchester Railroad is rapidly progress
ing. This, with the Seaboard and Roanoke, &c., will make a
continuous line of eight hundred and sixty-eight miles from Nor
folk to Montgomery, Alabama.
The North Carolina Road, from Raleigh to Salisbury, with
the Charlotte and Columbia Road, will make a continuous line
from Norfolk in that direction.
The Virginia and Tennessee Road, the Nashville and Chatta
nooga Road, the Memphis Road, with the Norfolk and Peters
burg Road (should it be built), or with a connexion between the
Virginia and Tennessee and the Clarksville and Ridgway Roads,
will form a continuous line from our city to Memphis on the
Mississippi. " The aggregate of lines now made or being made, to concen
trate upon Norfolk, amounts to more than two thousand mUes of
railway," extending through, perhaps, the richest and most pro
ductive section of the Union."
But more men of active enterprise, enlightened, liberal, com
mercial enterprise and zeal, there must be, to make the best of
these immense prospective sources of greatness and wealth ; let

304 HISTORICAL AND
there be a larger number of these ; put down sectional jealousies
and narrow-hearted prejudices ; and let us have wise, impartial,
and prompt legislative action and concurrence, and Virginians will
ere long be proud of their commerce, of their exports, and of the
splendour of their cities. But without these great essential ele
ments of progress, in these days of activity and effort in all other
sections, they may dream, and hope, and speculate, philosophise,
and elucidate, but all will be in vain ; and the commercial ten
dency of this noble old State, of matchless natural advantages,
will be comparatively downward and backward continually.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
Commercial Position — Why Norfolk has not advanced more rapidly — Other
Cities — Norfolk and Boston — Virginia and Massachusetts — Formerly Flou
rishing Commerce of Virginia — Norfolk Waking Up — Internal Improvements
— Obstructions must be removed — Produce must find an Outlet at this Port
— Means of Access — Products of Virginia, North Carolina, &c. — Improvement
apparent iu Norfolk — Back Country — Laud iu the Vicinity — Centralizing
Action — Western Trade — Railroads, Steam-Packet Lines, &c. — Efl'ect upon
the Commerce of the State — Erroneous Impressions relative to the Storage
of Tobacco — Adaptation of the Climate to its Preservation proved — Testi
mony of the Merchants — The Climate of Norfolk — Warehouses — -^Inspectors
— Merchants — Flour, Wheat, &c. — Means of Access.
It is not surprising that the observant traveller looks around
and expresses astonishment at what he beholds here, or that the
enterprising and reflecting men of the present days of progress,
improvement, and wonderful prosperity, in almost every other
direction, should be amazed on taking a contemplative view at
what is very generaUy acknowledged to be, with scarcely an
exception, the best commercial position to be found upon the
shores of the "whole boundless continent."*
* The contents of this and a portion of the succeeding pages of this chapter,
were inserted iu the Norfolk Directory, having been taken from the manuscript
of this work.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 305
It is an unpleasant and undeniable fact in the history of this
noble seaport, that its vast advantages have neither been properly
estimated nor developed. In consequence of the formerly unkind
spirit and unfriendly policy of Great Britain with regard to our
navigation, and the necessarily restrictive measures of Congress
in relation to the trade of the West India Islands and elsewhere,
as well as the strange and injudicious course of the Legislature
of the State, in refusing the necessary encouragement and assist
ance to, and even placing restrictions and checks upon, commerce ;
and owing, it must also be acknowledged, to the want of a suffi
ciently strong and vigorous spirit of enterprise on the part of
many of the inhabitants, the prosperity of our port is sadly diffe
rent from what it should be ; its manifest facilities for greatness
have been disregarded and neglected, and many enterprising men
have been reluctantly compelled to look elsewhere for a profitable
investment of their funds, while others have toiled here long with
out realizing an advancement commensurate with so favourable a
position. Some have laboured entirely in vain ; but many able, ener
getic, and persevering individuals, becoming weary and impatient
on account of the indifference in regard to the most important
interests, and of the tardiness of the law-making powers in
cherishing and appropriating the inestimable gifts of Nature,
have gone north, south, and west, in search of a more promising
and profitable field of labour. Nor have they sought in vain ;
for, while there has long been but little regard paid here to the
improvement of great advantages and abundant means of wealth,
others have failed not to appreciate those which were compara
tively inconsiderable. While the people of this section of the
Old Dominion have appeared to be satisfied with a slow and
gradual progress, and have seemed quite willing to wait and
calmly submit to the sad result of delay, towns and cities pos
sessing no advantages over this in regard to location, and, in
many cases, greatly inferior natural facilities, have arisen, pros
pered, and, by a commendable union of industrious personal
effort, have long since taken a dignified stand in the nation. It
is needless to direct the reader's attention to New Orleans, Boston,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, St. Louis, &c. It is morti-
20

306 HISTORICAL aVd
fying even to allude to the startling disparity between our city
and New York, the great commercial emporium of the North, the
South, and the West. But observe, for instance, the contrast,
humUiating though it is, presented by the ports of Norfolk and
Boston ; a contrast owing, in a great measure, to the astonishing
difference in the commercial policy pursued by the governments
of two States, which admit, by the way, in some other respects,
at least, of an agreeable comparison. With the wonder-working
power of the eloquence and patriotism of their sons, and the in
vincibility of their arms, these two old colonies stood conspicu
ously together in the trying days of the Revolution ; and their
instrumentality assisted greatly in raising high the undulating
waves of public sentiment, until they broke in resistless fury
against the strong towers of British tyranny and oppression.
Though divided by space, and vastly unequal in size, they battled
furiously and fiercely together in behalf of liberty, amid peril,
and blood, and death. The one gave to the world John Adams,
and other noble spirits of the Revolution ; the other produced
her Henry, and other fearless men of that eventful period ; and
they united in calling out America's greatest son to be the chief
actor in that long and bloody contest for justice and freedom.
May the rude, wicked, and silly attempts of blind fanaticism never
prove sufficient to tear asunder the ties of sympathetic regard,
made strong by mutual efforts, long past, though well remem
bered, to cement and build up for time this great national fabric !
Before the commencement of the struggles of the Revolution,
Norfolk, as is well known, was an exceedingly prosperous commer
cial town ; and since those " days that tried men's souls," Virginia
has justly boasted of her flourishing commerce, her many great
ships and wealthy merchants, and rejoiced in the bright antici
pations of the future. Behold how far the old Bay State has
stridden ahead of the Old Dominion in this respect. How vast
the difference now ! and how manifest the cause of the almost
incalculable advantage which she presents to the world ! It is
needless to particularize with regard to facts so familiar even to
the schoolboy.
But what, we ask, has Nature done for Boston in point of
commercial facUities, more than for this identical position ? Able

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 307
statesmen and skilful merchants have answered the question, and
the reply is, emphatically, notliing — that could not have been
readily overbalanced by artificial means, properly employed, and
sustained by systematic, judicious, patient effort, and enterprise.
But a glance at a map of the country is only requisite to esta
blish the truth of this statement.
Let it be remembered, however, that all of the intelligent and
respected citizens of Norfolk and Portsmouth have not remained
quiet and passive spectators of the race in which the two adja
cent towns have been so sadly distanced. Some have spoken
plainly, written clearly and forcibly, and acted a noble part.
The result of their efforts has been gradually, though surely
manifesting itself; it is already apparent, and it must, ere
long, be more plainly seen and more readily acknowledged
by all. The scales have at length fallen from the eyes of many
who were long and strangely blind to their own interest, as well
as to that of the community at large. Renewed vigour and a
more enterprising spirit, harmonizing somewhat with the enlight
ened and progressive movements of the age, are evinced; and
although there are some whose years and intelligence entitle
them to respect, who still appear to be firmly fixed in their op
position to nearly every innovation, and who are as hard to move
as the rocks in their deep-laid foundations amid the heavy break
ing surges of the sea, yet the determined and unyielding spirit
of improvement is rapidly pervading the community. A few
will, of course, object and grumble on to the end of life's short
day ; but they cannot retard its progress or materially injure its
vivifying and cheering influences. A vein of feeling upon the
subject is gradually extending through almost every portion of
society, and it is hoped it will swell with the life-giving principle
of enterprise, until the pulsations shall become stronger and
more regular than ever before, and indicate clearly a more
healthful state of affairs ; and until the very heart of the body
politic shall beat with emotion, and rejoice at the bright pros
pect of blessings and advantages which must inevitably result
from the application of the great and never-faUing remedies,
namely : individual enterprise, combined with a sound, judi
cious, and liberal system of internal improvements — well-esta-

308 HISTORICAL AND
blished lines of communication southward and westward, con
centrating at the seaport of Virginia, as at Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and other cities already
named as the great commercial marts of their respective States.
The decree has gone forth, uttered in strong and impressive
tones, by the sovereign voice of at least a majority of the people
in this region, that Norfolk and Portsmouth must arise and press
more rapidly on towards the station they are destined by nature
to occupy, with those cities of the world which have come to
greatness only by a proper development of their resources for
commerce. Water seeks its level. The course of the aerolite, or other
descending body, is towards the centre of the earth. These and
other established and well-known laws of nature, cannot be
altered ; they will remain, doubtless, until old Time himself
shall be arrested in his rapid flight, and all earthly materialities
shall be changed. But these principles are scarcely more cer
tain and undeniable than the identical and self-evident proposi
tion, that the produce of a country will pass through the cheapest,
nearest, and most convenient channels and outlets to the great
commercial marts of the world ; and that trade will concentrate
at those depots which require the least delay and expense, and
which offer the best prices and largest profits. Theii let all un
necessary obstructions be removed, and open the way for easy,
free, and extensive internal comm-unication and transportation.
Let the T iron be laid, and the commodious cars roll on through
those sections of country which abound with the great staple
articles that form so large a portion of the nation's wealth ; make
the canals almost as free as the waters of our noble rivers ; and
then, as has been clearly demonstrated in many sections of this
great country, with regard to other towns and cities, the long-
expected advancement of Norfolk, and every town and viUage in
its vicinity, under the approving smUes of gracious Heaven, will
be sure and permanent ; and it will be so, notwithstanding the
evil forebodings and melancholy predictions of the " croakers"
to the contrary.
But where is the city whose commerce is extensive and flou
rishing, only because it is open to the sea, without suitable means

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 309
of access for purchasers, producers, and their commodities from
the interior ? The granaries and storehouses in the rich val
leys of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, &c.,
though less productive than they soon will be, are groaning with
corn, wheat, tobacco, cotton, bacon, and other valuable produc
tions. The " fat cattle" that roam and graze " upon a thousand
hills," are ready for the markets ; salt in immense quantities is
furnished at the exhaustless salines ; the mines are filled with
coal, gypsum, copper, lead, iron, &c., all seeking vent, as it
were, from their confinement ; and for the want of a suitable
outlet in this direction, a large quantity takes a tedious, tortuous,
and circuitous course, in opposition to the design of nature, and
goes to enrich the merchants and build up the cities of other
States, that have done well, 'tis true, to open a communication
affording such means of advancement. Fortunately, however,
ages of industrious and enterprising toil, will not exhaust the in
calculable treasures that lie dormant and undisturbed. Heavy,
thick, and extensive forests there are to yield their supplies of
timber, and their rich lands for cultivation ; immense fields of
grain, and pastures with countless herds, afford their annual
abundance ; the hills, the valleys, the mountains, all invite the
efforts of enterprise, and offer their stores of wealth.
On taking a view of the city as it now is, it may truly be said
— and it is exceedingly gratifying to remark — that a considerable
improvement is presented in its appearance, and which has been
going on rapidly during the last eight or ten years. Since the
alteration in the title and charter, in 1845, the place has made
very perceptible steps onward and upward — a creditable pro
gress in its career of prosperity. Many beautiful public build
ings, elegant family residences, large and splendid stores, well-
paved streets, and a thriving and healthful population of about
sixteen thousand, already suffice to render Norfolk quite a large
and handsome city. With a just appreciation and judicious im
provement of the natural advantages and favourable position of
the port for the most extensive mercantile operations, who can
foretell its future greatness, as it would at no distant period be
inscribed upon the truthful page of history ?
The erroneous, though oft-repeated assertion, that "Norfolk

310 HISTORICAL AND
has no back country,"(!) should never again 'be uttered. It is
but the feeble cry of dull despondency ; the language of the
short-sighted, uttered in almost unpardonable ignorance, and
which might have been applied, with about as much appropriate
ness, to Tyre of old, before its calamitous overthrow, or that
might as well be used now in reference to the densely crowded
seaport of the Empire State, the Modern Athens or the Crescent
City, the Monumental City or the City of Brotherly Love. That
large, quiet, and truly beautiful collection of salt water, bounding
the city on the south, — deep, blue, and clear, from the great
ocean just below, although it rolls along upon its ample bed, be
tween our city and the interior, is no obstruction to trade, not
the least obstacle in the way of the commercial prosperity of the
place. It is, of course, as it has been, and as it is believed it
will, ere long, prove more plainly to be, the chief source of the
wealth and advancement of Norfolk, as well as of the adjacent
counties of the southeastern section of the State.
The narrow, level slip of land on the east and southeast, assists
greatly in supplying the markets ivith fruit, vegetables, mutton,
poultry, grain, &c. ; the beautiful bays, rivers, and deep mean
dering streams, serving well to furnish ample quantities of the
finest fish, wild fowl, and "fat oysters" of the largest size, and
the dense forests abounding with oak, pine, ash, hickory, walnut,
cedar, beech, gum, sycamore, persimmon, and other useful trees,
which afford firewood in abundance, besides the best of timber
for the purpose of shipbuilding, &c.
But, as before intimated, it is to the wide domain of the
south, southwest, west, and northwest, to the great valleys and
plains, the mountains and "hill country" of those immense, ex
haustless regions, that the people, at this great natural outlet to
the eastern world, must look for the invaluable treasures which
a kind Providence has placed at the disposal of the busy miUions
of the interior.
"Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston,
Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans, have been alone looked to
by the States in which they lie as the termini of all the works of
improvement in which they have embarked ; while Virginia forms
an exception to all other communities, ancient or modern, in the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 311
struggle for the empire of commerce. We have felt the central
izing action of the Federal Government in favour of New York,
and it has tended much to strip us of our foreign trade, since we
derived no aid, but rather opposition, from our own State. The
seaport of every Atlantic State is more rapidly improving than
that of Virginia ; and the reason is obvious : they have commenced
their lines on the sea-coast, we, at the head of tidewater. They
commence at one end and work through steadily to the other ;
while we begin among the hills above the bars of our rivers, and
stop at the mountains."
Let the communication be opened from Norfolk westwardly ;
tap the great internal thoroughfares, and the produce of the
country will flow eastwardly in vast quantities, to benefit the
merchants and tradesmen of this, as well as other sections of the
State. Cut through the dark and thick old forest wilds, and the
towering mountain barriers, too, if need be ; let in the bright
light of day, bridge the rivers, unite the water-courses, spread
out the iron track, to bind, as with a ponderous cable-chain, the
East and the West together, and let the unwearied metallic horse
be attached to the capacious cars, and strengthened and sustained
by the flerce fires of the glowing furnace, throwing off upon the
winds that lag behind him the surplus of his resistless power, let
him speed on to and fro in his rapid course, — up from these level
lowlands, and down again from the rich and splendid undulating
country. Send out the conveyances to the Blue Ridge and Alle
ghany regions, and away down through the magnificent lands of
West Tennessee, even to the turbid waters of the old Mississippi,
flowing on and foaming still in unabated strength and fury.
Send on, with the richly freighted cars, the messages from the
seaboard, and the long whizzing trains will return to these shores
overburdened with the rich and varied products of the vast and
inexhaustible western and northwestern sections of our almost
boundless expanse of territory. Here, " where we can stand at
our doors and almost hear the voice of the eternal sea, as it
thunders upon the beach at hand," let them be exchanged; and
hence let them be shipped and forwarded north and east ; and by
the contemplated Southern Steam Packet Lines from this port

312 HISTORICAL AND
to Liverpool, Antwerp, and other extensive marts of the old
world, beyond the deep and troubled waters of the ocean.
And, as a necessary consequence, capitalists wUl be attracted
hither, manufactories will spring up, labour will be in demand,
the limits of the towns will be rapidly extended, and a bright day
of prosperity wUl be witnessed. The influence of Norfolk, in
common with other cities, wUl then be felt and acknowledged,
and she will act the part in the commercial, political, and literary
world, that will reasonably be expected of the seaport city of Vir
ginia, and be the great central mart of the eastern coast of the
Union. The port of Norfolk and Portsmouth will then be a great
centre of attraction, — the converging point of trade. All South
eastern Virginia will feel the brightening influence, and share
largely in the general benefits to be dispensed. An impulse will
be given, not only to commerce, but to the mechanic arts, and
other attendants on a prospering community, which, in our happy
country, especially, tend to dignify society, and give importance
to the name of a people. Then will it no longer be said, to the
shame of the good citizens of this old commonwealth, that "Vir
ginia, with a vast domain, whose climate is the sunniest of the
sunny ; whose valleys the richest of the rich ; whose every moun
tain-side embosoms a store of wealth which the wants and the
industry of man can never exhaust ; whose thousand streams
furnish the water-power for a score of Birminghams and Lowells ;
which boasts the noblest seaport from the Passamaquoddy to the
Rio Grande, and a roadstead that would shelter the shipping of
the world ; that Virginia, with all these matchless advantages, —
with the elements of commercial greatness that might make her
the rival of New England, and old England too, has no commerce
that can be dignified with the name, and the little she has left is
flitting from her grasp, like the vapoury mists of the morning
before the chasing beams of the risen sun."
It is quite certain that an impression prevails, in some parts
of the interior of Virginia and North Carolina, that the climate
of Norfolk is unfavourable for the storage of tobacco, grain, &c.
It is said that tobacco will undergo here "the sweating process,"
as is the case in New Orleans, and other low, damp situations;
and that it is consequently hazardous to send it, whether manu-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 313
factured or in the leaf, to this place. Without a knowledge of
the origin of so strange an impression, we say, emphatically,
that it is without foundation. The statement, by whomso
ever made, must have been put forth either through mistake, or
with malicious intent ; for it is well known that the climate of
this identical location is admirably adapted to the storage of
this important article of commerce. The observation and expe
rience of years prove, most conclusively, that any assertion to
the contrary, is absolutely fallacious. Facts, which cannot be
set aside, and living testimony, which cannot be questioned, con
firm and establish the truthfulness of what we have stated.
There are merchants, now residing in this city and elsewhere,
who have dealt largely in tobacco here, and their testimony is
in direct opposition to the idea that this location is not, in every
way, suitable to its preservation in a sound and merchantable
state. A number of satisfactory statements could be given, but
the following will surely suffice to satisfy every unprejudiced
mind: Josiah Wills, Esq., an extensive merchant, and highly-respected
citizen of Norfolk, has a tobacco manufactory in Danville, from
which manufactured tobacco is sent to Baltimore, Philadelphia,
New York, kc, as well as to this city. He has, therefore, every
facility of testing the adaptation of our climate to its storage,
and of a comparison between this and other locations. He states
that tobacco, either in the leaf or manufactured, is preserved in
as sound a condition here as in any other city on the coast —
that it remains when stored in our warehouses, especially when
properly cured and manufactured, without sustaining the least
injury. To illustrate and prove by actual facts, the entire suitableness
of our climate to the keeping of manufactured tobacco, Mr. W.
says further, that when a portion of large lots put up at his
manufactory in March, has been sent in April to Norfolk, and
several cities further north, on a careful examination, in the fall,
of what remained on hand in each place, the packages of the
article stored in this city were found to be in a perfectly sound
condition, and fully equal, if not superior, in colour and flavour,

314 HISTORICAL AND
to that sent elsewhere, at the same time, and under like circum
stances. With regard to leaf tobacco, we are authorized, by the same
gentleman, to mention, that a hogshead of the article remained,
through some mistake or oversight, in the Tobacco Warehouse,
on Town Point, for five years ; and, on being opened and exa
mined, the contents were found to have sustained not the least
injury — being in a fine state of preservation.
There are, in our city, extensive warehouses, built upon land
far enough above the level of the waters of our deep and exten
sive harbour at the highest tides. The Norfolk Tobacco Ware
house, having been built for the purpose, is well adapted to the
preservation of the great staple. There will be suitable and
competent inspectors appointed ; and whenever it shall come, in
quantities, however large, there will be found merchants here,
able and ready to manage it to the very best advantage for the
enterprising planters of the interior.
This climate is also very well suited to the storage of flour,
wheat, corn, bacon, &c.
With regard to the means of access, it is, of course, greatly
to the advantage of every city, that these should be convenient,
agreeable, and cheap. All suitable efforts should be made to
increase the number of visiters, as well as by a display of cheap
and valuable wares, and merchandise of every description, to
offer tempting inducements to purchasers. The northern cities
are well aware of this, and their wise policy has long been to
keep down the price of passage and fare, from every section of
country likely to be tributary to the centre of attraction. Great
are the general and special beneflts of such a system; and in
those cases in which individual capital and enterprise cannot
suffice to present cheap and proper conveyances, companies and
associations are formed, and the benefits to be derived from a
constant ingress of strangers, of every business and from every
direction, are secured. The cost of visiting Norfolk, from almost
every point, is, comparatively high. There are many rich
and populous regions of country, only a short distance from
our city, from which our merchants receive a large portion of
their trade — but means should be taken to increase a hundred

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 315
fold the number of visiters. It would prove highly advantageous
to all departments of business — to every interest of the city. It
is well enough known, that almost every person who comes to
town contributes, in some measure, to its advancement, by an
exchange of money for its value. The hotels, the grocery stores,
the dry -goods stores, the hardware, book, clothing, and jewelry
stores, the frtut, confectionary, and toy stores, &c., are more or
less patronised by strangers, who visit the place, whether on
business or as a matter of mere pleasure or curiosity, to spend a
few days, by way of a change, from the quiet and retirement of
country life.
Trade and travel must shortly tend in this direction from the
interior of the country. " The great heart of the interior begins
now to palpitate and perform its functions in a natural way. It
will soon begin to throw off its produce to the great ocean of
trade by the shortest arteries of communication." But all suit
able efforts should be made to attract visiters from the surround
ing country, by water as well as by land, and especially from
the shores of the neighbouring rivers and bays accessible by
steamers of light draft and light charges ; and the result would
be pleasing and beneficial, to an extent probably not contem
plated even by those who favour the plan.

CHAPTER XL.
Lieutenant Maury — Natural Advantages of Norfolk — Back Country — Supine
ness of the State — The South — Trade of the Amazon Valley — Line of Steamers
from Norfolk, &c. — Para — Clipper Ships — The Wharves of Norfolk — Advan
tages of the Port — Trade of the West Indies and South America — A. W.
Thompson's Scheme — Line of Steamers from Norfolk to Antwerp, &c. — Mr.
Thompson's Propositions — Prospective Benefits — Advantages offered by
Belgium — Opinions respecting the enterprise — Statements of Mr. Wheeler.
The following remarks are from a pamphlet, attributed to the
pen of Lieutenant Maury, U. S. N., of the National Observa-

316 HISTORICAL AND
tory, at Washington, who has acquired " by his widely useful
labours, a transatlantic fame not inferior to the enviable reputa
tion which he enjoys at home."
" Norfolk is in a position to have commanded the business of
the Atlantic Seaboard. It is midway the coast. It has a back
country of great fertility and resources, and as to the approaches
from the ocean, there is no harbour from the St. Johns to the
Rio Grande, which has the same facility of ingress and egress,
at all times and in all weathers. The waters flowing by it into
the sea separate the producing from the consuming — the agricul
tural from the manufacturing States of the Atlantic slope ; and
they there unite the channels that lead from the famous regions
in the country for corn, wheat, and tobacco to the marts of com
merce. " The natural advantages of the position will be obvious to
any one who will compare the back country of Norfolk with that
of New York. The country drained by the Hudson is all the
back country which naturally belongs to New York. But the
back country of Norfolk is all that which is drained by the
Chesapeake Bay — embraced by a line drawn along the ridge be
tween the Delaware and Chesapeake ; thence northwardly, in
cluding all of Pennsylvania that is in the valley of the Susque
hanna — all of Maryland this side of the mountains — the valleys
of the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James Rivers — with
the valley of the Roanoke and a great part of the State of North
Carolina, whose only outlet to the sea is by way of Norfolk.
" Virginia saw those advantages and slept upon them. Nature
had placed them there, and she did not dream that man could
take them away. But the enterprise of New York has taken
them away. The South now wants to regain her direct trade.
We do not wish to discourage the effort, great as the odds against
Norfolk now are, for we know that there are men in the South
who have energy, enterprise, and capacity enough for anything
that energy, enterprise and capacity can effect."
After showing how the South lost the direct trade, and the
North secured it, and the immense and boundless productions of
the Great Amazon valley, the sugar, coffee, tobacco, rice, indigo,
cocoa, cotton, barks, spices, gums, and sheep ; and some masterly

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 317
remarks upon "the great king of rivers," the Gulf Stream, the
Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River, the Carribean Sea, &c.
Lieutenant Maury thus proceeds :
" The proposition therefore is, to establish a line of steamers
from Norfolk, Charleston, or Savannah, to the mouth of the
Amazon. " Para is the city at its mouth. It has now a population of
15 or 20,000. There is a line of steamers already in operation
from Rio to Para.
" From Savannah to Para, the distance is about 2500 miles ;
from Para, to Rio 2100. The ' Baltic,' would perform the
passage from Rio to the United States, or from the United
States to Rio, in thirteen days. The time occupied now in going
and coming by sailing vessels is ninety days.
" The effect of such a communication would be to turn the
whole current of correspondence and travel of the Atlantic Coast
of South America, through Norfolk or the North American ter
minus of the line. No European nation could compete with us
for it, for their distance from Para is doubly ours.
" Our present commerce with Brazil and Rio de la Plata is
more valuable than our commerce with any of the countries of
Europe, except Britain and France. Para, at this time, affords
foreign commerce enough to give freight to a fleet of fifty sail.
But this is nothing to what it will do when stimulated by civili
zation, agriculture, and commerce. Of more than twice the area
of the Mississippi Valley, that of the Amazon is more bountiful.
There the labour of one day in seven, is enough tp crown the
board of the husbandman with plenty. And yet the resources
of the vegetable, mineral, and animal kingdoms there, and of
man and civilization, still lie almost undeveloped. Commerce,
with the ocean for its pathway, the winds for its wings, enter
prise for its herald, and wealth, civUization, and Christianity for
its attendants and followers, has not visited its shores. Were it
but once to spread its wings over the valley of the Amazon, the
shadow of it would be like the touch of the magician's wand ; its
immense resources would spring into life and activity.
" Therefore, let the South look to the South for trade and com-

318 HISTORICAL AND
merce ; let her foster by all means in her power liberal commer
cial relations with a region which has such vast possessions, such
countless treasures, such infinite resources to make valuable its
future commerce."
Lieutenant M. remarks further, in a letter on this important
subject :
" The cUpper ships of America, as the new-modelled ships are
called, I regard as one of the great advancements of the age.
The impressions which they are calculated to make upon com
merce, and, through commerce, upon the character of the people,
the institutions of countries, and the fortunes of nations, are not
less than those of railways and magnetic telegraphs. They are
second only to those made by the mariner's compass.
" The average sailing rate of a vessel under canvass, one day
with another, upon long voyages, has been considered at about
one hundred miles the day. But what do we see in these ships ?
We see them outstripping steam, averaging, for twenty-four hours
together, upwards of eighteen miles the hour, sailing more than
eleven hundred miles in three consecutive days, and averaging
daily, on the voyage hence to California — a voyage through seas
the most boisterous, through regions of the most vexatious calms,
and a voyage the most tedious — why, we see the clipper ships
outstripping the wind, and day after day, for ninety or one hun
dred days, averaging their two hundred miles.
" The wharves of Charleston and Savannah are out of the
reach of these ships. Those of Norfolk are not ; and the con
siderations growing out of this circumstance are sufficient to turn
the scale in favour of Norfolk.
" Measuring the distance by the only true standard time, and
taking the mean of the average time under steam, and the mean
of the average time under canvass, for the commercial distance
to the Amazon, Norfolk, in consequence of her fine harbour and
her abUity to trade in clipper ships, will be found practically to
be the nearest port in the United States to the mouth of the
Amazon. By steam, Charleston has the advantage over Norfolk
of about ninety miles only ; and for the fetching and carrying
of that commerce to which this steam enterprise is to give rise,
the first rate clipper ships which Norfolk can send out, and which

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 319
Charleston and Savannah cannot, will greatly surpass and far
outstrip the second and third rate class of ships to which the
bars have doomed our more southern cities.
" Therefore, in my judgment, Norfolk is the place. A con
tract for carrying the Brazilian and South American mails would
also assist to build up and sustain this line."
"At the present moment," says another writer, "when steam
is revolutionizing the world, — when our own State has at length
been awakened from her lethargy, and is entering upon a system
of internal improvements with a spirit and energy which will com
mand success and develope her inexhaustible sources of mineral
and agricultural wealth, — we beg to call the attention of the
citizens of Norfolk, and of all Virginia, to a branch of commerce
which is peculiarly our own, and in which we may, with all con
fidence, defy competition. We allude to the West India and
South American trade and mail routes, in which we would have
no competition with previously-established lines ; or, if they even
did exist, we wiU clearly demonstrate how easily we could super
sede them by our peculiar local advantages."
Much has been said and written about the scheme of Ambrose
W. Thompson, Esq., an enterprising merchant of Philadelphia, to
establish a line of steamers between Norfolk, Antwerp, &c., and
of his able memorial to the General Assembly of Virginia. He
proposes " to establish a line of first-class steamships, of not less
than two thousand tons register each, between the ports of Nor
folk, Virginia, and Antwerp, in Europe, touching, in going or
returning, at such other ports in England and France as may be
desirable ; — the said ships to possess great speed and sea quali
ties, and to be buUt in such manner as to fit them for any marine
or naval purpose.
" He will contribute two-fifths of the cost of construction and
equipment of said steamers, and begin their construction imme
diately, so as to establish the said line at the earliest possible
period, provided the State of Virginia shall advance its six per
cent, bonds with coupons, having ten years to run, for the re
maining three-fifths ; the bonds thus advanced to be secured to
the State by mortgage on the said ships, accompanied by the
poUcies of insurance, and a contract that, the said steamers shall

320 HISTORICAL AND
always run from the waters of Virginia. The interest on the
said bonds to be paid semi-annually into the Treasury of Vir
ginia and the whole amount of bonds thus advanced to be paid
by him at their maturity ; but he is to have the privilege of pay
ing them off at any time previous to maturity.
" The State of Virginia, through its Board of Improvement,
to have the right at all times to examine into the accounts of
disbursements made for the cost of said steamers, and to have
the continued right of inspecting them during the term of the
State's bonds, and requiring such repairs and improvements
made in them as will fully secure the efficiency and value of
said steamships."
The Richmond Republican says : " The memorial presents
clearly and concisely one of the safest and most thoroughly prac
tical modes of carrying out a great enterprise that we have yet
seen ; and we trust that no son of the Old Dominion will fail to
sustain heartily this effort to give to us a new dominion upon the
ocean. Let this line but go into early operation, and we shall
see all the tributary waters of the Chesapeake covered with active
steamboats, developing our internal resources and sustaining the
Ocean line. Our main stems of raUroads will be extended to the
waters of the Mississippi, and through Virginia will pour the com
merce of that great valley of the nation."
" The government of Belgium has given assurance that it will
co-operate with Virginia, and lend every aid in its power towards
the early establishment and permanent support of the line.
" The people of Belgium respond in an equally prompt and
promising manner.
" The manufacturers and merchants are desirous to secure a
direct import into their country of cotton, tobacco, and other
southern produce, that they may in return find markets for the
products of their industry and mechanical skill."
This subject is now — January, 1853 — pending in the Legisla
ture, having been already favourably considered by the Senate,
which passed a bill in accordance with the propositions of Mr.
Thompson. In view of the apparent probability that the enter
prise would prove successful, we are inclined to express the hope
that it may be tried ; although it is the opinion of gentlemen of

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 321
much intelligence and experience, that ten or fifteen years hence
would be a more suitable period for the State to advance the sum
required by the projector; and that, if undertaken now, the
whole scheme, fair as it looks on paper, will result in a splendid
failure. The following are some of the reasons adduced in favour of the
scheme, by Mr. Wheeler, of Portsmouth, in an able speech on this
subject, delivered in the House of Delegates, in December, 1852 :
" We could get the trade, not of Belgium alone, but that of
one hundred and three millions of people also, with which Ant
werp has immediate communication by railroad, &c.
"In 1838, the United States, with Belgium, had a trade
amounting to eight millions of dollars. Supposing that it is suc
cessful, and that it will sustain itself, as no doubt it will, what
would be the specific advantages ? I think eight millions of dol
lars would be something. This we can monopolize, and Virginia,
with all her towns and cities, will rejoice in their prosperity.
Besides the advantage of a better market for our tobacco, flour,
corn, and wool — of which Belgium consumes so much — we could
have in return their manufactures, which are the best in Europe.
" All the cotton trade is at present indirectly freighted from
New York to Liverpool; but. by a direct commercial line of in
tercourse, Virginia would realize all the beneflts of this, and
monopolize the cotton trade ; and Norfolk would be the shipping
port for all the cotton trade of the United States.
" When the proposed line is established, it will turn the tide
of trade from New York to Norfolk ; and thence to Richmond,
Petersburg, and the different towns and cities of this common
wealth. " One of the first effects, and an important one too, which this
line would produce, would be the lucrative benefits arising from
consignment, by which numbers are making fortunes in New
York, and these advantages could be had by the people of the
cities and towns of Virginia."

21

322 HISTORICAL AND

CHAPTER XLL
General Appearance of the City — Buildings — Streets, Gardens, Flowers, &c. —
New Baptist Church — Pleasing View — Public BuUdings, &c.^ — Relative Po
sition — Academy — Christ Church — St. Paul's — Eastern Branch — Herberts-
ville — St. Patrick's Church — Presbyterian Church — Baptist Church — Me
thodist Episcopal Church — Marine Hospital — Mechanics' HaU — Southern
Branch — Navy Yard — City HaU — Portsmouth — Naval Hospital — New Metho
dist Episcopal Church — Elizabeth River — War Steamers — Craney Island —
African Churches — Almshouse — Cemeteries — Cotton Factory — Background
— Wooded Lands — Norfolk in 1852 — The Situation — Climate — Atmosphere —
Norfolk Sunsets — Descriptions — SUnset Scene, by Charles H. Beale, Esq.
— Appearance of the City and River from the Outer Harbour — Beautiful
Scenery— Location — Productions of the Water, Forests, Fields, and Gardens
— The Soil and its Capacity — Grain, Vegetables, Fruit, &c. — Grapes — Land
— Sites for Farms.
The City of Norfolk, viewed from some central eminence,
presents to the eye of the beholder a picture, which, though
not as exciting as that of some of her sister cities, is one of
considerable interest and beauty ; producing in the mind very
pleasurable emotions. An appearance of neatness, cleanliness,
and thriftiness is very perceptible. The streets are, many of
them, straight, well paved, nearly level, of convenient width,
and in good order. When spring has thrown her verdant mantle
over the earth, the view is delightfully varied by blooming and
flourishing shade and fruit trees. Flowers of every hue " lift
up their delicate hands, and expand their sweet corollas," to de
light the eye and throw off their fragrance upon the air.
" There is companionship
In summer flowers ; they whisper to our
Hearts sweet lessons of their mission here —
Of love, and gentleness, and every softer grace.
And some, like friends well tried, have followed
Us through every path of life, in this dark
World of sin and grief, to cheer us with au
Old familiar look, or thought, when we were
Strangers in a strange land, or sad in
Some changed house."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 323
The yellow jessamine, the crimson woodbine, the sweet-scented
honeysuckle, and other vines of luxuriant growth, entwine the
arbours, " mingle their long tendrils, and cling to the white walls
of the houses, peeping into the windows and even under the
edges of the doorways, as if they love the faces of those who
dwell therein," while hundreds of carefully cultivated vegetable
gardens contribute to the varied and enlivening scene ; and a
large number of tasteful and lofty family residences, neatly
painted, airy, and commodious, are to be seen in every direc
tion. Many public buildings, too, some of them of great archi
tectural beauty, stand out to view, and lend much to the dignity
and beauty of the scene.
We are standing at the base of the principal turret of the
steeple of that splendid new temple of worship, the Freemason
Street Baptist Church —
" How reverend is the face of this tall pile !
* * * * *
It strikes an awe
And terror on my aching sight."
But we look out with delight upon the scene above, beneath,
around. We are gently fanned by the breeze that comes slowly
in from over the briny waves of the deep blue sea. It is a
bright morning in June; the "glorious King of Day" has not
yet reached his meridian height, and his rays are not oppres
sive. The streets, lanes, houses, squares, gardens, trees, flowers,
all are before us in pleasing variety. The thick, green foliage
rustles to the passing zephyr ; the loud, unrestrained voice of
the light-hearted school-boy, and the lively, transporting laugh
from that group of happy girls, rise above the hum of the passing
crowd, and are heard distinctly by the listening ear —
" How gay in youth the flattering future seems !"
Lightly and cheerily they pass on, full of hope and promise ; —
may their brightest anticipations be realized ! But old Time
will travel on, with steady and unfaltering tread ; and, ere long,
some of the gay and joyful here will say of the hope that now
swells the heart with the gUded visions of the future :

324 HISTORICAL AND
" 'Twas lovely as the splendid bow
That spans the vault of heaven !
'Twas idle as the pageant show
' For infant pastime given.
" 'Twas Uke the moon's ray on the stream.
Reflected bright and clear !
The infant's hand would grasp the beam,
But there is nothing there !".
Who can paint the shade and sunshine, or foresee the joy and
sorrow, that they must experience, on their journey through this
world of change and disappointment ?
With compass in hand,* we now turn the eye from this central
position, and look northeast by eagt, in which direction we have
a fine view of the Academy building, and its proportionate
dimensions, standing in the centre of its handsome square. East
by south, and only a few rods distant, Christ Church shoots up
its spire towards the sky. ' Southeast by east, stands old St.
Paul's, amid the slumbering dead. In this direction is seen, too,
the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth, as it glides under the
Draw-bridge, and winds along its devious course, greeting Her-
bertsvillef on the south bank, and passing, on either hand beyond,
a number of beautiful farms, with their neat farm-houses and
cottages half concealed among the trees. In this direction, also,
stands St. Patrick's Church, with its chaste front and significant
* See Norfolk Directory for relative position of public buildings, &c.
-j- Should a free bridge be allowed across the Eastern Branch, and especiaUy
if the Norfolk and Petersburg Road be built, the value of property at Herberts-
ville will be greatly enhanced. Its close proximity to the business part of the
city, may induce persons, at no distant day, to establish manufactories, erect
buildings, and reside on that side of the river. And as it is a beautiful and
pleasant location, from which there is a flne view of Norfolk Bay, or the inner
harbour, and of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth, as well as of the city,
it might be a good movement for the proprietors of the property, on this point
of land, to lay it off iu streets, squares, &c., for a town.
It must be admitted, however, that there is room enough yet, within the
limits of the city, for works of enterprise ; and unless we soon have more pro
gressive men, a long time it wUl certainly be before the population of Norfolk
wiUboil over, or "swarm out," like that of some other prosperous places in
the world. At the present day, however, much is accomplished in a short
time ; and a very different state of affairs may be witnessed here, ere many of
the present generation shall be resting beneath the green sod.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 325
emblems ; and here, too, are presented the towering cupola of
the Presbyterian Church, and the neat front of the Cumberland
Street Baptist Church. Southeast by south, the Cumberland ^
Street Methodist Church presents its bold and massive propor
tions. Due south, and over the water, at Washington Point,
stands the Marine Hospital,* a tidy and airy structure, half hid
amid trees, and surrounded by evergreens and shrubbery. In
this direction, we see, also, the Mechanics' Hall, with its showy
front and architectural peculiarities, and other handsome build
ings. South by west, the Southern Branch, with Portsmouth,
Gosport, and the great naval establishment, on its west bank,
winds its serpentine way amongst the dense green foliage, to
mingle with the juniper-coloured waters of the Dismal Swamp
Canal. This is also the direction of the City Hall, which the
beholder sees with admiration, — its massive columns, lofty dome,
solid walls, and fine proportions, — and awards the meed of praise
to the " city fathers." On the southwest, we may look upon the
"sister town," exhibiting no mean display of beautiful public
buildings and private dwellings. West by south, across the
water, and fronting Norfolk, we find that splendid national es
tablishment, the Naval Hopital, an elegantly constructed pile of
masonry, — a grand ornament to the harbour, worthy of the noble
object for which it is intended, and is so well suited. f West-
northwest, stands the Granby Street Methodist Church, its taste
ful columns and towering dome overlooking two of the most
beautiful streets in the city. Farther on, and in the same direc
tion, Elizabeth River spreads out its deep, broad bosom, floating,
in their majesty and pride, some of the most formidable war-
steamers, many smaller vessels, and numbers of boats, with their
* The grounds connected with this establishment, and the principal building
itself, were greatly improved aud beautified by the direction, and under the
supervision of Dr. E. 0. Balfour, the attendant physician for ten or twelve
years, prior to 1849. He merited and received the highest commendation for
his kind and skilful attentions to the sick, the excellent order in which the
estabUshment was kept, and the various improvements introduced. His poli
tical principles caused his removal, which recently took place, in favour of Dr.
Schoolfield, of Portsmouth.
f This is also the direction of the Custom House, and Post Office building
soon to be erected, and described on another page.

