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The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant
http://www.archive.org/details/annalsofaugustacwadd
ANNALS
OF
AugustaCounty, Virginia,
With Reminiscences
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE VICISSITUDES OF ITS PIONEER SETTLERS;
Biographical Sketches
OF CITIZENS LOCALLY PROMINENT, AND OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOUNDED
FAMILIES IN THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN STATES;
A Diary of the War, i86i-'5,
AND A
CHAPTER ON RECONSTRUCTION,
BY
JOS. A. WADDELL,
Member of the Virginia Historical Society.
[county seal.]
RICHMOND:
WM. ELLIS JONES, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER.
1886.
COPYRIGHT, l886,
By JOS. A. WADDELL.
PREFACE.
The basis of these Annals was prepared as a contribution to
the "Historical and Geographical Atlas of Augusta County," is-
sued by Messrs. Waterman, Watkins & Co., of Chicago. That
sketch was executed very hurriedly, and the space allotted to it
in the Atlas was limited. Therefore some errors appear in the
work, and much matter then on hand was necessarily omitted.
Moreover, the work was hardly in press before I found new mat-
ter, not known or not accessible to me previously. My interest
in the subject having been quickened, information in regard to
the history of the county came to me almost unsought, and often
from unexpected sources. This augmented result is intended as
well to correct former errors, as to relate the history more fully
from the first settlement of the county, in 1732, to the year 1871.
The county of Augusta originally extended from the Blue
Ridge to the Mississippi river, east and west, and from the great
lakes on the north to the northern boundary of the present State
of Tennessee on the south. The history of this vast region pro-
perly belongs to our Annals until the year 1769, when Botetourt
county was formed. As the limits of Augusta were reduced by
the formation of other counties out of her territory, from time to
time, the scope of the history is simultaneously and correspond-
ingly contracted.
I have taken the utmost pains to secure perfect accuracy.
The errors in details of most writers who have alluded to our
county affairs and people, are remarkable. The writers referred
to have not only copied from one another without investigation,
and thereby repeated erroneous statements, but some of them
have contradicted themselves in the same volume. Even the
statements of the public records, especially in respect to dates,
often require to be verified. From the order book of the County
IV PREFACE.
Court of Augusta, it would appear that the second term of the
court was held in February, 1745, instead of February, 1746.
Similar errors occur in the volumes of complete records of chan-
cery causes, preserved in the clerk's office of the Circuit Court.
But while I have aspired to perfect accuracy, I do not flatter
myself that the following pages are entirely free from error.
I have stated nothing as a fact, of the truth of which I am doubt-
ful. Many statements which I do not regard as certainly correct,
are given on the authority of other writers, prefaced by the
words, "It is said," or "It is related."
It has been my intention to give full credit to every writer
whom I have quoted, and I think this has been done in the body
of the work. I am indebted to the files of the Staunton Specta-
tor, edited by Richard Mauzy, Esq., for most of the facts em-
braced in the last chapter, on "Reconstruction." To forestall
any charge of plagiarism, I state that having at different times
published in the columns of Staunton newspapers communica-
tions relating to the history of the county, I have copied from
these without credit whenever it suited my purpose to do so.
Through the kindness of Judge William McLaughlin I have had
the opportunity of making extracts from the " History of Wash-
ington College," by the Rev. Dr. Ruffner; and "Sketches of the
Early Trustees of Washington College," by Hugh Blair Grigsby,
Esq. Both these interesting works are still in manuscript, and
neither was completed by its author. To the following gentle-
men I am indebted for assistance: John McD. Alexander and
Wm. A. Anderson, Esqs., of Lexington; Hon. W. C. P. Breck-
enridge, of Kentucky; R. A. Brock, Esq., of Richmond ; G. F,
Compton, Esq., of Harrisonburg; Dr. Cary B. Gamble, of Balti-
more; Armistead C. Gordon, Esq., of Staunton; Dr. Andrew
Simonds, of Charleston, S. C, and John W. Stephenson, Esq.,
of the Warm Springs. I am also under obligations to Mrs. S. C.
P. Miller, of Princeton, N. J.
I have not attempted to write a stately history, but merely to
relate all interesting facts concerning the county, in a lucid style
and in chronological order. Hence the title " Annals," has been
adopted deliberately. Many trivial incidents have been men-
tioned, because they seem to illustrate the history of the times
and the manners and customs of the people.
The present work was undertaken with no expectation of pe-
cuniary reward. It has been to me a labor of love. From my
PREFACE. V
early childhood I have cherished a warm affection for my native
county — her people, and her very soil. I have sought to rescue
from oblivion and hand down to posterity, at least the names of
many citizens, who, although not great in the ordinary sense,
lived well in their day and are worthy of commemoration.
A representation of the seal of the County Court of Augusta,
commonly called the County Seal, is given on the title page.
When and by whom the seal was designed is not known. Pos-
sibly it was by a member of the faculty of William and Mary
College, at the request of one of our colonial governors, who
were required by law to provide seals for courts.
The motto is an accommodation of a passage in Horace,
Book IV, Ode 2. This Ode expresses delight in the peace and
prosperity which came after the long civil wars of Rome. Re
ferring to Augustus, the poet says the heavenly powers ne'er gave
the earth a nobler son —
"Nor e'er will give, though backward time should run
To its first golden hours."
The Latin words are: Nee dabunt quamvis redeant in aurum
Temfiora priscum.
The motto maybe translated thus: "Let the ages return to
the first golden period." The allusion is, of course, to the fabu-
lous "Golden Age" of primal simplicity and enjoyment; and
the Roman poets held out the hope that this happy state of
things would one day return.
It would seem that the seal was devised during the fearful
Indian wars, when every one was longing for the safety and rest
of former times. Full of such aspirations, the designer, in addi-
tion to the motto, delineated in the centre of the seal a tranquil
pastoral scene, as emblematic of the wished for times. Such a
scene would not ordinarily have been depicted in a time of peace,
but during, or immediately after, the havoc of war. In peace,
the minds of men gloat over the achievements of war, and in
war they dwell upon "the piping times of peace."
The name of the county, however, was suggestive of the motto
and emblem, as the poet Virgil celebrated the Emperor Augustus
as
" Restorer of the age of gold ''
J. A. W.
Staunton, November i, 1886.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
The Scotch-Irish i
CHAPTER I.
From the First Settlement to the First County Court 6
CHAPTER II.
From the First Court to the First Indian War 26
CHAPTER III.
Indian Wars, etc., from 1753 to 1756 54
CHAPTER IV.
Indian Wars, etc., from 1756 to 1758 79
CHAPTER V.
Indian Wars, etc., from 1758 to 1764 102
CHAPTER VI.
Indian Wars, etc., from 1764 to 1775. 119
CHAPTER VII.
The War of the Revolution, etc., from 1774 to 1783 144
CHAPTER VIII.
From the close of the