326 HISTORICAL AND
white sails inviting the breezes ; and then on, flve miles in the
distance, lies Craney Island, the scene of a memorable victory
in the last war with England.
In a northerly and northeasterly direction are a number of
neat buildings, several African churches. Plume and Company's
Rope and Oakum Works, the Gas Works, Cotton Factory, the
Almshouse, Cedar Grove and Elmwood Cemeteries, steam saw
mill, farm-houses, cottages and lawns, with a thick growth of
pine, oak, and maple in the background, all combining to in
crease the gratifying emotions, caused by a look at Norfolk as it
is in 1852. And it will doubtless be readUy admitted, that
although the city is situated in a low, level tract of country,
where there are no towering mountains to be seen in the distance,
nor gently undulating lands and green hUls, among which dance
along upon the pebbly floor the crystal streams, sparkling in the
sunbeams amid fragrant flowers that stoop to embrace the ripples
or throw off their soft petals of every hue upon the glassy sur
face, redolent with the perfume prepared by Nature's own right
hand — no startling exhibitions of nature in her wild state — no
frowning precipices — no roaring torrents, monotonous murmur
ing waterfalls nor spangling fountains ; yet the situation is plea
sant and agreeable, and the inhabitants are certainly in the
enjoyment of many blessings, including a delightful, invigorating,
and healthful climate.
This location is seldom visited by violent storms of wind, rain,
snow, or thunder; and yet it is almost open to the boundless
ocean, to which our bold estuary conveys vessels of the largest
class in two or three hours.
Perhaps it will not be judged unworthy of remark that the
atmosphere of this region is generally very clear and transpa
rent. The disagreeable semi-transparency of the air, often
noticeable in some locations, is seldom observable here. We
have only a fair share of cloudy and foggy weather. The hea
venly bodies generally appear with a peculiarly brUliant and
unobstructed lustre, and often give an attractive charm to the
dawning or declining day. Sunrise, sunset, and even the solemn
midnight hour, frequently present a cheering and delightful sight.
Norfolk sunsets have indeed become celebrated, and travellers

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 327
have left on record some glowing descriptions of their beauty.
Said one (after having watched " the unwearied sun" at the
closing moments of the departing day, and in concluding a graphic
description thereof), " A more gorgeous scene could not be pre
sented to a painter's mind."
The author of these sketches has witnessed many such scenes
here, and will record one which was exceedingly striking and
beautiful. The disappearance of the great central orb of our
system was attended, on that occasion, with a view well calculated
to a,waken the happiest emotions in the minds of those who wit
nessed it, and who know how to appreciate the varied attractions
of nature. Such a scene is thus fltly described by one of the
poets. " It is a beauteous evening, calm and free.
The broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquillity ;
The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the sea."
The "expansive forehead" of the great source of light and
heat, sank quietly down behind the verdure of the western hills ;
and then a fleecy cloud that hung in its beauty a few degrees
above the horizon, reflected the rays of the departing " King of
Day," presenting to the eye of the beholder, the appearance of
the brightest and most exquisitely polished gold, changing gra
dually as they " melted over the verge of the cloud," to a deeper,
though less brilliant hue. There was a peculiar transparency in
the colour of the adjacent clouds, pictured out upon the broad
canvass and by the magic pencil of Nature, which no painter
conld attempt to imitate with any hope of success. The broad
surface of our beautiful river " quivering under the pinions of
the evening breeze," scarcely sufficient to waft the lightest bark
over its clear waters, reflected,, like a great mirror, the hues of
the gilded vault above. That beautiful and massive structure,
the Naval Hospital, standing in its pride on the opposite shore,
gave increasing interest to the view ; while that great leviathian
of the waters, the Pennsylvania, and other United States vessels
on the station, formed a deeply interesting feature in the splendid
picture. And now,

328 HISTORICAL AND
" The sun has sunk into his western couch,
And all the rosy spirits of the eve
Are gathered round in bright companionship.
There is a speaking stillness in the calm.
That breathes of holy purity and peace.
Above, the clouds, all silent and serene.
Rest on the waveless azure of the sky
Like spirit isles of beauty, while the moon.
Full-orbed and smiling in her gentle light.
And all the thousand gems whose peaceful sheen
Spreads through infinitude a silvery ray.
Speak noiseless quietude. The bay, at rest.
Mirrors the freighted treasures which it bears ;
While deeply pictured iu the nether vault
The heavenly one appears.
* * * *
On the earth,
AU things seem full of breathing Paradise ;
Hope spreads her radiant pinions on the air,
Which floats around the realms of joyousness.
Thought wanders amid flowers of every hue.
Whose breath is full of fragrance. Beauty seems
To have arrayed herself in all her smiles.
To grace the glories of the gladdened eve ;
And happiness invites the sous of toil
To share the treasures of her boundless feast."
We have had the good fortune to witness from the same posi
tion, still more striking and beautiful scenery attending the
closing day, than even that which we have sketched — ^have
" watched the clouds in the western sky, as they formed them
selves into festoons of gorgeous drapery ;" but this, attended as
it was, by the quiet and stillness of the Sabbath eve, was suffi
cient to calm the troubled emotions in man's breast, and direct
the mind in adoration to Nature's great Author.
Charles H. Beale, Esq., one of the editors of the "Norfolk
Daily News," is decidedly good at description; and we present
the reader with a sketch from his pen of another of our Sabbath
sunsets :
" The heavens at sunset, presented one of the most beautiful
and brilliant spectacles of sky-scenery that we have ever wit
nessed. It seemed as if Dan Phoebus had determined to give
a parting display of his glories, despite the envious clouds that

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 329
had veiled his brightness during the day, and to sink in triumph,
though suppressed for a time in gloom.
" It was not one of those gorgeous sunsets that we so often see,
when the sky is clear, and the whole expanse lighted up with
deep and glowing colours of crimson, orange, and gold ; but it
was more subdued, yet, at the same time, varied, fantastical, pic
turesque. During the short space of fifteen minutes, the whole
aspect of the heavens underwent four changes, all different, but
equally lovely. The clouds, which had been dark and charged
with rain during the day, towards night melted away into thin
vapour-banks, and from the edge of the western horizon to the
zenith, alternated with glimpses of the deep blue of the firmament
beyond. As the sun slowly sank in the west, a deep carmine
suffused the lower space around him, tinging with roseate hues
the edges of the clouds which were arranged, row by row, far
above ; a few minutes more, and they assumed the appearance of
drifting snow-wreaths ; then a flood of golden light was poured
over the whole heavens, which gradually changed to cream-
colour, with large spots here and there, like cloud-islands, of
deep lake, purple, and maroon. The clouds, too, as they slowly
drifted along before the evening breeze, broke into the most fan
tastic forms, and assumed shapes which the delighted eye could
imagine to be veritable air-castles, built, from base to pinnacle,
of the most gorgeous but fleeting material.
"But ' all that's bright must fade.' The sun at length retired
to greet other lands with his welcome beams, stars peeped out
from between the misty veils which sought to hide their modest
glances, and, in a few moments, sober, pensive twilight had given
place to the dusky mantle of solemn Night, which enveloped
things terrestrial in its sombre folds."
We are indebted to the same source for the following correct
sketch of the appearance of our city and river from the " outer
harbour:" "We hastened to the upper deck, and, taking a seat on the
leeward side of the boat, feasted our eyes on the beautiful pano
rama spread before them. .And, indeed, the scene that presents
itself at the entrance of our harbour is a beautiful one ; and it is

330 HISTORICAL AND
only because we are used to its beauty, that it is not so highly
appreciated as it deserves. We had just passed old Fort Nor
folk when we gained our post of observation, and, looking behind
us, took in at a glance the whole scene. On the left was the
city, with its successive rows of warehouses and wharves, the new
City Hall just in front, one corner of it hidden by the new dep6t
for naval stores erected by J. Gordon, Esq. ; the spires of the
Episcopal and Baptist churches, pointing heavenward, with the
cupolas and turrets of others distinguishable among the confused
mass of buUdings, which, in the distance, seemed to be heaped
together without order or a-rrangement ; the town of Portsmouth,
occupying the other side, with the Navy Yard beyond, while
Washington Point appeared to block up farther ingress, gave
to the river the appearance of a small lake surrounded by a city
and its suburbs."
The location of Norfolk is also such as to place in reach of
almost all the citizens nearly every delicacy in the way of flsh,
flesh, or fowl, vegetables, fruit, or grain. The land in the vici
nity is capable of producing from fifty to one hundred and fifty
bushels to the acre, and varies considerably in colour. There
are black, gray, chocolate, &c., the greater part of which is easy
to drain and cultivate, being well adapted to the culture of corn,
peas, oats, clover, potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, melons, &c. Its
adaptation to the growth of apples, pears, peaches, cherries,
plums, and other fruits, has also been fairly and favourably
tested. Grapes of the finest kinds are also produced, the clus
ters weighing from sixteen to twenty-four ounces, and measuring
ten to twelve inches in length and twelve to sixteen inches in
circumference. There is much uncultivated and unimproved land, which may
be had at from ten to twenty dollars per acre ; and there are
many picturesque and handsome sites for farms within a few
miles from the city, both with and without a water front, on the
river or one of its several beautiful branches.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 331

CHAPTER XLIL
Healthfulness of Norfolk — The Climate — Erroneous Impressions — Sickness
during the War — Malignant Fevers — The Army here in 1813 — Causes of
Sickness and Mortality — Exposure, change of Diet, Climate, &c. — Intempe
rance — The Cold Plague — Measles — Dysentery — Bilious — Inexperienced Phy
sicians — Venesection — Injudicious aud Fatal Treatment — Calomel — Opium —
Water — Clothing — Attendance — Inexperienced Ofiicers — The Citizens — En
dearments of Home — -Fever in 1821 and '26 — "British Spy" — Erroneous
Statements — Buffon's Strange Theory — Norfolk on a high Mountain — Sick
ness iu 1852 — Injurious Reports — Comparative Statements — Charleston-
Average MortaUty — Healthful Effects of the Climate — Comparative Table —
Coloured Population — Statement of Diseases and Deaths — The Cholera —
Longevity — Conclusive Proof.
With regard to the healthfulness of this location, it is a well-
established fact, that Norfolk will compare very favourably, with
other cities. The climate, though changeable, is pleasant and
salubrious. The spring and fall seasons are delightfully pleasant, the
summers not often uncomfortably warm, and the winters, though
formerly quite severe, have, for many years, been comparatively
mild and pleasant, if we except that of 1851-2.
The writer is aware, that for a number of years an opinion has
prevailed in some sections, that Norfolk is very unhealthy — an
opinion well calculated to affect unfavourably the interests of the
place. This erroneous impression was caused by the sickness
and mortality among the troops at this place during the last war
with England, and some cases of malignant fever in the sum
mers of 1821 and '26. Let it be borne in mind that the un-
healthfulness among the soldiers was caused by circumstances
which would have had a similar effect in other healthful locations.
There was quite a large army here, and it was reasonable to ex
pect that among so considerable a number there would be many
sick, and that some would die. This would have been the case
had they all remained at home. But they were exposed, in sum
mer and fall, to the dews and damp air at night, and to the heat of
the sun during the day ; and in winter, to the rains, snows, and

332 HISTORICAL AND
frosts. Many of them were from the mountainous regions of the
State. These were peculiarly subject to the effects of a transition
to a damper and heavier atmosphere, at a location only a few
feet above the level of the sea. The change in diet and water
was also very detrimental to health ; while there were thousands
whose general mode of life had been such as to render the notel
regulations of the camp, particularly injurious and destructive to
the constitution. Let it be remembered, also, that quantities of
intoxicating liquors, of bad quality, were used, which tended to
injure and debilitate the physical system, and to prepare it, ac
cording to the opinion of eminent physicians, for the fatal attacks
of disease. There was much dissipation among the soldiers.
It is also a well-remembered fact, that the disease which caused
the greatest mortality among the troops here, was not at all pe
culiar to this location. It was the cold plague, an epidemic which
commenced its ravages at the Canadas, and spread thence, as far
south as Georgia. Its symptoms and effects were very similar
to those of an epidemic which prevailed to an alarming extent in
Northampton County, Va., in 1845, of which three hundred white
persons alone, died in a short space of time. This singular and
dreadful distemper attacked the throat and lungs ; more frequently
the latter. It was not understood by the physicians, and hun
dreds of the soldiers were soon prostrated by its violence, who,
after a few days of suffering, were generally relieved by death.
Th^ measles and dysentery, which often attack soldiers in camp,
also broke out among them ; and there were cases of bilious fever
too, resulting from the distressing exposure of the troops en
camped in the suburbs. It is also a lamentable fact, that the
treatment of the sick by the inexperienced young physicians who
accompanied the troops hither, was, in a great number of cases,
most injudicious, unreasonable, and unsuccessful ; and we may add,
exceedingly destructive to life. The favourite remedy with those '
young surgeons or medical gentlemen, those novices in the heal
ing art, was venesection, for almost all diseases ; and a sad time it
was, indeed, for the suffering soldier, when the doctor approached
with his lancet — not to his bedside, for beds numbers of them had
not. Thecustom was to bleed often, and bleed copiously. Besides,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 333
although the hapless patients were required to swallow large and
frequent doses of calomel, opium, &c., while,
"The summer evening's balmy air,
Felt hotter than they well could bear ;
And tearless was the fiery eye,
And the hot throat was parched so dry,
That every drop they dared to sip.
Seemed lost before it passed the Up,"
they were nevertheless allowed, according to the cruel custom of
that period, but a scanty supply of the cooling beverage of
nature. Even water, which the sinking system so much required
to restore its functions, was denied them !
Many unfortunate and distressing circumstances combined
to ruin the health, undermine the constitution, and destroy the
lives of the troops that were stationed here. The clothing of
many of them was utterly unsuited to the climate. Their food
was mostly coarse and common ; when sick, they were poorly
attended, and instead of being carefully nursed, were, in many
cases, sadly neglected. There were no suitable and properly-
furnished hospitals, where the invalids could receive such treat
ment as was necessary to the restoration of health.
These unfortunate circumstances, so unfavourable to the health
of the militia-men especially, could not easily be prevented.
There were large numbers here ; the officers were inexperienced ;
many of the citizens had left the town, and those that remained
were unprepared and unable to afford assistance, except to a
limited extent. Those who could render aid and comfort, offered
it freely ; they threw open their houses, and did what they could
ta help the sick. But there were numbers who could receive no
such assistance from the private residents. Added to all this,
they were far away from the endearing associations of home,
and deprived of the peculiarly tender care, watchfulness, and
sympathies, to be received there only. To some of these causes,
and perhaps, in many cases, to all of them combined, the illness
and fatality were justly attributable on the occasion alluded to.
With regard to the cases of malignant fever, which occurred
in 1821 and '26, it is a well-known fact, that they were confined,

334 HISTORICAL AND
almost exclusively, to a small portion of the town, which has
since been greatly improved. Indeed, it was the opinion of able
physicians, that the disease did not originate here.
It seems that the remarks of the accomplished author of " The
Letters of the British Spy," about the " annual visits of the
yellow fever" to Norfolk, how appropriate soever his observations
may have been on some other subjects, were erroneous and un
just ; and more especially since they appeared in the fifth edition
of the work, which was published in 1813, " with the last correc
tions of the author." The la^t " visit of the yellow fever," as an
epidemic, to Norfolk, in the eighteenth century, was in '95 ; and
the first in the nineteenth was in '21 ; so thinks one of the oldest
and most eminent physicians of this city. The remarks of the
author of the " Spy," on this subject, contain about as much
t|ruth, though not as much poetry perhaps, as Buffon's strange
theory, of which he speaks in the same connexion, including the
recession of the waters from Hampton Roads and the Chesa
peake ; their beds becoming fertile valleys ; and the conversion
of the "sickly site of Norfolk" "into a high and salubrious
mountain!" The able writer alluded to, may not have intended
thus to inflict an undeserved injury upon Norfolk, the most im
portant and flourishing commercial town in his State, at the
period at which he wrote ; but his book was extensively circu
lated, and extensively read ; it outlived its distinguished author
— it still exists — is still read and admired, while he lies quietly
in the stillness of the grave ; and its influence upon the minds of
its readers, and thus indirectly, upon the welfare of our town,
may have been, and still may be, deleterious to no inconsider
able degree.
Several fatal cases of sickness, resembling yellow fever, occurred
in the fall of 1852. The summer had been exceedingly wet —
more rain fell here in July and August, as before mentioned,
than had fallen for the two whole years preceding. Conside
rable sickness was therefore expected in this section. Neverthe
less, with the few exceptions named, the general health of the
city was nearly as good as usual. But the cases of fever in the
lower part of the town, which assumed a malignant character,
were attributable to the arrival of vessels from infected ports.
Cases of the same kind, and owing to the same cause, have

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 335
occurred in Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities farther north.
The quarantine laws will probably be enforced hereafter. Some
of our physicians, if not all, advise this course. It was not
ascertained, in regard to the cases here at this period, that there
was any existing local cause. There were about fifteen deaths
during the months of September and October, said to have been
caused by the disease called yellow fever. Surely no person
with common sense, can say that this was any other than very
small comparative mortality, in a population of about sixteen
thousand; and yet, false, silly, and most injurious statements
were made relative to the existence of sickness here. It was
most industriously spread abroad, that the yellow fever was
"raging in Norfolk." " It is dangerous to go there," said the
reporters, " for the inhabitants are dying off like sheep with the
rot !" or words to that effect. Meanwhile the cheerful counte
nances, the ruddy cheeks, and healthy active forms, and bright
eyes of the thousands of citizens that thronged the streets, gave
pleasing evidence of the general healthiness of the place, and
that the business of the doctors had not increased to the alarming
extent represented. Let us pursue this subject a little further.
The writer has been informed, by a medical gentleman, who had
the opportunity of making a correct calculation, that there were
about a dozen deaths. From another reliable source, we learn
that there were seven fatal cases in September and eight in
October. The disease first made its appearance in a famUy
living in the vicinity of a wharf, on Town Point, at which there
was a vessel from a port where the disease existed ; and the
greater portion of the cases occurred in the same part of the
town, or its vicinity, while those who were attacked elsewhere,
had been in what was called the "infected district." Now, in
this portion of the city there was no sunken lot, no bog, no filthy
dock, nor decayed vegetable matter, calculated to engender
disease. Whatever may have been its condition twenty-five or
thirty years ago. Town Point is now (1853), for the most part
paved, buUt up, and kept cleanly, and free from odious exhala
tions or malaria ; while as much cannot be said of other portions
of the city, which were entirely free from the presence of the
disease. Thus it appears, that if the quarantine laws had been
enforced in the fall of 1852, we should, in all probabUity, have

336 HISTORICAL AND
heard nothing of another "visit" of the yellow fever, which,
while we are compelled to admit its existence, spread so slowly,
and to so limited an extent, that we may safely say, the climate
of Norfolk is utterly unsuited to the dissemination of the disease.
But compare the mortality in this city with that in Charleston,
at the same period, where nearly fifty died weekly. We men
tion this fact with sincere regret, and entertaining the hope that
the proverbially beautiful and hospitable seaport city of the
noble State of South Carolina, may never again be visited with
the fatal disease to which we have alluded. Although the popu
lation of that city, is perhaps, three, times as great as that of
our city, still,' the comparison is evidently a favourable pne, so
far as our climate is concerned. Norfolk never was as sickly as
it has been represented to be ; but whatever causes may have
tended to induce the idea of its great insalubrity, in former days,
it is well known and acknowledged, that for more than a quarter
of a century past, the official statements of the average mortality
here, confirm the truth of our remarks, with regard to its health-
someness, beyond all successful contradiction. The inhabitants,
generally, and more especially, those who take exercise in the
open air, look well, and enjoy good health ; and a change of
residence from other places to Norfolk, is well known to have
resulted, in many instances, in improved health. Old constitu
tional diseases and chronic afflictions have frequently disappeared
after a short residence here. Indeed, the salubrity of the dis
trict, for miles around, is said to have greatly improved within
the lapse of twenty years.
In regard to the health of the city, a few other facts will now
be presented bearing upon the subject. Let them speak for
themselves; and even the prejudiced, if any there are, must
admit the truth of the position taken. The following table,
showing the average annual mortality, is derived from authentic
sources : PEE CENT.
Norfolk,  1|
Philadelphia  2J
New York,  2|
Baltimore,  2^
Boston,  2^
New Haven,  2J

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES.

337

Here is, certainly, a favourable comparison, and an enviable
evidence of the healthiness of the place. Our bills of mortality
also compare favourably with those of the cities of Europe, as
well as of our own country ; which fact, when it is recollected
that we have a large coloured population, must be a satisfactory
proof, not only of the excellent health of the place, but also of
the good condition of that portion of the inhabitants.
The number of deaths in Norfolk, from June 1, 1849, to June
1, 1850, was 364:

Males,

174

Whites

> .

,

186

Females, .

190 364

Coloured,

*

178 364

Deaths

in June,

85

tt

" July,

79
ttit
" August,
" September,
•
4531
it
" October, .
16
it
" November,
" December,
11
18
"
" January, 1850,
16
it it
" February, .
" March,
" April,
1422 11
It
" May,
16
364
The above statement exhibits a number far above the average
mortality for a year ; for, it will be observed, that those months
are included (June, July, and August) during which the cholera
prevailed in the city, and of which a large proportion of those
who died in those months were victims.
Three of the above number died of the effects of burns ; six
were drowned ; two died of the effects of drinking cold water
when over-heated ; seven of intemperance ; of apoplexy, eight ;
casualty, five ; and of old age or natural decay, five.
There were four above 90 years of age, seven above 80, seven
teen above 70, twenty-seven above 60, twenty-three above 50,
forty-three above 40, and fifty-nine above 30 ; under two years,
22
338 HISTORICAL AND
88. Non-residents, who died in the city during the year, are
also included in the number.
Many of the inhabitants, as is shown by the above statement,
live to a very old age. There were, a few years since, in one
family alone, on Bermuda Street, five individuals — three white
ladies and two coloured servants, one male and one female —
whose united ages amounted to 403 years, averaging 80 years
and 7 months each ! They were all raised in or near Norfolk,
and had lived together on the same premises for more than fifty
years. The oldest was the coloured man, aged 95. In Decem
ber, 1840, there were residing in the town eight persons of the
highest respectability, whose aggregate ages made 669 years —
averaging 83 years 7J months ! There are many persons here
who have passed the age of three score and ten, and a number of
octogenarians, both in the parlour and the kitchen. There was a
lady of respectability, who died in 1852, aged 96, who had enjoyed
almost uninterrupted good health, and whose intellectual facul
ties were in a sound state a short time before she died, and who
did not require the attendance of a physician for more than sixty
years. We add here, merely as a somewhat singular fact, that there
is in this city a woman of colour, aged 88, who, in 1850, had
never required the attendance of a physician, having never been
seriously sick. She had lost only one tooth, which was occa
sioned by a cold many years ago ; and her eyesight was as good
as ever, being able to sew on fine work, and to thread a cambric
needle ! The duties of her vocation were laborious and constant,
requiring much walking ; but being very active, faithful, and in
dustrious, her labours were cheerfully performed.
Very many other cases could be added, of extraordinary age
and protracted good health, and strength of mind and body, among
both sexes, white and coloured, including even some centena
rians.* But, perhaps, enough has been said on the subject; and
the facts adduced afford, it is believed, sufficiently decisive proof
of the salubrity of the location ; and these remarks, of course,
apply with equal force to Portsmouth and the adjacent country.
* John Cuffee, a slave, died here in 1836, aged 120, and Billy Ingram in
1852, aged 117 !

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 339

CHAPTER XLIIL
Buildings — Sites for Farms-Excursions to Old Point, &c. — The Ladies^Their
Beauty, &c. — Attachment of the Citizens to the Place — HospitaUty — Intelli
gence — Morals — Sabbath Schools— Mechanics — Churches — Order — Sunday
Markets — The Sabbath — Its Violation — Should be kept Holy— The Appoint
ment Necessary to Man — Its Enemies — Its Services.
An intelligent writer of another State, has alluded, in appro
priate terms, to the many beautiful public and private buildings-
in the city, to the handsome and picturesque sites for farms and
villas just without its limits, and on the banks of the river and
its circuitous branches; and to the frequent opportunities for
delightful excursions to' Old Point, the Capes, &c. He also pays
a suitable tribute to the most attractive of all earthly objects.
"I am pleased," he remarks, "with the social character of the
place, and the ladies in particular. They are whole-souled Vir
ginians. As regards beauty, intelligence, and other necessary
accomplishments, they are second to none." Herein consists,
doubtless, the principal and most interesting of all the attractions
here, as well as elsewhere, — the "beauty, intelligence, and ac
complishments" of those on whom the happiness of man and the
welfare of communities so greatly depend, — whose encouraging
smiles, and winning charms, whether in the relation of mother,
wife, sister, daughter, or friend, are always among the chief de
lights of life and constitute the imperishable and indestructible
cement of the sacred family compact, and of society at large.
What a Northern letter-writer says in relation to the women
of the South, applies very well to the ladies of this section.
He states that he was " particularly struck with their beauty of
form, — their symmetrical and harmonious figures. In this, they
excel Northern women. Many of them dress with exquisite taste,
— very richly, but seldom gaudily or with any display of tinsel.
The proverbial affabUity and urbanity of the Southern character,
finds its fullest development in the women. The Southern lady

340 HISTORICAL AND
is naturally easy, unembarrassed, and polite. You may go into
the country where you please, from town, village, and post-office,
— you may call at the poorest house you can find, provided you
don't get among ' croakers,' and, whether you accost maid or
matron, you will always be answered with politeness, and treated
with spontaneous courtesy."
"The citizens of Norfolk," says an observant writer, "have
ever shown great attachment to the place, and rarely departed
from it to reside elsewhere without reluctance, and, in many
cases, with the disposition to return. A comparison of the names
and families for fifty years past, shows this fact very plainly.
We may go almost a century back, and the truth of the remark
is still more apparent."
Like the other towns of the Old Dominion, Norfolk has long
been proverbial for the obliging and hospitable disposition of its
inhabitants. There is here, and has long been observable, to
some extent, a dignified tone of character, combined, in many
instances, with literary attainments, aifd commercial, political,
and general intelligence.
"No city in the United States," said one who possessed every
opportunity of judging correctly on the subject, "has better
morals than Norfolk. There are nine churches opened every
Sabbath for divine worship, and the citizens very generally ob
serve the day religiously. Opportunity is also offered for reli
gious instruction in the Sunday Schools, which are well attended,
and superintended by excellent officers and teachers, and well
supplied with extensive libraries."
The same writer also observes :
" There is no town in the United States that can boast of a
more orderly, moral, and industrious class of mechanics, and none
who are better clad and housed, and in the enjoyment of more of
the comforts of life than, our Norfolk mechanics."
There are now fourteen instead of nine churches open on the
Sabbath, and the erection of others is in contemplation. It is,
indeed, a pleasant sight to witness, on the holy day of rest, the
multitudes repairing to the different sanctuaries of God, to hear
the "glad tidings of salvation."
The inhabitants are an order-loving people. If the place has

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 341
ever been disgraced by a mob or riot, the fact has not come to
our knowledge.
The custom of holding Sunday markets in the city during the
summer months, to which it may not be inappropriate to allude
here, is, however, certainly a violation of the Divine injunction
respecting the sacred and merciful institution of the Sabbath ;
and the practice is very reasonably objected to by many reflect
ing citizens. The alteration of an excellent ordinance, passed
in 1849 (which prohibited traffic on that day), so as to allow the
desecration of the Sabbath by the holding of the public market,
has given very considerable dissatisfaction. It is insisted that
there is no absolute necessity in the case, and that the custom is
an infringement of the Divine command. Every person, rich or
poor, who has a suitable regard for the day, and desires to keep
it holy, could, with a little management, make all necessary pro
vision on Saturday for the following day, especially if Saturday
evening markets were held, as in Baltimore and some other
cities, and which was formerly the custom here. Sunday mar
keting necessarily leads to bad consequences, and causes much
unnecessary labour in fishing, killing and preparing beef, poultry,
&c., gathering fruit and vegetables, and the additional fatigue of
horses used in conveying articles to market. The violation of
the fourth commandment by societies and communities, as well
as by individuals, has always been followed, soon or late, by
visible evidences of the displeasure of a just and merciful God ;
and this particular aspect of the subject merits the attention and
careful consideration of those in whose hands are, to a great
extent, entrusted the welfare and destiny of the city.
"Were this to be the last stroke of our pen," said an able
divine, "and we had reached the last moment of our life, we
should employ both the one and the other in enforcing on our
readers the divine injunction, ' Remember the Sabbath-day, to
keep it holy.' For, if the threatenings of God are to be believed,
if all history is not a lie, if it be notorious that genteel Sabbath-
breakers are totally destitute of Christian experience, and if the
confessions which the profligate have made in our jails and on
our gibbets cannot be invalidated, then the face of the Lord is
set against those that turn the Sabbath into a day of pastime or

342 HISTORICAL AND
of gainful toil. And, on the other hand, if the promises of God
are true, if the concurrent voice of sacred and profane history is
to be received ; if the testimony of righteous kings, just judges,
godly bishops, and the holiest men in all lands, is entitled to
credit ; and if the joyous experience, the domestic happiness, the
sanctified prosperity, and the peaceful and triumphant deaths, of
myriads of God's people, are to be regarded as evidences of his
favour, then it is demonstrated that God loves, honours, and
saves, all those who 'Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it
holy.' " _ ¦
John Richard Farre, M.D., of London, a physician of great
eminence, made the following remarks, with others of equal
force, before a committee of the House of Commons, on the
observance of the Sabbath : — " Researches in Physiology, by the
analogy of the working of Providence in nature, will show that
the Divine commandment is not to be considered as an arbitrary
enactment, but as an appointment necessary to man. This is
the position in which I would place it, as contradistinguished
from precept and legislation. I would point out the Sabbatical
rest as necessary to man, and that the great enemies of the Sab
bath, and, consequently, the enemies of man, are all laborious
exercises of the mind or body, and dissipation, which force the
circulation on that day on which it should repose ; while relaxa
tion from the ordinary cares of life, the enjoyment of repose in
the bosom of one's family, with the religious studies and duties
which the day enjoins, — not one of which, if rightly exercised,
tends to abridge life, — constitute the beneficial and appropriate
service of the day." Let it be remembered, then, that a suita
ble regard for the Sabbath is among the most important requi
sites in any community, inasmuch as it tends to strengthen the
foundation, uphold the pillars, and render more symmetrical and
attractive the splendid social fabric of enlightened Christian
society.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 343

CHAPTER XLIV.
Commercial FaciUties — The Navigation — The U. S. Ship Pennsylvania — The
Harbour — Streets, &c. — Wharves — PubUc Buildings — Churches, Banks,
Schools, Papers, &c. — Companies aud Societies — Packet Lines — Marine
RaUways — Manufactories — Wealth, Usefulness, aud Influence — Merchants,
Warehouses, Capital — Commercial Experience and Ability — Improvement —
Railroads, Steamships, &c. — Commercial Advancement.
The facilities for commercial operations in Norfolk, as before
stated, are very great. The warehouses are large, commodious,
and well adapted to the storage of produce. The water front is
spacious, well sheltered from the northern and eastern winds in
winter, and open to the southerly and southwesterly breezes in
summer. " The navigation is not obstructed by ice for a single
day once in half a century. The great ship Pennsylvania, the
largest vessel in the world, is now riding at her moorings, within
a stone's throw of the shore, and, if equipped for service abroad,
could be at sea in a few hours without the aid of steam. The
eastern and southern branches of the Elizabeth River, in uniting,
form the harbour of Norfolk — a basin some four miles in circum
ference, with a width of seven-eighths of a mile. The City of
Norfolk occupies the northern and eastern shore, with a water
front more than two miles in extent ; whUe Portsmouth, Gosport,
and the Navy Yard, range along the southern and western
banks. " The outlet is sufficiently capacious, and yet the harbour, in
sailors' phrase, is so ' land-locked' as to afford entire security
to vessels of every class, from the small oyster boat to the ship
of the line. The bottom is composed of stiff mud to hold the
anchor, and is free from sand bars, rocks, and all other obstruc
tions. A fine anchorage extends from the basin down to the
roads, distant seven miles ; indeed, the harbour of Norfolk may
be said to terminate only at the point where Hampton Roads is
merged into the Chesapeake, being composed of an inner and
outer haven, where the fleets of the world could lie in perfect

344 HISTORICAL AND
security in all kinds of wind and weather, ready to embark on
their ocean voyage, whenever the mariner chooses to lift his
anchor and spread his sails to the breeze."
There are in the city about one hundred and thirty-flve streets
and lanes, very many of which are well paved. There are also
about a dozen squares, courts, &c. The wharves extend from
Town Point on the west to the Drawbridge on the East, —
nearly one mile, — are forty in number, and mostly in good order.
There are about 60 pubUc buUdings, including 14 Churches,*
Mechanics' HaU, Ashland Hall, the City HaU, Norfolk Aca
demy, &c.
The number of Banks is 7 ; Hotels, 5 ; Seminaries and High
Schools, 9 ; Daily Papers, 5, with which are connected Tri
weekly do., 3, Weekly do., 3; News and Reading Rooms, 2.
There are 5 Fire Companies, 2 Volunteer Companies, a Canal
Company, Drawbridge Company, Insurance Company, Gas
Company, Telegraph Company, and Hotel Company ; a Mecha
nical Benevolent Society, Seamen's Friend Society, Provident
Society, Humane Society, Female Orphan Society, Philharmonic
Society, Concordia Society, and several Debating Societies.
The secret societies are: The Masons, Odd-Fellows, Sons of
Temperance, Rechabites, United Mechanics, Druids, and Red
Men. There are regular steam-packet lines from Norfolk to New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Hamp
ton, Old Point, Eastern Shore, Matthews, &c. ; stage line to
Edenton, Elizabeth City (N. C), &c. There are three Marine
Railways and Ship Building establishments,t extensive Iron
* 2 Protestant Episcopal ; 3 Methodist Episcopal, including 1 coloured ; 1
Presbyterian ; 5 Baptist, including 3 coloured ; 1 Catholic ; 1 Methodist Pro
testant ; 1 Mariners' Bethel.
f It is especially worthy of note, that the dock-yards of Mr. Nash, Mr. Fe-
rebee, and the Messrs. Graves, of Norfolk, with their well-constructed marine
railways, afford great facilities for buUding and repairing vessels of every
class. And some of our merchants have had in contemplation the construction
of a dry-dock, of ample dimensions.
Messrs. Page and AUen, of Portsmouth, are very extensively engaged in
ship-building, and have acquired celebrity in this important line of mechanical

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 345
Works, Carriage, Furniture, and Cotton Manufactories ; Cordage
and Oakum Works, &c., &c., at which work can be done as well
and as cheaply as at the establishments of the northern cities.
The capital invested in Manufactures is about $570,000, and
the probable annual product $1,140,000. Real Estate about
$5,000,000. There are here, as well as elsewhere, instances in which in
dustry, fidelity, and persevering effort, amid discouragements,
with small pecuniary means in the beginning, have been amply
rewarded with wealth, usefulness, and influence. The popula
tion of Norfolk includes individuals whose business capacity and
commercial information will, it is believed, compare favourably
with those of other cities. A gentleman of intelligence and ob
servation, in alluding to the various facilities for trade, — our
deep river, extensive wharves, spacious and well-built ware
houses (more than enough to store the produce of the Roanoke
VaUey), the large capitalists, rich landholders, &c., — calls at
tention to the fact, that by far the greater part of a million
of money was, within a few weeks, subscribed by the citizens,
to form part of the capital of an independent bank, before
the charter was granted. He alludes also to our able profes
sional men, as well as to merchants of skill and experience,
who have been devoted to commercial pursuits from their boy
hood, — regularly trained in the school and counting-room for
extensivp mercantile operations. And yet " the wonder grows,"
that Norfolk should even now begin to advance in wealth and
importance. Truly, the greater wonder should be, that she has
not long ago given evidences of a more mature growth ; that her
progress in the onward march of improvement has not been much
more rapid. The truth is, there has, for a long time, been too
much talk and too little action. But, thanks to the energy and
enterprise of some of the knowing and influential gentlemen of
this and other communities, we hear now of additional raUroads
and canals, large packet ships and ocean steamers ; and they are
pursuit. A splendid cUpper-built ship of 1,500 tons, the largest vessel ever
constructed south of New York, will be launched from their yard, and, pro
bably, careering on her rapid course upon the ocean waves, before the close of
the spring of 1853.

346 HISTORICAL AND
spoken of in good earnest and with commendable zeal. Some of
these enterprises, of great prospective benefit to Norfolk, Ports
mouth, and vicinity, have already been commenced ; and, now that
the pubUc mind has been turned to the subject — now that strong
men are beginning to shake off the shackles of lethargy, and are
determined to take hold of and urge forward to completion, these
means of wealth and advancement, no opposition, from any
source whatever, will be sufficient, it is believed, to prevent suc
cess. And it is hoped the bright day is not very distant, when
commerce and her attendants wUl flourish here according to the
original design of nature. But, there are some who object to all
schemes of advancement, who grumble at every praiseworthy at
tempt to redeem the place from the charge of slow_ movement
and supineness, to which it has been amenable.

CHAPTER XLV.
Talent and Literary Taste — Light Reading — Cheap Literature — Its Injurious
Tendency — Evidences of Literary Capacity — Literary Works^Mr. Maxwell's
Poems — Letters by a South Carolinian — H. B. Grigsby, Esq. — Dr. Alexander
Whitehead, an Accomplished Teacher and Scholar — Beautiful Inscription
— C. A. Rodney — Thomas Blanchard — His Ode on the Death of Washington
— "Rosehill," by a Virginian — ^Poems by Quilp — "I Hear thy Voice" — "A
Child's Burial."
It is quite reasonable to suppose, that in a city as limited in
size even, as Norfolk, there should be manifested no small degree
of talent ; and that in a place where the culture of the intellect
is generally quite well attended to, and the advantages of a
liberal education are much appreciated, there should be a con
siderable share of literary taste ; although it may be remarked
here, with regard to the education of youth of both sexes, that
there is not sufficient effort put forth, either by them or their
parents, in many cases to bring out, cultivate, and mature, a
taste for solid and usgful literary pursuits and acquisitions.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 347
There is, also, among the young, as well as those of mature age,
a vast deal too much of light, chaffy reading here, as well as
elsewhere, at the present day.* Numbers of either sex are
leaving the schools, and passing out upon the stage of active life,
with fair promise, and often with striking evidences of mental
capacity, which, if properly cultivated and encouraged, might
reflect honour on the place and prove a blessing to the country.
Sketches, essays, dissertations, &c., in prose and poetry, of solid
merit, would be frequently written, put in the form of books,
and sent out to aid in enlightening and evangelizing the world.
But instead of this, the youthful mind, just ready to bloom forth
into strength and beauty, is, alas, too frequently diverted from
the pursuit of useful knowledge and real wisdom, by the injurious
and debiUtating, aye, and demoralizing cheap literature of the
day, from the presses of the Northern and Eastern cities of our
own country, as well as from those of England and elsewhere —
reprinted, "got up" in the cheapest and most saleable style, and
published (the trashy stuff is) to the world, to satiate the morbid
appetite of thousands — " Oft crammed full
Of poisonous error, blackening every page ;
Aud oftener still of trifling, second-hand
Remark, and old, diseased, putrid thought ;
And miserable incident, at war
With nature, with itself, and truth at war ;
Yet charming still the greedy reader on,
'Till done, he tried to recoUect his thoughts,
Aud nothing found but dreaming emptiness."
There are many individuals in this City and vicinity who can
write well, and who do occasionally give abundant evidence of
their capacity in this respect. Suitable incentives and practice
only, are required to mature the taste and judgment of many
who hesitate to give publicity to their productions. The papers
of our City, and the literary periodicals of other cities, occa-
* " It produces a feverish imagination, prevents the improvement of the mind,
unfits it for the pursuits of business, induces a disUke to reUgious subjects,
benumbs the conscience, and prompts to deeds of licentiousness." — Dunn.

348 HISTORICAL AND
sionally contain very pleasing testimony of the truth of what we
have stated.
But literary works, both in prose and poetry, whose authors
are, or were formerly citizens of Norfolk, have passed through
the press. It is not our purpose to notice all of them, but it
may be considered as coming within our plan to allude briefly to
several. " The Poems of Mr. Maxwell,"* said an intelUgent and obser
vant writer, in 1827, "have attained higher celebrity abroad
than. at home, and in New England than ' in his own, his native
land.' He is eminently successful in imitating the nervous
energy and innocent simplicity of Goldsmith ; but though he were
in all respects nearly his equal, he could not complain of neglect,
when the modest worth of the son of Erin is disregarded by the
vitiated taste of the day, and his sympathetic tenderness eclipsed
by the mock-heroic ' Border Tales' of Scott, and the splendid
phrensies of Lord Byron. His ' Walcott' and ' Columbian Bards'
are excellent of their kind ; and I cannot refrain mentioning, for
the honour of Virginia, that his Poems were highly approved by
one, whose approbation Byron, in his proudest glory, would have
been delighted to possess, by Roscoe, himself a fine poet, and the
author of the Life of Leo X., and Lorenzo de'Medici."
"Letters by a South Carolinian." Norfolk, published by C.
Bonsai : Shields and Ashburn, printers, 1827.
These Letters are well known to have emanated from the pen
of Hugh B. Grigsby, Esq., of Norfolk.f They were written
when he was quite a young man, and contain most excellent de
scriptions of several distinguished citizens of Norfolk, &c. They
gave unmistakable evidence of the talents which the author is so
generally known to possess.
Mr. G.'s able conduct of the "American Beacon" has already
been alluded to. His style is bold, lively, and clear — remarkable
for correctness and perspicuity. It' is regretted that he should
have so early vacated the editorial chair. We find it conve-
* See pages 203 and 204.
f Mr. G. is the son of the late Rev. Benjamin Grigsby, a distinguished and
devout Presbyterian minister of this city. He was an able preacher, a devoted
, pastor, and an accomplished gentleman.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 349
nient to make some extracts from his very interesting work.
These will answer very well to convey to the reader's mind an
idea of his nice, discriminating judgment, as well as the high
order of his descriptive powers.
" Of Dr. Alexander Whitehead," remarks the able writer, to
whom we have just briefly alluded, " who has passed from the
memory of most of the existing generation, one who sat at his
feet, and who appreciated his great learning, may fitly say some
thing. He was a Scotchman by birth, and emigrated in early
manhood to Norfolk, where he taught the Latin and Greek lan
guages with great success. He was no common scholar ; for he
not only taught elementary and critical parts of the learned
tongues with the strictest fidelity, but expatiated on the felicitous
diction, the noble sentiments, and chaste imagining of the higher
Latin and Greek classics, with a skill and eloquence that James
Moon and Andrew Dalzel would have heard with admiration.
The writer of this article has seen him in his old age relish the
sly jests of Lucian, and smile at; the playful conceits of Anacreon,
and he has seen him weep, as, mindful of the loss of a lovely
daughter, he read in the first book of Iliad the touching story of
Brisses. " He wrote Latin with great facility and with uncommon ele
gance. The beautiful inscription on a silver vase, presented by
the citizens of Norfolk, thirty years ago, to Csesar A. Rodney,
of Delaware, for his magnanimous defence of the late Commodore
Barron, was from his classic pen. Such a scholar the fashion of
modern education has not produced, and may never produce.
He reached the age of seventy, and, although his latter years
were embittered by the loss of a lovely daughter, and by a tor
turing disease, which gave him but a small respite from actual
agony, he bore his burdens gracefully, and died the death of a
Christian. Even in such adverse circumstances the love of litera
ture never forsook him ; and when a friend would visit him in his
confinement, and be almost overcome with the sight of his suffer
ings, a casual remark would sometimes lead him into a discus
sion of some topic on morals or literature, in which his fine genius
would display itself in all its original brightness, and his know
ledge of the classics appear in all the freshness and buoyancy of

350 HISTORICAL AND
his earlier years. When he left Norfolk to attend the University
of Edinburgh, he was accompanied by his pupil, the late Doctor
Hodges, and, perhaps, by Dr. Wm. B. Selden ; or, at all events,
the late Dr. S. and he, were at the University at the same time,
and were, for many years, associates in the practice of physic."
Thomas Blanchard, Esq., formerly a citizen of Norfolk,, was
" a ripe scholar, a fine classic writer, and a gifted poet." His
Ode on the Death of Washington, written January 1st, 1800,
shortly after that lamented event, and published in the Herald,
" created quite a sensation at the time ; and such was its popula
rity, that the editors found it necessary to publish a second
edition of it to answer the public demand — which is saying a
great deal more for the literary taste and patriotic feeling of
that day than could be claimed for the present, in our com
munity." We take pleasure in presenting a portion of it to the reader,
who will appreciate its merits, and award a suitable meed of
praise for so creditable and able an effort, on a subject at once
solemn, impressive, and deeply interesting.

TO THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.
GENEKAL OF THB AKMIES, AND MEST PEESIDENT OF THE tINITED STATES
OF AMEKICA.
" Proeul, Oprocull este profani."
Let no obtrusive, no unhallowed eye.
On which the rays of virtue dimly beam,
Let no cold mind, fashioned by common themes.
No breast, that glows with a patriot zeal,
Presume to violate the peaceful verse.
The pious offering to a Hero's shade.
I dare (since some must dare) to send abroad.
On every saddened breeze that sweeps the earth,
The plaintive accents of a general grief. ^
Then rising upwards from the vale of tears.
Essay, with rapid step, to mount on high
To the raised summit of the hill of praise.
But e'er the task begins, I lowly bow

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 351
Not to some storied Muse or fabled God,
But with raised mind, fixed eye, and eager thought,
I bend to Him,
Who from the mountains of omniscient light,
Drew a strong ray, and lent it to the earth.
I ask some pitying spirit of the sky,
To bend in silence o'er the honoured theme.
To guide the pencil and direct the strain.
For thee, lost Washington, the new-born Babe
Wears on its tender form the dress of woe ;
For thee, the Infant shows its feeble arm,
Bearing, for thee, the emblem of the tomb ;
The Child, spurning the sports of early life,
Weeps, whUe its mother reads the tale of death ;
For thee, the Virgin rends her sunny robe.
And veUs from day the radiance of her eye ;
Pensive along the pebbled beach, the Youth
Muses in thought profound on deeds of thine ;
For thee, the Matrons pour the piercing strain.
And teU the stranger, their great Son is dead ;
For thee, the Warrior piles his useless arms.
And waits in silence, for the word — Depart !
For thee, great Chief, the Fathers of the land
Suspend their labours, and their minds unstring ;
And sad Columbia sits, her bow unbent.
Her darts all scattered, and her quiver broke.
And sends incessant on the passing winds.
The sorrowing tidings on to distant worlds.
* * * * *
Ye blest companions of his early years,
Who saw the youth fast ripening into man,
Lend your glad praises to his spotless mom.
Virgins and youths, if e'er you hope to lay
Your hearts, high beating, to the breast of love,
Join in the chorus of my grateful verse.
Ye veteran bands, brave partners of his toil !
Who drove through frost and fire at his command,
Through all the changes of eventful war,
Sound the loud clarions to your General's praise,
The great " conductor" of your lightning arms.
Ye Sires ! who frame the law, and ye who judge.
Rise from your seats, and on the Hero's tomb
Plant with your reverend hands the honoured wreath,
Rich decked and woven by a Virgin train ;
And let the land, from aU its mountains, send
A general echo, to the great applause, >
Till the long peal of praise, America,

352 HISTORICAL AND
Rolls o'er thy cloud-topped hills — sounds through thy woods —
Floats onward with thy streams — surrounds thy shores —
And, sweeping o'er the wide Atlantic waves.
Resounds the plaudit through the Eastern World !
Whether thy spirit, Washington, sits high
In the full centre of a dazzling orb.
Or risen far beyond the roll of stars,
Rests in the radiance of eternal light ;
Whether it wanders through celestial space.
Or sits with seraphs on the hills of heaven.
Deign, with propitious eye, to view the land
That bears with reverence every mark of thee.
And from the "unknown regions of the sky,"
With wonted kindness, shield Columbia's sons.
" Rosehill," by a Virginian, which was published about twenty
years ago, was generally ascribed to the pen of Thomas C. Tabb,
Esq., a talented lawyer of this city, and at this time a member of
the Senate of Virginia. Tbis work attracted considerable notice,
and was read with a very good degree of interest. It is a
pleasant, smoothly written tale, of a moral tendency. A vein of
piety runs through its pages, and it contains many beautiful
passages. It was favourably noticed by some of the leading
reviewers of the time at which it appeared.
" The Bridal Ballad and other Poems, by QuUp," appeared in
1846. Quilp is the fictitious name adopted by Richard Halstead,
Esq., of our city. The collection contains evidences of very re
spectable poetic talent ; although some of the stanzas will not
bear the test of criticism. The following are among the pieces,
and they are taken without very particular care in the selection.
There are others of equal, if not superior merit.*
* The design in this feature of this work was principally to notice talent or in
stances of intellectual capacity, and to furnish specimens as evidence thereof,
with but Uttle regard to other considerations. This part of the task, though
not unpleasant, was not found to be the least difficult, and it is hoped the in
telligent reader will not find it the least interesting department of the work.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 353
I HEAR THY VOICE.
BY QUILP.
I hear thy voice burst from the whispering grove ;
In every star, thy image pure I see ;
The warbUng birds that wake their lays of love.
Bring thoughts of thee.
It matters not, where'er my pathway lies.
On the green earth, or o'er the surging sea —
Where'er I wander, my sick, longing eyes
Are full of thee.
The music tone of trembUng tenderness,
That wraps the soul in voiceless ecstasy ;
The sighs that soothe the bursting heart's distress,
I breathe for thee !
When twiUght fancies fiU the shadowy air.
And memory holds her pensive revery ;
When eyes are moist in pity and iu prayer —
Remember me.
A CHILD'S BURIAL.
BT QUILP.
Pale and lifeless, pale and lifeless,
On her lowly bier she Ues ;
Form all faded — darkness shaded.
Where were erst her beaming eyes.
Where's the beauty once flung round her ?
Where's the heart we loved so well ?
Hark ! a spirit-voice is answering
Sweetly — though insensible :
" Brother, weep not; sister, sigh not;
Father, mother, dry your tears ;
Bend not o'er my bier, I lie not
WTiere this mortal part appears.
" Let it perish ! 'tis but ashes,
FaUing on the parent bed —
Look aloft and bless thy Saviour,
That thy Uttle child is dead.
23

354 HISTORICAL AND
" Days of sickness, nights of anguish.
These were mine from early birth ;
Would ye have me longer languish
On the pitiless cold earth ?
"Ponder ! think upon my spirit.
Where it sits enthroned above —
Ponder ! souls like mine inherit
Happiness, and life, and love !
" Then, sweet brother, dearest mother.
Father, sister, have no fears —
They who die to live in heaven,
0, remember not with tears !"
Pale and lifeless, pale aud lifeless.
On they bear her to the tomb ;
Hearts that wring with keenest anguish,
Shudder o'er the cold grave's gloom.
Sods are shovelled o'er her cofBn —
WiU their sound be soon forgot ?
Strangers pass, but they, her kindred —
How they linger round the spot ?
Cold and lifeless, cold and lifeless.
With old mother earth she lies ;
But a bright, new star is added
To the pure celestial skies.

CHAPTER XLVL
Ladies of Talent — Contributions to the Press — The Female Mind and Poetry —
"Dreaming," by Fanny Fielding — Extracts from the writings of another —
Nature's Teachings — The Phantom.
Among the talented and educated ladies of Norfolk and
vicinity, there are several whose productions have been exten
sively read and admired. Some excellent pieces have recently
appeared in the papers of the city. The lines that next follow
are certainly not without merit. They contain much of true
poetic feeling and spirit,^breathing, as it were, lofty and en
nobling sentiments. The intelligent reader requires no further

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 355
comment from us. They wUl be read with interest by those who
appreciate refined literary taste and genius, glowing with pure
and pious thought, and containing evidences of the deep and
pleasurable emotions of the fair author's heart.
"The fondness of the female mind for poetry," says an able
contributor to the gems of literature and the beauties of senti
ment, " renders it important that we should have female poets.
A greater misfortune could hardly befall it, than to be compelled
to gratify its love for the tasteful and sublime at the shrine of many
poets of our sex. Thankful are we that they have gone abroad
and gathered their own poetry amid the affluence of nature.
The birds of golden plumage have sung with them, and the fra
grant flowers have breathed perfume upon their censers. If they
have spoken in a still, small voice, that voice has been heard,
where the earthquake and the storm would have been disre
garded." The name appended to the following is fictitious.
DREAMING.
BY FAX NT FIELDING.
I am a dreamer, yet I would not give
One fair creation of the mystic spell
Which Fancy, in her sweet philanthropy.
Weaves for the recreation of her child,
For all the more substantial toys that please
The craving spirits of the world at large.
I would not thus exult, yet would persuade.
My fellow-man to trample under foot
The money-loving spirit of the age, —
To break his bonds, and wash from off his hands.
The dust of ledgers, which, mayhap, in time
WiU form a barrier around his heart.
Unyielding still, though all good influence
Be brought in might to bear upon the foe.
I am a dreamer. Let me not exult,
But rather thankful be that the great book
Of Nature, with its rich embellishments.
Lies e'en within my reach, and let the thought
Lead my glad heart from thence to Nature's God,
In grateful praise for all the beauteous things
Which people this fair earth ; and more than this.

356 HISTORICAL AND
That in each dew-gemmed flower that scents the air, —
Each bird that carols gaily in the morn.
Each star that gems the azure vault of heaven,
Each rustUng leaf that whispers me to sleep.
He has made me a friend, and sweet converse
We ofttimes hold together. Beauteous world !
Still changing, yet lovely in its change.
I am a dreamer, and the soft Springtime
Is fraught with many a sunny phantasy.
And beautiful creation to dispel
Clouds which might cast their shadows round my heart.
Iris-hued Spring ! thy fragrant breath awakes
Sweet visions of bright promise and delight.
Promise that though the winter of the grave
Enwrap each fragile flower of human mould,
A brighter Springtime cometh, when each bud
Untimely blasted shall revive again,
And bloom immortal in sweet Paradise.
I am a dreamer. Stars of Summer night,
I owe ye much that iu the quiet spell
With which your gaze has charmed my very soul,
I learned to dream of heaven wherein ye dwell.
And I have fancied that each fleecy cloud.
Flitting across the midnight quiet sky.
Has borne upon its frail and shadowy form
The image of some dear departed one.
I am a dreamer. 0, ye Autumn winds.
What tales of mystery ye tell to me.
Of Time and Death, I hear ye whispering
In every leaf that rustles 'neath my feet.
But they are beautiful, these Autumn leaves.
And oft when gazing on their brilliant hues
I have bethought me. of the Christian's end.
Who, having well performed his mission here.
Grows beautiful iu death, as the halo
Of that bright land to which he hastens on
Kindles new lustre in the fading eye.
And sheds a glow celestial on his brow.
And Winter nights, shall I forget ye now.
While thus recounting all the kindly things
To which I owe my debt of gratitude ?
ShaU I forget ye, with your howling winds
Lulling the soul to dreamy slumberings ?
These, and Earth's snowy winding-sheet without.
Within, the ruddy glow of social hearth.
Rivalling smiles aud glances not less bright.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 357
And when deep midnight sobered all the scene.
Closing bright eyes in slumber's sweet repose,
By the dim ember-light I've sat me down,
Among the cushions of some antique chair,
And watched the shadows flickering on the wall.
These have I oft invested with the forms
Of angel visitants, and fancied me
That their sweet mission was to guard the sleep
Of youth and innocence, aud to bestow
The gift of peace upon our household band.
Who would not be a dreamer ? God of Heaven 1
If loving all the lovely things of earth, —
Adoring the good, praising the beautiful.
And hearing Thee in all things, be to dream.
Grant, in thy mercy, that the spell remain.
Until I may my reverie exchange
For all the blest realities of Heaven.
The following extracts evidently show that the writer is en
dowed with mental qualities which give promise of literary dis
tinction. Her contributions are readily published in some of
the most ably conducted and widely circulated magazines of the
country. Her writings, in both prose and poetry, are various,
and, in some cases, voluminous. There is real beauty in the
stanzas that follow ; and, we may add, that they have been highly
commended by critics of celebrity. The writer exhibited, at an
early age, a talent for poetic composition, which has been dili
gently cultivated. She graduated at the Patapsco Female In
stitute, Maryland, in 1850 ; since which time, she has been stu
diously engaged in those commendable literary pursuits, that
are calculated to improve, invigorate, and mature, those facul
ties of mind to which some of her writings have already borne
testimony. NATURE'S TEACHINGS.
BT M. H. B.
Go, gaze upon creation, man,
Her every form and feature scan ;
* * * *
Each stream, each flower, each little bird.
Whose sonnet sweet so oft is heard.

358 HISTORICAL AND
As borne upon the evening breeze.
That softly murmurs through the trees ;
List to the voice of evening star,
Which shines in heaven's dome afar,
Its scintillations soft, though bright.
Upon the sombre shades of night ;
Its lustre beams in form so mild.
It e'en delights the little child.
Go, then, at morning's rosy dawn.
And walk upon the verdant lawn.
While moistened yet with mists of night,
Aud gaze upon the beauteous sight, —
Each spire of grace with dew-drops clear,
All trembling in the morning air,
A thousand crystal pearls display.
More brilliant than the diamond's ray.
List to the birdling's artless song
As on light wing it soars along.
Rejoicing in the light of day.
And blithely skimming on its way.
See how the clouds of rosy morn
Do smile in beauty at its dawn ;
And mark the rising sun, how bright
He, in his glory, sheds his light
On opening flower and dancing stream !
See how his rays do brightly beam
Upon the earth. The seas, the lakes —
All nature, of the boon partakes.
Go then at sunset's holy hour.
When Solus doth so gently lower
His face beyond the western hills.
And busy hum of mortals stills —
Tinges the clouds with crimson hue, -
Presenting to the ravished view
A sight sublime, to fill the mind
With wonder and delight combined.
Go where the mountain waves roll high,
And lift their snow-caps to the sky ;
Oh! can a sight more beauteous be
Than the wide, boundless, deep blue sea.
With waves all fringed with silver bright.
While bathing in the moon's pale light?
The sea! it is the siren's home.
Who oft from coral cave doth come,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 359
With silvery harp, attuned to sing
A lay to make the ocean ring ;
The glad waves break in surges bright.
And sea-nymphs dance iu wild delight.
Look at the pearly summer showers.
Which give new life to with'ring flowers ;
Look Nature through — earth, sea, and skies —
And thus the voice of Nature cries: —
'Twas God, who made the earth so fair.
And decked it with such beauties rare ;
His wisdom over all presides.
His providence for all provides ;
The meanest worm that creeps the land.
Protected is by His own hand ;
The smallest bird that skims along.
And warbles forth au artless song.
Hath one to guide its little wing,
And tune its artless tongue to sing.
* * * * *
He treads upon the boisterous deep,
And lulls the raging waves to sleep.
Upholds creation by His power.
And on the wings of every hour.
Sends forth some token of his love ;
In Him we live, we breathe, we move.
Should we not then that God obey.
And seek to do His will each day?
He is to us a father kind.
To Him be all our powers resigned.
Love, mind, and strength — all, all be given
To Him who reigns o'er earth aud heaven !

THE PHANTOM.
BT M. H. B.
'Twas midnight's calm and holy hour ;
The night wind fanned the tender flower.
And earth in quiet slumber lay.
Until the blush of dawning day
Was seen amid morn's roseate hues ;
When flowers laden with the dews,
Enamelled mountains, fields, and dales.
Shed their sweet perfume o'er the vales.

360 HISTORICAL AND
Our ravished senses to regale —
How sweet such fragrance to inhale !
* * * * *
A youthful one, in slumber deep —
Her very soul did seem to sleep ;
She was alone — yet not alone —
For God beheld her from his throne ;
He watched her while she gently slept.
And angels 'round her vigils kept.
But list! she hears a gentle sound,
Which echoes through the air around ;
She opes her eyes, beholds a sight,
And lo ! it is an angel bright !
Behold ! -d, Spirit clad in white !
Aud robes of heaven's purest light
FaU gently down in graceful folds ;
And, in its pure white fingers, holds
A casket of the finest gold.
With gems whose worth can ne'er be told.
And soon a golden key revealed
The gems which this bright case concealed :
* * * -X- *
The Spirit now the casket fair
Unlocked, and showed her j ewels rare ;
She gazed upon them with delight.
Those costly gems so pure, so bright.
While radiant smiles lit up her face.
All full of Nature's charm and grace.
And then the kindly spirit said,
Of heaven thou art a favoured maid ;
These gems, tho' bright, are not so rare,
As thine own native jewels are.
m * * *
Unwavering and unerring truth,
Hath e'er attended all thy youth ;
Oh ! may this gem be never sold
For beds of pearls, nor mines of gold!
Remember that this gem is worth
Far more than every gem of earth.
Yes ! Truth in all its purity.
Is virtue's best security ;
This segis of sincerity.
Prom vice can ever keep thee free.
* * * *
The Spirit closed the case of gold.
When she her secret thus had told ;

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 361
But midnight's past ! 'tis blushing day !
And fields are clad all bright and gay !
The maiden now shall see no more
The Spirit which she saw before ;
'Twas but a dream! a phantom bright!
A fancy picture of the night;
But truth this vision will impart
To every under«tanding heart.

CHAPTER XLVIL
Poetic Pieces, by A. F. Leonard — Song of the Emigrants — Ode to Solitude
— Byron Walthall — The Stag Hunter — R. James Keeling — Song to the
Sea Wave — Old Settlers' Church at Jamestown — -W. W. Davis — Lucubrations
— The Hopes of Love — S. S. Dawes— Tribute to Jlr. Clay — An Hour among
the Flowers.
The pieces which we shall next present, are from the ready
pen of Abram F. Leonard, Esq. Possessing a mind naturally
strong and vigorous, with a liberal share of poetic talent, as well
as a decided literary predilection, and having enjoyed superior
advantages in his early mental training, and subsequent intellec
tual development and scholastic culture, it is not surprising that
he should have devoted a portion of his leisure hours to poesy,
and that he has been a valued contributor to some of the lead
ing literary journals of the day. He has written ably on a great
variety of subjects. The space which we allot to these specimens
will admit, however, of but the two annexed articles, which, though
they may be unfair criteria, are nevertheless sufficiently beautiful,
smooth, and forcible in expression and sentiment, to afford grati
fying evidence of the author's prolific fancy and pleasing style of
composition. SONG OF THE EMIGRANTS.
BT A. F. L.
[WRI-TTBN FOR A DT7TCH AIR.]
Swift files the bark o'er the bounding sea,
Columbia's shores are seen on the lee.
And the emigrant's song is a song of glee.
To the land of the brave and free !

362 HISTORICAL AND
They stand in a group on the open deck ;
Nor have they a fear of tempest or wreck,
Thoxigh the distant shore is yet but a speck —
The land of the brave and free !
And these are the notes of the cheerful choir.
Of the smiling boy, and the manly sire.
Of the mother's voice, and the maiden's lyre,
Aud the lover brave aud free :
" We have left the vales of our native home ;
Far from our altars and hearth we roam.
And we sail through the ocean's wreathing foam
For the land of the brave aud free !
" 'Twas sad to quit our forefather's land.
To bid adieu to the sorrowing band ;
But hope waved on its beckoning hand
Towards the land of the brave and free !
" Oh ! long have we tossed on the restless deep !
And our watching eyes would often weep ;
But we'd dream in the silent hours of sleep
Of the land of the brave and free !
e
" Of the land where peace and plenty reign.
Where no despot binds with his iron chain.
And freedom dwells in each holy fane
In the land of the brave and free !
"Welcome the spot where our wishes lie ;
Bright beams the face of her azure sky ;
Here will we live, and here we'll die,
In the land of the brave and free !"

ODE TO SOLITUDE.
BY A. F, I..
Where dweU'st thou, Solitude ?
Upon the desert waste ?
Where scorching sands around are spread.
And not a leaf uplifts its head ;
Is thine abode there placed ?
Dost there thou brood.
In silent mood,
And scan the bustling world — strange mass of ill and good?
Or dost thou sit, entranced,
Upon the lonely main,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 363
Gazing into the teeming wave ;
The traceless and unsculptured grave.
Where, sought on earth in vain,
The sailor sleeps
On pearly heaps ;
And, far above, the air iEolian vigil keeps ?
Or dost thou love to dwell
Beneath the prairie's sky ;
To Usten to the zephyr's notes
As slowly o'er the grass it floats.
And moves in music by ?
Where thou canst view
Each varied hue
That tints the painted flowers, and seems thy glance to woo.
Or is thy presence found
Within the hermit's ceU ?
Dost hover o'er his mossy bed,
And gUde where'er his steps are led ?
Dost, guardian-like, impel
His thoughts to prayer
And holy care.
That may his striving soul for happiness prepare ?
No ! these are not thy seats.
Though thou dost sometimes rest
Upon the lone, unchanging plain.
Or on "old ocean's" vast domain,
Au unattended guest ;
Far, far from these
Thy mansion is ;
To dark and drearer seats thy pensive spirit flees.
I gaze upon the stars
When night, calm, solemn lowers :
When silence spreads her gloomy wing,
And casts a shade o'er everything,
Tet feel not then thy powers ;
Each twinkling ray
Bears me away
In flight of busy thought, far from thy shadowy sway.
But when within the breast
There is a painful void.
Which some dear object gone has left.
Some enterprise of hope bereft.
Or long hours unemployed —

364 HISTORICAL AND
Then yields the soul
To thy control ;
And sadly quaffs the gall of grief's o'erflowing bowl.
And when from home I rove.
Amid the bustling crowd.
Though animation lights each face.
Though joy inspirits every pace.
And laughter's voice is loud ;
I cannot see
One smile for me ;
Unknowing and unknown, I am a thrall to thee.
I do not love thy rule.
The hart loves not to feel
The huntsman's shaft impierce his side.
And deep within his vitals hide
Its searching, pointed steel ;
To pine away
With slow decay,
In unseen agony, to death a wretched prey.
Then farewell. Solitude !
Thou procreant of woe !
I would not have my peace dispelled ;
Nor more beneath thy sway be held ;
Gladly I bid thee go !
Farewell to pain
With thy sad reign ;
With joy I hail my loved Galeta once again!
The stanzas which next follow, are by the late Byron Walthall,
of this city, a young gentleman who possessed no moderate
share of talent as a writer of both prose and poetry. It is be
lieved that if his life had been spared, he would have acquired
an enviable literary fame. His early death was greatly la
mented, especially by those who knew his worth, and the readi
ness with which he composed pieces that have been extensively
read and much admired for their strength and force.of style, and
for their correctness and beauty of description. But he has gone,
we trust, to attune a golden harp to nobler strains above. The
verses which follow, are not equal in merit to many of his pro
ductions, but they present a tolerably good example of his ener
getic style.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 365

THE STAG HUNTER.
Bound away, my gray steed, with the silver-white mane.
Like a cloud in the gale, we will fly o'er the plain ;
Tho' the steeds of my comrades be fleet as the wind.
Or the stag that we chase, we will leave them behind.
There's a waU, which is raised on yon rocky hillside.
There's a ditch in yon field, it is slimy and wide ;
But we pause not for these, we have leapt them before.
And one spring from thy Ught feet will bear us safe o'er.
Yonder cliff we must mount, tho' as white as the snow.
The bones of a charger are there scattered below ;
'Tis the spot where Guy Lambert was thrown in the chase.
And 'tis there that they dug him his last resting-place.
Tho' the bones of that charger look ghastly and white.
And the pale ghost of Lambert is seen there at night.
They wiU not appal us, we'U scale the steep crag.
And we'U bound from its crest like the strong-footed stag.
Thy broad breast is heaving, but thou dost not yet tire.
And thy bright eyes dilating, shoot forth a wild fire,
WhUe the foam that is cast from thy sides as we pass,
FaUs like snow-flakes around on the dew-covered grass.
Bound away, bound away, my gray steed, we have thrown
Every huntsman far out, and we now ride alone ;
How thy iron-clad hoofs, as they strike the hard ground.
Wake the echoes that sleep in the valleys around.

I wiU win his proud antlers, and then I will come,
As a victor with trophies, to bear to my home :
But I'U pause in the vale, where the buds are most fair.
And I'll cuU a wild wreath for my love's f aven hair.
The author of the following lines evidently possesses genius as
a poetic writer. His pieces, generally, give evidence of origina
lity, good taste, and excellent descriptive capacity, and they con
sequently obtain admission in some of the best conducted peri
odicals. Southey remarked of the author of the hymn called " Wrest
ling Jacob," that he would have been sufficiently celebrated as
a poet, without the trouble of composing another line, after that

366 HISTORICAL AND
production ; and Professor Longfellow said, that those touching
stanzas, by Duganne, entitled " The Lament of the Widowed
Inebriate," commencing, "I'm thinking on thy smile, Mary,
Thy bright and trusting smile,"
were enough of themselves to "immortalize any poet." And
remarks to the same effect have been made by other critics, rela
tive to particular productions of certain other writers. Now the
reader need not suppose that we are very strongly tempted to
use such terms of praise relative to any pieces introduced here,
from Avhatever source they may have come. If they merit simi
lar commendation, let it proceed from others. We are willing,
however, to hazard the opinion, that if the foUowing lines were
the result of the author's first and only attempt, they would be
quite sufficient to produce a favourable impression. And the
same remark will apply to several pieces upon the preceding,
as well as the foUowing pages. The rhyme in the seventh
stanza, it will be observed, is faulty and objectionable ; but the
general sentiment and merit of the lines, nearly, if not quite,
atone for this defect. The second and the last divisions of the
piece, especially, contain much of the true spirit of poetry. The
metaphor of the wave "rousing up the sea-boy to die, whUe
dreaming of his cottage home," is certainly very striking, though
not more so than that of "a shroud of foam gathering on the
brow" of the breaking wave, soon to be "no more." These lines
have creditably passed the scrutinizing eye of those whose lite
rary taste and judgment are extensively known and acknow
ledged. SONG TO THE SEA-WAVE.
BY E. JAMES KEELING, OF NOKFOLK.
Wave of the ocean waste ! canst speak to me ?
The winds are sinking to their caverned rest ;
The day's last beam hath faded o'er the sea.
And glorious stars are mirrored on its breast !
Wave of the deep blue sea, let's talk awhile.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 367
We know that thou hast heard the fearful moan
Rise upward with the drowning sea-boy's cry ;
And e'en whUe dreaming of his cottage home.
Far, far away beneath a golden sky,
Thy careless voice hath roused him up to die.
We know, too, thou hast dashed, in fearful glee.
O'er the proud argosies that crossed thy way ;
Hast felt the winds in revel wild and free,
Sweep round thy form, and curl thee into spray —
And yet thou wanderest here, child of the sea.
But tell us of the ocean dead, thou wave —
Say, do they sleep in calm and quiet now ?
Do thy wild brothers hold their restless rave
Around each form, and o'er each marble brow ?
Or do they sleep the slumber of the grave ?
In the dim palaces of ocean's caves.
Where the sea maiden weaves her coral wreath,
Are there no sighing winds and moonlit waves ?
No flashing stars that tremble far beneath.
Lighting the sea-tomb with a quenchless ray ?
Methinks thou'rt murmuring now, — Beneath the seas
There is a scene more beautiful than ours ;
Whose gorgeous palaces and coral trees,.
Imbedded 'mid rich gems and pearly flowers.
Smile like the visioned Paradise of God.
And there, amid that strange and gorgeous home.
Roam the freed spirits of the ocean dead ;
Far from the strife of earth, alone, alone ;
With a green canopy around, o'erhead,
'Mid the wild music of the sea they dwell.
Stray child of ocean, art thou weary now ?
Cease thy wild moan, thy life will soon be o'er ;
A shroud of foam has gathered on thy brow —
There, thou art breaking on the silent shore —
Wave of the deep blue sea, thou art no more !
The following lines will perhaps be thought, by some readers,
superior, in several respects, to the above ; though we should
decide otherwise.

368 HISTORICAL AND

LINES

SUGGESTED BY GAZING UPON THE RUINS OP THE OLD SETTLERS' CHURCH AT JAMESTOWN, VA., AND THE
DECAYED TOMBS IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY.

BY B. JAMES KEELIMG.
Old monument of ages past, lone champion hoar and gray.
Thy aged walls are falling fast to ruin and decay ;
A stranger gazes on thee now with eyes bedewed with tears.
And marks, upon thy aged brow, the work of bygone years.
Thou standest not as thou hast stood in days long past and gone.
Ere yet the storms of passing years had swept above thy form ;
Ere yet the ivy vine had learned to bind thy shattered crest,
Or swallow-bird to build on thee her frail and lonely nest.
Long years have rolled above thee since, amid the wildwood glen.
Thy ancient form was reared, in times that tried the souls of men ;
And sire, and son, and savage foe, since then have passed away : —
But thou, though ruined, standest now, majestic in decay.
And where are now the few who reared thy form in other days.
And made thy humble aisles to ring with pealing notes of praise ?
I ask, ye woods aud hills around, I ask ye, where are they ?
And wood and hill give back the sound, " All, all have passed away."
And thou, old temple of the Gross, art standing all forlorn,
Here, in thy deathlike solitude, with none thy fall to mourn ;
The noble James is rolling by, the music of whose surge.
When blended with the night-bird's cry, must be thy funeral dirge.
Farewell, old timeworn sentinel, lone watcher of the dead.
And you, ye blooming wild-flowers, that wave above each head ;
Farewell ! ye all may live to breast the storms of many a day,
Yet know that, with the things of earth, ye too must pass away.

The following stanzas, by WUliam Wallace Davis, Esq., attor-
ney-at-law, of this city, were taken almost at random from a
collection of poems of which he is the author. They are suffi
cient, however, to confirm the favourable opinion entertained by
many, with regard to his contributions to some of the periodicals
of the day. His poetic attempts embrace a variety of subjects,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 369
measure, and style ; and the rapidity with which he composes is
remarkable.
LUCUBRATIONS.
BY W. W. D.
Thoughts of the Past, the happy Past,
Are crowding on me now ;
Shadows around by moonlight cast.
Shadows by Luna's radiance cast,
Like Stygian spectres hurry past;
To Somnus' rule I bow.
The night, the night is waning fast :
I'm thoughtful, thoughtful, now.
The hopeful days, the happy days.
Long past, are present now ;
On lovely forms once more I gaze.
On forms beloved I fondly gaze ;
My lips are moved in silent praise.
To beauty's shrine I bow ;
Hope sheds its brightest, Ughtest rays :
I'm happy, hopeful, now.
The vision flies, the vision flies ;
The real is present now.
The moon deserts the starry skies,
Diana leaves the starry skies ;
Darker, ghastUer shadows rise.
Dew-damps are on my brow ;
A hopeless lot before me lies :
I'm joyless, joyless, now.
A gleam of day, a gleam of day.
Paints the horizon now ;
Night's sable pall must pass away,
Night to Aurora must give way ;
But shadows round my heart will stay.
Clouds rest upon my brow.
Hope sheds for me no dawning ray :
I'm cheerless, cheerless, now.
24

370 HISTORICAL AND

THE HOPES OF LOVE.
BY W. W. D.
Go, call the stars from the azure zone.
Call Ocean's treasures all thy own ;
And if the stars submit to thee, —
If treasures come forth from the sea, —
Then, and not till then, beUeve,
The hopes of love will not deceive.
Go, bid the mountain and the hill
To crumble, and the valley fill ;
And if no chasms wide are seen
The frowning monuments between.
Then, and not till then, believe.
The hopes of love wUl not deceive.
Beneath Niagara place thy bark ;
It's watery wall, its power, mark ;
And if the ship ascend the fall.
Or if no power's in that wall.
Then, and not till then, believe.
The hopes of love will not deceive.
Go, bid the river stay its course ;
Go, bid the tempest stay its force ;
And if the river heed thy will,
Or if the tempest thou canst still.
Then, and not till then, believe.
The hopes of love will not deceive.

We shall introduce next in turn, some specimens from the pen
of another resident of our city, who, though he has for years
been a valued contributor to the papers, and has embraced in his
very creditable poetic efforts many interesting subjects, is only
known to a very limited extent as a writer for the press. These
pieces show well enough that he might, with considerable pro
priety, have been less modest with regard to his contributions.
Every one who has literary taste, will find occasional inter
vals for its indulgence. Often, while attending to the peculiar
duties of his vocation, the man of business, who has the mind for

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 371
the more exalted pursuits of literature, forms his plans, ar
ranges his thoughts, and then embraces the first opportunity to
retire a while from his merchandise, his books, his customers,
and his dollars and cents, to commit them to paper. These
casual and hasty attempts sometimes possess real merit, and
please more than the studied periods, and careful rhyming, of
one with less genius, who devotes whole days and nights to ar
ranging, altering, and transcribing his empty effusions.
AN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THE "CHAMPION OF THE FREE."*
BY S. S. DAWES.
Fell Death a sad aud guilty deed has done.
That fills Columbia's grateful heart with woe.
For now, alas ! he's doomed her favoured sou
To seek repose, the silent sod below.
With lightning's bound, the gloomy tidings run.
And e'en the winds with mournful cadence low.
Doth seem to murmur as they loiter near,
" For him that's gone, bestow one tribute tear."
He loved his country, dearly as his child.
And ne'er withheld his fond parental aid;
For oft when dangers 'raved like whirlwinds wild.
And dire alarms and strife each heart dismayed —
'Twas but for him to chide with wisdom mild.
And, lo 1 their restless fury quick was stayed : —
When Peace for flight prepared and all looked drear.
None lured Uke him, the gentle maiden here.
Hlustrious Clay — the good — the wise — the just —
Through evil and through good report the same —
Tho' now thy form be nought but mould'ring dust.
Through time will live thy great immortal name , —
Secure from ling'ring years' avenging rust,
A star thou'lt shine on glory's scroll of fame.
And be remembered as some sage or seer.
Whose like on earth will ne'er again appear.

* If we mistake not, the brave sons of Greece and of Bolivia, during their
late struggle for liberty, awarded to Henry Clay the title which stands at the
head of these verses.

372 HISTORICAL AND

AN HOUR AMONG THE FLOWERS.
BY s. s. r.
One balmy morn we wandered forth, with spirits blithe and gay,
To list each warbling chorister attune his matin lay: —
To see upon the fragrant mead the rose and lily fair.
And Flora's congregated hosts that had assembled there.
The harebell with the violet, iu sweet profusion grew.
And with them bloomed the buttercup, who quaffed his fill of dew.
In close commune the hollyhock — the hedge-row's gaudy pride —
Seemed to the poppy whispering love, that languished at his side.
The sun arose in majesty, and cast his light afar,
And ev'ry flower that caught a ray held on its leaves a star.
His dancing beams shone bright upon the winding stream and lawn.
And kissed the reverend trees which seemed to welcome in the morn.
The variegated lilac, — the hawthorn, and the yew —
Each strove to catch his kindly glance, and render homage due : —
The crocus and the marigold which spangled o'er the glade —
And, too, the gentle mignonette, its meek obeisance paid.
Uniting with sweet songs were heard the melody of rills.
And startled echoes from each grove resounded from the hills.
Diffusing odours on the air the Zephyrs gently blew.
And slumbering mists which lingered still with one accord withdrew.
The browsing lambs were seen to frisk delighted on the green.
And mazy rings which fairies formed revealed where they had been.
All prankt in nature's varied hues, the landscape and the sward.
Unto the yearning eye appeared' as if just formed by God.
Aside we turned, perchance to muse and moralize on man.
Whose earthly object seems to be, to form, create, and plan: —
Tho' fraught with vain ambitious skill, his art can ne'er portray
The vermeil tints which tinge the rose, nor Heaven's burnished ray.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 373

CHAPTER XLVIIL
Other Specimens — Original MSS. — Literary Taste in Norfolk, &c. — Composi
tion by a Lady — Interesting Subject — Beautiful Sketch — Seminole War —
Burial of the Soldiers — Funeral Solemnities — Beautiful Specimens of Pen
manship — The Author — The Burial of the Gallant Dead — Solemn Occasion —
The Indians, and their " Flowery Home" — Exhumation of the Dead in the
Wilderness — Procession — The March iu the Wilderness — Dade's Massacre —
Indian Warfare, and their Deadly Hate — The Soldier's melancholy Fate
— Impressive Funeral Obsequies — MiUtary and Civic Honours — Burial
Place — Reminiscences — The Soldier's Rest — Prayer of a Presbyterian Mi
nister — Eloquent Eulogy of a Catholic Priest — Reinterment and Solemn
Closing Scene — Music among the Tombs at Midnight. '
Many additional literary specimens could be presented, which
are creditable alike to the head and the heart ; and we might
gratify the curiosity, and interest the mind of the reader, by in
serting a number of others from the original MSS. at our dis
posal. But it is, perhaps, already well enough known, that
there are in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and vicinity, persons of both
sexes, possessing a good degree of literary taste, with cultivated,
penetrating, and well-balanced minds, and ripe judgment ; and
who, when occasion requires, wield their pens with considerable
ability. We shall, however, enrich and increase the interest of
this department of our work, by adding thereto one more selec
tion, which is from the pen of a young lady, a native of our city
(and daughter of a venerable, highly respected, and intelligent
native citizen), who composed this and many other prose and
poetic articles of decided merit, while finishing her education at
Mount Holyoke Seminary, where the facts in the following sketch
were communicated to her by letter.
The subject of this beautiful piece of descriptive composition,
is one of considerable importance. Indeed, it constitutes a
gloomy chapter in the history of our glorious Union, which will
be read with melancholy interest, by all who appreciate the
varied military and political events of the past. The mind of
the reader — as he peruses this beautiful sketch, containing, as it

374 • HISTORICAL AND
does, lofty sentiment, touching pathos, and other evidences of
talent and good taste in the art of composition — will be thrown
back a few years to the troublesome and vexatious Seminole War,
and its attending circumstances of peril, hardship, privation, and
death to many a brave soldier, in the swamps and everglades of
the "flowery land." But the subject is the burial of the soldiers,
who had honourably, though prematurely, fallen in that singular
and perilous contest with the warlike red men of the " sunny
South." Their withered, mutilated remains were carefully ga
thered up, and conveyed to St. Augustine for interment. A long
row of wagons, heavily laden with the crumbling dead, and drawn
each by six horses, came forth from the swamps and florid val
leys ; and, with funeral ceremonies well befitting the solemn oc
casion, they were consigned to their last quiet resting-place.
But we should withhold the description from the reader no
longer. We must add, however, that the manuscript of the young
and esteemed author, is remarkable for the neatness and beauty
of the penmanship. More admirable specimens, in this as well
as some other respects, have seldom been seen by the writer,
than those from which this selection is made. But, alas \ she,
too, is numbered among the dead, the early dead. The fair
hand that traced these lines lies motionless, cold, and still in the
damp, dark confines of the grave ; she, too, using her own im
pressive words, " is now mute and passive in the stirless slumber
of death." Her earthly career is ended, her race is run — and
"What though short thy date ?
Virtue, not rolling suns, the mind matures.
That life is long which answers life's great end."

"THE BURIAL OF THE GALLANT DEAD.
" It was the morning of the 15th of August, 1842, in the city
of St. Augustine. The bells of the churches were resounding
with slow, deep-toned funeral peals, and a solemn sUence rested
on the crowds which thronged the streets. That day was a day
of solemnities. The six years' conflict with the savages within
their own borders, was ended. The flowery home the red man

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 375
loved so well, and fought for till his last hiding-place had been
sought out, he had at last yielded, and turned his steps toward
the setting sun. And now the dead — the gallant men who had
gone forth to meet the foe, and had fallen beneath their arrows
— ^were being returned to a more honoured burial. The wilder
ness had been explored ; and, amid the lone swamps and ever
glades, the grassy hUlocks, marked by inscriptions in the bark
of the forest trees which shaded them, had been opened, and the
dust of those who had been laid there brought forth.
" The dead had come by sea and land ; on the bosom of the
placid river, across the sandy plain, and through the tangled
paths of the wilderness the freight of death had been transmitted
by the corps of sorrowing comrades. Pilatka, the outpost, on
the banks of the St. John's, which had heard the last farewell
note of the bugle as they marched out into the heart of the
forest, was the rendezvous for their return. Day after day had
the slow-moving wagons brought in the voiceless dust until all
who had gone out had been returned^-the death-roll was com
pleted. On this day they were to be committed to the grave
within the walls of St. Augustine, with the solemnities due to
brave men. They had gone out with the sound of stirring music
in their ears, and their country's glory waking up brave purposes
in their souls, and quelling the gentle rising of affection which
lingered around the hearth-stones and the scenes they left behind
them. They went out, too, with flags gaily fluttering in the
blue air, with burnished arms and tinselled trappings glittering in
the sunlight, with plumes nodding to the summer breeze ; and
they had plunged into the forest depths with unfaltering steps.
But there alas, they had met death in almost every form. Some
times as unconscious of danger, they were treading its mazy
paths, the bullet whizzed in their ears, the dark shades became
instinct with life, and from behind the trunk of each majestic
tree, death came and ushered many an immortal spirit into the
presence of its God. Or when they had halted on their weary
way at evening, had made their quiet encampment for the night
beneath the magnolia's shade, while the evening star was looking
down upon them in its beauty, and gentle breezes brought the
breath of flowers to their senses ; while the soothing music of the

376 HISTORICAL AND
nightingale, the hum of insects, and the slight rustling of forest
boughs alone fell on their ears and lulled them to quiet sleep ;
and while cheering visions of home were around them, and per
chance the voice of the wife or the welcome of the child was
whispering in their ear ; then the startling war-whoop aroused
them to die ; and before each strong arm could grasp its
ready weapon, the arrow of the savage had reached their
hearts. And when the morning came, it found those strong
men that, with the setting sun did bow themselves so proudly in
the might of strength, mocking at fear and danger, now mute
and passive, in the stirless slumber of death ; the reeking blood
from their mutilated brows whence the savages had severed the
flowing locks, bathing the turf which they had made their last
pillow.* The cheerful hum of voices which had sounded there
in the evening's shade was stUl, and the deep quiet which
reigned there was undisturbed. The destroyer had left no mark
behind him ; the crushed blossom or the parted bough gave no
sign of his retreating footsteps. The golden chain glittered on
the manly breast, and the low tick of the watch amid the still
ness of death, told that deadly hate, such as the red man only
can cherish, had done the deed.f Thus had they met their fate;
and for days perhaps, the scorching sun shone on them in its
unpitying glare ; and the dews of evening fell on their mangled
forms, until at last from a distant post a band of comrades had
found them, and opened for them a hasty grave, and committed
them in sorrow to earth's cold bosom. And at the posts in the
wilderness, some fell under diseases engendered by the burning
suns and humid swamps. Or perchance, when death overtook
them, they were directing their steps across the deceitful ever
glades with their thoughts on the trembling earth beneath their
feet, and knew not that the wily light-footed savage was around
their path, singling out his prey.. And when their steps grew
weary, the sure bullet, or no less certain arrow, did its work.
The death-mists settled over their eyes, and the weary ones sunk
down to repose, which should remain unbroken.
*****
* Dade's massacre.
f The wily foe did not disturb the watches and other personal effects of
those whom they slew.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 377
" And now, on this bright morning, they were returning whence
they had gone out. And there were waving plumes and glitter
ing armour, and music too. But, ah, how different the notes
which haUed their return ! The wailing bugle, the muffled drum,
and the shrill fife, blended in mournful cadence the solemn dead
march ; while the slow-tolling bells of the cathedrals struck sadly
on the still summer air. The crowd that thronged the streets
looked on in deep and solemn silence. Mournful and imposing,
indeed, was that great funeral train. The long array of soldiers,
the escort of the dead, moved on with slow and measured step ;
their arms reversed, in keeping with the plaintive wailing of those
mournful strains. Sorrow marked their brows, as if thought
dwelt wearUy on their fallen comrades. Then came that long
train of wagons, laden with the dead, covered with flags, — our
country's stars and stripes, — which had come down from the blue
air to enfold the victims of her strife. A poor reward this, for
the light of Ufe, and the hope of immortal spirits.
" The scene, to those who looked beyond the pomp of gaudy
trappings, and steeled their reason against the influence of sense,
spoke of death and eternity. But there were those on whom
worldly associations had power, whose souls were steeped in the
magic charms of glory; who regarded more the glistening of
worldly honour than the pure glory of celestial things. But to
every heart it spoke. The soldiers moved with restrained step ;
the pall-bearers, — men of noble mien, clad in mUitary uniform,
— passed along with measured tread, and downcast eyes. They
had held companionship with the fallen in the flush of life.
Thought dwelt sadly on their fate. The men of God, too, were
there. The Catholic priest, with flowing robe and the holy cross
on his breast, — perchance he murmured the mass that should be
said for the souls of the departed. The erect form of the simply-
clad and devoted pastor of the Presbyterians was there. Epis
copalians, too, men of prayer and faith, who, in soul, contrasted
the peace-giving doctrines of the gospel with man's strife-breath
ing policy.
"They moved through the city, and passing down to the
banks of the river, they halted where the dead were to find their
last resting-place. It was a pleasant place for the soldier to

378 HISTORICAL AND
sleep. The bending cypress waved over the bed of many a fallen
comrade ; and the blossoming turf, and touching inscription on
the marble that rose over them, showed that stranger hands and
hearts had not performed these last kind deeds. . On the right
was an orange grove, and here the morning sunbeams sparkled
on the green foliage, with their perfume-breathing blossoms and
golden fruit, in all their dew-bathed freshness. Just beyond
were the barracks, the military home of our country's sons.
This spot, now occupied by the barracks, is linked with many a
romantic legend of the days when the Spaniards held possession
of the walls of the city. A convent once marked the place ; the
vesper-bell had once chimed out over these sweet waters at even
ing ; and the fresh breezes had kissed the pale brow of the
devoted nun. Within its dark and damp dungeons, the impious
heretic had dragged out the days of a wretched life, consigned
there by judges, whose council-place is the secrecy of barred
doors, and midnight darkness ; and whose decisions fiends have
whispered in their ears. The fame of this sacred spot reached
across the waters; and a thrilling story is told of a com
pany of nuns who left the walls of their convent, in the
pleasant island of Minorca, to provide a residence here. The
voyage was readily accomplished, and the ship had approached
near the borders of Sandy Isle. The perfumed breath of the
soft air had reached the senses of the wearied ones as they
came on deck, and looked forth on these walls, where they were
to find a home. The tolling bell came on the silence of the
evening air, bringing hallowed associations of their island-home
in the Mediterranean. The morning came, and saw that ship,
instead of being safely moored in the harbour, fixed in the hidden
sand-bank ; her masts bending abjectly to the waves, which swept
mercUessly over her. The midnight hour had heard the last
wail of those pure-hearted, though misguided creatures. But
the old convent, like all things earthly, had numbered its days ;
and these barracks upreared themselves in its place, — a home
for the defenders of the soil. And gallant men now walked in
these fragrant shades, and breathed in the refreshing breezes
that came from the leaping sea ; while at evening, instead of the
vesper-bell, the martial bugle and life-stirring drum resounded in

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 379
those quiet shades. And where the sombre dress of the veiled-
face nun alone met the eye, were the gay uniforms ; and the
star-spangled banner floated over the roof in place of the stern,
naked cross.
" Where, then, would the soldier love so well to sleep, when felled
by death, afar from his childhood's home, as by the side of that
orange grove where he had so often wandered ; where the familiar
notes of the bugle and -drum should come on the evening air ; and
the stone which marked his grave should awaken daily remem
brance in the heart of his comrade. For too often the soldier
thinks little of his other rest than that which earth can afford.
He cares little how or when he meets his end, so that dishonour
rests not on his name, and he finds an honoured burial.
The long procession entered the burial-place, and wound along
the smooth path, among the stony monuments and simple slabs,
which told that the green turf they marked covered brave hearts.
Touching and pleasant was the evidence of those deep and strong
ties which unite hearts that know not the stronger bonds of
Christian love. No changing friendship was that which bound
those manly hearts ; but enduring as the bands of honour, and
sweet to the eyes of friends from distant homes was the sight of
that smooth turf, and these blossoming shrubs and waving trees.
Many a time had the funeral train entered this quiet spot, and
often had the peal of musketry resounded amid the shades ; but
never had it witnessed a scene like this.
" They halted beneath a grove of cypress, where the martial
host, after their last march, were to rest. Three pyramidal
monuments, on the polished marble of which the chisel's touch
seemed fresh, pointed out the deep, dark vaults which were to
receive the dust. Those heavy boxes, enveloped in their banner-
palls, were removed, and placed reverentially on the green turf
beside the vault. Near them was the little band of kindred,
who had gathered from distant portions of the Union to witness
the interment of their loved and lamented ones. By the dead
were the pall-bearers, with their brows uncovered. On one side
was the dense phalanx of the military ; on the other clustered
the great multitude which St. Augustine and the land around
had poured out.

380 HISTORICAL AND
" As the eye rested on that great throng, thought dwelt on
the resurrection morn, when, at the trumpet's sound, the dead
shall spring to life, thick peopling earth's surface.
" The notes of bugle and drum had ceased ; and there was
deep stillness, such as could better be felt than described. Then
the Presbyterian minister advanced, and lifted up his hands to
pray. The dead, a great company, were at his feet; around
was breathing life ; and his voice went out clear and distinct in
the solemn silence. The slight waving of the boughs — God's
breath alone — mingled with man's in that moment. He prayed
for the living, that man might learn a lesson of his own mortality ;
that he might remember that, like the breathing harp, his voice
should sink in silence; that, as the summer leaf, so his glory
should fade. He prayed for the mourners, that were near, and
those afar in their desolate homes, whose eyes should never fall on
these withered forms at his feet, whose ears were never again to
be greeted by their familiar household voices. He prayed for
the land ; that the clarion of war might no more sound within
her borders ; that the dove of peace might rest on her banner.
He prayed for the dark Indian, who had gone to the setting sun;
that the gentle influences of the Gospel, in its harmonizing power,
might come to his savage heart. He prayed for that fair land,
the red man's former home, that it might become the heritage of
a people who should delight to know God. He prayed that, as
a people, we might be humbled in the dust for our sins ; that love
to our neighbour might unite the hearts of this people together
for ever.
" Then a Catholic priest, a man of eagle eye, and with a
tongue of stirring eloquence, pronounced the eulogy of the gal
lant dead. He told how, in all ages, the fire of patriotism had
glowed in noble hearts ; how the sacred shrine of liberty had
been honoured by offerings of earth's noblest sons; how the
mountain's side and the depths of the valleys had drunk their
blood in every region of this wide eairth. He told how, in that
dark mountain-gorge of Thessaly, the devoted few of the strength
of Greece had dared death ; he told how the Romans, with un-
quailing eye, had met the hosts which, like clouds on the wing
of the tempest, came down upon them ; and he told how the

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 381
standard of liberty had been reared in our fair land by our
fathers' undying bravery. And, pointing to the ashes of the un-
buried dead, he said, the immortal spirits had now fled from
earth ; he told how these men had gone out and met the savage,
and had given up their lives ; and how nations brought destruction
on themselves ; how their graspings were quelled by the hand of
destruction ; and well might he have pointed at the difference
between the policy of men who defended their dearest rights
of liberty, and that which is to gain, let it cost what it
may. But his full tones were subdued to a gentle strain, as he
spoke of their last groan in the wilderness, — of death unseen by
pitying eye. The burial service was then read by him who had
often with them committed their comrades to the grave; and
those touching words never sounded more solemn : — ' Dust to
dust, and ashes to ashes !' Their full voices had often responded ;
but there they were — dust!
" Again the voice of the Presbyterian minister was heard in
solemn prayer, committing that great multitude to the God of
the living. The last ' Amen ' was spoken ; and then did the
dark earth receive her dead out of sight. They had made their
last remove. When the last one had been quietly deposited, the
roll of death was called ; one name after another was spoken,
but no response came up from the voiceless dust. They had all
resigned their posts ; they were free. No more, at morning or
evening, should they answer to their names. Then the last act
only remained. The volley of musketry was discharged. The
smoke-wreaths curled up slowly among the boughs, and the last
echoes of the solemn peal died slowly in the distance ; but it
could awaken no thrill in the hearts of the sleepers. They can
hear no sound, till the peal of the last trump shall awaken the
myriads in earth's bosom.
****.»-
" It was midnight. Unbroken stUlness reigned in that burial-
place. The multitude that a few hours since had thronged its
portals, had all passed away. The moonbeams fell softly be
neath the still dewy scene. The holy stars looked gently down
on that hallowed spot. No leaf whispered. But low, sweet, un
earthly strains of melody suddenly sounded out around the vaults

382 HISTORICAL AND
on the soft air ; then rose to a wild, thrilling strain, and died
away in plaintive harmony. Like the voice of angel-harps, it
rapt the soul, raising it high above this world. It was the sol
dier's last, long farewell. They were 'left alone in their
glory.' "*

CHAPTER XLIX.
Conductors of the Press in the City — The Editor's Task a DifiScult One — Re
sponsibility and Usefulness — Editorial Character — Editors of the Daily
Papers of Norfolk and Portsmouth — Francis H. Smith — Captain Thomas H.
Williamson — The Different Professions — Ex-Governor Tazewell — Form and
Motion — Countenance — His Mind — Oratory — Astonishing Power of His Elo
quence — His Manner — Indifference to Forensic Fame — His Political Princi
ples — Compared with Pinkney — Pinkney's Violent Style — His Mind — Exalted
Talents of these Two Distinguished Men — Mr. Tazewell at the Present Day
— Intellectual Faculties Unimpaired — General Information, and Readiness
to Communicate — Intellectual Superiority — Able Original Papers — Varied
Intelligence. We have already taken occasion to allude, severally, to the
conductors of the press in our city ; some further remarks, how
ever, in a general way, may not be inappropriate here. We,
therefore, venture the assertion, without any inclination to in
dulge in blandishment or fulsome adulation, that the average
ability of the respected gentlemen, who hold an editorial relation
to the several papers of this city and Portsmouth, will compare
favourably with that of the same number in other cities. How
much soever we may be disposed to particularize, it would, per
haps, be somewhat imprudent to do so. Place each member of
the editorial corps here, under like circumstances ; give to all
the same facilities, the same experience, and then a particular
and separate description might be attempted with some certainty
of justness and correctness. An editor has a most difficult and
* One of the United States bands of music that accompanied the procession
repaired to the vaults at midnight, and played a number of solemn and melan
choly airs around the remains of the dead, as a last sad tribute to departed
friends and fellow-soldiers.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 383
responsible task to fill. An able, impartial, and consistent con
ductor of a public journal, may well and fairly assert his claims
to the respect of all parties and every class ; for such a one is,
indeed, a great advantage to society at large, and a greater
blessing, especially, to the community in which his paper circu
lates, than he is always supposed or allowed to be.
"An editor," said one capable of judging, "should be per
fectly independent of all cliques, factions, and influences, poli
tical and ecclesiastical. He should have moral courage to speak
the truth, at all times and under all circumstances." As to the
question. How near the editors and publishers of the daUy papers
of Norfolk and of Portsmouth approach this high standard, we
shall leave it with an intelligent and impartial public to answer.
We may appropriately mention, in this part of our work,
Francis H. Smith, A.M., the able Superintendent and, also.
Professor of Mathematics of the Virginia Military Institute ; late
Professor of Mathematics in Hampden Sidney College, and for
merly Assistant Professor in the U. S. Military Academy at
West Point ; author of the American Statistical Arithmetic, kc,
was born and reared in Norfolk.
Captain Thomas H. Williamson, a mathematician and a pro
fessor of distinguished ability, also, at the above Institute, is a
native of this city ; and we could mention the names of others of
acknowledged merit, but we pass on.
It is quite well known that there are residing in the city, in
Portsmouth and vicinity, gentlemen of ability in the different
professions — some of long-established reputation, and others
whose career of eminence has but recently commenced. No
special reference may be expected from our pen, and to particu
larize might be invidious. But there is here a distinguished,
venerable man, to whom a definite and somewhat extended allu
sion may be reasonably expected — one of the renowned sons of
old Virginia, who, in days that have passed, attracted and en
chained the attention of thousands by his eloquence — the powers
of whose mind were splendidly exhibited at the bar of justice,
and whose voice has often resounded in the national halls. Lx-
G-overnor Littleton W. Tazewell is, of course, the eminent indi
vidual to whom we refer.

384 HISTORICAL AND
"Whoever regards his tall, spare form, and the unusual, yet
dignified, motion of his limbs, his expressive countenance, his
elevated forehead partially shaded by light grayish hair, curling
negligently down his neck, his eyebrows (when he is speaking)
arched, as if the blue eyes beneath were gazing at a distant
prospect, his cheeks furrowed by long-continued and abstract
meditation, his lips remarkably thin and well-formed — whoever
regards his entire countenance — placid, yet firm ; agreeable, yet
not jovial — will intuitively conclude that he is a man of no ordi
nary cast. ^ * * * ^ * *
" What is the principal feature in the mind of Mr. Tazewell ?
I answer, argument — strong, convincing, overwhelming argu
ment. He selects his premises with exquisite ingenuity, and
with such honest caution, that the hearer is so gradually and
imperceptibly seduced, as almost to decide against the concurrent
testimony of experience. When speaking, a smile occasionally
lightens his countenance, which, while it pleases the audience, is
the unerring death-sign of the argument of his opponent.
" He is, figuratively, a monarch in the empire of mind. Fancy,
with her beauteous train, is the neatly-attired handmaid, not the
ruling mistress of his intellect. Her power is secondary ; reason
in its pride is the ascendant. When he enters the lists in the defence
of truth, the specious guises of error are torn aside, each secret
subterfuge is exploded, and truth appears in fascinating colours.
His ingenuity, however, in making ' the worse appear the better
reason,' is indeed wonderful. In one moment, he can, by the
strength of his genius, raise a diminutive molehUl into a towering
mountain, and, in another, reduce it to its original nothingness,
as occasion may require. But there is no arrogant supremacy
in his manner; no unfair garbling of another's argument in his
reasonings ; no insulting superiority in his triumph. He is mild'
and persuasive ; he concedes the fuUest force to the arguments
of his opponents ; and he then proves, with a coolness which no
provocation can affect, and with a dexterity peculiar to himself,
that, in the present case, they have no power whatever ; and
when fortune has smUed upon him, when the laurels of victory
are thick around him, he dashes them from his brow with an in-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 385
difference, equalled only by the zeal with which other aspirants
after forensic fame would collect and preserve them.
" His whole political life has shown a strong and untiring zeal
in defence of State Rights. He regards the General Govern
ment as the creature, and not the sovereign creator of the States ;
and believes that its efficacy is injured, whenever it transcends
the limits expressed. He has uniformly opposed the commercial
restrictive system ; and, in the colonial question, denied the in
fallibility of the ruling passion of the President, and firmly ad
vised him to meet the act of the British Parliament by a corre
sponding one of our own.
" It has been fashionable, ever since the days of Plutarch, to
draw parallels of those who have excelled in the sphere of ac
tion. The names of Pinkney and Tazewell have been often en
rolled together. The manner of Pinkney was fierce and violent.
He often threw himself into the wildest tempest of feeling — the
sweat rolling from his brow, and passion burning on his cheek —
but it was the undisguised action of his art, not the divine im
pulse of the soul. The manner of Tazewell is natural, easy, and
dignified ; kindling in warmth, and rising into action, with a
judgment true to nature. The mind of Pinkney sometimes ap
peared darkened, by the mass of embellishments with which the
fecundity of his genius supplied him, and whose false glare fre
quently seduced him from the strict path of logical accuracy.
The ornaments with which Tazewell occasionally decorates his
orations, are woven into their general texture; not hung in
sep'arate clusters about the web. The mind of the former often
resembles the mid-day firmament, when partially obscured by
bright and beautiful clouds ; the mind of the latter is more like
the clear, cloudless azure of the upper sky. In reasoning, both
excelled in a comprehensive and irresistible grasp of intellect,
and in that mathematical precision, with which the minutest aud
most remote ramifications of an argument are traced to their
legitimate source. Both were frequently engaged in the inves
tigation of subjects which demanded the severest exercise of
human genius, and each showed himself equal to the occasion.
25

386 HISTORICAL AND
Let the public voice, the surest arbiter of eloquence, decide
whose triumph has been more glorious, more complete."
The above is an extract of a description of Governor Tazewell,
which was written twenty-five years ago, when he rejoiced in
the full strength of his mental and physical powers. His
dignified form trembles now with the weight of years, but his
intellectual faculties appear to have suffered but little from
the effects of age. His opinion is now (1853), as formerly,
sought and obtained on important and intricate subjects, not
only by legal gentlemen of his own City and State, but from
abroad. His information on a great variety of subjects is most
surprising. He converses as freely, familiarly, and with as much
apparent interest upon the various scientific, mercantile, and me
chanical avocations, as upon a complicated law case, or some
grave question in political economy.
We have embraced opportunities to consult this eminent
man with regard to several subjects connected with the history
and commercial interests of Norfolk ; and on which we had
sought in vain to obtain satisfactory information elsewhere. We
shall not soon forget our surprise at the readiness, minuteness,
and promptness, with which the required information was com
municated, nor the pleasure we felt on account of the urbanity of
manner, the pleasing, though dignified politeness, which he ex
hibited during the short interviews. We went prepared to pro
pound several queries, respecting enflrely different subjects,
and widely different and distant occasions. His answers were
all given in a full, clear, remarkably distinct, and definite style ;
there was no mere supposition, no half-conceived ideas — the cir
cumstances in all their various bearings, direct and indirect,
were perfectly well recollected and understood. His mind is, as
it were, a great storehouse of the political and historical events
of the past ; an immense and well-filled intellectual repository,
whence inteUigence, varied, rich, and valuable, may be drawn at
pleasure, or as occasion may require. In the course of his re
marks, he casually alluded to some original articles that appeared
in the columns of the Norfolk Herald more than twenty-five
years ago, on subjects then deeply interesting, and on which the
public mind was greatly agitated. They are doubtless among

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 387
the ablest communications of the kind that ever appeared in that
or any other paper, being remarkable for strength of argument,
profound reasoning, and the evidences of extensive political know
ledge. He was the author, and " Senex" (if we mistake not), is
the anonymous signature over which he chose at the time to ex
press his sentiments, and give the public his comments and ex
planations — clear, just, and satisfactory as they were to many,
and perfectly true, as time proved them to be, upon matters which
had puzzled other great statesmen on both sides of the Atlantic.
" The lineaments of his mind are no less striking than the fea
tures of his face. If a stranger, should happen to hear him
descanting on commercial topics, he would naturally conclude
that his whole life had been devoted to mercantile pursuits. He
is an evident illustration of the maxim of Horace, that a wise man
is of all trades and professions ; ' homo sapiens est sutor.' "
John N. Tazewell, Esq., Governor Tazewell's only surviving
son, is a gentleman of talent, of varied and extensive literary
acquisitions, with a knowledge of politipal matters inferior to
but few if any, in this section.

CHAPTER

General R. B. Taylor— Eloquence and Success as a Jurist — Extraordinary
Powers of Oratory— Graphic Description by a Norfolk Writer — Address to
Lafayette at Yorktown — Choice of Virginia — Deportment, Manners, Elo
quence, and Military Feeling — Graces of Oratory — Effect upon a Jury —
Passion — His Excursions in the Regions of the Beautiful — Indefatigable and
Studious Devotion to his Professions — Example — Productions of his Pen —
Politics— Chosen to Command the Troops at Norfolk — A Credit to Old Vir
ginia — Diligent Improvement of Talent — Relatives.
The reader has doubtless heard much of the late Judge Robert
B. Taylor, of Norfolk, or, as he was more familiarly caUed, Gene
ral Taylor. As a polished gentleman and a soldier, and more
especially as an orator, he was very favourably and extensively

388 HISTORICAL AND
known. Very much has been said of his extraordinary eloquence
and success as a jurist and counsellor at law. Allusion has
already been made to the part he took in inilitary matters here
during the last war with Great Britain ; and the date of his
death is recorded on a preceding page. Much might be said
of the singular and astonishing effect of his efforts as an advo
cate at the bar in Norfolk borough, the town of Portsmouth,
Princess Anne and other neighbouring counties, in behalf of the
unfortunate and often guilty prisoner, and of the influence ex
erted by his speeches upon his audience ; of his enviable power
to sway his hearers at wiU, judge, jury, and all ; to convulse them
with laughter, or to make them shed copious tears of commisera
tion for the accused ; to thrill the heart with joy or horror, and
anon to fasten the conviction of innocence irresistibly upon the
minds of the jury, notwithstanding the most energetic efforts of his
opponent, and the strongest evidences of guUt. The following ex
tracts are from a description of this distinguished individual, writ
ten when he was in the full strength of joyous manhood, by one
who was competent to judge impartially of his merits, as well as
to present them in a clear and graphic style.*
" General Taylor is about the middle size, slightly inclined to
corpulency. His countenance is lighted up with the liveliest
and most expressive blue eyes, which reflect the high and chival
rous impulses of the soul within. His head is on the ancient
Roman model ; and according to Gall, indicative of great powers
of eloquence. Nor are these indications false. If the guardian
genius of Columbia had selected from the scroll on which the
names of her brightest sons are recorded, some favourite cham
pion to address the veteran apostle of Liberty on the mouldering
battlements of Yorktown, I do not think that I exceed mode
ration in affirming that the choice of Virginia would have been
confirmed.f His elegant deportment, fascinating manners, and,
withal, those brUliant powers of eloquence, heightened by high-
* H. B. Grigsby, Esq.
t General T. was chosen as the orator on the occasion of the great festival
at Yorktown, in honour of Lafayette, during his visit to this country. " Gene
rations may roll away, and empires be erased ; old Time himself may become
gray ; aud the bright sun be shorn of his glory, ere he again look down on such
a festival."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES.
toned military feeling, eminently qualified him for performing
the ceremony with corresponding eclat.
:f: :}:**** *
" I have mentioned that he possessed the light graces of ora
tory ; the alarming start, the ominous look, the significant gesture
— all are his ; but all these are the mere ministers of eloquence,
that stirring inspiration, which, as it were, from heaven, bids them
whither and when to move, with resistless magic and overwhelm
ing energy. That his eloquence has often robed the forms of
sordid guilt in the rich attire of innocence and beauty, and then
bade the tear of commiseration flow over imaginary wrongs ;
that it has almost swayed some of his audience secretly to indulge
the wish that the knife of the assassin, arraigned at the bar, were
plunged into the bosom of those who would be so cruel as to con
demn him ; and that it has anon aroused the undulating wave of
the multitude, — there are those of his townsmen who bear eager
testimony. " Most orators are rendered eloquent by passion ; and, rising
in the majesty of genius, march gloriously on. Not so the Ge
neral. While the passion prevails, his mind appears like a dread
ful volcano, vomiting its streams of sulphurous lava in every di
rection, and which, when the eruption ceases, continues evolving
dense columns of smoke, — and finally, all is still.
" To listen to the General, in some parts of his speech, is de
lightful. When his course is unruffled by passion, his excursions
into the regions of the beautiful are numerous and striking.
:t: ***** *
"As a lawyer, he is indefatigable. Rising early and retiring
late, his whole time is incessantly devoted to his profession ; he
leaves no document unexamined, no stone unturned, not the most
trivial precaution neglected, nor the slightest advantage disre
garded, in order to advance the interest of his clients. Few men
are more assiduous, none more successful in their profession ;
herein affording an eloquent lesson to the young lawyers in Vir
ginia." With regard to the productions of his pen, the same observant

390 HISTORICAL AND
writer remarks, in allusion to a report which he composed, as
Chairman of the Committee of Schools and Colleges, during a
session of the Virginia Legislature, of which he was a member,
that it " may vie in elegance of iUustration and purity of diction,
with any state paper which has for a long time emanated from
a legislative assembly." .
" Belonging to the old Federal party," says Mr. Pleasants, in
his Sketches of the Virginia Convention of 1829, " he had been
warmly, and upon principle, opposed to the war of 1812. Yet
no sooner was the die cast than his opposition ceased at once.
From that moment he only thought of the mode in which he
could render his country the greatest amount of service. He
had been chosen to command the troops at Norfolk, and during
the whole of his service in that capacity, he manifested the zeal,
the intelligence, and the activity that distinguish the able com
mander. " We can say that he was, in every respect, a noble specimen
of old Virginia. In person, in manner, and in intellect, he would
have been an honour to her in her brightest and palmiest days.
In honour, in courage, and in humanity, he was a credit, not
only to her, but to the human species. Alas ! that so few are
left like the men of that golden period of Virginia's greatness."
It must appear quite evident from some of the preceding ob
servations upon General T., that it was not the mere possession
of splendid talents that rendered him a great man ; not because
nature had lavished her choicest gifts upon this faTOurite child of
hers (she has many similarly favoured beneficiaries of her liberal
hand) ; but it was the diligent improvement of them, and the
effort to do ivell, whatever duty he undertook, whether as an
orator or a writer, a statesman, a soldier, or a counsellor-at-law.
The esteemed widow, and two highly respected and intelligent
sons of the General, Robert E. and WiUiam E., are residents of
Norfolk. Robert E. Taylor, Esq., is a talented lawyer and an
eloquent speaker, and has ably represented the City in the State
Legislature.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 391

CHAPTER LL
Henry A. Wise, of Aceomac — Interest iu the Welfare of Norfolk — Efi'ortS
in Behalf of Internal Improvement Schemes — Intellect — Native Genius —
Rhetorical Efforts — Style — Power of his Eloquence — Independence — Change
of Opinions^Description by an Opponent in Politics — His Voice — Generosity
— Social ExceUence — His Person — Countenance — Extract from the Southern
Literary Messenger — Graphic Description — Style of Speaking — Gestures,
&c.^Speech in the Virginia Convention — Convincing Power — John C. Wise,
of Princess Anne County — Political Character of the City — Whigs and Demo
crats — Party Strife and Excitement — Peaceable and Forbearing Character
of the Citizens.
Hon. Henry A. Wise, though not a resident of Norfolk, or its
immediate vicinity, may, with propriety, be alluded to in these
sketches. His name has been mentioned on some of the preced
ing pages ; as he has manifested a commendable interest in the
commercial prosperity and general welfare of the seaport of his
native state. His powerful voice has been heard, and the effect
of his eloquent appeals has been felt in behalf of those important
schemes of improvement, which, if carried out, some of them at
least must result in great benefit to Norfolk.
He is so well and extensively known, that any account of him
here is almost unnecessary. Let some partial description, how
ever, be left upon these pages, of another distinguished son of'the
Old Dominion ; a man, strong and vigorous in intellect, often
splendid in his rhetorical efforts, and possessing genius, which "has
the power of lighting its own fires." His style of oratory is exceed
ingly energetic. He is frequently fiery and impetuous, though
often very deliberate ; yet always at once engaging and enchain
ing the attention of his hearers, who are now thrUled with the
force of his reasoning, the aptness of his illustrations, the variety
of his gestures, the clearness and fulness of his enunciation ; and
anon, they are made to weep by his impressive appeals, or well-
nigh convulsed with laughter, by his ready wit, or his extraordi
nary facetiousness in relating an anecdote.
Many extracts could be presented, to convey to those unac
quainted with him an idea of his peculiarities as a statesman,

392 HISTORICAL AND
an orator, and a barrister. The following remarks concerning
him may be appropriately quoted :
" Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, is one of the most original and
independent thinking politicians in the Union. From early
boyhood he has always been remarkable for his fearless and
courageous self-dependence. No party shackles ever hold him,
no ancient usages or prejudices could ever influence his opinions
and judgment. It is true he is a progressive and honest man,
and must, therefore, frequently have reason to change his
opinions ; but this he does in an open, honest, franJi way, which
shows that it is the result of conviction."
" He is," observes another writer, " one of the most nervous
and impassioned men in the world, with a voice that rings out,
in moments of excitement, like a trumpet call to battle, and a
face which blazes in every lineament with fervid feeling. With
Mr. Wise, as a politician, we have no sympathy. As a man, he
has our profound respect. We have heard from the best autho
rity, anecdotes illustrating the unbounded generosity and self-
sacrifice of his nature, such as would read gloriously in a ro
mance, except that they might appear too improbable even for
fiction. We have no acquaintance with him, not the slightest,
and have never seen him but once, but have reason to believe
that, in the scale of social excellence, he has no superior."
But, as it has been truly said, he must be heard to be pro
perly understood and appreciated, and he must be heard, too,
when prepared and fully interested in his subject.
Mr. Wise is rather above the medium stature, thin in person,
and of slender frame. His countenance is very expressive, and
strongly marked, indicating great intellectual power ; his mouth
very large, and his blue eyes glare out fiercely from their
sockets ; sometimes, when excited in speaking, they assume an
expression of vindictive ferocity. " His face is full of fiexibility,
and, by the easy play of its muscles, expresses every emotion
and passion of the mind. In fact, the whole face speaks, in
every muscle and fibre of it."
As he passes along the street, often with the quick, activ.e
step of the man of business, he is readily recognised as a person
of no ordinary cast ; but his general appearance is certainly not

descriptive SKETCHES. 393
such as to produce a correct impression on the mind of a stranger,
with regard to his abilities as an orator, or a writer, or of his
peculiar social qualities.
There is, in the eighteenth volume of that invaluable and most
ably conducted periodical, the Southern Literary Messenger,
strict, unsparing, and well-written descriptions of some of the
talented men of Virginia, and who were members of the State
Convention of 1851. Among the rest, the name of Wise promi
nently appears. As the reader may refer to the number for
June of that year, we shall present only a few brief extracts :
"Face, figure, feature, gesture, flexibUity of muscle, limb,
voice, and inteUect," says the writer, "were called into full play;
earnestness of manner, keenness of wit, biting sarcasm, denunci
ation, unsparing ridicule, anecdote, positive assertion, his own
past history and his future hopes, whatever was known and what
ever was conjectured, as bearing upon the subject, were all
brought out, and flung, wild-cat fashion, in the contest. His
style of speaking is a chronic passion ; it is always at the height
of expression, that voice, feature, and gesture can give. In his
impassioned moments, when the force of his words is thus per
fectly aided by voice and manner, his arms flung aloft in every
variety of unnatural gesture, his face twisting, his voice almost
a scream, and his eye glaring with excitement, — at these times
his words seem like bullets, dashed and flung with frantic vehe
mence in the face of his opponents; he speaks concentrated
bitterness, — bitter in language, sense, expression, and action.
*******
" The effect of his speech on the Basis Question was strikingly
evident ; and if the true test of an orator is his power to con
vince a mixed audience of the truth of his opinions, and to carry
with him their attention and their opinions, then Henry A. Wise
is one of the most eloquent men in Virginia."
He has a brother, John C. Wise, Esq., of- Princess Anne
County, who, though not as polished a speaker, is evidently a
man of lofty spirit, uncommon talent, and excellent judgment.
This chapter will conclude with some remarks relative to the
political character of Norfolk, &c. ; and we may state, in the first

394 HISTORICAL AND
place, that there are in our community but few politicians,
or, perhaps, we should say political aspirants, certainly not
many vainly ambitious ones ; although it is admitted that there
is a respectable share of legislative intelligence and sagacity.
An observable trait in the character of the most prominent
men here of both parties, is a modest, quiet demeanour. But
when they are called by their fellow-citizens to act their part
in the political arena, they generally acquit themselves with
becoming ability and efficiency. The political sentiments of the
majority of the voters of Norfolk have long been in accordance
with the principles of the Whig party, and, consequently, there
have been, for many years, with one or two exceptions. Whig
representatives in the State Legislature. At the last Presiden
tial election, however, there was a Democratic majority of
twenty-four. And there was, accordingly, great rejoicing on
account of the apparent political change in the city ; and, proba
bly, there was sufficient reason for the innocent exultation on the
joyful occasion. But candour requires us to state that a large
number of Whigs did not vote. Whether the same may be said
of the members of the other party or not, we are not quite pre
pared to say. Very certain it is, however, that there was a
greater effort made by the Democrats, to swell the number of
voters, than by the Whigs. The most casual observer could not
fail to notice that there was extraordinary and effective vigilance
in the Democratic ranks in obtaining votes. The Democratic
party has the ascendancy in Portsmouth, and in the Con
gressional district.
There is not much of the bickering and strife of mere party ;
views and principles are firmly maintained ; but the clamorous
noise, and rabid denunciations of political factions have never
prevailed in Norfolk to an extraordinary extent. It is admitted,
however, that "there has been quite enough of bitter newspaper
controversy ; and on some special occasions, considerable excite
ment and a fair show of spirit and animation in political assem
blages and processions. Martial music, spirited songs, and
enthusiastic cheers, sometimes enliven the occasion, and ring out
loud and strong on the evening breeze. But the " sovereigns"
always disperse quietly, and depart peacefully, appearing quite

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 395
willing that each one should enjoy the fullest liberty to express
and entertain his favourite opinions and views. On occasions of
excitement, reason generally reigns and holds its sway, in oppo
sition to discord and confusion ; and a patient submission, a quiet
forbearance, have often been observed here, even when demon
strations of violence and bloodshed were seriously apprehended.

CHAPTER LIL
Native Genius — J. H. Whitehurst, of Norfolk, the Virginia Daguerreotypist —
Extensive Business — Pictures — Energy of Character — Opinions of Others
— Morteotype — Sketch of His Parentage, Talents, Progress, &c. — His Pic
tures at the Fairs of the Maryland- Institute — Premium — His Pictures at the
World's Fair — His Mind — Inventive Capacity, &c. — Alexander Gait, Jr., of
this City, the Virginia Sculptor — Descriptive Letter from Florence — Tri
umphs of American Artists — Powers — Gait — Greek Beauty — Correspondence
— Bust of Psyche — Bust " of Virginia — Promise of the Young Artist — The
Bust received in Norfolk — Splendid Specimen — Extract from the Richmond
Whig — ^Evidences of Genius in Boyhood — First Effort — Enquirer — Tribute of
T. C. Tabb, Esq.— Particulars of Gait's Genius- Works, &c.— Other Ta
lented Individuals.
We record with peculiar pleasure that this immediate section
of Virginia has produced its due proportion of individuals pos
sessing extraordinary native genius as artists ; and whose energy
of character, close application, and unyielding perseverance in
their profession, have already gained for them very considerable
distinction, and will ultimately cause their -names to be enrolled
among those of the masters of the age.
Jesse H. Whitehurst, the celebrated Daguerreotypist, enjoys
an enviable reputation, and merits a special notice here. He
ranks at the head of the list of artists in his profession ; and
his celebrity and popularity have already secured for him an
extensive and lucrative business, in several of the principal
cities of the Union. His pictures are very remarkable for
their exquisite finish, surpassing accuracy, and striking resem-

396 HISTORICAL AND
blance to life. The finest and most delicate touches, — the work
of a master hand, — are singularly manifest in all his likenesses.
His life has, thus far, exhibited one of those instances of
energy and persevering effort, and consequent success, which it
is pleasing to contemplate — an interesting example of that
spirited devotion to the chosen sphere of action, which marked
the career of some of those worthy men of science whose names
have " descended along down the track of time," never to be ef
faced from the historic page ; and the remembrance of whose
works will pass on, and on, from age to age.
There is much that could be appropriately said here of Mr.
W. as an artist ; nor can the foregoing remarks be thought too
highly coloured, inasmuch as observant, scrutinizing, impartial
men, of other sections of the country, have spoken concerning
him in terms not less strong.
" Morteotype is a new and beautiful application of Daguerreo
type, and is destined to create quite a sensation among the
living, if not among the dead. The idea is chaste and novel —
the dead are made to live in form, feature, and expression — the
tomb-stone gives to the breathing world more than the mere
name of the departed — more than can be told by the poet or ex
pressed by the sculptor ; a semblance of the mouldering dust that
sleeps beneath, when the ghastly remnant of humanity was
clothed in flesh, and 'the young blood ran riot in the veins.'
The stranger, wandering through our cemeteries, will no longer
dwell upon the epitaph of the silent sleeper — but contemplate
the features of the one, who once breathed and had volition like
himself. The young and lovely will seem to defy the consuming
finger of decay, and smile as they were wont in the days of life.
The parent can again look upon the features of his beloved child,
and forget that it reposes in the silent embraces of the tomb ;
while the lover can contemplate the features that longest won his
heart, and say, ' such was she — but what is she now ?' ' Morteo
type' is a recent invention of Mr. J. H. Whitehurst, a gentle
man who has devoted a great portion of his life to improvements
in the art of Daguerreotyping ; a young man of extraordinary
genius and enterprise. It is the embedding of the sun-created
¦ likeness into the stone, and making it impervious to the ravages

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 397
of time by the use of the peculiar kind of cement, which makes
the picture as durable as marble itself.
" If we have been informed aright, Jesse H. Whitehurst is the
son of Captain Charles Whitehurst, one of the gallant heroes of
Craney Island, and was born in Princess Anne County, Virgi
nia. He is still young, of prepossessing appearance, and urbane
manners. At an early age, he evinced great mechanical and
artistical talent, coupled with enterprise and ambition. In 1843,
the art of Daguerreotyping might have been considered in its
infancy ; he had foresight enough to see that there was a wide
field opened before him. He accordingly visited New York —
gleaned what information he could, and, through books and
study, obtained knowledge enough of the art to commence for
himself — which he did successfully in Charleston, S. C. In the
fall of 1843, he opened a gallery in Norfolk, and such was his
success that, with his usual 'go-ahead-ativeness,' in January of
1844, he established his celebrated gallery in Richmond. Good*
fortune still smiled upon his exertions ; and such was his triumph
over all competition, that he successively opened his branch es
tablishments in Lynchburg, Petersburg, Baltimore, and New
York. In 1844, he discovered the rotatory background, an im
provement which gives an airy, life-like appearance to the pic
ture. In 1845, he constructed the first perfect skylight in Rich
mond ; this improvement diffuses pleasant and equal light over
the countenance of the sitter, and consequently greatly improves
the picture. In 1846, he applied galvanism to Daguerreotypes,
and by a series of successful experiments proved its utility, when
all others failed in its application. To give the reader some
idea of the amount of business done by this enterprising young
artist, something over 60,000 pictures were sent out from
his establishment during the six years that transpired after he
first commenced business, giving employment to twenty-three
assistants. " He seldom, if ever, gives dissatisfaction, and never allows a
defective picture to leave his gallery. This is the main secret
of great success ; for every one being pleased, recommendations
must come from every quarter. His success in Baltimore has
been unprecedented — benefitting him, while, at the same time, it

398 HISTORICAL AND
throws business into the hands of his competitors, who are nume
rous, and some of them extremely skilful. The high finish and
rich tones of his pictures, have put everybody in mind of having
their likeness taken ; and this newly-created desire does not con
fine the patronage of the public to him alone, but distributes it
among those who have real merit."
At one of the fairs of the Maryland Institute, held in Balti
more, he was awarded the first premium for the superiority of
his pictures.
" The English journals, particularly the ' Illustrated London
News,' were enthusiastic in their praise of Whitehurst's daguer
reotype views of Niagara Falls, exhibited in the Crystal Palace.
These views are perfect gems of art, and conveyed a more correct
idea of this great natural wonder of the world than our trans
atlantic friends have ever had before."
The mind of Whitehurst is one of rare and varied inventive
• capacity ; and it would be difficult to conjecture in what direc
tion his genius may hereafter tend, or what further results may
be developed by his skill in his favourite art.
Alexander Gait, Jr., of this city, is a young gentleman whose
genius, combined with a persevering, studious, and unwavering
devotion to his difficult profession, has already placed him pro
minently before the country, as an artist of great merit and
extraordinary attainments. The following letter from Florence
shows the favourable auspices under which he is prosecuting his
studies :
"I reverence Art, wherever found, as the longing after a
better principle ; but above all, do I look with pride upon any of
its triumphs which belong to America. After lingering in amaze
ment over the glorious achievements of a Raphael or an Angelo,
a Canova or Thorwaldsen, it was indeed a gratification to find
the genius of our own land so zealously striving to follow in the
way thus marshalled. It was, therefore, with peculiar pleasure
that I wandered through the studio of Hiram Powers, and gazed
upon those marbles, alive, as it were, from his magic chisel.
But it is not of him that I would here speak ; to swell his fame
— of whom the great Thorwaldsen declared, in his astonishment,
that, in his fort of busts, there were none superior to him,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 399
ancient or modern — would be to paint the lUy, or perfume the
rose. There are younger men, with promise even as great, but
who ' bide the turn of Fortune's wheel.' Many such crossed my
path, whom I would love to mention, and, if it might be, bring a
thrill of joy to their lone hearts ; but occasion and power both
would fail me. I must, however, record the name of one of
Virginia's most talented children, who, in a future not far dis
tant, will 'link it to a glorious fame.' Need I recall to you
young Alexander Gait ? He has been at Florence for the past
three years, ardently pursuing his noble art. It was my pleasure
to make his acquaintance; and I could but admire, from the
very first, the manly modesty which pervaded his whole manner.
Upon an invitation to visit him, I repaired to his studio in Via
Babuino, and passed a delightful hour with the artist and his
work. He has boldly entered on that great course which Powers
has so triumphantly run, and, if I may judge from the specimens
shown, he is destined to rank even beside that famed master. I
may be permitted, however, before noticing particularly his mor-
ceau, to. premise that no part of the human figure is more difficult
of conception and execution than the one in question. The
human countenance, with all its infinite flexibUity of feature and
ever-varying shade of expression, presents an obstacle apparently
insurmountable. Add to this the vision he must form in his mind
of the ideal, so trying a test of his sense of the beauties, without
which all Art is dead and inanimate, and you have some faint
notion of the extent of his task. In this it was that Powers con
tended so successfully with the Italian School. Their leading
thought was developed in the general outlines, while those deli
cate traces of the mind, which more often lurk in the smallest
line or curve of the face, were left untouched, or committed to
chance. The effect, I need not tell you, was flat and insipid.
But when a young American presented himself in the Galleries
of Florence, and showed them a head so superbly finished that
vitaUty itself seemed to glow in its features, the palm was
yielded at once to the stranger.
" It is in this path, then, that young Gait has made his dSbUt,
and shown himself capable of the highest researches of Sculp
ture. As I looked upon that bust, redolent as it was with the

400 HISTORICAL AND
mildest Greek beauty, it gradually grew upon me, till the appre
ciation was perfect. Then did I see how youth, sustained only
by ' the promised joys of life's unmeasured way,' could pour out
for months its whole resources of genius upon this scanty block
of marble. The sweetly-knotted hair, the straight and finely-
moulded nose and exquisite curve of the short upper lip, so dis
tinctive of the Greek, — the eloquent mouth, the eyes upturned in
rapture, the gentle arch of the brow, and the lovely oval of the
face, — all announced the true poetry of Sculpture. This is all
chiselled with the rarest nicety, and yet nowhere is there visible
the smallest hardness or stiffness. And this 'jewelled crown of
the body' is set on its basis as lightly and becomingly as grace
itself. The swelling bend of the neck, and the rich contour of
the shoulders, would do honour to the fairest ideal of a Niobe."
A correspondent of the National Intelligencer, writing from
Florence, says :
"His bust of 'Virginia' is much admired; but his 'Psyche'
exhibits a decided improvement, and will add greatly to his
reputation. There is a pensive sweetness in the expression, a
quiet gracefulness in the position, and a true appreciation of the
best artistical standard of the Beautiful in the profile and general
outline, which cannot fail to win for this work the approbation of
every lover of Art. Young as the artist is, he has already made
himself known as one of Virginia's most promising sons ; and I
venture to predict that, with the experience and advantages of
study afforded by a few years' residence in Florence, he will be
welcomed by the citizens of his native State, as one of whose
reputation they may well be proud, and whose kindness of heart
and unpretending manners are equal to his talents."
This bust was received and exhibited in Norfolk. It came
fully up to the high expectations of the artist's friends. It is
indeed a splendid specimen of Art, beautiful to behold — charming
to look upon. Norfolk may justly be proud of a son giving such
rich promise of future eminence.
A writer in the Richmond Whig speaks as follows of this pro
duction and the artist :
" I have just returned from a visit to Gait's ' Psyche,' now on
exhibition at the room of the Historical Society in the Athenaeum.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 401
" To say that I was pleased would but faintly express my feel
ings. I was more than gratified ; I was charmed ; and the more
closely and earnestly I studied it, the more powerfully were the
magic touches of the chisel exhibited. One by one, beauties
before unseen became developed, till at last the wonderful whole
burst upon me, and I felt that here indeed is a master-piece of
Art, here truly is the embodiment of soul.
" The works of man are never perfect ; but, claiming to pos
sess some taste in matters of this kind, I say with truth, I have
never seen a piece of statuary to surpass it. The faultless fea
tures, the heavenly expression, the folds of the drapery, that in
imitable little ear, itself a study for an hour, have established,
beyond cavil, the reputation of the artist.
"But who is Mr. Gait? This question will not be asked
twelve months hence. Mr. Gait is a Virginia boy, born in
Norfolk. From earliest boyhood he exhibited remarkable talent
for sculpture. Amongst the miscellaneous collection usually
found in a schoolboy's pocket, is a piece of chalk, for chalking
his taw. This was the capital stock on which young Gait com
menced business. His penknife was his graver; and many a
pretty little figure did he rough-hew out of this coarse material.
His next effort was in alabaster. Here genius began to develope
itself, till, finally, he aspired to the more elevated art of cutting
cameos from the conch-shell ; and many a fair bosom amongst
his particular friends is at this time decked with the efforts of
his youthful labour. Four years ago, he went to Italy, where
he is now enthusiastically pursuing his profession. His first
effort in marble was a bust of ' Virginia,' which was purchased
by the Art Union in New York, and is now on exhibition there,
and greatly admired.
" ' Psyche ' is the second piece, and belongs to a company of
gentlemen in Norfolk. He is now engaged on a Bacchante and
a Columbus, for gentlemen of Philadelphia and Virginia. His
Bacchante was exhibited at the late annual meeting of the
Society of Arts in Florence, and Hart and others proclaimed it
the best piece at the exhibition."
" It is," says the Richmond Inquirer, " one of the most exquisite
pieces of sculpture we have ever seen. The features — very much
26

402 HISTORICAL AND
like those of one of our city belles — are most delicately chiselled,
and beautiful, the neck and shoulders perfectly rounded off, the
drapery elegant and skilful. Indeed, there is about the bust a
beauty, sweetness, and repose, charming to the gaze of every
observer. As Virginians, we feel proud of this great triumph
in Art of a young native and citizen of our State."
The foUowing beautiful, appropriate, and well-deserved tribute
was paid, in November, 1852, to the talents of Mr. Gait, by T.
C. Tabb, Esq., of this city, during the session of the Legisla
ture. A motion had been made by Mr. Tabb to take up and con
sider the bill authorizing the erection of a statue to Thomas
Jefferson, at the University of Virginia.
He said: "Mr. President, — my object in asking the attention
of senators for a few moments, is to bring to their notice and
consideration a highly-gifted son of Virginia, as the artist of
the work proposed by this bill.
"Alexander Gait has been abroad for several years past, dili
gently prosecuting an artistical education. He has given abun
dant and unmistakeable evidence of poetic genius and masterly
talent, in the lofty and sublime art to which he has devoted his
life. "He was born in the city of Norfolk, and his family are
among the most elevated and esteemed of the inhabitants of that
place. He gave very early indications of remarkable genius ;
and such was the moral purity, the attractive modesty, and un-
obtrusiveness, which distinguished his character and deportment
at this period of his life, that he enjoyed, in a singular degree,
the confidence and esteem of the community in which he lived.
" WhUe yet a mere boy, his extraordinary genius was displayed
in such faithful representations of the human form, and other
objects, in the simplest material, and with the simplest instru
ments, as to excite the surprise and admiration of all around him.
With no model for imitation, no master to guide his youthful
efforts, he discovered an artistic skill and executed with a deli
cacy of finish which favourably compared with the works of
masters. " It was soon manifest that young Gait was a genius, — born.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 403
not made ; and his father took early measures to afford him the
opportunity of prosecuting his noble studies in the classic fields
of Italy.
"During his residence in Florence — now four or five years — he
has sufficiently distinguished himself to satisfy the expectations
of his friends, and has secured the confidence of those who know
him best, that, like the eagle, he only wants an atmosphere to
fly in ; that, upon a work of magnitude and of the greatest
importance, he would make the brightest exhibition of high
genius, and classic taste and skill.
" At a recent public exhibition of works of Art in the city of
Florence, — ^the usual exhibition, I believe, perhaps the regular
annual one, — the palm of excellence and superior merit was ac
corded to a Bacchante and a Columbus, both from the chisel of
Gait ; — a compliment that artists alone know how to value, and
are willing to strain their genius to deserve.
"Several of his works have been sent to this country, and
have been - greatly admired. One of his studies, now in this
city, has attracted much attention from connoisseurs and ama
teurs, and is pronounced a work of great artistic excellence and
poetic beauty. As the artist of the statue of Jefferson; there is
no doubt he will furnish to Virginia a ehef-d'ceuvre of his divine
art, and win for himself undying fame.
"I move, sir, that th'e name occurring in the second line of
the bill be stricken out, and the name of Alexander Gait be in
serted in its stead."
Mr. Saunders seconded the proposition, and bore testimony to
Mr. Gait's desert as a man, and accomplishments as an artist.
The amendment was unanimously agreed to, and the bill
ordered to be engrossed.
There are other ingenious, talented, and meritorious individuals
in our city and vicinage, to whom it would be appropriate and
gratifying to allude here. But our rapidly-accumulating pages
now admonish us of the necessity of hastening on to the con
sideration of other subjects claiming our attention.

404 HISTORICAL AND

CHAPTER LIIL
Why Norfolk has not Advanced more Rapidly — Internal Communication —
Sending to the North — Home Manufactures — Direct Trade — Importers — Le
gislation — Supineness — Prospects Improving — ^ Signs of the Times — New
Sources of Wealth aud Enterprise — A Sleeping Giant — The Old Common
wealth Arising — ^Energy — Lethargy — Commercial Position — Climate, &c. —
California Gold, &c. — Mexicans and Indians — Eastern Splendour — Conse
quences of Inactivity — Norfolk Improving — Buildings — Streets — Banking
Capital — -Authorities — Citizens — Public Buildings.
Although several pages have been appropriated to the con
sideration of the commercial resources and prospects of Norfolk,
the reader's attention will again be directed to some additional
reasons why the place has not advanced more steadily, and in
creased more rapidly in wealth, population, and mercantile im
portance. The want of suitable lines of communication with the
interior has already been alluded to. The practice of sending
to the North for almost every description of goods, is highly
objectionable, and sadly injurious. Nor can it be avoided under
existing circumstances. We are compelled, from necessity now,
to get our supplies from the North. And surely our northern
brethren deser.ve great credit for their energy and perseverance.
We want more of their indomitable spirit of enterprise and in
dustry here. But it is strange, indeed, that at this advanced
period in the history of our State, and of the Union, capitalists
have not long since established extensive manufactories here.
With regard to direct trade, the reader's attention has already
been called to that subject. Norfolk, for a considerable time,
enjoyed a high and enviable reputation in this respect. But
things have sadly changed. Our merchants possess the means,
the facilities, and the knowledge requisite to prosecute an exten
sive direct trade communication with the cities of Europe, &c.
But now, instead of importing foreign commodities by direct
lines, they are procured in great quantities from other ports
of the United States, notwithstanding the necessary charges
for extra commissions, double insurance, and for additional

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 405
loss in breakage, leakage, kc, kc. Of course it is known
that there are here some importing merchants ; but there should
be many. Here, we have the water deep and wide enough, — the
money, and the men of mercantile experience.
Another period of prosperity appears, however, to have dawned.
The minds of the people seem, at last, to be directed to the im
portance of this subject. But a cloud still obscures our commer
cial prospects. This town, with its unequalled harbour, has
contended long with legislative neglect, and with the apathy
and supineness of its own citizens. This cloud, it is believed,
will soon be dispelled by the rising sun of prosperity. The
morning will ere long dawn, and light up this part of the
Southern horizon. Some of the old and knowing prognosti-
cators cautiously, but confidently, foretell a long day of bright
ness and success.
"New sources of wealth and enterprise are of daily develop
ment, and the old charge of Virginia indolence is fast passing
away. A giant may sleep, and a giant may awake, and, seeing
desolation and decay around, by shaking off his lethargy may
become a greater giant than ever."
And in view of the protracted supineness of this section in
some respects, it may be admitted that a great giant has indeed
slept long and profoundly ; but it is encouraging, at length, to
behold him, as it were, huge, gigantic, and powerful, slowly
though certainly rising, shaking off the heavy chains of drowsi
ness, buckling on the armour burnished and bright, and preparing
to enter the arena and engage in the great contest for commer
cial renown. Let it now be known far and near, that this vene
rable old Commonwealth will slumber on no longer, amid the
noise and bustle of the onward march of others to greatness ; the
rise and progress of cities and states, and in the glaring light of
science and art, with their astounding developments and results.
AU real and permanent advancement in the prosperity of a
town, is the legitimate offspring of energy of character, and an
active spirit of enterprise, sustained by wise and judicious legis
lative assistance : these are the great prolific parents of success
in every important undertaking, and of all great accomplish
ments. While there are, and have long been, some very striking

406 HISTORICAL AND
and creditable exceptions, to the old charge of supineness and a
lack of energy here, it cannot be denied that there has, for many
years, been a very great want of that indomitable and uncom
promising spirit of enterprise, which has invented plans, formed
schemes, and wrought wonders elsewhere. A favourable com
mercial position, internal communication, good climate, rich
lands, &c., are not the only requisites to insure the prosperity
of a place. Men may starve, if they will, amid the rich and in
viting fruit groves of the Indies. Of what avail to the sluggish
Mexican was the incalculable abundance of gold, embedded in
the soU, sparkling on the hills, gilding the solid rocks, and scat
tered profusely upon the glittering surface of California ? The
spirited sons of our glorious Union went and dug, hoed, and
scraped up the shining dust, tumbled over the rocks, undermined
those old sun-baked hills, gathered up and washed out clean the
innumerable particles, chiselled the rugged and towering cliffs,
and hooked out the solid metal, fused by deep, internal fires, and
belched forth from the bowels of the earth. And still there are
numbers hurrying on towards the inviting regions of gold ; while
the tardy Mexican curses his supineness, and retires, and the
careless and ill-fated Indian strides proudly off to his mountain
fastnesses to hunt his deer, or descends the deep ravines to
spear his fish, satiate his appetite, smoke his calumet, and sleep
the greater part of his half-thinking life away, as his unfortunate
race has been wont to do, for long centuries that have run their
course. And among those of the old Eastern marts too, who, for a
time, lolled in the lap of luxury, and rolled along in Oriental
splendour, some there were who lived but to enjoy the treasures
that flowed, from the rich districts of country, down the rapid
rivers, whose banks were lined with plenty. But, for lack of
energy, their rich commerce was attracted to other cities, the
arts and sciences were neglected : and then their walls were bat
tered down ; the old towers tottered and fell ; the gates of brass
were broken ; the wild-grass grew in the streets and market
places ; buildings of surpassing strength and beauty decayed, and
feU; "Round broken columns, clasping ivy twined ;
O'er heaps of ruin stalked the stately hind ;"

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 407
and, " at the midnight hour, the owl's long cry still adds to the
deep solitude."
But with regard to Norfolk, it is pleasing to record that she
is endeavouring to redeem herself from the charge of supineness
and lethargy. The old spell is passing off, and many of her
people have grown weary of the consequences of delay, slow
movement, and dull inactivity. Alluding to our local improve
ments, said one, who recently took a look at the city, and the
indications of an entire change in the old state of affairs :
" We know of no town which presents signs of steadier im
provement and progress than Norfolk. Whichever way the eye
is turned, the evidences of prosperity are visible. New and re
novated buildings, improved streets, and the bustle of business,
all indicate a healthy state of things. There is not a section of
the city where we do not flnd buildings in course of erection. The
facUities of banking capital and exchange, which she offers to
the merchant and planter, must draw to her market, through
the new channels now being opened, the products of the country ;
which trade, will build her up into a commercial emporium. The
spirit which now animates her public authorities and population,
is adding new impetus to her progress ; and if, in connexion with
these facilities, her citizens will invest their capital in the various
branches of manufactures, her advancement will be rapid and
commensurate with the investment."
"Entire new and beautiful streets," says another, "have taken
the place of old marshy lanes and alleys. New and capacious
buildings have gone up, where, some years ago, were nothing but
old shanties and ruins. Among these may be noted a splendid
Mechanics' HaU, a superb new City HaU, several large churches,
&c. In fact, the place wears a new aspect, and seems to have
been thoroughly renovated."

408 HISTORICAL AND

CHAPTER LIV.
Home Manufactures — Northern EstabUshments — The South — Boots and Shoes
— Massachusetts — Farmington, N. H. — Manufacturing Company — Georgia
and South Carolina — Money Sent to the North — Stoves, Brooms, Hay, Fruit,
&c. — Mortifying Facts — Clothing — Indigent Females — Flour and Meal —
Mills — Baltimore, &c. — Profitable Investment — Cotton Goods, Candles, Soap,
Paper, &c. — Steam Power — Handsome Sites — Extensive Mills, Manufacto
ries, and their Concomitants — New England — Agriculture, Manufactures,
and Commerce — Plough, Loom, and Anvil — Fruit — Hungry Consumers —
Milk, Butter, &c. — Cause of New England Thriftiness, Wealth, and Happi
ness — Enterprise Wanted Here — Norfolk — Progress Elsewhere — Improve
ments — Great Works — Railroads — Steamers — Cities in the West— Prosperity
of the South — Commerce, Shipping, and Products.
We have now some further and more special remarks to offer,
relative to the interesting and important subject of home manu
factures. The people of the South, as stated on a preceding
page, get their supplies of manufactured goods mostly from
Northern establishments. Immense quantities of shoes, hats,
carriages, wooden ware, candles, soap, starch, paper, meal, flour,
loaf sugar, brooms, leather, cabinet furniture, farming imple
ments, &c., &c., are imported from the North and East ; all
of which could be manufactured as good and as cheap at the
South.* But to the North goes the money, in copious streams, as
it were, to enrich the already overgrown Northern capitalists,
and to increase in splendour and beauty the cities of the Eastern
and Middle States. The amount of boots and shoes alone, ma
nufactured in some of those States, to supply the southern and
western demand, is really immense, and still increasing, as the
following statement, from authentic sources, will plainly show :
No later than 1840, the quantity manufactured -in the State
of Massachusetts alone, amounted to $16,000,000 ; in 1847, it
was $17,000,000 ; and in 1849, it reached the heavy amount of
$18,000,000 ! ! and it has, no doubt, rapidly increased since that
time. " These are pegged, and ' the first man who pegged a
* There are in this city several carriage and furniture manufactories, which
furnish work equal, if not superior, to that of the large establishments of the
North and East.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 409
shoe in this or any other country,' Joseph Walker, of Hopkin-
ton, Massachusetts, is, we believe, yet alive. The demand for
these articles exceeds the supply. Frauds are committed in sub
stituting wood or shingles for leather, in the construction of cheap
shoes for the New York market ; and in some parts of the shoe,
untanned leather is often used. The quarters of kip brogans, as
they are called, are sometimes lined with common straw paper,
concealed beneath white sheepskin morocco.
"A method of manufacturing boots and shoes, by what is
called teams, or a division of labour, has been introduced by
Charles D. Bigelow, of Massachusetts, which dispenses with pre
vious training, and makes the workman expert in his particular
department in a day or two.
" For one year, it was estimated that the whole number ma
nufactured in the town of Farmington, N. H. (to say nothing of
Lynn, Mass.), exceeded 425,000, valued at $300,000. The
amount paid for labour, freight, and trucking, was near $90,000.
The boxes alone cost $3,000, and required 210,000 feet of
boards to make them. There are now six large manufactories,
besides some larger ones, all together capable of turning out
600,000 per annum, should the wants of the trade reqidre and
the prospects warrant it."
Why could not a company for the manufacture of these ar
ticles be organized here ? If properly managed, it would cer
tainly pay a handsome dividend. It would require a capital of
say $50,000, in shares of $25 or $50 each ; with a contingent
fund of four or five thousand dollars, for the expenses of machi
nery, stock, &c.
This business, as will be seen by the following extract from a
southern paper, has already been commenced in South Carolina
and Georgia:
"Among the different branches of domestic industry daily
springing up at the South, there is none that it gives us more
pleasure to notice than that of manufacturing our own leather
and shoes. In Georgia and South Carolina, there are several
small factories established for manufacturing brogans, &c. ; and
we are pleased to learn, from those engaged in the business, that
the demand for their productions is on the increase. The day is
not far distant when the Southern States will not only be able to

410 HISTORICAL AND
supply their own wants with cotton goods and shoes, but a hun
dred other articles, for which we have heretofore been dependent
on our Northern brethren."
"Let us make a calculation," says a Norfolk writer, "of the
sums sent each year from Norfolk to the North. For dry goods,
clothing, fancy articles, jewelry, &c., say from $500,000 to
$1,000,000. We probably send the same amount for boots and
shoes, hats, saddlery, hardware, furniture, stationery, chinaware,
&c., and upwards of ^1,000,000 more for groceries, and many
other articles, including freight and insurance. Now, of all this
large sum, the profits of full four-fifths inure to the benefit of the
North, and one-fifth only remains with us. Let us suppose that,
for the last twenty-five years, we had retained amongst ourselves,
of this sum, an additional $500,000 each year, which a moderate
degree of industry and enterprise might have readily done, our
city and the surrounding country would have had, at the present
time, an addition of millions added to its resources.
"Every year we send away our $100,000 for the simple arti
cles of butter and hay ; and is it not a mortification to see, every
few days, the latter article, for the most part the product of the
sterile and rocky State of Maine, conveyed to the surrounding
country for the use of our farmers, when equally as good, to my
knowledge, can be raised here with very little labour?"
" Consider these things," says a writer in the Richmond
Times ; " ' Just received, another lot of those celebrated Troy
Cooking-Stoves.' A heading like the above is not strange to
your columns. Does anybody know how many thousand dollars
are yearly sent North, from Virginia, for that one article?
Have not we as good water-power, as good iron and coal, as
they have at the North, or as skUful mechanics ?
" ' Just received, two hundred dozen Corn Brooms from the
North.' " It is an ascertained fact that half a million dollars is yearly
paid for brooms imported into Virginia. Are not the James
River bottoms as good for raising broom-corn as the Connec
ticut ? Won't somebody plant a few acres next spring ? The
crop is said to be worth from fifty to one hundred dollars per acre.
- " ' Just received, one hundred bales Northern Hay.'

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 411
" Is it a fact that Virginia cannot raise hay to feed her own
stock ? I have seen, even this dry season, at least three tons
per acre, on land that, a very few years since, was worth no more
thqn — in fact, as poor a piece of land as could be found in the
State. What crop pays better, at from fifteen to twenty dollars
per ton ?
" 'Just received, fifty barrels fine Northern Apples.'
" How many thousands are paid annually for fruit, even in
Richmond ? The world may be challenged to produce a finer
cUmate, for fruit of any kind, congenial to the climate, than Old
Virginia. So it may be said of potatoes, and hundreds of other
articles. The above article is not intended as any reproach on our
Northern brethren ; all praise, on the contrary ; and I should be
very glad to see them among us and — fill it out yourself."
These extracts convey some mortifying facts, and they apply
as well to Norfolk and Portsmouth, as to Richmond ; but let the
truth be known, and perchance it may cause a spark to fall upon
and light up the fires of enterprise and genius that have smoul
dered here for so many long and tedious years.
" A judicious application of capital and labour to the produc"
tion of articles of prime necessity in our midst, by keeping the
profits of such undertakings among ourselves, awakening in
dustry, and arousing a feeling of self-dependence, has been re
garded as the most certain means of advancing the prosperity
and happiness of communities. Among the enterprises within
our reach, may be mentioned the manufacture of ready-made
clothing. It is a business which, of late years, has been carried
to a great extent, and must have proved very profitable, or it
would not have been so zealously pursued. It is supposed that
in our city alone at least one hundred thousand doUars is annu
ally expended in this business. The profits upon these sales
pass, to a great extent, into the hands of people of other States,
and the labour which it sets in motion and remunerates is the
labour of strangers. Do we not owe it to ourselves to make an
effort to appropriate the fruits of such enterprises to our own
city ? As a merely benevolent undertaking, it has high claims
to consideration. The manufacture of clothing here would give
steady and remunerating employment to a large number of per-

412 HISTORICAL AND
sons, principally indigent females, and relieve distress which
cannot be effectually reached by charities, however searching and
zealous. To the capitalist it then presents an opportunity of
profitable investment, and to the philanthropist an abundant
field for doing good."
With regard to the articles of flour and meal, it is estimated
that 35,000 barrels per annum are required by our city and its
immediate vicinity, while very large quantities are wanted for
exportation, and to supply the demand of the surrounding
country ; which demand would doubtless be greatly increased if
there were here extensive mills.
It is a statement that will scarcely be credited abroad, although
it is well enough known here, that we have no flour-mills ; nor
are there even extensive grist-mills, for the grinding of Indian
corn, in the city. We state with pleasure, that mills have been
put in operation in Gosport, which furnish a large quantity of
excellent meal; and Dr. Wm. Tatem's Myrtle Isle Tide Mills,
near Gilmerton, on the Southern Branch, also assist in supply
ing the demand.
Indian corn is generally cheap here, but meal is almost always
high. The former is often quoted at fifty-five to sixty cents per
bushel ; while the retail price of meal is eighty-seven and a half
cents to one dollar ! The proprietors of extensive mills in Baltimore
and elsewhere, often procure their corn from Virginia and North
Carolina ; and with the addition of freight and other necessary
charges, the meal is shipped in large quantities to assist in sup
plying the demand in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and vicinity. It is
hoped and believed that this state of things will not be continued
much longer. It must be manifest to a casual observer, that a
rare opportunity is presented for a most profitable investment of
capital. But it is very reasonably insisted also, that there should be
large establishments liere for the manufacture of cotton goods,*
paper, loaf-sugar, and other articles already mentioned. It
cannot be doubted that there are ample means and facilities
for manufactories of almost every description. It is true, there
* A cotton factory is now iu operation in this city.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 413
is no water-power, except that afforded by the ebbing and
flowing of the tides ; but it is asserted by those who are fully
competent to judge in the case, that, all things considered, steam-
power would be nearly equal to water-power here, where the best
of wood is abundant and cheap. There are a number of suitable
and handsome sites within a mile of the city ; all the necessary
machinery and materials can be readily obtained here on fair
terms, and there is no real lack of capital for all such purposes.
The introduction of extensive mills and manufacturing esta
blishments, would, in a very great measure, stop the immense
drain upon the capital of the place, while hundreds of workmen
would be attracted hither, who would require provisions, houses,
clothing, &c., and many of whom would become prosperous and
useful citizens. An impulse, such as has not been witnessed
before, would be given to every department of business. A number
of collateral branches of industry would necessarily spring up as
if by magic, such as barrel, box, and bag manufactories, and all
classes of society would feel the beneficial tendency of so impor
tant and agreeable a change in the state of affairs.
"Look at New England," said an able representative in our
Legislature, alluding to improvements and manufactories, " how
is it that hilly, stony Massachusetts, scarce one-ninth the
size of Virginia, exhibits the glowing picture she does of pros
perity in all the branches of industry, and of abundant wealth
and smiling comfort throughout her borders ? It is because
there agriculture, manufactures, and commerce are beautifully
blended ; because there is there that diversity of vocation which
raises up ' rich consumers instead of impoverished producers ;'
because her consumers and producers are distinct classes, and
placed alongside of each other ; because the ' plough, the loom,
and the anvil,' instead of being antagonistic, act reciprocally
upon, and bear bounteous tribute to, each other ; because, in fine,
by her manufactures she creates throughout her domain a mul-
tipUcity of home markets to absorb her agricultural surpluses,
large and small, which, after all, is the true secret of thrift.
"But perhaps I shall best illustrate my ideas on this subject
by an interesting anecdote which I gathered from an agricultural

414 HISTORICAL AND
address, in which is ably enforced this dependence of agricultural
prosperity upon manufactures.
"A Mr. Phinney, of Massachusetts, who had reduced to pro
fitable cultivation a piece of land which had been covered with
stone, was asked how he was compensated for his pains. ' Pray,
my dear sir,' said a friend, ' how do you get remunerated for
removing, as you tell me you have, more than a ton of stone for
every six feet square of land, now covered with the finest grasses,
and orchards of the finest fruits ? Where do you find customers
to buy, as you tell me you sell $2000 worth of fruit alone in a
single year ?'
" ' Why, sir,' replied Mr. Phinney, ' have we not, besides
many other little market towns, 30,000 hungry consumers at one
manufacturing village, Lowell, ready to buy all our spare fruit,
and milk, and butter, and eggs, and poultry, and vegetables, and
our meat, from a pig of four hundred pounds, down to a pint of
blackberries ?'
" This little anecdote," said the speaker, " solves the mystery,
and reveals the secret of Northern and New England thriftiness
and wealth. Go to New England, and you do not see, as you do
in the Southern States, every body engaged in agriculture. You
find one portion of the people producing for the other; one
making, the other eating up, the products of the other. There
is consequently no over-production, no glut of the market; a
just relation is preserved between supply and demand ; sale is
found for everything at remunerating prices ; all have employ
ment, and all are thriving and happy."
All that is wanting then, here, as before declared, is more
enterprise — the true spirit and life of business — the real " light
ning of the human understanding." Let this irresistible motive
power be more fully applied to the mental and physical system
of the people, let this all-powerful, life-giving, and wonder-work
ing principle of vigour and force be applied to judicious plans,
and these works, and greater than these, will ere long be com
menced, and prosecuted in good earnest. And then may it be
said, adopting the language of an intelligent writer of the pre
sent day, " When Virginia's great Central Canal shall have
been completed, and she shall have reclaimed all the solid

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 415
charms of the ' River of Beauty,' Norfolk wUl spring up into the
New York of the South."
The citizens of Norfolk, it must be admitted, have too long
been regardless of their own interests. It is full time now to
attempt a change, and to make experiments, at least, in the
great work of reform. The dull age of slow movement and
tedious delays has passed and gone for ever. Elsewhere, —
north, south, east, west, — the noise of ponderous machinery is
heard, roaring and clanking, from the dawning day till the latest
evening hour. Improvements, upon a grand scale, move on
rapidly. Men whiz away through space, like an arrow to its
mark, or a bird to its nest. With the rapidity of the "hght
ning's wing," and the quickness of its vivid flash, they hold social
converse with far distant friends ; and the enterprising are seek
ing to make the most of life's fleeting day. Works of extraor
dinary magnitude are begun, and completed in an exceedingly
short space of time. The waters of great rivers and lakes are
united by dikes, deep and vide, through dense forests, and beds
of solid rock, — lines of railroad stretch out far and long, even
towards the secluded abode of the red man in his wildness, who,
with the timid deer and the lumbering buffalo will soon start up
alarmed at the sharp noise of the steam-horse, as he dashes along
in unbridled fury, and they mil leave for ever their old familiar
haunts. Rocky and towering mountains are tunnelled, gigantic
steamers crowded with human freight, and deeply laden with
gold and costly merchandise, plough the wide oceans, — splendid
cities rise up in the West, and adorn the shores of the great
lakes and the " father of waters," while an astonishing impulse
has been given, of late years, to commerce, the arts, and the
important subject of education, too, in various sections of the
great South and Southwest.
" New elements of prosperity are becoming developed in the
Southern States, through their internal improvements, and mine
ral resources, and capacity for manufactures. The Southern
States, instead of being tributaries to Northern merchants, ship
owners, manufacturers, and mechanics, are beginning to help
themselves to the profits of such pursuits. The time is at hand,
when New England and New York wUl, — and even without any
non-intercourse laws on the part of the South, — ^be deprived of

416 HISTORICAL AND
the exclusive benefits which they have so long enjoyed in sup
plying the consumption of the South, with Northern manufac
tures and fabrics, and conducting for the South all her commerce
and navigation. Already, under the operation of reciprocal
navigation law, the bulk of the cotton products is carried direct
from Southern ports to foreign ports and in foreign vessels.
Much is still shipped by way of New York to Liverpool and
Havre ; but this will soon be prevented by arrangements now in
progress with British capitalists and ship-owners. This being
done, is it not easy to see that the articles of foreign growth and
fabric wanted by the South, will also be brought directly to
Southern ports ? Coarse cottons, shoes and hats, mechanical and
agricultural instruments, the South have begun to supply them
selves with by aid of her own labour and capital."
And shall there be still no great manifestation here in Norfolk
and Portsmouth, the seaport of Virginia, — no extraordinary
bustle and stir, — prominently, beautifully, and advantageously
situated as they are ? No united attempt to foster industry, and
join in those great enterprises, which, if properly managed, must
redound to the advancement of all this southeastern section of
the State ? It is not believed that so humiliating a fact will ever
be found on record. The great business of reform has already
commenced,— the reform party have the ascendancy, and the op
posing powers are too feeble to retard the progress of important
works of improvement already begun, or to prevent the comple
tion of others in contemplation.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 417

CHAPTER LV.
Coloured Population — Misinformed Fanatics — Condition of the Coloured People
— FideUty — Preference for a State of Subjection — Reciprocal Regard of
Masters and Slaves — Plentiful Fare, Clothing, &c. — Attention, Treatment,
InteUigence, Ingenuity, &c. — Venerable Old Freed-man — His Benevolence —
Ignorance, Superstition, &c., of the Coloured People — Piety — Easy Life —
Sleeping, Eating, &:c. — Contentment — ReUgious Privileges — Marriage Vows
— Respect to the Dead — Impressive Funeral Ceremonies — Negro Life in New
Tork — Laziness — Lower Classes — Decrease iu Numbers — The Difi'erent
Classes — Cow Bay — Five Points — Pigs, Cats, Dogs, Rats, and ChUdren —
Horrible Condition — Houses — Occupations — Intemperance — Bar-rooms and
Sleeping Apartments — CeUars and FUth — Idleness and Theft — "Prigging the
Wipes" — Night Orgies — Effluvia — Civic PrivUeges — Occupation — Frederick
Douglass — ^Menial Slavery in New York — How the Blacks kennel together
like Beasts — .Accommodations, Furniture, &c. — Wages — Ragged Chimney
Sweeps — Pitiable State — The Better Class — Waiters — Private Servants —
Their Native Home — Colonization Society — Uncle Tom's Cabin — EngUsh
Ladies — Unintentional Result.
As the population of Norfolk embraces a large proportion of
coloured persons, we may appropriately offer some descriptive
remarks in relation to their condition, general character, &c.
With regard to the extravagant descriptions and wholesale
denunciations, so common in some of the Northern prints,
and emanating from misinformed fanatics, — both the observant
resident and scrutinizing traveller are struck with the utter
inappropriateness of all such vituperation ; so far, at least, as
the communities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and vicinity are con
cerned. Indeed, these remarks apply, in a great measure, to
the South generally. The object of the writer, here, is not to
advocate slavery, but simply to present an impartial statement
of facts.
Our coloured people, the slaves particularly, are generally
happy and contented. They are entirely free from those cares
and troubles which necessarily grow out of the responsibilities
and duties of life, that devolve on those upon whom they depend
for support. This statement will apply especially to those who are
held in servitude, and who, of course, constitute the principal
27

418 HISTORICAL AND
portion of the blacks here. Very many of them seem as free as
any beings on the face of the earth; having, generally, liberal,
kind, and indulgent owners, who allow them many privileges and
who look anxiously to their welfare, providing for them comfortable
lodging-rooms, sufficient clothing, and a full quantity of whole
some food. Although, it must be admitted, that in some instances
they are very unfaithful, and sometimes shamefully betray the
confidence of their owners, yet, as is well known and acknow
ledged, there are numbers of cases in which are manifested the
most praiseworthy fidelity and devotion to the interests of masters
and mistresses. It is also quite observable, that there are not a
few who prefer their present state of subjection to their owners, to
an unqualified freedom, and whom no inducement which a mis
guided abolitionist might offer, could tempt to a separation and
a consequent self-dependence.* And the strong feeling of re
ciprocal regard and kindness on the part of owners, is not com
prised in any of the fanciful and contumelious descriptions of
wild enthusiasts. Many, very many of the more reflecting, in
telUgent, and observant citizens of the Northern and Eastern
States know and admit these remarks to be true.
Very generally, the servants here have excellent fare, and
sometimes a superfluity of clothing, and pocket-money besides.
The numbers that are employed as cooks, dining-room servants,
chambermaids, nurses, washerwomen, carriage drivers, porters,
* " There died lately, in a lower county of Virginia, a mulatto man who was
manumitted by his master, and was, under our law, permitted to remain in
Virginia. His master had, with his liberty, left him a respectable property,
and this man, by industry, accumulated an estate of $25,000. He had pur
chased his wife, who was a slave, and his children were therefore his own pro
perty as well as his wife.
' ' Falling into ba'S health, he went to PhUadelphia some time during this last
summer for medical advice ; but learning from the best physicians that his
health was worse than he thought, and that he could not live, he wrote to a
relative of his old master to come on for him, which this gentleman did, and
stayed with him and brought him back to Virginia at his request. He died
shortly after his return, and by his last will left all his estat e to this gentle
man, as well as his wife and children, who are thus the slaves of his friend ;
trusting, of course, that he would care for them, and provide for them.
"These are notorious and recorded facts, aud can be proved if denied ; and
there are many such occurrences among our coloured people."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 419
hostlers, &c., are well provided for in health and in sickness, and
seldom afford a case of bad treatment on the part of the master,
or of notable insubordination on the part of the servant.
Among both the bond and the free, of either sex, there are to
be found individuals of excellent sense, sincere piety, and disin
terested benevolence. There was one, a venerable and pious freed-
man, whose pilgrimage has ended, the noise of whose dray-wheels
was sweet music to the ears of many a suffering occupant
of the comfortless and chilly abodes of poverty and distress,
especially during the freezing days of winter ; as was justly re
marked, in substance, by a distinguished citizen. And yet, take
them as a body, they are, as may be expected, ignorant, super
stitious, and excitable. They appear, however, nearly all of
them, to be naturally fond of religious worship, passionately
fond of attending church, singing, exhorting, " relating their ex
perience," praying, shouting, &c. ; and in very numerous in
stances in health, and in the trying hour of nature's dissolution,
they evince correct views of the Christian religion, and exhibit
remarkable cases of entire fearlessness of death ; while the sable
countenance, and simple, though sincere expressions, give pleasing
evidence of the joy with which the hope of a rest in heaven
inspires the heart.
Many of the slaves in this part of Virginia live an exceed
ingly easy life. They labour, it is true, in many cases, well and
faithfuUy ; but they sleep soundly, eat heartily, sing cheerfully ;
being manifestly and necessarily quite unconcerned about their
own wants, as well as about those subjects that agitate enlightened
society, and the grave questions that often disturb the quiet of the
poUtical and religious world. They are aUowed, without restraint,
to attend church several times on the Sabbath, and often on
other days of the week, and worship in their own way, without
molestation. In many instances, families of them " hire their
own time," occupy a house, and dwell together in peace; pay
a commendable regard to their marriage vows (though some
times imperfectly solemnized), rear their chUdren, perform their
family devotions, smoke their pipes and enjoy the comforts of
life, besides paying the amount required by their owners, which
is seldom extravagant, and often but trifling, sometimes nothing

420 HISTORICAL AND
at all. They are generally attentive to one another in sickness,
and appear to pay great respect to their dead. They gather to
gether in the house in which lie the lifeless remains, engage in
loud singing and praying, often continuing all night ; and, after
the preaching of the funeral sermon, which always takes place
at one of their churches, they follow the "slow nodding hearse"
in great numbers — hundreds, aye, and thousands, frequently
press quietly on to the last resting-place, where due solem
nity is observed ; and frequently the welkin rings whUe the
multitude unite their clear and sonorous voices in singing some
old, famiUar, and appropriate funeral dirge, at the calm, quiet,
evening hour, as they commit the body of a faithful fellow-
servant to the death-stUlness of the grave.
We must now furnish the reader, by way of contrast, with the
following extracts of a sketch of negro life in New York, which
we take from the columns of The Express, an ably- edited paper
of that great city :
" So much has been said, and is still being said, about the
glorious and happy lot of the Free Negro, that we have taken
considerable pains and trouble to lay before our readers a true
statement of the condition of our negro population, and to dis
cover their secret haunts and pursuits, in order to show these
ardent philanthropists that there is work enough for them at
home without going to the South, where, we think, it would be
difficult to point out as much misery and degradation as exists
among the black population in a single ward in our city.
" We have spent much time in examining into this matter.
We have seen the blacks under almost all circumstances : we
have entered their dwellings ; we have seen them at work ; we
have seen them in their drunken revels ; we have seen them in
their families, — and we have come to the conclusion, that the
negroes of New York have made nothing out of the freedom
which has been given them. Descendants of the old New York
slaves, some of them also refugees of the South, they adopt the
idea that they are as good as white men, and act accordingly.
They are Free — they will do as they please, and nothing can
make them work but actual starvation, and often not that — and,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 421
to Uve at all, they prey on their fellow-men, and eke out a paltry
existence by begging and stealing.
"We do not wish to be understood as including all the co
loured people here in this category. There are, probably, in
this city, some five hundred, or perhaps even one thousand,
bright, intelligent, and intellectual men, who see plainly the evils
to which their race is subjected here, and strive daUy to per
suade them to give up their evil ways, — but thus far without
success. We shall touch upon the 'negro gentleman,' in the
course of our articles, but at present we shall confine our re
marks to the lower classes of negroes, giving a sketch of their
condition, socially, morally, and physically ; and we commend
the details to the attention of a certain class of very zealous phi
lanthropists, who are especially interested in alleviating the con
dition of the distressed Ethiopian.
" The free negro population of the State of New York, ac
cording to the census of 1850, is 47,914, of which number 22,965
are males, and 24,949 'females. (Under the head of 'negro' we
comprise all who have negro blood in them, from the light Mu
latto to the black shining African.) Of these, 13,520 indivi
duals — 5,988 males, and 7,532 females — are inhabitants of the
City and County of New York. The census returns show that
the negro population has fallen off in this State about ten thou
sand since the last census, in 1840, and when we have concluded
our description of the manner in which they ' live and move, and
have their being,' we do not think our readers wUl find it a mat
ter of surprise.
" The negroes in this city may be divided into three classes
— the thieves and beggars, the chimney-sweeps and whitewashers,
the waiters at hotels and private servants. To each of these
classes we wUl give a passing glance, visiting their resorts, and
showing our readers what they reaUy are.
"The thieves and beggars — absolute paupers, who are too
lazy to look for work, and too indolent or vicious to accept it if
it should be offered to them— mostly rendezvous in the lower
parts of the Fifth and Sixth Wards, though they may be found
in smaU numbers in the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Wards.
Their chief haunt is in Cow Bay, a miserable little alley which

422 ¦ HISTORICAL AND
runs out of Anthony Street, or may be called the continuation
of Little Water Street, in the notorious Five Points. This place,
though now bad enough, in all conscience, is a paradise to what
it was a year or so ago, before the work of reformation in that
neighbourhood was commenced by the Rev. L. M. Pease, whose
parsonage, and Industrial Home, is but a few rods from the loca
tion we are about describing. To look at it in passing from
Anthony Street, the ordinary observer would see nothing in Cow
Bay but a small, narrow, and exceedingly dirty court, about one
hundred and twenty or thirty feet deep, with a row of shabby
three-^story brick houses on one side, and dilapidated brick and
wooden hovels on the other. Pigs, cats, dogs, rats, and chil
dren, black and white, wallowing in the mud, or taking their
initiatory lessons in rascality together, generally greet the eye
the first thing on entering ; and what at first sight appears but
one court, in the result of an examination proves to be rather a
succession of courts — a labyrinth of alley-ways, bordered on all
sides with dirty and filthy houses — a h'ive, sweltering full of
human brutes — a small city in itself, teeming with a population
altogether of a different nature from those who live but a few
blocks from them.
" A stranger should be wary of entering this place without a
guide ; for so many are the turnings, the dark corners, the high
and ricketty stairways, the low and noisome cellars, that, once
in, he would be puzzled to find his way out again to the free air
of Heaven. This locality is the principal dwelling-place of the
negroes ; this is where their orgies are carried on ; and here
they live and die like pigs, and their carcasses are stowed away
in some corner of Potter's Field, with about as much respect as
would be paid to the carrion of an old horse.
" The houses have generaUy eight or ten rooms, including the
attics and cellars, and in these are crowded not unfrequently
two or three hundred souls. The cellars are so arranged that
the sidewalk comes up to within eighteen inches or a foot of the
wall of the house, and, looking down, one may perceive a deep,
dark, nasty trap, into which all kinds of refuse are thrown, and
into which, not unfrequently, the inebriated inmates of the courts
themselves meet their end. At intervals, reaching from the side-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 423
walk to the bottom of this gutter, are placed ladders, or steps,
to give ingress and egress to the animals who burrow in the cel
lars. The front cellar is usually eight or ten by six feet in size,
with a ceiling so low that an ordinary sized man must look out
for his hat on entering. One end of this apartment is fitted up
with a bar, stocked with villainous compounds called liquors,
which are sold to the wretched inhabitants for three cents a
glass each, as long as they have money, and four cents credit,
as long as they have any personal property that the landlord
can levy upon for his pay when their money is gone. Back of
the ' bar-room' appears another apartment, perhaps a little
larger, perhaps smaller, according to the size of the house, and
in this kennel are often. crowded together fifteen or twenty per
sons, negroes and white, male and female, adults and chUdren,
without any more light and air than what can come in through
the door. These sleep together on the same rags — ^beds there
are none — or on the same straw, and rarely or never do the in
habitants of these cellars retire to their rest until they are too
much inebriated to remain longer awake, when they lay themselves
down, in the clothes which probably they have not taken off for
months, and sleep off the fumes of their drunkenness in the midst
of the most revolting filth.
"Not unfrequently, in the larger houses, one or two apartments
are not all that are to be found in a cellar ; sometimes these
sinks are two stories deep, or have side branches extending
under the courts, and these all, of course, worse than the first.
With no floors, or with such as were originally laid, long ago
rotten and worn out, so out of repair that whenever it rains the
fllth of the gutter and courts is washed down to make part and
parcel of the heap the wretches sleep upon ; never cleaned out
from one year's end to the other — these noisome holes are not fit
habitations even for the vermin which swarm in them ; and yet here
these creatures, who call themselves men and women, and who
would feel themselves insulted were a white man to call them
'niggers,' drag out their miserable existence.
" During the day, the inhabitants of ' Cow Bay' and its
' courts' and ' alleys' keep themselves pretty quiet ; they only
step out to get their three or four cents' worth of gin, and then

424 HISTORICAL AND
burrow themselves in their dens again. If the day be clear and
the sun warm, large numbers of full-grown negroes, men and
women, may be seen lolling over barrels in front of the ' groce
ries' on the corners,' listlessly dangling their legs, smoking those
villainous nuisances — short, black pipes — or lying asleep full
length on the sidewalk. As long as it is daylight, the police do
not disturb them, unless, which is not unfrequently the case,
they detect those who are awake, or pretending to be asleep, in
'prigging the wipes' (^. e., stealing the handkerchiefs), or beg
ging alms of the passers-by. If they succeed in getting any
thing undetected, it is instantly pawned, or spent at the bar of
the nearest rum-hole for gin and tobacco. Others seat them
selves on the curbstones of more reputable streets, and hanging
an 'I am blind' about their necks, sit out the day, with .their
hands stretched out before them, awaiting the chance coppers of
the wayfarer, to be spent in the Five Point dens of iniquity at
night. Others, again, will lounge around the market-places,
slyly stealing whatever they can put their hands upon, from a
potato up to a pocket-book. And thus the negro thieves and
beggars spend their days.
" At night, as soon as it is fairly dark, the particular locality
we have endeavoured faintly to describe, assumes the appearance
of a swarming hive. Every cellar, alley, attic, and court, pours
out its quota, and the dusky populace crowd the gin cellars and
dance cellars, where they spend what they have begged or stolen
during the day. There are but three or four of these dance
cellars now in full operation, though, formerly, there was one
under almost every house. From sixpence to a shilling is charged
for admittance to these holes, where, in their filth and misery,
the half-drunken darkeys dance tUl they are tired, and then call
at the bar, which is always convenient, for drink. In another
room, not known to all who go to these places, is the shuffle-
board, the dice-table, and the policy-agency, which generally
glean the few pennies the negro has left. Male and female alike
participate in these revels, in the hottest as well as the coldest
weather ; and when they are gathered together, in the full tide
of the dance and the game, the effluvia and toute ensemble of the
scene can be better imagined than described. When they are

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 425
drunk, or have been 'cleaned out,' they are pushed into tlic
street, where they may be stumbled against, asleep on the side
walk, half in an alley-way, half out, or altogether in tlio gutter,
at aU hours of the night. The station house could not hold the
quarter of these wretches, thus found every night ; consequently,
those whose only offence is sleeping on the sidewalk, are gene
rally roused and sent on their way, but no sooner has the officer
passed by on his beat, than they lie down again, and sleep till
the next patrol comes around, and so pass the remainder of the
night in a series of constant alarms. If, however, they resist
the officer when told to go home, they are shut up for the night
in the station house, and sent to the Island for vagrancy the
next morning. *******
" A negro is an inhabitant always, but not a citizen in New
York, nor entitled to a single civic privUege, untU he is the
possessor of real estate, over and above his just debts, to the
amount of $500,; consequently, there are very few negro citizens.
Until a negro is a citizen he cannot take out a license to drive
a hack, a, cab, or a cart — consequently we see very few negro
drivers, unless in the livery of servitude, on the box of some rich
man. A negro inhabitant merely, cannot take out a license of
any sort — yet we find hundreds of cellars where negroes, in de
fiance of the law, sell liquor — liquid fire — without a license. We
find no negroes behind stalls in our markets. We find few, or
none keeping store. We find none at the carpenter's bench, the
blacksmith's forge, the ship yard, the foundry, the printing
office — unless we except, indeed, the half-dozen that Frederick
Douglass employs in the office of his abolition paper, because he
could not get a white printer to work for him. In fact, we find
negroes at no employment which is usually followed by white
men — consequently the negro, if he works at all, is driven to
those menial offices which no white man, who deserves the name
— and who could keep himself from starving by doing anything
else — would perform. Thus we find the best of them, who boast
of their freedom from servitude to Southern masters, voluntarily
becoming, for the smallest stipends, slaves in fact to a greater
degree than they were while yet in bondage. We do not find them

426 HISTORICAL AND
here following the higher branches of labour, as they do in the
South. They cannot here till the soil, nor labour in the work
shop, but they clean the mud off their white master's boots, they
rub down their white master's horses, they sweep his chimneys,
and whitewash his stables, draw his water, and hew his wood,
and, in their highest estate, drive his carriage ! Can any one
inform us in what respect the Northern slave is superior to the
Southern ?
•K 'I- 'P ^ "K *!- ^^
" We have ourselves seen, in a six by eight attic room of a
house in Thomas Street, between West Broadway and Hudson
Street, two entire negro famUies, containing thirteen individuals,
male, female, young and old, who in that small kennel, with only
one window of six panes of glass, ate, drank, slept, — indiscrimi
nately, men and women together, — cooked, washed and ironed
(for the women generally help to support the family, by taking
in washing), and in fact, transacted all the business of a house
hold. How thirteen individuals could pack themselves to sleep
comfortably in a room, six by eight feet, seemed incomprehen
sible to us, until we saw it done. Not only did they cover the
floor, but moveable shelves, which during the day time were let
down paraUel with the wall by a hinge, were at night time, when
the negroes wished to 'turn in,' propped up, and, having a raised
edge to keep the inmates from tumbling out, — with the clothes
worn by the sleeper during the day thrown on the shelf to make
it a little softer than the hard side of a plank, — they declared
they had capital accommodations. Table they had none, chairs
they had none, but the sleeping shelves, when a table was wanted
for eating or ironing, answered every purpose, and the floor, or
half a dozen camp stools, that could be shut up and stowed in a
small space, answered for the seats.
"A good whitewasher, when business is brisk, can earn from
fifty to seventy-five cents a day ; but there are some negroes of
more enterprise than their fellows, who act as boss whitewashers,
and can always have a gang under their control to do any large
job that may offer. These bosses are paid by the job, and pay
their underlings by the day, taking care to beat them down to
the lowest possible farthing.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 427
" The chimney-sweeps are not so fortunate. The poor crea
tures strike us as being full as miserable as then* brethern, the
beggars and thieves, even if they are not so wicked. Constantly
begrimmed with soot and smoke, and carrying the dirty im
plements of their work on their shoulders ; their clothes — rags
rather, for we never saw the sweep who was not ragged — torn,
dirty, and hanging in strips ; their hats battered, and scarcely
hanging together ; and their melancholy cry of ' sweep ho, sweep,'
as they shuffle through street after street, looking in vain for a
job — invest them with the most miserable air, and causes them
to appear (in our eye, at least), objects most supremely to be
pitied. They live in the cellars of Church Street, York Street,
St. John's Lane, and some parts of Thomas Street, and a few of
them we have known on the Five Points. Their apartments
are like themselves — wretched, dark, dirty, black, and noisome."
The Express also gives an account of the character and habits
of those who compose the better class of coloured persons in New
York, — the waiters at the hotels, the private servants, &c., and
regrets that these form only a small portion of the negroes of
that city.
These humiliating facts were given to the pubUc late in 1851,
and it is truly hoped that the miserable and humiliating condition
of the unfortunate African, thus described, has since been im
proved in that mighty city. The extracts we have made, it will
be admitted, are sufficiently distressing to contemplate ; but the
reader may be assured that we withhold the darkest part of
the frightful picture, because the refined would shrink from it
with amazement. Minds unused to the contemplation of such
depths of degradation and wretchedness, would experience too
deep a thrill of horror.
Of course, there are places where free negro life presents a
less degrading aspect than that which is so graphically sketched
by the able writer quoted above. But, we say, when the coloured
man is freed, let him be sent to his native and appropriate home
beyond the waters of the ocean ; to those green and fertile shores,
" Where Afric's sunny fountains
RoU down their golden sands."

428 HISTORICAL AND
There only, he may be "free and equal;" there only will he
properly appreciate his freedom, and feel independent. Emanci
pate the slaves, and whether they find a home at the north, south,
east, or west, they are, and ever will be, looked upon as an in
ferior race, and they will be, virtually, the humble menials and
dependants of the white man, or worse. It rejoices the heart of
their true friends to know, that, under the direction and influence
of a great, benevolent, and philanthropic enterprise, noble barks
are bearing them on, in large numbers, before the free breezes of
heaven, to the land of their fathers, where the light of divine
truth, and the comforts and blessings of civilization, may be
realized and enjoyed without hindrance or molestation.
With regard to the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and its
fallacies, we merely present a few extracts from the views ex
pressed in the "British Army Dispatch," which are in accord
ance with those of very many reflecting and intelligent men in
England, and in the Northern and Eastern sections of the United
States, as well as at the South :
" We believe it to be devoid of truth, principles, and reality,
and that its tendencies are highly mischievous, and detrimental
to the interests of mankind. In saying this, we entirely acquit
its author of evil design, wickedness, or intended falsehood.
****;!!**
"We say this one-sided representation is creating mischief
between Great Britain and the United States, which nothing can
remedy, no treatise obviate, no statesmanship avoid."
Of the recent movements of some respectable, though mis
guided English females, in regard to American slavery, the same
able and judicious writer says: "The sickly interference of our
fine ladies, many, nay, most of whom would shrink from the
contact of a dying needle-woman on their door steps, and daily
pass unheeded the miseries of thousands of white women, is an
excess of folly and hypocrisy that will be the curse of freedom
throughout the world."
It is quite probable, by the way, that such efforts as those
alluded to, will have an unintentional and salutary effect upon
suffering humanity. Indeed, it appears that such a result has al
ready begun to develope itself. The withering rebukes that have

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 429
been elicited from various quarters, accompanied with descriptions
of wretchedness, woe, starvation, and ignorance, that almost rend
the stoutest hearts, are gradually producing a feeling of disgust
from every direction for those who have portrayed the hardships
of the negroes of the south in terms generally so fanciful and
untrue to life. The effect may be to withdraw the public mind
from the imaginary sufferings of these, to the real and untold
sorrow, woe, and degradation of thousands at the North, and of
immense numbers of the whites in England and elsewhere ; and
the tendency may be to induce the true philanthropist to direct
his benevolent efforts towards the alleviation of wrongs and op
pressions where they exist to the greatest extent, and in mourn
ful reality.

CHAPTER LVL
Portsmouth — Further Observations — View from the Norfolk Side — Act of As
sembly Establishing the Town — William Crawford — Wooden Chimneys —
Directors and Trustees — Advancement — Plan of the Town — Streets — Build
ings — Sociality, HospitaUty, &c. — Portsmouth in 1806 — Trade with the West
Indies — Advantages — Navy Yard — Dismal Swamp Canal — Intercourse —
Bridges — Wharves — Merchants — Population — Houses — National EstabUsh
ment — Improvements — Mayor and Council — Description of the Site, &c. —
Harbour — Why the Town has not Advanced more Rapidly — English and
Scotch Merchants — Revolutionary Spirit — Gosport Iron Works — Manage
ment — Position — Capacity, &c.
It has, of course, been observed that, in the preceding re
marks, frequent allusion is made to Portsmouth, to which much
of what has been said with regard to Norfolk applies with equal
force. But the reader's attention wiU now be invited to some
further observations, more particularly relative to the sister
town over the water, standing there on the opposite shore, and
presenting quite an agreeable view from the Norfolk side,
stretching along the banks of the main stream, and extending for
some distance around on the southern branch.

430 historical and
Portsmouth was established a town by Act of Assembly, in
February, 1752,* on the land of Wm. Crawford ; and in 1763,
the limits of the town were extended, by adding the lands of Mr.
Veale. The following Act was passed by the General Assembly, held
at the College in WilUamsburg, in February, 1752, in the 25th
year of the reign of George IL, " of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith," &c.
" An Act for estabUshing the town of Portsmouth, iu the County of Norfolk,
and to prevent the buUding of wooden chimneys therein.
I. " Whereas it hath been represehted to this Assembly, that
William Crawford, of the County of Norfolk, gentleman, hath
lately laid out a parcel of land, on the south side of Elizabeth
River, opposite to the town of Norfolk, into one hundred and
twenty-two lots, commodious streets, places for a court-house,
market, and public landings, for a town, by the name of Ports
mouth, and made sale of most of the said lots, to divers persons
who are desirous to settle and build thereon speedily ; and also
that the said town lies very convenient for trade and navigation :
" II. Be it enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and
Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby
enacted by the authority of the same, That the said piece or
parcel of land be, and is hereby constituted, appointed, erected,
and established, a town, in the manner it is already laid out, by
the said William Crawford, in lots and streets, to be called by,
and retain the name of Portsmouth, and that the freeholders of
the ^aid town shall, for ever hereafter, enjoy the same rights
and privileges which the freeholders of any other towns, erected
by Act of Assembly, in this colony, have and enjoy.
" III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid.
That it will not be lawful for any person whatsoever, to erect or
build, or cause to be erected or built, in the said town, any
* The precise day on which the law passed is not positively known. It is
supposed that the enactment took place on the 22d day of February, 1752 ; or,
as some have it, on the 11th of February, 1752, old style, which time is equal
to the same period. But Portsmouth became a town, actually under the new
style.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 431
wooden chimney ; and if any person shall presume to erect, or
build any wooden chimney, contrary to the directions of this Act,
it shall and may be lawful for the sheriff of the said county, and
he is hereby required to cause such chimney to be pulled down
and demolished."
The foUowing is an extract from an Act passed in May, 1763,
eleven years after the institution of the town, by which the first
Board of Directors and Trustees were constituted and appointed,
and their powers defined.
"And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid.
That Andrew Sprowle, George Veal, Thomas Veal, Charles
Steuart, Humphry Roberts, Francis MUler, James Rae, David
Purcell, and Amos Etheridge, gentlemen, shall be, and they are
hereby nominated, constituted, and appointed, directors and
trustees of the said town ; and they, or any five of them, shall
and may, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, to
survey and lay off the said adjacent lands into lots and streets,
and to make from time to time such orders, rules, and directions,
for the regular and orderly placing and building the houses in
the said town as to them shall seem expedient ; and that in case
of the death, removal out of the country, or other legal disability,
of any one or more of the directors and trustees before named,
it shall and may be lawful for the surviving or remaining trustees
to elect and choose so many other persons in the room of those
so dead or disabled as shall make up the number of nine ; which
trustees so chosen shall, to all intents and purposes, be vested
with the same power as any other in this Act particularly nomi
nated and appointed."
The growth of the place, like that of Norfolk, has been gradual ;
its prosperity sometimes very apparent and rapid, and again
almost at a stand, if at all perceptible. The town is regularly
laid off in squares. The streets (forty in number), cross at
right angles, lying about east and west, and north and south.
Many of the thoroughfares are very wide ; affording ample space
for carriages, drays, &c. There are several handsome and com
modious pubUc edifices, including the Town HaU (a description
of which has already been given), Oxford Hall, eight handsome
churches, a bank. Masonic and Odd-Fellows' Lodges, &c. There

432 HISTORICAL AND
are also many fine and commodious stores and private dwellings,
a number having been built during the past year.
The inhabitants of Portsmouth have long been noted for their
animated sociabUity, hospitality, and public spirit. " The popu
lation embraces men of great worth of character, good judgment,
sound discretion, native talent, and enlightened experience.
Many worthy descendants of worthy sires survive to grace the
places which they have vacated."
"In noticing Portsmouth," said Mr. Simmons, in his Norfolk
Directory, published in 1806, "which is situated opposite to
Norfolk, much cannot be said of its commercial relations, in a
distinct respect ; the business of both places being, in a great
degree, connected. It, however, carries on no inconsiderable
trade, chiefly to the Antilles, and has several square-rigged and
other vessels belonging to the port. In addition to its natural
advantages, which are equal to those of Norfolk, it has of late
acquired some collateral benefits, to wit : the establishment of a
Navy Yard at Gosport, the removal of the County Court to the
town, the opening of the Dismal Swamp Canal, and the erection
of good drawbridges over both branches of the river, which
facUitate an intercourse with Norfolk much more than the ferry :
— these may certainly be esteemed acquisitions. Yet a more
important advantage will be derived from the improvements now
making on the wharves and wharf-lots, both by its own merchants
and some opulent ones of Norfolk. This town (Portsmouth) is
said to have contained, ten years ago (1796), three hundred
houses, and seventeen hundred inhabitants ; at present (1806),
there are about seven hundred houses and three thousand inhabi
tants. The advantages and improvements of Portsmouth pro
mise, though not a rivalship with its sister town, a reasonable
hope of its rise and advancement from its former comparatively
non-important state."
Portsmouth includes Gosport and Newtown, about a quarter
of a mile distant on the south, and connected by a causeway
and bridges. At the great national establishment at Gosport, a
large number of men, varying from twelve to fifteen hundred,
find employment, much the greater portion of whom, with their
famUies, reside in Portsmouth. They receive their pay in gold.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 433
semi-monthly, and, as a matter of course, circulate a large
amount in the town for supplies of every description ; although
Norfolk comes in for her share in the general distribution.
The spirit of improvement is getting abroad afresh in Ports
mouth, as well as in Norfolk ; and it is believed that when the
Seaboard and Roanoke RaUroad, shall be connected with other
great works of internal improvement, already progressing, and
when these shall be completed, this pleasant and agreeable town
wiU, in common with Norfolk, grow with astonishing rapidity.
There are two well-edited daily papers in Portsmouth ; the
Transcript, by D. D. Fisk, Esq., and the Democrat, by H. E.
Orr, Esq.
On the 3d of AprU, 1852, the voters of Portsmouth, accord
ing to Act of Assembly, elected a Mayor and Common CouncU.
John S. White, Esq., was duly chosen mayor or chief magistrate
of the town, and the following gentlemen were elected CouncU
men : Wm. R. Woodend, Chas. L. Cocke, Thos. Moran, Wm.
H. H. Hodges, R. A. J. Thompson, Harrison Ferebee, John
VermUlion, H. J. PhUlips, John Lash, Caleb Nash, CoUin Rey
nolds, John L. Porter, and Wm. D. Schoolfield.
Mr. John L. Porter was chosen President.
The site of Portsmouth was admirably planned, and is well
suited to answer all the requirements of an extensive and flou
rishing commercial city ; and some of the citizens insist that it
was intended to be what Norfolk now is, and much greater, in
wealth and importance. Portsmouth has the advantage in re
gard to the width and regularity of the streets, and is upon
the better side of the river, in some respects ; although the Nor
folk side, perhaps, affords to the shipping greater security and
shelter from storms, and it is more comfortable and agreeable
for landing and discharging cargoes, especiaUy in the winter
season. It is surprising to some persons, that Portsmouth should not
have advanced rapidly after the Revolution, and continued greatly
in the ascendency ; having had, for six or seven years, no rival
on the opposite side of the river ; Norfolk having been destroyed
by fire. But the improvement and rapid increase of the former
place were prevented by some of its injudicious, though zealous
28

434 HISTORICAL AND
and patriotic, residents. At the time of the destruction of Nor
folk, there were not a few commission-merchants and agents from
England, Scotland, &c., extensively engaged in shipping and
commerce in the borough. Many of these desired to re-com
mence business, and settle in Portsmouth. In this, however,
they were sadly disappointed, having met with great opposition
from some of the most influential citizens, whose enthusiastic
Revolutionary spirit and inveterate hatred for the tories were
exceedingly unfavourable to commercial operations by persons
whose political sentiments were not known to be in strict accor
dance with their own. Some of the Scotch and English factors
and traders, on visiting the town, were treated very repulsively,
and even required to leave at short notice. Of course, it was
greatly to the interest of the proprietors of the lots on the Nor
folk side to offer facilities to those who desired to re-engage in
commercial pursuits ; and the spirit of opposition not having
been so rabid on this side of the water as to destroy all regard
to personal interest, Norfolk soon began to rise from its ruins,
and at length acquired the ascendency over Portsmouth in point
of wealth, population, and commercial facilities, which she has
steadily maintained to the present day.
The Gosport Iron Works, A. Mehaffey, Esq., Proprietor, is
an important acquisition to Portsmouth and Gosport, and, in
deed, to this section of Virginia. This establishment, though
already noticed in this work, claims a further allusion. It is
very extensive, and is conducted in a most judicious and liberal
manner. All kinds of iron machinery are finished here in the
most beautiful style. Steam engines, from a small size to the
largest, most ponderous, and powerful; castings of every de
scription, in iron, brass, copper, and lead ; and every variety of
rough and polished work, wrought or cast, of beautiful workman
ship, and astonishing accuracy, neatness, and durabUity, are all
furnished with great despatch at these works. From two to
three hundred men are employed, and the probability is, that a
larger number will be required. The position was very judici
ously chosen, and the establishment must attract an immense
quantity of work and be well sustained. The generous and gen
tlemanly spirit which characterizes the conductors of this exten
sive concern, is often spoken of in terms of great commendation.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 435
and constitutes one of the surest elements of its prosperity. The
great engine of the Powhatan, as before mentioned, and other
heavy machinery for the U. S. Government, requiring ripe judg
ment, extensive experience, and great ingenuity, as weU as ma
thematical accuracy and correctness, were constructed at these
Iron Works ; and other extensive contracts are now in progress.

CHAPTER LVIL
Falls of Niagara — Natural Bridge — Laurel HUl, Harper's Ferry, &c. — Want of
Curiosity and Interest — Objects of Attraction — Dry Dock — Old Point, Hamp
ton, &c. — Seashore — Rivers — Farms, Lands, Flowers, Birds, &c. — The Chesa
peake — Princess Anne — KempsviUe — Digressions — The Ocean — ^Roads — ^Lon
don Bridge — Bridge over the Thames — ^Reminiscences — Legends — Romance
— ^Branch of the Lynnhaven — Random Lines — Nature's Music — The Songsters
of the Field and the Grove — Nature's Harmony-^rave-Yard — Trees — Cur
rent — Associations and RecoUections of Youth — Local Attachments.
It has been stated that there are persons Uving within a few
mUes of the FaUs of Niagara who have heard, for many years, the
deep, continuous thtmders of that stupendous cataract, and yet,
who have never been sufficiently moved by curiosity to visit that
subUme work of nature ! There are persons living but a short
distance from the Natural Bridge in Virginia, who have never
gazed in wonder and awe at that splendid exhibition of Nature's
masonry, its immovable parapet of rocks — its gigantic arch,
thrown by the God of nature across the wUd and awful chasm,
reaching ftUl flfty-five feet higher than the Falls of Niagara, than
which it is still more an object of profound, inexpressible wonder.
And so also it may be said of those residing near Laurel Hill,
and the "river of beauty," and Harper's Ferry, that grand and
exciting scene, and a thousand other splendid exhibitions of
nature, besides the numerous magnificent works of art in the
coimtry. There are individuals Uving near them, who, for lack
of interest in them, for want of curiosity, or from some trifling
cause, wiU not enjoy a view calctUated at once to enUghten and
elevate the mind, give to man correct notions of himself, in-

436 HISTORICAL AND
spire him with humility, and direct his thoughts above, to Nature's
Author, the infinitely good and wise Creator and Benefactor.
These remarks are applicable to individuals residing in Norfolk,
Portsmouth, and neighbourhood. There are many here who have
never visited the various interesting and attractive points in the
vicinity of the place of their nativity. There are some who know
but little of them, while others are scarely aware of their exis
tence. There is a gentleman, with some pretensions to inteUigence, who
has been a resident of this city and vicinity for more than twenty
years, and who has travelled considerably on business, but who
has never been up James River, who has never visited the
beautiful village of Smithfield, who has never seen the sin
gular fortification of the Rip Raps or Fort Calhoun, who has
seen the healthful and hospitable town of Hampton but twice,
and who has never seen Lake Drummond; and doubtless there
are others to whom the same remarks may apply. There are in
telligent ladies, long since upon the shady side of forty, who were
born and reared here, who have never seen that strong, exten
sive, and beautiful piece of masonry, the Dry Dock, and other
extensive works of art at the U. S. Dock Yard, on the opposite
side of the river ; and doubtless there are others, of either sex, of
whom the same may be said. Some have never been to Old
Point, or witnessed the splendid and soul-inspiring scenery of the
sea-shore; while others have scarcely ever crossed the-Elizabeth.
How many there are who have never made an excursion up the
western, southern, or eastern branch of this wide river; who know
but little of the general appearance of the country, the farms
and farm-houses, the forest trees, and luxuriant undergrowth, the
meandering water-courses, the timbered lands, the swamps, the
reptiles, the wild flowers, and the singing birds ! But few, com
paratively, are aware that " our woods and fields are full of wild
flowers of every colour and shade ; some of which are splendid
in appearance, and would adorn the finest garden, and that an
excellent herbarium might be formed, with only that amount of
trouble which would produce recreation." How few, compara
tively, have, upon some bright morning in spring or summer,
taken a pleasant ride from the noise and bustle of the city in a
northerly direction, down the Sewell's Point Road to the charm-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 437
ing shores of the bold, capacious, and picturesque Chesapeake,
or taking an easterly course down the Princess Anne Road, cross
ing the level piece of land embraced in the eastern portion of
Norfolk County, thence on in the former county through the
pleasant and hospitable little village of KempsviUe, ten mUes
from the city, at the head of the eastern branch,* and still on to
wards the ocean. We propose to conduct the reader, in imagi
nation, along this route, and if we should linger, as it were, and
recount a few incidents of the past, in connexion with some loca
lities on the way, we bespeak his clemency for the digression.
The Atlantic Ocean, that object of surpassing interest, is ap
proachable from Kempsville by two different roads, and by an
other about a mile below that viUage. Perhaps the most plea
sant, though not the shortest route, is that in the direction of
the old Eastern Shore Chapel. Six mUes from KempsvUle, by
this road, is Loffdon Bridge. Ten or twelve farm-houses, within
a range of half a mile, together with a store, post-office, sawmill,
&c., in the immediate vicinity of the bridge, entitle this pleasant
location to the name of village, as it is sometimes denominated.
The thoughtful traveUer, when he arrives at the bridge, will
be reminded, though only by name and contrast, of the gigantic
structures of iron and stone, that span the Thames at London,
whose tremendous arches, and deep-laid foundations of solid
masonry, defy the utmost force of the swollen current, and re-
* The Legislature granted a charter for a canal to connect the head waters
of the western branch of the Lynnhaven and the eastern branch of Elizabeth
River at KempsvUle.
"This Uttle legislative Uft of internal improvement in the tidewater region
was put in for by the worthy deleg'ate of Princess Anne, James S. Garrison,
Esq., and the estimated cost being only $12,500, the legislature most magnani
mously admitted the reasonableness of the application, and passed Mr. G.'s
biU, with the usual provision of a three-fifths subscription by the State. The
canal cannot exceed a mUe in length, while important advantages will accrue
from it iu the transportation to the Norfolk market of valuable timber and im
mense quantities of fire-wood, for steam as well as domestic purposes, here
tofore too remote for overland conveyance ; and it will, no doubt, lead to im
portant results by the extension of the traffic in those celebrated bivalves of
the waters of Lynnhaven, so highly and universally esteemed for their incom
parable flavour aud relish,"
A survey was made by Mr. J. WilUston, a skilful engineer of Norfolk, who
estimated the cost at $27,000, and the work, it is thought, wiU be indefinitely
postponed.

438 HISTORICAL AND
main uninjured by the convulsions of nature, or the ravages of
Time's noiseless hand, while thousands, and tens of thousands,
of the busy populace of England's wondrous city, cross and re-
cross by day and by night.
The bridge is built over a narrow stream, that winds along
its serpentine course northwardly about five miles, to the quiet
and beautiful Lynnhaven, and mingles its swampy waters with
those of that picturesque river, or exchanges them for the clear,
briny fluid of the .capacious Chesapeake.*
Connected with the village of London Bridge, we remark, by
the way, are many old reminiscences —
" Old remembrances of days.
When on the glittering dews of orient life,
Shone sunshine hopes;"
and some familiar, though unpleasant, legends, — ay ! and touch
ing romances in real life, — engraven too deeply upon the writer's
mind ever to be obliterated, and to which he is somewhat inclined
to allude here. They may not, however, justly claim the reader's
attention now ; and yet longer let them remain, therefore, among
the unrecorded, though well-remembered events of the past.
Here mem'ry still is wont to dwell.
And gather up the words that fell
In tones of kindness, joy, and love,
From those who now are safe above.
Here fancy still delights to rove
In flow'ry dell and vocal grove.
Where oft at early morn was heard
The varied song of the mocking-bird ;
Where sung at night the whip-poor-will
Among the trees "upon the hill;"*
While softly fell the moon's pale beam.
Reflected by that flowing stream.

* London Bridge Creek, or Lynnhaven Creek, as it is sometimes called, has
a shoal, or mud-flat, two or three miles below the bridge. If this place were
dredged, which is quite practicable, vessels of small size could go up to the
bridge. * More properly the banks of the stream; but "op the hill," "up the hiU,"
"down the hill," &c., were familiar expressions, iu other days, at this loca
lity.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 439
The same taU pines on the old hUl's verge
Sing on their mournful funeral dirge.
For ages yet may those old trees
Repeat the music of the breeze ;
Withstanding aU the tempest's loight.
The Ught'ning's pow'r, the insects' bUght,
And Uft their heads, both green and taU,
'TUl Nature's God shaU bid them faU !
The same old spring just " down the hill,"
Now overflows and bubbles stUl.
In summer morning's balmy air.
In noontide heat, or evening fair,
WhUe Night's mUd queen looks through the trees
That rustle to the evening breeze.
You StiU may go the cup to fiU,
From that old spring below the hiU,
With water sweet, and cool, and clear,
That overflows and bubbles there.
The same old stream pursues its course,
Nor loses yet its wonted force ;
The winding of that stream appears
As graceful as in other years ;
Its briny waters ebb and flow,
And rise and faU as years ago,
When anglers, who Ue cold aud stUl
Beneath the sod "upon the hiU,"
So often from those waters drew
The flutt'ring perch in the old canoe.
There yet the wild-duck feeds, and plays.
And looks around, with cautious gaze ;
And there she lifts her beauteous wing.
And soars away, the timid thing.
There stands the heron, grave and stiU,
And watches long his crop to fiU ;
There yet the blackbird's soothing song
Trembles the sedgy shore along ;
And there the child stiU runs to see
His tiny boat ride gracefully
The rippling wave, before the breeze
That murmurs through those green old trees.
'Tis pleasant stUl on summer day,
Down that old stream to sail away
To old Lynnhaven's beauteous bay.
Where Trind and water hold their sway.

440 HISTORICAL AND
• And hear the music of the sea
Resounding softly o'er the lea ;
And watch the sea-guU sailing slow,
And sailing swiftly, high and low,
Now screaming loudly in the breeze,
Her voice commingling with the seas ;
Then, with a plunge, surprise her prey.
And rise triumphant from the spray.
'Tis charming still upon the shore.
To hear the sea's deep, constant roar ;
The birds, the waves, the air, the breeze.
Harmonious join, the mind to please.
But upon the green banks of that gracefully winding tide
water current, we may linger awhile, at least in imagination.
Here we would stop and listen to the solemn, familiar music of
the viewless breeze ; to the sudden flutter of the silvery perch,
as it bounds in the sunshine ; to the, plaintive voice, the low,
tremulous call of the turtle-dove, " floating at interval's through
the shivering foliage, the very soul of sound and tenderness ;" the
sharp whistle of the partridge ; the shrill cry of the king-fisher,
as he darts with unerring aim upon his prey ; the soft, rich,
and lively song of the black-bird, as he rides, delighted, upon
a pendulous branch by the margin, and just over the ripples
of the flowing stream, imitable only by the high-spirited mocking
bird, whose notes, varied, astonishing, and unequalled, ring out
clearly and merrily from the grove,* and the sweet carol of the
lark " warbling upon the wind, raising its note as it soars."
* " The powers of imitation of these birds have not certainly been overrated.
When in the right humour they will imitate all sorts of sounds, even to the crow
ing of a cock. If they do not succeed well the flrst time, they will repeat the
effort, always gaining in correctness, until they master the subject — some
times with exact truth, sometimes failing to render the notes perfectly.
"But it is as composers, not as imitators, that the mocking-birds most com
mand our admiration. There appears to be no end to their powers of combi
nation. There is a variety and strange contrast in their song, that would be
sought for iu vain in any of the sounds presented for their imitation. Some
times they will begin low down on the scale, working up the gamut, stopping
here and there to throw off ad libitum variations, then starting again, always
ascending and repeating the same process. Sometimes they begin at the top
of their scale and descend in like manner. At one moment they will touch a

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 441
"Ethereal minstrel ! pilgrim of the sky !
Dost thou despise the earth, where cares abound ?
Or whUe thy vrings aspire, are heart aud eye
Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground ?
Thy nest, which thou canst drop into at will.
Those quivering wings composed, that music still."
"Nature, daughter of the Eternal, whatever may be the jar
ring of man's evil propensities, thou hast no discord — thy
note, repeat it several times with a greater or less degree of emphasis, and
then they wiU flat or sharp the same note after the same manner.
" It would require the pen of a good musical composer to trace out in a faith
ful description, aU the phases of their song. We have often followed out forty
or fifty difi'erent arrangements. Within this limit (that of our memory) we
could pronounce with certainty, that the same song had not been repeated.
We are persuaded that there is scarcely any Umit to their combination. The
lark, doubtless, surpasses them in the gushing joyousness of his note — the
thrush, nightingale, and perhaps other birds, in liquid sweetness. But iu the
variety and combination of notes, in compass, and flexibility, and marvellous
faciUty of execution, the mocking-bird bears away the palm. Nature furnishes
in the feathered tribe, voices of aU descriptions that —
' Warble their wood-notes wUd,'
and by way of an excusable simUe, they may be said to resemble in their pecu
Uar characters those of certain prima donnas. The mocking-bird,' like the match
less Catalani, unites aU styles, with a. compass that comprehends every note,
from the purest soprano down to the deepest contralto. The bird is aptly
named, and its voice is wisely adjusted to its task. With sweetness alone, it
wotUd be unable to render its great variety of intonations.
"Its prelude is to rise slowly with expanded wings, and sink back to the
same spot, its head hanging downwards. Its action now corresponds with the
varied notes of its music. If the notes are brisk and lively, it describes in the
air a number of circles, crossing each other, or it ascends aud descends in a
spiral Une. If they are loud and rapid, it, with equal briskness flaps its
wings. Is its song unequal, it flutters, it bounds ; do its tones soften by de
grees, melt into tender strains, and die away, in a pause more charming than
the sweetest muse, it gently diminishes its action, aud glides smoothly above
its resting-place." "I sing ! I sing ! iu the leafy bower.
At the dawning blush of morn.
When dew-drops gem each open flower.
And another day is born.
And my carol of joy is so Ught and free.
As I sit embowered in the old oak tree.
That the forest is full of my echoed glee."

442 HISTORICAL AND
realm for ever resounds with lofty melodies, which come to the
heart, amid the battle of contending passions, like music amid
the pauses of the storm." Here we would ramble awhile, among
these old cedars, "moaning to the blast," and these
" Thundering pines.
That bend reluctant to the tempest's wing."
" whose branches sometimes become mighty harp-strings, which,
smitten by the rushing tempest, send forth grand and incessant
harmonies, now anthems, and anon dirges." And when the
sky is clear, and the beams of the summer morning's sun have
banished the darkness of the night, they cast their shade over a
sacred and secluded spot, where lie the mouldering earthly re
mains of some of the "loved and loving," awaiting that solemn
day of reckoning, on which " the trumpet shall sound and the
dead shall be raised."
Until the ushering in of that day of days, let the music of Na
ture be heard in that quiet little nook ; the winds their solemn
dirges and mournful ditties sing by day and by night ; the fea
thered songsters of the grove,at each returning spring-time, renew
their songs of innocence and joy; the gentle wild flowers burst
forth and blush in beauty still. Let those old trees be spared,
and over that spot their daily shadows throw ; and the winding
current, with its graceful curves, continue its alternate journeys —
passing out to the deep estuaries of old Ocean, and returning
again ; adding another feature of interest to the scene, till the
rapid stream of time itself shall be ultimately and irrevocably
lost in the great ocean of eternity.
How tenaciously do some minds cling to the recollections of
childhood and youth ! How vividly and indelibly are the gay
scenes of early days, long past and gone, painted upon memory's
tablet ! Every meandering, rippling stream, and grassy hUl, and
favourite haunt of childhood's sunny hours ; old trees with their
gnarled branches, and every winding pathway through the dense
and shady wood, — all these are still to be seen by the mind's eye,
as they, in their turn, come up in the imagination. We dream,
too, of the music of the grove, the melancholy murmurs of the
wind, and see again, as it were, the' works of nature as we saw

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 443
them in their brightness and beauty in other days, ere affliction
and corroding care had left their blighting effects upon the heart.
And alas ! how plainly too are the scenes of sorrow, and the
melancholy occurrences which occasionally darkened the bright
prospect, pictured on the mind, never to be obUterated !
Restless and anxious, man may wander far from the scenes
and friends of his youth ; but " there's no place like (his early)
home. " It is not in the power of time nor distance to sever the
tie of fondness, or to erase the indelible marks made upon the
young mind by the events of early life.
" There are some persons," observes a certain writer, " who
affect to disparage local attachments — that singular and almost
inexplicable affection for a particular spot of ground — and, fore
most among these, is the brilliant but sophistical Bolingbroke,
in his celebrated Reflections on Exile. But, for my part, I have
never been able to yield to that cold-blooded, heartless, and
palsying phUosophy which would sacrifice the generous instinct
of feeling to a beggarly calculation of a profit and loss account.
I acknowledge the depth and sincerity of local affections."

CHAPTER LVIIL
Incidents of Other Days — Gentleman Waylaid— Desperate Conflict with the
Highwaymen— The Criminals and the Death Penalty— The Old Store— Un
fortunate Inebriate — Notorious Josiah PhiUips — Mingo — Capture and Trial
of the Outlaw — Sentenced to the Penitentiary— Shot on the Road to Norfolk
—Baptist Church— Preacher — Old School-house — Teaching — PubUc Schools
— Martin Luther on Education — Lynnhaven Bay, &c. — Old Eastern Shore
Chapel— Oaks— Old School-house— Events of the Past— Schoolboy Days-
Faithful School-master— Scholars— Variety of Talent, Occupation, &c.— Pre
mature Deaths— Early Associations— Great Parting Frolic.
Before we proceed farther on our journey, we wUl detain the
reader stUl longer, by the relation of some incidents that hap
pened at this place in other days.
On a pleasant and beautiful morning, more than twenty-five

444 historical and
years ago, as the daylight entered the window of a small room
under the moss-covered roof of a certain time-honoured farm
house, a stranger might have been seen, calmly and quietly re
posing in the embrace of " tired nature's sweet restorer." But
there was blood upon his face, and upon the bed ! and this
plainly revealed the fact, that wounds had been inflicted upon
his person. The stranger was a young man of respectability,
who had left Norfolk the evening before on a visit to the resi
dence of a friend, to witness and join in celebrating the alliance
of one of Eve's fair daughters with the man of her choice.
When nearly at the close of his pleasant journey, he passed an
old shanty at London Bridge, where rum was sold, and his ap
pearance attracted the attention of two stout negro men, who,
nerved by strong drink to desperate, dark, and bloody deeds,
planned an attack upon him. Being of a bold and fearless dis
position, his only weapon was a penknife. While quietly pur
suing his way, the rascals approached him, and one, with a rail
taken from a fence, struck him down from his horse. Not having
been seriously disabled, however, by the blow, and being a man
of much activity and strength of nerve, he was not entirely un
prepared for the villains, and a terrible scuffle ensued. Strange
to say, he was not even seriously wounded, and succeeded in
driving off the robbers, who took with them his saddle-bags,
which contained, perhaps, but little more than a change of
clothing. His principal misfortune was, his failure to attend
the wedding.
The men were arrested, convicted of the crime, sentenced to be
hung, and were executed. The youngest (whose name was George,
the property of an esteemed citizen of Norfolk), a valuable fel
low, in some respects, and rendered credulous, no doubt, by the
effects of liquor, was a victim to the daring villany of the other.
He finally acknowledged his participation in the deed, admitted
the reasonableness of severe punishment, but was horror-struck
at the sentence of death, and pleaded earnestly for his life. He
became penitent, and before he was " swung off," appeared to
have overcome the fear of death.
Jim, the elder partner in the affair, several times escaped from
confinement, but was also executed, some months after the death

descriptive sketches. 445
of the other. He manifested no signs of a preparation for his
ignominious end, and was apparently ushered into eternity with
out the pardon of his accumulated crimes.
These two unfortunate men lived in the immediate vicinity of
the old grocery. They were there, and, no doubt, under the
influence of liquor on the night of the commission of the iniqui
tous deed ; and perhaps the death-penalty was wisely inflicted to
deter others from such daring attempts upon life and property,
as it appeared to have a salutary influence upon the coloured
population of the county.
We shall briefly allude to another circumstance, which we can
never forget, and which deeply impressed our mind with the
dangerous consequences often attending the use of intoxicating
liquors. " It was an eve of autumn's hoUest mood,
And all the winds slept soundly —
Now and then the aged leaf
FeU from its feUows, rustUng to the ground.
And as it feU, bade man think on his end."
All was still — scarcely a sound arose to break the deep silence
which reigned around, save perhaps the low melancholy mur
muring of distant thunder, announcing the approach of a gather
ing storm-cloud in the west. Suddenly, however, the " loud
ascending" voice of an unfortunate inebriate was heard in the
distance, and then it grew louder, and as he came nearer, the
wild scream, at the highest pitch of his voice, resounded in every
direction, while the rapid tramp of the horse on which he rode,
but too plainly told the danger of his situation.
On the bridge above named, his horse fell, while running, and
the wild screech of agony which immediately succeeded the roar
of revelry, was caused by the breaking and mangling of one of
his limbs in a frightful manner.
We could present the reader with many particulars relative
to the notorious and outrageous Josiah Phillips, and his ban
ditti, whose depredations on life and property spread terror and
consternation in some parts of Norfolk and Princess Anne Coun
ties, in Revolutionary times ; and to the murderous Mingo, of a

446 historical and
later period, a free negro, who, after the commission of many a
heinous crime and deed of blood, and after eluding for many
months the vigUance of his pursuers, was finally surprised and
taken in his bed at night, while asleep (his gun within his
reach), imprisoned, convicted, and sentenced — to the peniten
tiary ! Of course, the people of Princess Anne were dissatis
fied with this astonishing result of his trial, produced by the
wonderful power of forensic eloquence. A well-devised and suc
cessful plan was promptly formed to shoot him on the road,
while being conveyed to Norfolk for transportation to the State
Prison at Richmond ; and the soul of the hardened criminal was
accordingly hurried into eternity, probably without a moment's
warning, and his body unceremoniously deposited in a hole
hastily dug by the roadside, about seven mUes from the city.
And we could tell of other unpleasant and dreadful occurrences,
that might interest the minds of some, but we forbear.
Leaving the bridge, and passing on in a northeasterly direc
tion, about the space of an eighth of a mile, we arrive at the
London Bridge Baptist Church, in its pleasant location on the
west side of the road, in which has been delivered many an elo
quent and faithful sermon, and with which is pleasingly asso
ciated, among others, the name of the intelligent and modest
Smith Sherwood ; for several years its devoted pastor, prior to
1830. This church (which is situated with the side instead of
the end towards the road) has recently been put in good order,
by its members, who have the religious ascendency in this part
of the county.
Here, too, is the contracted and now dilapidated and deserted
old school-house, in which many have learned, by sad and painful
experience, the difference between two governing principles in
school-teaching, viz. : the fear of the rod, and patient instruc
tion encouraged by kind words and mild reproof — except in ob
stinate cases.
We should not fail to remark, that one of the most gratifying
and encouraging sights to be seen, in passing through this coun
try, is the numerous public school-houses that are dispersed
throughout its length and breadth. The common school system,
which was but recently put in operation here, met with conside-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 447
rable opposition by the voters ; but it is now considered as per
manently established. How sure it is that it wUl work to the
incalculable advantage of almost every interest of the commu
nity ; — and how certain that a much more pleasing state of af
fairs would now be presented, had these free schools been intro
duced fifty years ago !
A judicious system of public schools has also been introduced
in Norfolk County, including Portsmouth. There has been much
talk and newspaper discussion on the subject of establishing them
in the City of Norfolk. But all to no effect, as yet.
" The prosperity of a town," said Martin Luther, addressing
the magistrates of Wittemberg, on the subject of education,
" does not consist in amassing wealth, erecting walls, building
mansions, and the possession of arms. If attacked by a party
of madmen, its ruin and devastation would only be the more
terrible. The true well-being of a town — its security, its strength
— is to number within it many learned, serious, kind, and well-
educated citizens."
Proceeding a short distance farther, we may wheel off to the
left, taking the route that leads to Lynnhaven Bay and River
so long and justly celebrated for superior fish, oysters, and wild
fowl ; and Broad Bay, Linkhorn Bay, Long Creek, the Desert,
&c. ; or, from London Bridge, we may take a northerly and east
erly course, passing the old chapel two miles below, with its
thick walls, sharp roof, arched windows and doors ; and its fit
companions in age, those gigantic oaks, standing in their pride,
lifting their tall heads high in air, and reaching out their long
and green-clad arms afar, as if to guard the old structure from
desecration. The old school-house has long since disappeared ; but could
those old trees relate the events of the past, now fading fast
away in the dim distance, but still occupying their place on
memory's altar, and preserving their identity among the rest in
the unfathomed depths of eternity's great ocean, they might tell of
" Childish games and school-boy feats.
And youth's gay sports, and earnest vows of love.
Uttered when passion's boisterous tide ran high ;
Sincerely uttered, though but seldom kept."

448 HISTORICAL AND
And of the diligent instructions, strict discipline, kind persua
sion, ay, and severe corrections, too, of a well-known man of
books,* who had been there — the critic, the scholar, who lives
to see some of those who feared him, but who, perhaps, rarely
hated him, engaged in the grave and complicated pursuits of
manhood. But where are they all ? — where now are those who were then
gay and light-hearted school-boys and school-girls, elated with
the brightest hopes of the future? Some of them, but very
few reside in Norfolk ; others remain still amid the rural
charms of their native county ; others are in distant lands ; some
are careering upon the surging billows of old Ocean, and battling
manfully with the wild fury of the howling storm-spirit, to sus
tain our national honour or to enrich our shores. Their chosen
vocations in life were various, as were their talents and disposi
tions. Some have been, and still are, prosperous and happy —
others unsuccessful and unhappy. The roseate blush upon the
full cheek of beauty has faded ; the vivacity of youth has given
place to the gravity of manhood. Many have passed away. The
ungentle winds of misfortune blew upon some, and, unable to
contend long with their blighting influences, they withered and
fell. Of the number, some of the strongest have fallen — early
and prematurely fallen — beneath the stroke of death, and have
long slumbered in the sUence of the grave. The minds of those
who now live, and whose eyes may trace these lines, will be in
voluntarily and irresistibly carried back to the sunny days of
youth, and how many associations will be recalled ! They need
not to be reminded of a thousand interesting occurrences, among
which was the last meeting we all had with that eccentric
teacher ; that great feast, which he provided for his scholars ;
the sports, the games, the revelling, the noise, the waste of gun
powder, devouring of turkeys, fruit, sweetmeats, and cakes ; in
short, that great parting frolic at the old Eastern Shore Semi
nary. * William Rob.erts, Esq., formerly an accompUshed instructor of youth ; sub
sequently representative from Princess Anne County in the General Assembly,
and now a magistrate and skilful farmer of said county.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 440

CHAPTER LIX.
The Ocean Shore — Sublime Scene — The Music of the Sea — The Minor Key—
Miserere — The Sea iu a Calm — Its Power and Immensity — The Ocean in a
Storm — The Mountain Waves — Spirits of the Deep Riding on the BiUows and
Howling iu the Foam — The Sea Personified — Mariners — Dangers — Perils of
Ocean — The View from the Land — Sublimity of the Scenery — A Ship at Sea
— Becalmed — A Storm-cloud Rises — Wind and Ocean at War — The Ship and
Passengers in Danger — The Ship Engulphed — The Calm — Height, Velocity,
and Force of the Waves — Distance from Each Other — Irresistible Strength —
Influence of the Sight — Beautiful Extract — The Sandy and Wave-beaten
Shore — Reflection of the Light — Sun and Moon — Fiery, Sparkling Gems —
Mountain Scenery — The Boundless Deep.
We wUl travel on, now, to the shore of the blue and boundless
ocean, of which, how grand, how truly sublime, how extensive is
the scene ! Leaving the main road, and passing below the wooded
lands, the wide, immense, and almost immeasurable expanse of
the ever-rolling waters, with the beauteous azure vault reaching
down and embracing the troubled surface of the deep, fills the
sotU with wonder and admiration.
"It is the sea, it is the sea.
In all its vague immensity.
Fading and darkening in the distance !
Silent, majestical, and slow.
The white ships haunt it to and fro.
With aU their ghostly sails unfurled ;
As phantoms from another world
Haunt the dim confines of existence !"
You pass down a gentle declivity, crossing a narrow tract
of loose, coarse sand ; and as you approach the agitated waters
that roar and roU before you, stretching far, far away, and hear
the music of the waves, and the shrill cry of the sea-bird as she
"stoops to lave her wing in the cooling flood," the mind be
comes whoUy occupied with the extent, grandeur, and beauty
of the scene. Descending below "high water mark," and stand
ing upon the sandy surface, beaten hard and smooth by the bil
lows, the beholder looks out with straining eyes, "far as sight can
29

450 HISTORICAL AND
pierce ;" the heart beats with emotion, and a strange, overpower
ing, indescribable feeling comes over the soul.
" Great Ocean ! strongest of creation's sons.
Unconquerable, unreposed, untired.
That roll'dst the wild, profound, eternal bass.
In nature's anthem, .and made music, such
As pleased the ear of God !"
Who can listen without interest to the loud, rumbling noise of
the surges as they roll along in their power, and lash the sandy
shore ! At a distance it is a murmuring, broken, half-melancholy
sound. "Lonely and wildly it rose.
That strain of solemn music from the sea.
As though the night air trembled to disclose
An ocean mystery.
Once more the gush of sound,
Struggliug and swelling from the heaving plain.
Thrilled a rich peal triumphantly around.
And fled again."
Upon the beach it is a loud, continuous roar, and " sometimes the
waves of the ocean respond, like white-robed choristers, to the
thunder bass of the sky, and so make creation's grand oratorio."
"Shout to the Lord, ye surging seas,
In your eternal roar;
Let wave to wave resound his praise.
And shore reply to shore !"
" The noise of the waves is in the minor key, plaintive, sad.
This is creation itself, giving proof of the Apostle's assertion, ' All
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together.' She feels
that the curse is on her, cold and heavy on her heart ; and long
ing for deliverance, she gives utterance to her ceaseless, deep,
and heart-rending miserere. And she will continue to do so until
the Lord bid her assume the major key, and himself give the key
note ; and then the spheres above, and the redeemed hearts and
retuned voices will raise everlasting hallelujahs."
"Perhaps," says a brilliant writer, "we have seen the sea re
posing in calmness. Its ample extent and glassy smoothness,

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 451
seeming almost to rival the sky expanded above it ; its depth to
us unknown; the thought that we stand near a gulf, capable
in one hour of extinguishing all human life — and the thought
that this vast body, now so peaceful, can move, can act with a
force equal to its magnitude — inspires a sublime sentiment. Per
haps we have seen it in tempest, moving with a host of mountains
to assault the eternal barrier which confines its power. If there
were, in reality, spirits of the deep, it might stdt them well to
ride on these ridges, or howl in this raging foam. We have seen
the fury of little beings ; but how insignificant in comparison of
what we now behold — the world in a rage ! Indeed, we could
almost imagine that the great world is endowed with a soul, and
that these commotions express the agitations of its passions.
Undoubtedly, to mariners, hazarded far off in the midst of such a
scene, the subUmity is lost in danger. Horror is the sentiment
with which they survey the vast flood, rolling in hideous steeps,
and gulfs, and surges ; while, at a distance, on the gloomy limit
of the view. Despair is seen to stand, summoning forward still new
billows without end. But to a spectator on the land, the influ
ence which breathes powerfully from the scene, and which con
sciousness of danger would darken into horror, is illuminated into
awful sublimity by the perfect security of his situation."
"In the dim distance," says another, "we see an ' oak levia
than,' the production of that genius which is the distinguishing
characteristic of the human mind, floating in pride of strength
upon the bosom of the deep. Ay, there she is, a huge, though
not unwieldy mass ; a giantess of the waters, daring, as it were,
'The elements to the strife.'
She is becalmed ; her white wings hang heavily upon the bur
dened mast, and the pilot, anxious once more to greet the in
mates of his happy home, is impatient of delay. The merry
voice of the jolly saUor ' trembles along the bosom of the sleep
ing wave.' Anon a ' spirit moves upon the face of the waters,'
and a speck, just emerging from under the horizon, now no
larger than a man's hand, spreads, as it travels towards the
zenith, and soon overshadows the ' blue above,' while the ' blue

452 HISTORICAL AND
below' mirrors its blackness. The God of the universe exhibits
his power and his presence ; and wind and ocean, by an unseen
hand, are arrayed, each against the other, and contend, like in
furiated demons, for the mastery. That monument of man's im
mortal mind, driven rapidly before the tempest's breath, can illy
breast ' the war of elements,' and on she whirls to certain perdi
tion ; onward, onward she is borne ; though
' The strained mast quivers as a reed.
And the rent canvass fluttering strews the gale,
Still she moves on.'
The moment of destruction is at hand ; — hark ! the timbers
creak, and part ; and now, high above the voice of the winds and
the hoarse growl of the fretted billows, the wild shrieks of de
spair burst from the lips of the hopeless, helpless beings who
throng the deck of the sinking bark ; — another instant, and the
echo of that deafening and agonizing shout has died upon the
ear of the listener ; — the sea yawns, and the floating castle is
engulphed like a piece of driftwood in its vortex, and man and
his work, are alike ' In one vast burial blent.'
The puissant arm of the Most High is here, but nature's great
Creator subjects to his will the workmanship of his hands ; and
scarcely have the ill-fated voyagers upon the great deep been
launched into eternity, than He who commands all things whis
pers, ' Peace, be still ;' — the dire combat is at an end, the con
flict of the elements ceases, the mountain waves of the lashed
ocean subside, and the hoarse bellowing of the rude north wind,
dies away into a gentle murmur ; — all nature seems hushed in
repose. ' What manner of man is this, that even the winds and
the seas do obey him ?' "
" Anon thou smooth' st thy brow, and with a song
Of mournful sweetness murmurest through thy caves ;
" Or with soft music, and the kiss of peace,
Greetest the sunny shore, aud brightly smil'st.
Organ of nature ! whence thy ceaseless roll ?"

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 453
The mean height of the highest waves in a storm, is about
forty-three feet above the level of the hollow. After a storm of
thirty-six hours' duration, they have been known to average
thirty feet, from ridge to hollow. When they meet with an im
movable perpendicular obstruction, they sometimes rise in im
mense masses of water, to the height of one hundred and six feet
above the level of the sea .' They travel with astonishing velo
city, propagating their motion at the rate of thirty or forty miles
per hour, and exerting a force equal to three tons per square
foot ! Five hundred and fifty-nine feet is the probable mean
distance of the waves from each other, or from crest to crest.
"The water does not advance with the wave, but the form only
— ^the water rising and falling in the same place, except at the
beach, where it becomes really progressive, because it cannot
sink, and therefore falls over forward."
" When we see a column of water, at least thirty feet in height,
advancing with the speed of a railroad train, we can readily
imagine that its force is almost irresistible.
*******
" These results are astonishing ; and it is no wonder that in the
encounter with such a force, the largest ships are but toys, and
wood and iron almost as fragile as glass. Nothing but stone can
be expected to resist such a force, and that must be as firmly
fastened as the ledges on which the waves spend their fury.
' Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther : and here shall thy
proud waves be stayed.' "
Reader, have you ever stood upon the ocean shore, and
looked out freely upon that broad and heaving bosom ; and as
you gazed, and wondered, and admired, felt how insignificant is
man and how inconceivably powerful his Maker? Surely it
must be, to all who can feel, a most exciting and inspiring scene.
The feeling of solemnity and awe which it produces cannot be
described. Every one is more or less moved, on beholding this
mighty creation of God. Some are humbled, and feel like fall
ing low upon the sand, and adoring Him who "rulest the raging
of the sea ;" some appear lost in wonder at the stupendous scene;
whUe others are highly excited, and are ready to shout aloud,
like a distinguished female author, who says :

454 HISTORICAL AND
" How happy I was to behold the beautiful sea once more ; to
be once more wondering at and worshipping the grandeur and
loveliness of this greatest of God's marvellous works ! How I
do love the sea ! My very soul seems to gather energy and life
and light, from its power, its vastness, its bold, bright beauty ;
its fresh, invigorating airs; its glorious, triumphant, rushing
sound. The thin, rippling waves came like silver leaves, spread
ing themselves over the glittering sand with just a little, spark
ling, pearly edge.
" Close along the shore, the water was of that pale, transpa
rent green colour, that blends so delicately with the horizon,
sometimes, at sunset ; but out beyond, towards the great deep,
it wore that serene and holiest blue that surrounds one in mid-
ocean, when the earth is nearly as far below as the heaven seems
high above us.
" For a short time my spirits seemed like uncaged birds ; I
rejoiced with all my might ; I could have shouted aloud for de
light ; I galloped far along the sand, as close into the water's
restless edge as my horse would bear to go. But the excitement
died away, and then/ came vividly back the time when last I
stood upon the sea-beach at Cramond, and lost myself in listen
ing to that delicious sound of the chiming of waters."
It is pleasant to chase the retiring wave, and gather the va
riegated shells and pebbles thrown up from the fathomless
depths. But to look upon those surges, long and high, rolling
gracefully and majestically in from the distance to the shore,
spreading their foam, and spending their power there, is well
calculated to make a deep and lasting impression upon the re
flecting mind. And to behold the cloudless sun or full-orbed
moon, rise, as it were, from that vast watery bed; and the
glittering spangles of every hue scattered far away upon the
ocean's agitated bosom, is also a highly interesting sight — "like
an infinite multitude of little fiery gems, moving and sparkling
through endless confusion ; or like brilliant insects, sporting —
all intermingled, and never tired or reposing — the most vivid
frisks." They who have had the pleasure of seeing the grand and

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 455
splendid scenery of Harper's Ferry ; who have seen the craggy,
frowning cliffs near Cumberland ; and from Laurel HUl and vici
nity, have been favoured with a view of the magnificent scenery,
thrown around by nature's hand in every direction, rolling, tow
ering, diversified, and beautiful as it is ; who have gazed with
delight, far over those mountain barriers, upon many a charm
ing, winding stream, and sparkling, murmuring waterfall ; many
a wide and wildly-rushing river, — acknowledge that they have
never witnessed any work of the Creator which has excited so
many thrilling sensations, as the boundless, fathomless deep.
" Dash on, ye ever restless waves ;
RoU on, thou mighty sea !"

CHAPTER LX.
Chesapeake Bay — Its Beauty — Discovery — Opinion of Mariners — DeUghtful
Trip — Night Scene — Lynnhaven Bay — Lynnhaveu River — Fish and Oysters
— The Inlet — The Channel — The Tides— Bottom— Singular Tradition— The
River of Chesapeake — Pleasure House Creek — Adam Keeling, Esq. — Dike —
New Inlet — Branches of the River — London Bridge — Trading Point — Kemps
viUe — Long Creek — Broad Bay — Linkhorn Bay — Fish — Beautiful Scenery —
Transparent Waters — The Desert and its Inhabitants — Old Fort — Re
markable Changes — Church Point — Parish Church Submerged — Grave-
Yard — Reflections — The Grave-stones — Name Deciphered — Inroads of the
Water — Probable Causes — The Winds and Tides — Donation Church — Par
son Dixon's Donation — His Eccentricities — The Old Church DUapidated —
Ladies' Fair — Remarks of Mr. Broughton — Rev. Anthony Walke — Dick
Edwards — The Old Cemetery, &c. — Baptismal Font — Silver Goblet — A
Venerable Trio — Indian Mound or Fort — Blackboard's Treasures — Witch
Duck — Complaint of Luke Hill and Wife— Grace Sherwood, the Witch —
Searched by a Jury of Women — Strange Verdict — Poor Grace Ducked— Sub
sequent DifBculties — Graceless Affair — The Name Lynnhaven.
CHESAPEAKE Bay,* of which the reader has already observed
occasional remarks, is considered by travellers to be among the
* Chesapeake is said to be derived from the Indian, signifying Mother of
Waters, the parent or reservoir of aU the great rivers emptying within it.—
Steth.

456 HISTORICAL AND
most beautiful and interesting coUections of water in the world.
" It was discovered by some of the first colonists of the island of
Roanoke, and Raleigh had enjoined it upon one of his own ex
peditions to settle within its shores ; and it is not improbable
that the ships of some of the early voyagers may have ploughed
its waters."
The following extract will serve very well to convey to the
mind of those who have not seen this bay, an idea of its magni
ficence :
" The trip from Baltimore down the Chesapeake, in the fine
steamer Georgia, was a delightful one. I have often heard old
sea-captains, who have traversed almost every known sea, lake,
bay, and river in the world, speak in the most exalted terms of
the noble Chesapeake. As a bay, it has no equal, not even in
that of Naples, all things considered. I know of no more de
lightful trip, especially in the summer season. Mine, on this
last occasion, was particularly so. I emerged from the confines
of a hot, murky city, and was soon out upon the broad blue
waters, with an exquisite breeze, which came up with invigorat
ing freshness from the silver waves. Night came on, and her
azure curtain, gemmed with myriad stars, was drawn over the
expanse above. A little while longer, and the pale moon, with
her full round modest face, peered up the eastern horizon. She
looked like a sylvan queen gently blushing to take the place of
her lord and master, who had just sunk from his majestic career
behind a golden halo.
" A scene on the Chesapeake, thus changing from noonday
to gray eve, thence to dim twilight, and deepening into the soft
azure of a summer's night, is truly inspiring alike to the poet
and painter, as well as invigorating to health, and renovating to
the finer feelings of sentimentality and romance."
Lynnhaven Bay is a portion of the Chesapeake, at its southern
extremity, and lies between Cape Henry and a point at Little
Creek Inlet. The waters of the Chesapeake here make a grace
ful curve into the land; and the view, to the north especially, is
extensive, and very beautiful.
Lynnhaven River is, also, a truly beautiful collection of water,
which extends into Princess Anne County from the bay. It has

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 457
long been celebrated for the finest fish, especially the hog-fish,
sheep's-head, spot, trout, &c. As for Lynnhaven oysters, their
celebrity has extended throughout the Union, and probably
reached the Eastern Continent.
The present inlet to Lynnhaven is of modern origin, as we
shall presently show. It is now very shallow ; indeed, there is a
sandbar across the entrance, which affords at high tide only
about four and a half feet of water, excepting a channel some
ten or fifteen feet wide, and from about four to six feet deep.
At low tide, the inlet is only knee deep, excepting the narrow
channel ; and its transparent waters are of course forded with
great facility. The channel, inside of the bar, varies from twelve
to twenty feet in depth; in some places it is very narrow, and
the ebb and fiow of the tides therein are rapid, probably from
four to six knots per hour. And it is quite worthy of remark,
that the egress or ingress of the tides is in some places
scarcely perceptible outside of this narrow channel, the water on
either side being sometimes comparatively stUl and very clear
and smooth during the ebb and flow of the tides, presenting, we
should think, an appearance similar to that occasioned by the
passage of the waters of the River Jordan through the middle of
the Sea of Galilee, if the accounts of a certain traveller relative
thereto be correct.
The bottom of Lynnhaven River is, for the most part, com
posed of loose brownish sand, which is constantly moved about
by the force of the tides.
We have heard strange traditionary statements about Lynn
haven River, some of which are very absurd, and would be found
difficult to substantiate. It has been said that this beautiful
stream is of comparatively modern origin ; that persons now liv
ing, probably knew the individual, who, by having a ditch or
drain cut through his lands, caused the existence of this deep
and clear river, or a large portion thereof; that the water flow
ing rapidly through this dike gradually wore it away to a deep
and ample river-bed ! This is, of course, all a mistake, a simple
impossibUity. It is sufficiently evident, that the River of
Chesapeake, or as it is now called, Lynnhaven River, existed
when the country was discovered. We will mention a circum-

458 HISTORICAL AND
stance, however, whence doubtless originated the tradition about
the ditch.
Until about the period of the Revolutionary war, the inlet to
the waters of Lynnhaven, was the Pleasure House Creek, run
ning in from the bay at the site of a buUding known as the Old
Pleasure House,* about two miles west of the present inlet.
Adam Keeling, Esq., one of the former and most respected resi
dents of that beautiful section of Princess Anne, situated on
Lynnhaven River, desiring a shorter connexion by water with
the Chesapeake than that afforded by the creek, which from his
section was a very circuitous route, caused a dike to be cut across,
from the two nearest or most convenient points on the neighbour
ing shores of the river and the bay. This proved greatly to his
advantage and convenience in flshing on the bay shore. Another
object in opening this canal, was the more readily to secure his
fishing-boats, &c., from the incursions of the enemy. The water
running rapidly out at ebb tide, and in at flood tide, through this
narrow dike, it was soon enlarged. The current gradually under
mined the trees, and cleared away the sand, the under-growth,
and all obstructions, until a wide channel was formed, now known
as the Lynnhaven Inlet — the other entrance having been long
since closed, in consequence of the opening of this artificial pas
sage which is the only inlet or outlet for the waters of the
river and its tributaries.
Lynnhaven River has several branches, one of which we
have already alluded to, and which has its source some three
or four miles above London Bridge, which bridge is about five
miles above the mouth of the creek. Another branch takes its
course towards Trading Point, in the direction of Kempsville ;
and the third is Long Creek, a deep, blue, and beautiful stream,
which glides rapidly along upon its sandy bed, and unites Lynn
haven with Broad Bay ; thence it takes its course on to Link
horn Bay ; also very handsome coUections of water. These
reservoirs, as well as the Lynnhaven, abound with the finest fish,
oysters, and wild fowl.
It would well repay a trip from afar to view the scenery of this
* Formerly a popular place of entertainment, belonging to a gentleman
named Nimmo. It was burned by the British in the last war.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 459
locality. The waters are very clear and salt, having the deep
greenish colour of the ocean, on account of their proximity to
Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic. The view from some points
is extensive, and very interesting ; but more remarkable for
serenity and openness, than for abruptness or wildness ; although
the scenery is in some places varied by the rugged and sterile
appearance of the sandhills of the Desert. This occupies a con
siderable tract of country, and abounds with deer, foxes, bears,
wild hogs, wild cats, raccoons, snakes, &c.
An old sand fort was accidentally discovered some years ago
upon the banks of Lynnhaven River, by a venerable gentleman
of this city, while on a fox-chase. It appears that it had been
thrown up and used to prevent the entrance of hostile parties
into a creek, which has since been filled up with sand.
Remarkable changes are exhibited along the banks of this
beautiful river, the water having made inroads upon the land on
the west shore, and retreated from that on the opposite. This
is perceptible in a remarkable degree at Church Point, the site
of the old Parish Church and graveyard. The old church has
long since fallen to ruins ; indeed, no vestige remains to mark the
identical spot which it occupied ; and strange to say, the old grave
yard has also disappeared! The remains of those who were
interred there, now lie low beneath the sandy bed of the river ;
and over the stones which mark many " a couch of lowly sleep,"
roUs on the cool, clear flood of the Lynnhaven ; and when the
Archangel's trump shall give out its pealing sound, those who
were buried in the bosom of the earth, under the green sod upon
the river-bank, will come forth from the waters. How deeply,
how strangely, how securely buried ! The green sea-weed may
grow rankly there, and entwine around those old gravestones,
and the finny tribes may come up from the bay and the ocean
vrith each flowing tide, and hold their pastimes over those graves
and among those stones ; the shriU cry of the seagull is heard
there ; and flocks of playful wUd fowl feed and flap their light
wings upon the smooth cool surface of the river, but no
 " Uving statues there are seen to weep ;"
and most truly, indeed, may it be said, too :

460 HISTORICAL AND
"Afflictions semblance bends not o'er (the) tomb."
A tall man may wade out to this submerged burial-place, and
feel with his feet (the water up to his chin), the gravestones and
their inscriptions.
An eminent resident of our city has done this, and even deci
phered one of the names of the dead, whose remains were there
interred. The name is Pallett, and is that of some of the old
and formerly well-known inhabitants of Princess Anne.
And now a question may very naturally be raised, with regard
to the cause of this apparent advance or rise of the water upon
the land, and beyond its former mark. Has the water risen, or
the land sunk ? The writer is, perhaps, unprepared to answer
satisfactorily, either to the reader or to himself. We will say,
however, that as the graveyard was upon the shore most affected
by the action of the waves, during the prevalence of the north
east and east winds of the coast, the banks of the river may have
been thereby displaced. The action of high tides has probably
had a similar effect. The accumulation of sand, on the opposite
shore, has also been very great, and is indeed very remarkable.*
Besides, the inlet from the bay, in addition to being more
shallow, is also said to be narrower, now, than it was many
years ago, probably on account of the rapid accumulation of
sand displaced by the winds and waves ; and it has, therefore,
become too small for the entire reflux of the tides, as formerly.
The consequence is, the waters of the bay commence to rise some
time before those of the river have fallen to the level of the for
mer. The bay soon rises, however, above the level of the latter,
and forces its waters rapidly through the inlet, thus prematurely
causing, of course, what is called flood tide in the river. This
may be, in some way, connected with the changes which are
apparent along the banks of the river.
After the original parish church, at the Point, became dilapi
dated and useless, or was destroyed, a site was chosen about
three-quarters of a mile from the former, and another church
* In some places the lowlands, formerly very valuable for grazing, have been
covered with sand, and rendered useless for this purpose.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 461
was erected. The location is on the road leading to the Bay
Shore, and three or four mUes from KempsvUle. This church
accidentally took fire, and was consumed ; after which (1735)
another was buUt, a few rods distant therefrom, and is now
known as. the Old Donation Church, so called on account of the
donation of a farm, in its vicinity, from Rev. Robert Dixon, one
of its pastors, for the education of eight chUdren. This farm is
also known as the "Donation."
Parson Dixon, by the way, was an eccentric, and, in some re
spects, a remarkable man. He required a rigid compliance with
the rules of the church; and, in order to make the members
punctual in their attendance, he adopted the plan of fining all
the absentees. He taught a school at the church, and was ex
ceedingly strict ; so much so, that he was a perfect terror to his
pupils. The Old Donation was suffered to become sadly dilapidated,
after the erection of the Episcopal Church at Kempsville. Sa-
crUegious hands stole the bricks with which the aisle was paved,
tore away a portion of the pews, demolished the window-lights,
&c. ; and the bats and owls took up their abode there. The fair
daughters of Princess Anne made a commendable and successful
effort, at the Agricultural Fair held at Kempsville in November,
1852, to raise funds to repair this ancient church.
"About the year 1815," says Mr. Broughton, "after having
remained a long time neglected, and serving as a shelter for the
beasts of the field, it was repaired, and again opened for public
worship, when it received the name of the 'Donation Church,'
as a tribute to the memory of its venerable pastor. Rev. Robert
Dixon, who, dying about the period of the breaking out of the
Revolution, bequeathed his beautiful farm, about a mUe from the
church on the Kempsville Road, to the county, as a donation,
the income from which was to be appropriated to the education
of a certain number of poor orphan boys. This farm was caUed
the ' Donation' to the present time. Originally the church was
designated as the 'Lynnhaven Parish Church,' but, after the
Revolution, it more generally went by the simple appeUation of
the Old Brick Church.

462 HISTORICAL AND
" The church, however, after being repaired was only occupied
for a few years, when it was left uncared for, and doomed once
more to decay and ruin ; from which condition a benevolent
spirit is now making an effort to rescue it.
"More than half a century ago, the Rev. Anthony Walke
ministered the Word of Life in this venerable sanctuary, ac
cording to the forms of the Episcopal Church ; and some of the
aged inhabitants, who were of his congregation, still remember
his mild, clear voice, and solemnity of manner in reading the
church service. They remember, too, the grave and important
air, with which good old Mr. Dick Edwards, the parish clerk,
uttered the responses and pronounced the- amens. Mr. E. was
a man of many callings, among which was that of auctioneer,
and his style of crying at sales was inimitable. And they re
member, also, the decent and orderly demeanour of the congre
gation, in their best Sabbath-day attire. Even then there was
a recognised distinction of social rank, and the rich style of the
gentry, or quality, claimed priority of the humbler class in de
cent homespun, which was tacitly conceded. AU were impressed
alike, however, with the duty of attendance upon the Sabbath
appointments of Divine worship in the good old parish church."
"Time," says another, "has been busy with his ravages on
the church and cemetery. A few trees only remain to mark the
spot where the dead repose, and the winds sighing through their
branches, sing their only requiem !
' Far from the madd'ning crowd's ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learned to stray ; —
Along the cool, sequestered vale of life,
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.'
"Not a family in this section but has a relative or friend resting
here. The great, the proud, the humble and lowly, all have met
here on terms of equality. It is strange, indeed, that such a
spot should be thus neglected, and the venerable church allowed
to come almost to ruin. To our mind (and we are not proof
against woman's eloquence), its antique appearance, its historic
interest and associations, plead with an eloquence which, though

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 463
mute, is not less irresistible than that of the ladies engaged in
its behalf. ' Old plains have a charm for me
That new can ne'er attain.'
" We hope to see the ravages of old Time stayed, the vene
rable church and cemetery adorned and beautified, its ancient
waUs, and the surrounding wood, made vocal with the ' pealing
anthem' and the 'note of praise.' "
The old parish font, or baptismal-vessel, belonging to this
church, is also a remarkable relic. Hundreds of the good people
of the county have stood before its ample basin, to receive the
holy sacrament of baptism. This, and a large sUver goblet for
the communion service, or sacrament of the Lord's Supper, were
presented by Colonel Maximilian Boush, an estimable gentleman
of Princess Anne County, some of whose descendants are now
highly respectable residents of this city.
The Donation Church, Eastern Shore Chapel, and Pungo
Chapel, as they are called, form a trio of venerable old relics of
antiquity ; and thousands of the dead and the living have assem
bled to worship within their solid, though ancient, walls, and to
kneel at their altars. It is hoped they may all be hereafter kept
in good order, and supplied with faithful pastors, to dispense the
lifegiving word of truth to those of the present generation, and
of others yet to come.
There is, in the vicinity of the site of the old Pleasure House, a
large and remarkable mound, supposed by some to have been
thrown up there by the Indians. It may contain numerous relics of
the tawny inhabitants of the woods, whose wigwams were erected,
and whose blazing fires were built for their revelry and pastimes
along the beautiful shores of the Lynnhaven. It is now only thirty
or forty feet high, and about one hundred and fifty feet long. Within
the recollection of some of the old residents, it was very consider
ably above that elevation ; some say it was more than one hundred
feet in height. The origin of this mound, or, more properly, this
old fortification, is involved in mystery. There is some reason to
doubt that it was the work of the red men ; but when, or by whom

464 HISTORICAL AND
erected, who can tejl ? Its appearance is at once singular, novel,
and astonishing. There it stands in its loneliness and grandeur,
deserted and useless, rising majestically from its moat, far above
the adjacent lands, bearing upon its ridges and slopes old oaks
and other noble forest trees that have braved, unbroken, the
storms of several hundred winters. Who tells its origin — who
knows its design — who can describe the men that were garrisoned
there ? Time has swept them away, as well as the remembrance
of the object of their fortress, as also all possible necessity there
for. It extends across a narrow point, forming one side of a
triangle, that was formerly surrounded by deep water. Who
can declare that this was not one of the places of retreat and
defence of Blackboard, the notorious brigand and pirate, and
his fearful gang of hardened, bloodthirsty freebooters, with their
treasures of gold, jewelry, precious stones, and untold wealth?
Should this old rampart be excavated and examined, it might
disclose hoarded spoUs and ill-gotten gains, to the amount of
millions. This singular fort is on the land belonging to the heirs
of the ancient and wealthy Thorogood family. Yankee curiosity
and enterprise may yet be brought to bear upon this interesting
old relic, and bring out the hidden treasures, if they are there.
We offer next some remarks relative to "Witch Duck," which
is the name generally applied to a beautiful country seat on
Lynnhaven River, about twelve miles from Norfolk, and now the
property of John Hipkins, Esq., of this city. The following re
markable facts will throw some light upon the origin of its
singular name.
In 1706, on complaint of Luke Hill and wife, Grace Sherwood,
of Princess Anne County, was arrested on the charge of being a
witch, and by a decision of court it was gravely required that
she should be searched by a jury of women, who accordingly per
formed the task, and decided and reported that she was "neither
like them nor any other woman they knew of." She was then
by her own consent, put to the test by a good ducking "in
an inlet making up from Lynnhaven." This is, of course,
the place so well known by the name of Witch's Duck, or
Witch Duck. She was subsequently confined, by the direction
of the court, in the county jail for trial. What final disposition

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 465
was made of poor Grace we have no means of ascertaining ; cer
tain it is, however, that independently of the ducking, she was
sufficiently tormented by legal indictments, and a long and tedious
course of law.*
Some of the facts in this extraordinary case we are constrained
to withhold, as being unfit for the eye of the refined reader.
Take it altogether, it was certainly a very grace-\ess affair for
the eighteenth century.
With regard to the beautiful name, Lynnhaven, we offer a few
remarks. It is probable that the first syllable was originally dis
connected from the last two, thus : Lynn Haven ; and this name
was, perhaps, given on account of the resemblance of the waters
which we have described, to those of the Ouse (near its falls), in
Norfolk County, England, on which the town of Lynn — Lynn
Regis, or King's Lynn — long celebrated as a corn market, is
situated. Some point on the shores of the Lynnhaven may pos
sibly have been thought of by the early settlers as the site of a
town to be called Lynn ; and Lynn Harbour, or Lynn Haven,
would have been an appropriate name for the adjacent waters.

CHAPTER LXL
Further remarks about Lynnhaven River — Sandbar — Winds — Removal of the Bar
— Stone Wall— Sound — Speculations — Fresh Water — Rivers, &c. — Fish and
Oysters— Epicures — Health— Canal— A Novel Change— Currituck Sound —
The Inlet — Maritime Productions — Fishing — Dismal Swamp Canal — Embank
ments of Sand — Destruction of Fish, &c. — Sickness — Lamentable Change —
Loss to the People — Superstition — Recession of the Waters — Lynnhaven.
We now present a few additional thoughts or suppositions,
relative to Lynnhaven River.
In the first place, then, the sandbar at the entrance is no
doubt caused by the winds in the winter, and during a portion of
the faU and spring months, which have a sweep of more than
a hundred mUes down the bay, especially from the north.
* When persons were on trial for witchcraft in New England, they were set
at liberty on confessing themselves guiUy. 30

466 HISTORICAL AND
Again, artificial means might probably be employed, with sin
gular effect, upon the waters within this shallow and narrow
entrance. For instance, if the bar could be removed, and its
re-formation prevented, so that the tides could freely ebb and
flow with those of the sea without, the rise and fall of the
water would be much greater within. Or, if this shallow inlet
or outlet, which is only about three-quarters of a mile wide,
were entirely crossed and obstructed by a stone wall, which
could be buUt at no great cost ; or, if it should be closed by the
banking of the sand, a very considerable inland sea might be
formed ; for it must be recollected, that the tributaries of Lynn
haven drain quite a large section of country, comparatively.
The waters of the smaller bays mentioned, would probably be
considerably raised, and the sedgy, boggy portions of the creeks
and coves might be deeply covered with water.
Now, with regard to the effect of damming up the mouth of the
Lynnhaven, we have said that a sound might be formed — such as
may have existed there before, at some period — rising, by the
draining of the country, to a considerable elevation along the
banks of the streams. This, however, could be regulated by the
height of an embankment or wall at the entrance.
The narrow, muddy streams might be changed to navigable
rivers, for it is probable that the accumulation of water would
be much greater than the evaporation.
The writer advocates no such plan as the above ; but simply
alludes to a scheme which appears practicable, and which might
be attended with rather astonishing results, although bad conse
quences might also ensue, sufficient to counterbalance all the ad
vantages. Epicures, take the alarm ! Good-bye to Lynnhaven fish,
oysters, and canvass-back ducks, when the waters of the sea
shall cease to ebb and flow through that shallow inlet. And as
to the effect upon the health of the country, we leave that matter
for the consideration of the doctors.
With regard to another inlet and outlet for the new-formed
lake, we need only mention the proposed short canal from the
eastern branch of the Elizabeth to the western branch of the
Lynnhaven.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES; 467
The reader may fiU up the outlines of the picture, for the dis
tant future. He may think, if he chooses, of pleasant vUlages,
and handsome farms and farm-houses, all along the green margin
of the artificial lake or sound ; of hundreds of sail-vessels and
steamboats loading along the shores, for mUes, with corn, pota
toes, vegetables, fruit, timber, fire-wood, and other productions
of the country.
We next proceed to allude briefly, in this connexion, to Cur
rituck Sound, a portion of which is in Princess Anne County,
and the remainder in the adjoining County of Currituck, North
CaroUna ; and which may be compared, in more respects than
one, to Lynnhaven River.
Currituck Sound, until some twenty or twenty-five years ago,
had a short, narrow inlet ; sufficiently spacious, however, to ad
mit of the inward and outward passage of the waters of the
ocean, as well as the entrance of small vessels. It is said to
have been quite as celebrated, also, for superior maritime pro
ductions as Lynnhaven. Its shores were very remarkable for
extensive fishing operations ; and, during the fishing season,
presented scenes of great activity.
Some time after the opening of the Dismal Swamp Canal,
which diverted the waters of some of the tributaries of this
sound, an abatement of the waters, especially in the northern
portion of that great fishing reservoir, was soon perceptible —
their outward passage being much less rapid, and proving insuf
ficient to clear away the embankments of sand which the waves
of the ocean were gradually throwing up at the inlet. The con
sequences, of course, were, the entire blockade of the entrance to
the sound — the discontinuance of perceptible tides — the gradual
change of the water from salt to fresh — the wholesale destruc
tion of the fish, oysters, crabs, &c., and the infection of the
country for two or three years with malaria, causing much fatal
sickness in the vicinity. A lamentable change, truly ; a sad loss
to those who owned the valuable fishing-grounds on the banks of
the sound, and to the country for many miles around, on account
of the annual supplies of fish, &c., being cut off from this,
hitherto, unfaiUng source. But so it was, and it could not be
remedied.

468 HISTORICAL AND
Some of the superstitious residents of the country regarded the
whole affair as a visitation of Providence, or, in other words, a
judgment upon the people ; for the fisheries are said to have
often presented scenes of extraordinary debauchery and immo
rality. There is also observable a gradual recession of the waters of
this sound, from the shores reaching farthest north.
Now, from the cause and effect in this case, a lesson may be
learned with regard to Lynnhaven. Although the proposed
canal, to extend to its waters, might not have a tendency simUar
to that of the Dismal Swamp, yet, independently of this, it ap
pears to be apprehended, by some persons, that at no very dis
tant period, Lynnhaven River may really share a fate, or ex
hibit a change, not unlike that presented by the formerly cele
brated Currituck Sound.

CHAPTER LXIL
Old Point — Place of Resort — Distance from Norfolk — The Name — Fortifica
tions — Castle Calhoun — Appearance — Rip Raps — Hotel — Sea-Bathing —
Amusements — Grove — Cottages — Music — Promenade on the Battlement —
New Hotel — Virginia Ocean House — Buildings — Parade Ground — Live Oaks
— Troops — Ordnance — Ocean Scenery — Northeaster — Terrific Scene — Storm
— Hampton — Captain Smith — Indians — Kecoughtan — Battle in the Revolu
tion — Attack of the British in 1813 — Barbarous Deeds — Disgraceful and In
famous Conduct — Cockburn — Beckwith — General Taylor — Summer Resort
— Hospitality and Moral Character of Hampton — Prosperity — Churches —
Afton House — The Barrens, &c. — EUzabeth City County — Soil — Inhabi
tants — Population — Yorktown — Splendid Scenery — Old Church — Foreign
Commerce, Wealth, and Power — Neglect — The People — Captain Anderson —
York River — West Point — The Capital — Cornwallis's Surrender — Cave —
Burial-Ground — Hugh Nelson — Nelson Family — Hole made by a Cannon-Shot
— Northampton and Aceomac — Eastern Shore — The Land — Appearance of
the Country — Society, &c. — Horses and Carriages — The Ocean — "Accaw-
macke" — Indians — Eastville, &c. — Hon. A. P. Upshur — Aceomac — Hon. H.
A. Wise — Drummondtown — Chincoteague — Splendid Scenery — Cape Charles
— Southern Watering-Place.
Old Point Comfort, the location of Fort Monroe, is a very
popular place of resort in the summer months. It is distant

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 469
about 16 miles from Norfolk, and 2^ from Hampton. It
was named Point Comfort, in 1607, " on account of the good
channel and safe anchorage it afforded ;" and the word Old, was
added to distinguish it from New Point Comfort. The fortifica
tions here are upon a truly grand scale. The strength, beauty,
and extent of the establishment, and its admirable adaptation to
the important purposes of the national defence, combine to render
it the most important fortress and military station in the Union ;
indeed, it is among the greatest in the world.
Between Old Point and Sewell's Point, and opposite to Fort
Monroe, at a distance of nineteen hundred yards, is Castle Cal
houn, or the Fortress of the Rip Raps. The two forts (Mon
roe and Calhoun) would "present immense batteries of cannon
at an approaching hostile ship." The latter is upon an artificial
island, made by throwing over rocks, at a depth of twenty feet.
" 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 shoal water, which, under the action of the sea, and re
acted upon by the bar, is kept up in an unremitting ripple, has
given the name of ' Rip Raps' to this place." The foundation
of Castle Calhoun was laid in 1826.
At Old Point there is a splendid hotel, kept in exceUent
style; the tables, during the summer months, are plentifully
suppUed with the choicest viands, among which may be named
the best of fish and oysters, which, with the superior facUities for
sea-bathing and the delightful ocean breezes, the novelties and
attractions connected with the fort, the convenient distance to
Norfolk, Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, &c., unite to con
centrate a large number of visiters there during the summer
season in search of pleasure, and for the purpose of recruiting
impaired health. " Detached from the building, are extensive
bUliard saloons, bowling alleys, and pistol galleries, for exercise
and amusement, and commodious bathing-houses ; the groves of
trees in the front and rear of the house, afford an abundance of
shade ; vegetation has taken a fresh start at the Point. A short
distance from the hotel, are two ranges of neat cottages, enclosed,
beautified with vines, flowers, trees, and shrubbery, almost qb-

470 HISTORICAL AND
souring them from view. On three nights in the week, the rich
strains of the splendid Garrison Band, flll the air with dulcet
sounds, harmonizing with the exhilarated feelings of the listener.
On these occasions, a promenade on the battlement of the fortress
gives life and vigour to the entire system."
" How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here will we sit, and let the sound of music
Creep in our ears ; soft stillness, and the night.
Become the touches of sweet harmony."
Preliminary arrangements are being made for the erection of
an extensive hotel on the beach, not far from the fortress at Old
Point, to be called the Virginia Ocean House.
Within the fort are the necessary buildings for the accommoda
tion of the officers ; and also, a beautiful parade-ground, partially
shaded by live oak trees, which are found no farther north than
this particular spot. One or two regiments of troops are 'gene
rally garrisoned here. The heavy discharges from the fort, when
the officers of the Ordnance Department are testing the strength
of the guns, are often heard at Norfolk.
"Perhaps there is no place upon the Atlantic coast where the
exciting play of wind and water may be seen to such an advan
tage as at Old Point. The long, frantic procession of billows
dashes into the Chesapeake with a fury that is indescribable.
During the last summer we happened to witness, from this spot,
the full energy of a violent northeaster (the same which drove
the bark Elizabeth upon Fire Island), and it was a sight to re
member. The scuds of rain, that you could see approaching with
a rapidity beyond the flight of the swiftest bird, the flakes of
foam upon the beach, the sudden darkness that occasionally
came athwart the sky, the Titanic violence of the waves, com
bined to form a scene at once of beauty and of terror. At such
a time it is not desirable to go out in a sail-boat. Indeed, we
passed across Hampton Roads in a small steamer, during the
fiercest of this gale, and though we had a capital opportunity to
observe the wild magnificence of the angry elements, we were
very much of opinion with the Englishman who got wet at
Niagara, that " certainly it was very well in its way, but that.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 471
on the 'ole, he preferred looking at an hengraving of it in the
'ouse." Hampton, the shire town of Elizabeth City County, is distant
eighteen mUes from this city. The site was visited by Captain
John Smith and others, in 1607. Burk, one of the historians of
Virginia, says: "WhUe engaged in seeking for a fit place for
the first settlement, they met five of the natives, who invited
them to their town, Kecoughtan, or Kichotan, where Hampton
now stands." It became a town in 1705. Hampton was attacked
by a British fleet, during the Revolutionary war, and was invaded
during the last contest with Great Britain. In October, 1775, the
place was bravely and successfully defended by a well-disciplined
rifle company, assisted by the inhabitants.
"After the British fleet had been so signally defeated in their
attempt on Norfolk and Portsmouth, in June, 1813, by the
gallant defence of Craney Island, they proceeded to attack
Hampton, which was defended by a garrison of four hundred
and fifty militia, protected by some slight fortifications." Per
kins, in his history of the late war, says: "Admiral Cockburn,
on the 25th of June, with his forces, advanced towards the
town in barges and small vessels, throwing shells and rockets
whUe Sir Sidney Beckwith effected 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 suffered the most shameful bar
barities. That renegade corps, composed of French prisoners,
accustomed to plunder and murder in Spain, and who had been
induced to enter the British service by promises of similar indul
gences in America, were now to be gratified, and were let loose
upon the wretched inhabitants of Hampton without restraint."
"The battle of Hampton," says another writer, "was marked
by deeds of rapine and atrocity by the enemy, which would have
disgraced a Vandal host, and reflected lasting infamy on the
British name." It was in allusion to these outrages that Sir
Sidney Beckwith, in a letter to General R. B. Taylor, who
commanded the army in Norfolk and vicinity at the time, as

472 HISTORICAL AND
before stated, made this forcible and striking remark : " Worth
less is the laurel that is steeped in woman's tears."
Hampton is also much resorted to in summer for health and
recreation. The inhabitants have long been noted for their hos
pitality and public spirit ; and the moral character of the place
compares favourably with that of others. The town has greatly
improved in appearance within a few years, and continues to
give evidence of prosperity and advancement. Old St. John's
Church has undergone extensive repairs. There are several
other churches in the place, all kept in good order, a court-house,
and other public buildings, besides many neat and commodious
private dwellings. There are several well-conducted public
houses ; among which we mention with pleasure, the Afton
House, of which Mr. John Tabb is proprietor. The buildings
are finely located ; and the establishment presents very strong
inducements to persons visiting this delightful little town in
search of health and pleasure. The fare is exceedingly fine, and
all the arrangements of the house are in good taste and excellent
style ; indeed, it is conducted by the worthy host and his refined
and estimable lady, in a manner which, for polite attention,
system, and good order, is scarcely excelled in any section of
country. A substantial bridge connects the town with the road
leading to Old Point.
Hampton is the birthplace of some notable men ; among
whom were the Barrens, — who distinguished themselves in the
Revolution — one of whom was the father of the late veteran,
Commodore James Barron, of the United States Navy. Cap
tains Meredith and Cunningham, of the old State Navy, Major
Finn, of the army, and other distinguished men, were also from
this place.
Elizabeth City County was one of the divisions of the State
made in 1634. It comprises a space of country eighteen miles
square. The land is generally fertile, and in some places exceed
ingly rich and productive. Great attention is paid to the im
provement of the soU, and agriculture has long been in a very
flourishing condition in this excellent little county, which is
considered by some the garden spot of the State. The inhabi
tants, for the most part, possess a sociable, obliging, and hospi-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 473
table disposition. The population may be put down at four
thousand. Yorktown, in York County, ever memorable for the surrender
of Cornwallis, is about thirty-five miles from this city. There
are only a few buildings, many of which are in a decayed and
dilapidated state. " The water scenery at York is fine. The
river, full a mile wide, is seen stretching away until it merges
in Chesapeake Bay — an object of surpassing beauty, when rol
ling in the morning light, its ripples sparkling in the sun ; or
when its broad bosom is tinged Avith the cloud-reflected hues of
an autumnal sunset. On its banks stand the ruins of the old
church. Silence reigns within its walls, and the ashes of the
Ulustrious dead repose at its base."
" Long before the Revolution, the commerce of Yorktown had
much declined, notwithstanding the wealth and power located in
its immediate vicinity ; and the Virginia trade was, in a great
measure, diverted to our harbour, owing to its greater safety
and facilities for business.
" The view from the ancient ramparts on the hill," says one
who recently visited the place, " excited general admiration, whUe
the locaUty of the venerable city, now suffering under the heavy
yoke of time and legislative neglect, induced the hope that, under
the new state of things, of which a faint beginning seems to have
dawned upon our good old commonwealth, Yorktown might yet
retrieve her former position among cities. The good people of
the place are fully awake to her interests, and wiU leave no
effort untried to advance her prospects. Captain Anderson, a
wealthy and enterprising citizen, has buUt a strong and commo
dious wharf, and taken other steps towards that object.
" Leaving Yorktown, we pursued our course up the river, a
distance of forty mUes— its entire length— and a more majestic
sheet of water we do not believe exists, nor one uniting so com
pletely all the facUities of navigation. It preserves its breadth,
say two mUes, from its source to its mouth, and presents not the
least obstruction to navigation by vessels of any size, in any
weather. At West Point— the extreme end of King WiUiam
County, and once advocated as the site for the capital of the

474 HISTORICAL AND
State, — a single vote decided in favour of Richmond — the Pa
munky and Mattaponi form a junction with the York.
" The York River is, properly speaking, an arm of the bay,
from its mouth to the point where the Pamunky and Mattaponi
unite. In the early period of our colonial history, the attempt
was made to build up at Yorktown a large commercial city ; but
long before the Revolution it proved abortive, notwithstanding
its contiguity to Williamsburg, then the seat of royal authority
in Virginia. Its magnificent water prospect is well calculated at
first view to encourage the idea ; and the ever-glorious reminis
cences connected with its hallowed soil, even now, at times, en
gender such a hope."
" We were shown," says another writer, " the spot where
Cornwallis delivered up his sword to Washington — the ' Moore
House,' where the articles of capitulation were drawn up — the
identical redoubts which were carried by Lafayette and Wash
ington, sword in hand — the cave called ' Cornwallis's Cave,' and
the old burial-ground, where some of the most ancient tomb
stones in Virginia can be found. One especially attracted our
attention, which was inscribed to the memory of Hugh Nelson,
buried 1745. The inscription is in Latin, with the family coat
of arms cut upon the wall of the sides of the tomb. He was,
doubtless, the ancestor of the Nelson family, and occupied a re
spectable position in the then colony. The ancient brick man
sion of the Nelson family is also here ; and in the eastern gable-
end is a hole about eight inches in circumference, which was
made by a cannon-ball from the American army, during the siege.
The house must be at least one hundred years old, and is in tole
rably good preservation."
Northampton and Aceomac Counties, which embrace a small
peninsula, with the wide Atlantic on the east, and the Chesa
peake on the west, and reaching from the Maryland line south
to Cape Charles, generaUy called the Eastern Shore, may cer
tainly be regarded as comprising one of the most delightful and
agreeable portions of our State. The land is level, the soil
good, though light, and generally kept in an excellent state of
cultivation. There is, in almost every direction, an appear
ance of thrift, industry, good husbandry, and good society. Some

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 475
of the inhabitants are very wealthy, while a large proportion
are in easy and prosperous circumstances. Taking them, gene
rally, we may say, without adulation, we have rarely met with
a more liberal, gentlemanly, and intelligent community. They
appear contented, and, withal, greatly attached to their native
place. The roads are excellent, living cheap, the climate salu
brious, fine horses and vehicles are exceedingly numerous, and,
with the deep and ever musical roar of the ocean always within
hearing distance, it is truly delightful to make a visit to our
Eastern Shore.
Northampton is a part of the territory originally called Ac-
cawmacke, which was the name of the tribe of Indians that held
possession of the soil. In 1643, a division was made, and the
southern portion was called Northampton. Eastville, a pleasant
and flourishing village, is situated about the centre of the county.
Capeville, Johnsontown, and other pleasant villages, are also
located in Northampton.
This county has produced some eminent men, among whom we
should mention Hon. Abel P. Upshur, formerly Secretary of
State. He was a powerful orator, a brilliant writer, and an ac
complished gentleman. His sudden dea,th, while Secretary of
State, occasioned by the expjosion of a gun on one of the na
tional vessels, is well recollected.
Aceomac County, the northern division of the original Ae-
cawmacke, embraces a level space of country, forty-eight miles
long and ten wide. This county is celebrated as the native
place of Hon. Henry A. Wise, one of Virginia's greatest orators,
whom we have already partiaUy described. Drummondtown, a
beautiful viUage, is the county seat. There are several other
pleasant and handsome vUlages. Chincoteague is one of the
beautiful islands on the coast, the view from which is sublimely
interesting, and seldom surpassed in interest by ocean scenery.
A gentleman who recently visited Cape Charles, says : " We
found the situation a delightful and commanding one ; the broad
Atlantic on the one side, roUing in aU its grandeur, and the noble
Chesapeake on the other. The point is susceptible of the most
enlarged improvement, and far surpasses in advantages the cele
brated watering-place at Cape May. It is in contemplation to

476 HISTORICAL AND
purchase the place by a joint stock company, and we know of no
enterprise that affords a better chance for a judicious invest
ment. We trust the design will be speedUy carried out, and
suitable buUdings established there before the next season.
Every variety of fish can be taken in the water, and the adja
cent country is fertile and abounds with game. The party met
with a cordial reception from the citizens of the County of North
ampton, deservedly famed for its generous hospitality."
Cape Charles is thirty-five miles from Norfolk, equal to an
ordinary run of three hours. A steamboat would be profitably
employed in making the run daily, touching at Old Point and
Hampton ; for the establishment at the Cape will rather add to
than diminish the resort to these places, where the best table
fare of our climate and waters is to be found, and the bathing is
so generally approved. The distance from Old Point to Cape
Charles is twenty-two miles.

CHAPTER LXIIL
Jamestown — First Settlement in British America — Situation — Old Graveyard
and Ruins — John Smith — Settlement — Old Church — Battle with the Indians
— Plan and Fortifications — Destructive Fire — Public Records Destroyed —
Seat of Government Removed to WilUamsburg — Yankee Monopoly — The
Landing of the Pilgrims — Williamsburg — Situation — Capital — Population —
Lunatiq Asylum — -WiUiam and Mary College — Trustees, President, aud
Chancellor — Endowment — Magazine — Dunmore — Statue — Old Buildings —
Churches, College, Military Academy, &c. — Centre of Fashion and Learning
— Society — Plan of the Town — Old Almanac.
The site of Jamestown, the first settlement in British America,
and the first seat of colonial government, is on a small peninsula,
or projecting piece of land, on the north side of James River,
about eight miles south-southwest of Williamsburg. It is a sacred
and melancholy spot. The old graveyard, and a portion of the
steeple of the old church, are nearly all that remain to remind the
traveller of those days long departed, when Captain John Smith

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 477
and his company first landed on the banks of the noble James,
and amid the dangers and privations to which they were sub
jected, commenced the foundation of the most powerful and
flourishing of the colonies.
" Here stand the remnants of the first church buUt in
America. Within its walls, nearly three hundred years ago,
while the red man roamed the wild forest, a savage, in human
form, was promulgated that gospel which assimUates man to his
Maker. Here went up solemn hymns of praise, from those who
braved the tempest, endured hardships, and planted the standard
of liberty upon our native soil — those who, while they held the
shield of Christianity in one hand, grasped the gun or sword in
the other — those who suffered, that we, their offspring, might be
happy, while they sleep mpuldering in the silent sepulchre of
death. Knowing these things, how deep a debt of gratitude do
we owe our venerated sires.
" There are now but this old, lonely, dilapidated church, and
the ruins of an old magazine, remaining to mark the spot where
once stood the beautiful little village of Jamestown, so renowned
in history. Like Jerusalem of old, one stone has not been left
upon another, and the ploughshare and pruning-hook may be
seen where was once heard the busy hum of a sprightly town."
According to the account of John Smith, "on the 13th of May,
1607, after a search of seventeen days, they (Smith, Gosnold,
Newport, Ratcliff, Martin, and others), fixed upon a peninsula on
the north side of the James River, about fifty miles from its
mouth, and then in the possession of the Paspaheghs. This they
pronounced a very fit place for a very great city ; but there was
some contention about it between Captain Gosnold and Wing-
field, even after the provisions were landed. Here they com
menced the settlement of Jamestown, which was, as it proved, the
small beginning of our now great and prosperous confederacy."
Shortly after, the unprotected settlers were attacked by four
hundred Indians : " a boy was slain, and most of the councU,
and thirteen others wounded. Had not a crossbar, fired from
one of the ships, striking down a bough from a tree, frightened
the savages, there would have been an end of that plantation."

478 HISTORICAL AND
The following is an old description of Jamestown, or rather
of the Fort, which had attained to some dignity in 1609.
"A low and level lot of ground, of about half an acre, on the
north side of the river, was palisaded in a triangular form ; the
south side, next the river, comprehended one hundred and forty
yards ; the west and east sides respectively, a hundred. At every
angle or corner where the lines intersected, a bulwark or watch-
tower was raised, and in each bulwark was mounted a piece of
ordnance. On every side, at a proportionable distance from the
palisade, was a settled street of houses, which was so laid out
that each line of the angle had its street. In the centre stood
the market-house, store-house, guard-house, and church.
" Thus was the town enclosed with a palisade of planks and
strong posts four feet deep in the ground, composed of young oaks
and walnuts. The principal gate from the town through the
palisade opened on the river ; at each bulwark there was also a
gate, and at each gate, and in the market-place, a demi-culverin."
Shortly after this period the store-house took fire, and the
houses of the town being thatched with reeds, burned with such
violence that the fortifications, arms, apparel, bedding, and a
great quantity of private goods and provisions, were consumed.
The public records were destroyed here in 1698, in a fire
which consumed a large portion of the town ; after which the
seat of government was removed to Williamsburg.
"It is time now," says a New York writer, "that the merits
of this Yankee monopoly of the first white settlements were exa
mined into. The settlement of Jamestown, in Virginia, in 1607,
was a little in advance of the landing of the northern PUgrims
of 1620."
Williamsburg, for many years the capital of Virginia, is situ
ated on the division line between James City and York Counties,
and on the east side of a small tributary of the James. It is
distant sixty-five mUes from Norfolk, and has a population of
about 1500.
This place having been made the seat of government, in
1698, so continued until the Revolutionary war. The East
ern Lunatic Asylum, of Virginia, is located here, and is a
large and lofty pile of buildings, properly enclosed, and very

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 479
suitable for the purposes designed. This town is celebrated for
its College of WiUiam and Mary, which was endowed during the
joint reign of these monarchs, whUe Virginia was a colony of
Great Britain. WUUam and Mary College is, with one excep
tion, the oldest in the Union. Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant-
Governor of Virginia, and seventeen other persons, nominated
and appointed by the Assembly,- were confirmed as trustees, and
were empowered to hold and enjoy lands, possessions, and in
comes, to the yearly value of .£2000, and all donations bestowed
for their use. The Rev. James Blair was first President, and
the Bishop of London first Chancellor. The King and Queen
endowed the CoUege with 20,000 acres of land, together with
the revenue arising from the duty of one penny per pound on all
tobacco transported from Virginia and Maryland to the other
English plantations.
This ancient College is rapidly regaining its high reputation.
It has now about eighty students. With so efficient and accom
plished a faculty as William and Mary has now, it must suc
ceed. The old Magazine, erected one hundred and twenty years ago,
from which Lord Dunmore removed the powder, in 1775, has
been repaired, and is now used by the Baptists as a place qf
worship. There are, also, several old buUdings formerly con
nected with Dunmore's palace. A statue of Lord Botetourt,
one of the Colonial Governors, stands in the College square.
The Methodist and Protestant Episcopal denominations have
each a church. There are also here, a Female College, Military
Academy, and other institutions of learning.
Before the seat of government was removed to Richmond,
Williamsburg was " the centre of fashion, wealth, and learning
in the Old Dominion," and the place is still noted for its good
society, and for the refinement and polite hospitality of its
citizens. The streets of WiUiamsburg are regularly laid out, in the
form of the letter W, in honour of WilUam III. The site was
originally called Middle Plantation. The writer has been
handed, by a friend, a copy of " The Virginia Almanac, for the

480 , HISTORICAL AND
year of our Lord God, 1776, being bissextUe or leap year, con
taining the lunations, conjunctions, eclipses, judgment of the
weather, rising and setting of the planets, &c., also, a list of his
Majesty's Honourable Council, and of the House of Burgesses,
courts, roads, &c., and a variety of matter calculated for instruc
tion and amusement, by David Rittenhouse, PhUo., Williams
burg, printed by J. Dixon and A. Hunter." The typographical
execution is very neat. This old literary curiosity is in a very
good state of preservation. It is, indeed, an excellent work of
the kind, although it contains some articles of doubtful propriety,
and which we might publish, but for the fear that they might do
more than merely amuse or interest some of our readers.

CHAPTER LXIV.
Smithfield — Situation — Beautiful Scenery — Stores and Residences — Shade-
trees and Gardens — Appearance — Isle of Wight County — Enterprise — SoU —
Bacon — Smithfield Hams — Brandy — Dried Fruit— Eggs — Poultry — Revenue
— Suffolk — Situation — Railroad — Churches — Burnt by the British — Fire —
Trade — Appearance — Hospitality — Branch of the Nansemond — Romantic
Scenery — Matthews and Gloucester — Lands — Natural Advantages — Society
— Perennial Charms — Local Attachment — Fair Daughters of the Seques
tered Peninsula — New Church — Rev. G. S. Carraway.
The beautiful and pleasant little town of Smithfield is situated
in the northern part of Isle of Wight County, " on an elevated
bank on the margin of Pagan Creek, a bold and navigable
stream, commanding a splendid view of' .both land and water
scenery — the country, for ten miles on the opposite bank of the
James, being in full sight." There are about twenty stores, a
number of handsome residences, and three or four churches ; —
population 1500. The place is tastefully ornamented with
shade-trees, flower-gardens, &c., and has a social and very plea
sant appearance. It has been said, with regard to Isle of Wight
County, that " there is not a more thrifty and enterprising popu-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 481
lation in Virginia. Their soil is not remarkable for its fertUity,
but they make up in energy and industry that which has been
refused them by the bounty of nature. An immense amount of
bacon is annually shipped from this county, and the reputation
of their hams is as world-renowned as those from Westphalia.
They have ceased, in a measure, to make brandy from the apple,
but engage in the more laudable and profitable business of cutting
up and drying the fruit. This single article brings them an an
nual revenue of $20,000. The eggs sent to this market realize
more than $5,000, and the poultry not less than $10,000."
Suffolk, the county-seat of Nansemond, is about sixteen miles
southwest of Portsmouth, on the Nansemond River, and is on
the line of the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad. The situation
is high, pleasant, and remarkably healthful. It contains four
churches, a good court-house, and several other public buildings,
besides a number of stores and neat famUy residences. Suffolk
was burned by the British on May .13th, 1779, and not many
years ago the buUdings on the principal street were nearly all
destroyed by fire. It has, for a long time, had quite a flourish
ing trade in lumber, corn, pitch, tar, &c. The place has a neat,
rural appearance. There are two spirited party papers published
in the town.
" The northern branch of the Nansemond abounds in scenery
of the most picturesque and romantic description, and is well
deserving the attention of Nature's admirers. The stream is of
fresh water, winding some three or four miles in a northwesterly
direction from Suffolk, and its average width is about fifty feet.
In ascending its intricate windings, you are surprised at the dif-
erent aspects presented to view. In some instances, the tall and
majestic junipers are entirely submerged at the base, and, as
you proceed, an elevation wUl suddenly appear, as if by magic,
rising perpendicularly from the river at least twenty feet, ren
dering the contrast at once startling and delightful."
The hospitable inhabitants of the sterling county of Nansemond
are also moving steadily onward in the march of improvement.
With regard to Matthews and Gloucester Counties, a gentle
man, writing from the former (June, 1852), says : —
" This and the adjoining county of Gloucester are justly con-
31

482 HISTORICAL AND
sidered the garden-spot of the State. The lands are remarkable
for their fertility, and generally are in a high state of cultivation
and improvement. The country is salubrious at all seasons of
the year ; and the many navigable rivers, by which it is inter
sected, abound with fish of every variety, oysters, and, indeed,
with every species of marine luxury. I know of no quarter, on
this little terrestrial globe of ours, that presents so many phy
sical advantages, and which, at the same time, is so picturesque
and beautiful. The lands are finely adapted to the culture of
wheat and corn.
"The society here, is of a very superior order — refined, intel
ligent, social ; and they have, perhaps, more of the ' amor soli'
than any other people in the State. They cultivate this feeling
as a principle, and consider it as almost essential to an enduring
and discerning 'amor patriae.'
'P 'P ^ ^ ^ ^ »}»
" If I could feign or fancy, as in days of yore, nymphs or
water-sprites under the waves of the majestic stream, from whose
banks these lines are indited, I would faithfully and religiously
pay my tribute to the Alma Dea of the waters. But the plea
sant days of such poetic embellishments have passed away.
Here, at least, they Tiave been superseded by the more real
charms of the graceful, accomplished, and well-educated
daughters, who reside on this sylvan and sequestered peninsula.
Never did the sun of heaven shine on lovelier blossoms ! but I
must restrain my feelings, as I tread on holy ground. It seems
like disturbing the perfume of the violet in its quiet retreat."
In an account of the dedication of a new church in Matthews,
the same writer says : —
" There was a large assemblage present to witness the impos
ing ceremonies. The church is a neat and unostentatious buUd
ing, located in a beautiful forest, where the pious arid devout can
offer up their adorations to the Throne of Grace, unmolested by
the noise and pomp of the fashionable world. It was erected
under the zealous and efficient ministration of the Rev. Mr.
Carraway, formerly of Norfolk, who is doing much good here,
and is beloved by all who are capable of appreciating true
worth."

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 483

CHAPTER LXV.
Interesting Object — Lake Drummond — Hotel — Boundary Line — Connubial
Parties — Location of the Lake — Dismal Swamp — William Wirt's Statement —
Extent — Soil, Trees, &c. — Beasts — Undergrowth — Reeds, Vines, &c. — Dismal
Swamp Canal — Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad — Jericho Canal — Lumber
Trade — Draining the Swamp — Peat — The Lake — Interesting Scene — Graphic
Description — The Poet Moore — Love Affair — Touching Lines — Deep Creek —
Houses — Trade — Inhabitants — Washington Point — St. Helena — Lands —
U. S. Government Buildings — Concluding Remarks.
There is in the vicinity of our city an object of considerable
interest, of which little is known, even by many of the inhabi
tants. We allude to Lake Drummond, or, as the poet Moore
called it, " The Lake of the Dismal Swamp." It lies about twenty-
two miles from Norfolk, and four miles west of the canal, in
which its waters are emptied through a lateral branch, two miles
from the Hotel, which is situated on the east branch of the canal,
with its centre on the boundary line of Virginia and North Caro
lina — a convenient stopping-place for connubial parties from the
former State. The quiet and unruffled waters of the lake are to
be found in the interior of the Dismal Swamp, through which,
by the way, runs the dividing line of the two adjoining States,
the larger portion of the swamp being in Virginia, and extend
ing in a northerly and southerly direction about thirty miles,
and averaging in breadth about ten miles. Mr. Wirt styled it
the " Great Dismal Swamp," and in an account of the running
of the boundary line, he stated that it was " more than forty
mUes in length, and twenty in breadth ; its soU, a black, deep
mire, covered with a stupendous forest of juniper and cypress
trees, whose luxurious branches, interwoven throughout, intercept
the beams of the sun, and teach the day to counterfeit the night."
"This forest," continues that writer, "which, untU that time,
no human foot had ever violated, had become the secure retreat
of ten thousand beasts of prey. Below is a thick, entangled un
dergrowth of reeds, woodbine, grape vines, mosses, and creepers,
shooting and twisting spirally around, interlaced and compli-

484 HISTORICAL AND
cated." The Dismal Swamp Canal, to which allusion has been
made, runs through it from north to south, and " the Seaboard
and Roanoke Railroad passes like a grand and densely shaded
avenue for five miles across its northern part." Jericho Canal,
a ditch about eighteen feet wide and ten miles long, also connects
with Lake Drummond. Immense quantities of staves, shingles,
&c., are transported through it on "flats," from whence they
are conveyed in wagons or carts to the Nansemond River, distant
about one and a half miles, and navigable for schooners of seventy
or eighty tons.
This swamp, it is thought, might be drained, the fertile lands
reclaimed, and, as the soil is vegetable, it is believed by some
persons that it might be used as peat.
In this singular swamp, not very far from its western borders,
strangely scooped out by the hand of Nature, is the concavity,
averaging about twelve feet deep, that forms the bed of the
Drummond Lake, which reposes peacefully in its romantic re
tirement. A solemn stillness pervades the shores — a silence
broken only by the melancholy dirges of the breeze in the thick
foliage above, the notes of the feathered songsters, the hiss of
the venomous reptile, or, perchance, the splash of the leaping,
fluttering perch. "It is delightful," adopting the language of
the facetious editor of tlje Herald, " to drive along its banks, or
skim its surface in the morning or evening of a summer's day,
when the sun is just above the horizon ; the mirror-like surface
below reflects the trees, whose limbs embracing above, form
umbrageous vistas, beyond which the eye now and then catches a
view of an opening in the blue firmament ; and the gilding of the
sunbeams is relieved by the lengthened shadows of the objects
upon which they rest. Then to inhale the delicious fragrance of
the jessamine, the laurel, the eglantine, the wild rose, and various
other aromatic shrubs and flowers with which the swamp abounds —
not even the spicy gales of Arabia can surpass it, and no effort of
the pictorial art can do it justice."
Thomas Moore, the Irish Poet, who, as already stated, visited
this place in 1805, composed some touching lines on a legendary
love affair connected with Lake Drummond. We shall give them
a place, although they have been often pubUshed.

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 485
A BALLAD.
THE lake of THE DISMAL SWAMP.
[WRIirKS JIT NORFOLK, IN VIEGIIUi.]
They teU of a young man who lost his mind upon the death of a girl he loved ;
and who, suddenly disappearing from his friends, was never afterwards heard of.
As he frequently said iu his ravings, that the girl was not dead, but gone to
the Dismal Swamp, it is supposed that he had wandered into that dreary wil
derness and died of hunger, or been lost in some of its dreadful morasses.
" They made her a grave, too cold and damp
For a soul so warm and true ;
And she's gone to the lake of the Dismal Swamp,
Where aU night long, by a fire-fly lamp.
She paddles her white canoe.
" And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see.
And her paddle I soon shall hear;
Long and loving our life shall be.
And I'll hide the maid in a cypress tree.
When the footstep of death is near !"
Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds ;
His path was rugged and sore.
Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds.
Through many a fen, where the "Serpent feeds.
And man never trod before !
And when on the earth he sank to sleep.
If slumber his eyelids knew.
He lay where the deadly vine doth weep
Its venomous tear, and nightly steep
The flesh with blistering dew !
And near him the she-wolf stirred the brake.
And the copper-snake breathed iu his ear.
Till he starting cried, from his dream awake,
"Oh! when shall I see the dusky lake.
And the white canoe of my dear?"
He saw the lake, and a meteor bright.
Quick over its surface played —
" Welcome !" he said ; " my dear one's light!"
And the dim shore exchoed for many a night.
The name of the death-cold maid !

486 HISTORICAL AND
TiU he hollowed a boat of the birchen bark.
Which carried him off from shore ;
Far he followed the meteor spark ;
The wind was high and the clouds were dark,
I Aud the boat returned no more.
But oft from the Indian hunter's camp.
This lover and maid so true.
Are seen at the hour of midnight damp.
To cross the lake by a flrefly lamp,
And paddle their white canoe !
J
Deep Creek, a pleasant village at the northern terminus of
the Canal, is about eight miles from Norfolk. It contains about
fifty houses, and carries on some trade in shingles, staves, fire
wood, &c. It is distinguished for the generous and social cha
racter of its inhabitants.
Washington, commonly called Washington Point, or Ferry
Point, which occupies a portion of the angle formed by the con
fluence of the southern and eastern branches of our river, is a
neat and pleasant little village. At St. Helena, situated on the
south of Washington Point, and on the eastern shore of the
Southern Branch, the lands have recently changed hands, and
have been enclosed and much improved. The United States
Government has purchased this property, which is immediately
opposite the Navy Yard. Several large and substantial brick
buildings, intended for store-houses, &c., have been erected,
and the appearance of the grounds in this direction is rapidly
improving. We now bring these sketches to a close, and respectfully take
our leave of the reader, whose clemency, we trust, has prompted
him to make all due allowances. The sparsely scattered mate
rials of historical and statistical information embraced in the
work, were collected amid a variety of cares and duties, which
tended greatly to interrupt the patient labour and attention so
requisite, especially in preparing them for the press. An en
lightened public will decide impartially, we beUeve, with regard
to the performance of the task, and the character, interest,
utility, and probable influence of the work. The consciousness
that he has, at least, endeavoured to perform the duty as faith-

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES. 487
fully as attending circumstances would permit, will enable the
writer patiently and cheerfully to abide by that decision, whether
favourable or unfavourable.
With regard to his opinion of the present prospects of the
City, as expressed on some of the preceding pages, and coincid
ing as it does, with that of many judicious and experienced indi
viduals, both at home and abroad, he is constrained to express
the sincere hope, that time may not prove it to be erroneous.
May a full tide of prosperity, such as has never before been
witnessed here, ere long roll in upon Norfolk, Portsmouth, and
aU the surrounding country! the merchants, tradesmen, and
mechanics, all, increasingly busy and successful ; the husband
man annually gathering in abundant harvests ; and the members
of all trades, professions, and classes, enjoying the reward of
their labour and industry — receiving ample compensation for
their toils, whether mental or physical.
May the borders of the City and all the neighbouring towns
and vUlages be widened — new avenues opened, built upon, and
occupied ! May the principles of true religion and morality be
spread abroad, and exert their genial influence upon the people,
that no sad, calamitous visitation of Providence may ever be
necessary to teach them their duty to the' great I AM ! May
the number of spacious temples be increased — temples conse
crated to Him who is the great and only source of all true hap
piness, of every blessing ; so that the foundations of knowledge
and virtue may be laid deep, wide, and strong, and many a noble,
firm, and lofty mental and moral structure reared; so that the pro
tecting care of Heaven may continue over all the inhabitants;
for " except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but
in vain." May our beautiful town continue to increase in wealth,
influence, and righteousness, until the mighty Heavenly messen
ger shall descend, and, with " his right foot upon the sea, and
his left foot upon the earth," swear, in tones louder than seven
fold thunder, "that time shall be no longer !"
And when the affairs of this life shall all be wound up, its toils
and cares over, the din of business for ever silenced, and the
wonders and realities of the eternal world shall be revealed, may

488 HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES.
the names of the inhabitants, in thousands and tens of thousands,
be found among those written in the register of Heaven, " the
Lamb's book of life," entitling them to an everlasting habitation
in "that great city,"
" Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains.
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns !"

INDEX.

Aborigines, 35
Access, means of, 314
Accidents to theatres, 119
Aceomac County. 474
A chUd's burial, 353
Acts of Assembly, 153, 221
Adams, John, 306
Afton House, 472
Agents, EngUsh and Scotch, 434
Agricultural fair, 293
productions, 294
Agriculture, 295, 414
Alarming light, i63
Almshouse, 200
Alum Springs, 282
Amazon Valley, 316, 317
American Beacon, 145, 236
Ancient coin, 35
fort, 459
Anderson, Captain, 473
Rev. S. J. P., 233
An hour among the flowers, 372
Animal magnetism, 225
Anniversary, 191
Appearance of the city, 322, 407
Aquatic excursion, 205
Architecture, 58
Aristocracy, 42
Artesian well, 216
Ashland Hall, 258
Atlantic Ocean, 449
Atmosphere, 326
Avon Theatre, 212, 252
Back country, 310, 316
Creek, 119, 196, 199, 212
Baker, Judge R. H., 286
John P., 187
Balfour, Dr., 325
Ball, Adjutant, 139
Ballad, 485
BaUimore, 117, 305, 308
Steam Packet Company, 155, 303
Bank robbery, 285
Banks, 344
Baptist church, 108
at London Bridge, 446
in Portsmouth, 215
new, 240, 256, 323

Barbarity of British troops, 126
Barron, Commodore James, 272, 275, 349
Barrens, the, 472
Battle of Craney Island, 121-127
of Great Bridge, 74, 75
at Hampton, 471
Beale, Charles H., 328
BeaU, Rev. U., 232
Beautiful scenery, 328
sketch, 373, 374
Beckwith, Sir Sidney, 471
Belgium, 320
Benevolent old negro, 419
Bethel Church, 234
Bible Society, 142
Birds, 436, 440
Blackboard's treasures, 464
Black Hawk, 194
Blake, Rev. B. T., 187
Blanchard, Thomas, 103, 350
Bland, Rev. Mr., 107
Bonaparte, Louis N., 208
Bonsai, C, 217, 272
Booth, 160
Boots and shoes, 408
Borough charter, 50, 53, 200
privileges, 65
Boston, 306
Boundary, 51
Boush, M., 463
Samuel, 54
Samuel, Jr., 55
Boys burnt, 230
Bridal ballad, &c., 352
Bridges, 303
British cruelty, 79, 471
fleet, 80-86
soldiers, 86, 126
Spy, 334
squadron, 129, 140
Broad Bay, 447, 458
Broughton, T. G., 101
Dr. C. H., 101
R. D., 101
Bruce, Rev. P., 92
Brutal murder, 157
Bull-bait, 60
Buildings, 58, 107
Burial of the gallant dead, 374

490

INDEX.

Burying-ground, 172, 200
Business, 106, 107, 115, 116, 117
Butt, Miss M. H., 357
Byrd, Colonel, Statement of, 50
Cadets, Virginia Military Institute, 252
CaldweU, Rev. Mr., 228
California, 240
Camp, G. W., 137
Major G. W., 137, 164
Campbell, Alexander, 56
Camp-meeting scene, 181-188
Canal in Princess Anne, 437, 466, 468
James River and Kanawha, 112
Dismal Swamp, 97, 163, 190
to Albemarle Sound, 260, 261
Cannonade, 80, 84
Cannon-ball, 61
Cape Charles, 475, 476
Henry Light House, 100
Capital, 345
Capeville, 475
Capron, Capt. John, 138
Carraway, Rev. G. S., 482
Castle Calhoun, 469
Caterpillars, 220
Catholic Church, 215, 290
Celebration, 191
Census, 270
Centenary, 200
Hymn, 205
Centennial Celebration, 203
Centralization, 311
Chainber of Commerce, 108
Champion of the free, 371
Changes, 58
Charles the Second, 41
Charter-men, 51
Cheap literature, 347
Chesapeake aff'air, 117
Bay, 455
China and East India trade, 301
Chincoteague, 475
Cholera, 192, 194, 244, 337
Christ Church, 177, 178,* 234
Church built by lottery, 96
bell, 178
clock, 178
in Matthews, 482
laws, 45
Point, 459
Street, 107, 264
Churches, 107, 108, 340
Cisterns, 216
Citizens of NorfoUt, 340
City charter, 223
debt, 197
Hotel, 214
Hall, 212, 235, 254
Inspector, 164, 199
limits, 51
Prison, 212
revenue, 112.246
scrip, 291

Classes of society, 57
Clay, Henry, 217, 289, 371
Climate, 34
Clipper ships, 318
Clothing, 411
Coal trade, 298
Cockburn, Admiral, 126, 471
Cockrane, Admiral, 132
Cold plague, 332
weather, 90, 102, 191, 199, 272,
282, 285
Coloured population, 417
Colonization Society, 157,428
Commerce, 193, 214, 306
Commercial convention, 211
distress, 214
facilities, 304, 316, 317,343
era, 209, 210
position, 304, 318
prosperity, 59, 117
Common Council, 54, 92, 99, 109, 150,
151,211
of Portsmouth, 433
Companies, 344
Conclusion, 486
Conflagration of Norfolk, 80, 85
Connubial parties, 483
Convention at Old Point, 259
at Union, 301
Corn, 232, 233, 294, 412
Cornick, Capt. J., 88
Cornstalk, the sharpshooter, 82
Cornwallis, 79
Corporation scrip, 291
Cotton factory, 412
trade, 4i6
Council, 109, 150
Courier, 220
Court-house, 46, 100, 172
in Portsmouth, 224
Cowdery, Dr. J., 292
Cows, 284
Crawford, Wm., 430
Crommeline, EUzabeth, 173
Cummins, Rev. G. D., 178, 234 ,
Currituck Sound, 467
Custom-house, 154, 264
Dade's Massacre, 376
Daily News, 271
Davis, Wm. W., 232, 368
Dawes, S. S., 370
Deaths, 337
Death penalty, 158,444
DebonnevUle, 225
Decatur, 274, 275
Deep Creek, 486
Defeat of the Pretender, 65
Delany, Wm. D., 216
Delegation from Clarksville, 247
Democrats, 394
Descendants of the Sons of Liberty, 71
Desert, 459
Desperate conflict, 444

' In the description of this building, page 178, for west, read )iorth.

INDEX.

491

Destitution of the citizens, 91
Diabolical gunpowder plot, 63
Directory, 108, 279
Direct trade, 316
Dismal Swamp, 483
Canal, 97, 163, 190, 467
Distress, 87, 112
Divisions of Territory, 44
Dixon, Rev. R., 461
DoggeU, Dr. D. S., 270
Donation Church, 461
Draw-bridge, 163
Dreaming, 355
Drought, 93, 265, 289
Drummondtown, 475
Dry Dock, 175
Duel, 274
Early Inhabitants, 39, 40
Earthquake, 199
Eastern cities, 406
Lunatic Asylum, 478
Shore, 474
Chapel, 447
Eastville, 475
Editors of Norfolk and Portsmouth, 3S2
Education, 447
Edwards, Capt. 0. E., 229
Dick, 462
Rev. J. E., 241, 243, 270
Election, 287
Elizabeth City County, 472
River, 310
Embargo, 117
Emmerson, Arthur, Jr., 215
Capt. A., 122, 125,215
Energy, 307, 405
Enterprise wanted, 303, 414
Northern, 404
Southern, 415
Excursion, 233
Expenditures of the Corporation, 112
Exploring Squadron, 210
Explosion, 94
Exports, 100, 101, 106, HI, 160, 163, 173
and Imports, 115
Fairs, 59
Falls of Niagara, 435
False alarm, 128
Fanaticism, 306
Farmington, N. H.,409
Farms, 330
well-conducted, 294
Fatal accident, 95
Female Orphan Asylum, 146, 235
Ferguson, F. F., 137
P., 137
Ferriage, 161
Ferries, 66, 162
Ferry boats, 161
connexion, 161
Fielding, Fanny, 355
Fifly-P'ourth Regiment, 128
Fillmore, Millard, 278

Fire, 8O5 85, 102, 112, 141, 172, 173, 197,
208,211, 214, 215,230,238
companies, 141, 344
in Gosport, 253
Fire in Portsmouth, 211
First Council, 51, 54
newspaper in Virginia, 99
settlers, 40
Sunday School, 149
Firewood, 177
works, 199
Fish, 233
Fitzgerald, Capt. E. H., 240
Flour, 314, 412
Flowers, 322,436
Ford, Major, 103, 104
Fordyce, Capt., 75, 78
Foreigners, 107
Foreign trade, 107, 308, 309
Fort Monroe, 469
Forts, 122, 128
Fortifications, 128, 138, 469
Fruit, 293, 330,411
Fugitive slaves, 88
Fuller, Dr., 256
Funeral solemnities, 103, 259
Furniture, 408
Gait, Alexander, Jr., 398
Gamblers killed, 113
Gardens, 118, 323
Garnett, Col. Wm., 218, 266
Garrison, Jas. S., 437
Gas lights, 246
works, 245
Georgia, 409
Gloucester county, 481
Gold, 241
Goodchild, Wm., 88
Gosport, 432
Iron works, 251, 434
Gough, John B., 228
Grain business, 232
Grapes, 330
Graveyard, 64, 175, 442
submerged, 459
Greased pole, 60
Great bridge, 74
Grigsby, H.B., 145, 192, 348, 388
G*****, Lieut., 170
Groves, 119
Gunpowder, 113
plot, 63
Hail storm, 214, 285
HaU, C, 213
Midshipman, 141
Rev. D., 187
Halstead, R., 352
Hampton, 471
Hanging, 158
Hansford, Dr., 71
Harbour, 34, 316, 343
survey of, 263, 327, 329
Harper's Ferry, 435
Hartt, S. T., 250

492

INDEX.

Harrison, President, 214
Head, Rev. N., 243
Healthfulness of Norfolk, 331
Hendren, Wm. T., 286
Henry, Patrick, 99, 306
Herbertsville, 324'
High tide, 92,214
Highwaymen, 159, 444
Hill, Luke, 464
Hiort, Mr., 103
Hitselberger, Rev. A. L., 215, 235
Hogsheacl race, 60
Holt, Jno. E., 194
Home manufactures, 408
Hopes of love, 370
youth, 323
Hospitality, 40, 253, 340
Hot mush, 60
Humiliation and prayer, 160
Hunter, B. W., 176
Hutchings, John, 55
I hear thy voice, 353
Illumination, 167, 214, 292
Imports, 73
Importers, 405
Improvements, 407
Indian mound, 463
Indians, 36, 376, 477
Influence of a name, 221
Ingram, Billy, 290
Ingram, Mrs. S., 275
Insurrection, 193
Intemperance, 445
Internal communication, 260, 307, 308,
311
improvements, 241, 247, 248, 249,
287, 415
Ireland, 233
Iron works, 251
Isle of Wight County, 480
Ivey, James, 56
Jackson, Rev. Wm., 63
Jail, 225
James River, 415
James River and Kanawha Canal, 298,
417
James the First, 40
James, G. P. R., 295
Jamestown, 475, 476
Jefferson's prediction, 221, 296
Jericho Canal, 484
Johnston, Mrs. M. B., 263
Jones, Rev. T. G.,258
Jones, Rev. R., 108
Kecoughtan, 471
Keeling, Adam, 458
R. James, 220, 365, 366
Kempsville, 46, 437
King, Miles, 246
Labelling the streets and houses, 270
Ladies, 42, 43, 339, 355, 482 •
Ladies of talent, 354

Lafayette's visit, 164
Lagaudette, 157
Lake Drummond, 483, 484
Lamb, Wm. B., Esq., 286, 291
Wm. W., 286
Lamps, 119
Lancasterian school, 151, 157
Land, 330
Landing of the Pilgrims, 478
Launch, 251
Laurel Hill, 435
Legislation, 297
Legislature, 305
Leonard, A. F., 287, 361
LesUe, Capt., 76, 77
Letters by a South Carolinian, 348
Lieutenant G., 170
in the army, 179
Light reading, 347
Limits of the county, 45
Lines by Moore, 485
Linkhorn Bay, 447, 458
Literary capacity, 375
taste, 346
works, 348
Local attachment, 340, 442
Location of Norfolk, 33, 316, 326, 330
London Bridge, 437, 438, 458
Bridge Creek, 438, 458
Longevity, 155, 338
Long Creek, 458
Lord Dunmore, 74, 80, 81, 90
Botetourt, 479
Loss and distress, 112, 226, 227
Lotteries, 96
Lowe, Rev. E. M., 163
Loyall, Geo., 71, 266
Paul, 71
Lucubrations, 369
Lugg, Capt., 105
Lumber trade, 193
Luther, 189, 447
Lyceum, 175
Lynnhaven Bay, 456
Inlet, 457, 466
name of, 465
oysters, 221, 457
river, 456, 465
creek, 438, 458
McAlpine, Dr. James, 190
McCabe, J. C, 235
McPhail, John, 282
Macready, the tragedian, 120
Mace, 203
Madison's views, 297
Magazine, 264, 479
Male orphan asylum, 147
MaUory, Dr. F., 265, 289, 294
Manners and customs, 41
Manual labour school, 147
Manufactories, 345
Manufacturing Company, 409
Manuscripts, 373
Marine railways, 344
Society, 150

INDEX.

493

Market-house, 112
Market-house burnt, 141
Markets, 59
Martin, Mrs. E., 289
I^Iassachusetts, 306, 408, 413
Matthews County, 481
Maurice, Major, 138
Maury, Lieut., 315
Maxwell's Poems, 348
Maxwell, Wm., 202, 204
Mayor, 103. 193
Mayoralty, 216, 287
Mayor of Portsmouth, 433
Meal, 412
Means of access, 314
Mechanics, 340
Mechanics' Hall, 251
Mechanical Benevolent Society, 118
Mehafiey, A., 251, 434
Memphis, 119
Merchants, 116, 345
Meteoric phenomenon, 197
Methodism, 1S9
Methodist E. Church, 196, 237, 241, 267
preachers, 188, 189
P. Church, 190, 225
Mexicans, 406
Mexican war, 229
Michaels, Rev. R., 243
Midshipmen drowned, 176
Hall, killed, 141
Militia oflicers, &c., 78, 138
Mild weather. 92
MUler, Rev. Mr., 63
Miss Polly, 77, 78
Mills, 412
Millson, Hon. John S., 243
Mineral Springs, 2S2
Mingo, 445
Misstatements, 60, 80, 126
Mocking-birds, 440
Money buried, 88
Monody on the death of Washington, 350
Moore House, 474
Thomas, 113, 484
Morality, 42, 3 10
Mortality, 336, 337
Morteotype, 396
Motmtain scenery, 455
Moseley, Dr. Wm., 235
Music among the tombs, 381
of the ocean, 450
Myers, M., 116
Name, 44, 221
Nansemond, 481
river, 481
Narrow escape, 95, 96, 226
Nash, Capt. T., 78, 79
National Hotel, 209
Natural advantages, 34, 111
Bridge, 435
Nature's music. 442
Teachings, 357
Naval hospital, 190
Navigation, 34, 343

Navigation Act, 157, 160
Navy agency, 265
yard, 102, 432
Neglected children, 143
Negroes in New York, 420
in Norfolk, 417
Nelson family, 474
New England, 414
hotel, 209
law, 287
Newspaper, 99
Newspapers, 344, 433, 481
Newton, C. W., 55
Colonel Thomas, 54, 55, 71, 235
Dr. Thomas, 55
George, 54, 55
Newtown, 46, 432
New York, 306
packets, 295
Nivison, John, 143
Non-intercourse laws, 173
Norfolk Academy, 114, 144, 212
bar, 117
cannonaded, 80
and the interior, 285
and Portsmouth Herald, 100, 213
established a town, 49
Female Institute, 245
Iron Works, 251
improving, 92, 193, 307, 309
Junior Volunteers, 109
market, 142
merchants, 116
name of, 44
volunteers, 105
Northampton County, 474
Northeaster, 226, 470
Ocean House, 470
scenery, 449, 453, 454
Odd-Fellows' Hall, 175
Ode to Solitude, 362
Ofiicers of the borough, 106, 114 .
of the city, 287, 288
&c., 78, 123, 138
Old almanac, 479
commonwealth, 312
church at Jamestown, 368, 477
lines on, 368
coin, 35
deed, 48
fraveyard, 64, 67
oint, 468
Hotel, 469
settlers' church, 368
theatre, 252
Oldest white inhabitant, 289
Order, 340
Oriental splendour and decay, 406
Orphan Asylum, 235
Outlet for produce, 311
Packet Unes, 344
Page and Allen, 344
Painful eveht, 163
Para, 317

494

INDEX.

Parade ground, 112, 138
Parish church, 459
font, &c., 463
Parishes, 45
Parker, General, 140
James, 71
Parks, Rev. M. P., 179-187
Parson Dixon, 461
Parting frolic, 448
Paving, 115
Pegram, E. S., son of, 239
Pennock, 116
Periodical crimes, 237
Petersburg Intelligencer, 221
Pews and free seats, 268, 269
Phantom, The, 359
Phillips, Josiah, 445
Philharmonic Association, 238
Pig chase, 60
Pinkney, 385
Pioneers, 36
Places of amusement, 118
Plays, 120
Pleasure House, 458
Plough, Loom, and Anvil, 413
Political agitation, 57
PoUtics, 393, 394
Population, 106, 190
Portsmouth, 429
Port of Norfolk and Portsmouth, 34
Post-office, 264
Premiums, 294
Presbyterian Church, 206, 207
Prices current, 207, 214
of grain, 233
Princess Anne Court-house, 46
County, 45, 46, 295, 437
militia, 140
Princess of Denmark, 46
Produce, 298, 309
Productions, 410
of the soil, 40,330,414
water, 310, 330
Professional ability, 383
Prospects, 309
Prosperity, 49, 50, 59, 312
Protestant Episcopal Church, 173
Provident Society, 152
Public buildings, 323, 339, 344
relative position of, 329
parks, 118
schools, 446
square, 196, 199, 211
Quilp, 352
Railroads, 303,311
Railroad, Charlotte and Columbia, 303
Clarksville and Ridgway, 301, 303
continuous line of, from Norfolk,
300
Edenton and Norfolk, 200
Memphis, Lynchburg, and Ten
nessee, 241

Railroad, Nashville and Chattanooga, 303
N. O. and Memphis, 301
Norfolk and Petersburg, 287, 295,
299
North Carolina, 303
Pacific, 299, 301
Portsmouth and Roanoke, 198, 199
Seaboard and Roanoke, 196, 197,
249, 266, 282, 301
subscription, 196, 197, 302
Virginia and Tennessee, 303
Weldon and Gaston, 301
Wilmington* and Manchester, 303
Rain, 289
Ramsay, Dr. John, 56, 71, 84
Randolph, Sir John, 53
Random lines, 438
Real estate, 210, 345
Recorder, 53, 54
Reformation, 189, 416
Relative position of Norfolk, 33, 34
Religious revival, 101, 179, 200
Reminiscence, 236, 438
Removal of the citizens, 88
Resurrection, 67
Return of the citizens, 89
Revolution, 57, 73, 306
Revolutionary patriots, 306
spirit, 306
Richmond theatre, burning of, 119
Times, 222
Rip Raps, 469
Rittenhouse, David, 480
River side, 112
Roanoke Navigation Co., 197, 247
Rodney, C. A., 349
Robbers, 159,444
Roberts, Wm., 448
Robertson, Jos. H., 71, 219
Harrison, 287
Robinson, Patrick, 290
Rodney, C. A.,349
Roman Catholic Church, 215
Romance, 438
Rooke, Capt., 123
Rosehill, 352
Rourk, John, 105
Sabbath, 341
desecration, 198
schools, 149, 340
celebration, 22, 33
Sack races, 60
Saint John's Shurch, Hampton, 472
Paul's Church, 54, 60, 81
Helena, 486
Sale, Jno. H., 251
Sawyer, S. T., 236
School-boy days, 447, 448
house, 446, 447
master, 446, 448
mates, 448
Schooner Tartar, 140
Scott, Gen. W., 253

* Erroneously inserted Wellington, instead of WUmington, p. 303.

INDEX.

495

Sculpture, 398
Seabury, Capt., 61
Sea-shore, 453, 454
waves, 453, 470
Selden, Dr. W., 245
Seminole war, 373, 374
Sending to the North, 404, 410
September gale, 159
Serenade, 266
Settlement, 47
Settlers' Names, 40*
Sharp, Col. W., 137, 164
W. W., 137
Shelton, D., 247
Shields, Capt. H., 138
Capt. H. L.,239
Wm. C, 145
Sherwood, Grace, 465
Rev. S., 446
Ship becalmed, 451
engulfed, 452
in a storm, 452
Shipping, 49, 115, 199
Shipwreck, 170
Shipyard, 107, 344
Shocking tragedy, 113
Shoe manufactories, 408
Sickness during the war, 331
Site of Norfolk, 33, 47,48
original owners of, 49
Skating, 272
Slaughter, Dr. A., 143
fund, 143, 144
Sleeping giant, 405
SmaU-pox, 88
Smith, F. H., 383
Gen., 173
John, 39, 477
Samuel, 56
Rev. Dr. Wm. A., 248
Smithfield, 480
Snow storm, 177, 190, 236, 253
Societies, 344
Soil, 330
Solar appearance, 192
Soldiers' burial, 374
Soldier sentenced to be shot, 120
Song of the Emigrants, 361
Sea Wave, 366
Sons of Liberty, 68, 69, 70
Sources of wealth, 40, 254
South American Trade, 319
Southern Argus, 236
Literary Messenger, 393
South Carolina, 409
Soutter, Robert, 215
Speculation, 232
Spirit of improvement, 307, 346
Spirits of the deep, 451
Sports, 59
Stag Hunter, 365
Stamp Act, 68
State expenditures, 297

Steamers- to Antwerp, 319, 320
Steam Navigation, 210
Steamer North Carolina, 155
Steam Packet Lines, 259, 311, 317
Statistics, 337
Steed, Jno. R., 71
Stevens, Colonel, 85
Stone bridge, 152
Storage of tobacco, 312, 313
Storm, 159, 172, 225, 259, 279
Streets, 344
Stubbs, S. S., 276, 287
Sublime scenery, 475
Suffolk, 481
Sun, strange appearance of, 192
Sunday markets, 341
Sunsets, 326, 329
Supineness of Virginia, 305, 316, 406
Tabb. T. C, Esq., 402
Tailor's bill, 72, 73
Talbot, B. W., 163
Capt., 66
Street, 66
Talent, 346, 403
Tanner's Creek, 51
Tazewell, Henry, 54
L. W., 117, 173, 383, 384
Jno. N., 387
Taylor, Gen. R. B., 117, 122, 133, 136,
199, 387
Gen. Z., 259
John, 56
R. E., 390
Tazewell, 72
Wm. E., 390
Teaching, 446
Temperance Reformation, 228
paper, 232
Terrific explosion, 94, 95
Thames River, 437
Theatres, 120
The ocean, 449
Thomson, Philip R., 143
Thompson's scheme, 319
Thorogood, Colonol, 44, 45
Thunder storm, 93, 159
Tobacco, 47, 48, 312, 314
inspection, 151
warehouse, 314
Tonnage, 102
Tories, 81, 434
Tornado, 260
Tory hater, 84
Town Bridge, 52, 53
HaU m Portsmouth, 224
Trade, 115
Treatment of diseases during the war,
332
Trinity Church in Portsmouth, 63
Trip to Baltimore, 155, 456
Tucker, Miss Margaret, 150
Robert, 66

* In the second name of the early settlers (page 40), the reader may substitute
the letter e in place of the a, although it is probablg it was originally written as
printed.

496

INDEX.

Tunis, John, 194
Uncle Tom's Cabin, 428
U. S. Bank, 156
Ship Pennsylvania, 234
Powhatan, 250
Upshur, Hon. A. P., 475
Value of Property, 210
Vegetables, &c., 254
Virginia, natural advantages and re
sources of, 312
Virginia and Massachusetts, 306
Voting, 286
Wadsworth, Rev. E., 228
Walke, Rev. Anthony, 462
Walter, T. U., 256
Wahers' Hotel, 214
Wahhall, Byron, 364
War, 73, 121, 130, 131,132
Ward, Bryant, 239
Warehouses, 314, 345
Warm weather, 175, 176, 250, 258, 259
Washington, funeral of, 103
Point, 486
Water Works, 217
Watts, Captain Samuel, 219
Waves, 453
WeaUh, &c., 345
Weather, 175, 193, 272
Webster, Daniel, 291

Western trade, 311
West India trade, 91, 115, 156, 319
West Point, 473
Wharves, 318, 345
Wheat, 294
White, John S., 433
Whitehead, Dr. A., 349
Whigs, 394
Rev. J., 107
WhUehurst, J. H., 395
Whittle, Conway, 266
William and Mary CoUege, 479
Williamsburg, 478
Williamson, Captain Thomas H., 383
WUliston, John, 437
Wills, Josiah, statement of, 313
Wirt, William, 110, 117, 334
Wise, Hon. H. A., 260, 391, 475
John C, 393
Witch Duck, 464
Witchcraft, 464
Wonder Booker, 155
Wooden buildings, 174
Woodford, Colonel, 80, 83
Yankee monopoly, 478
Yellow fever, 159, 333
York River, 474
Yorktown, 473
festival at, 165, 388
Young, Captain J. P., 229
Youthful heroism, 239

THE END.

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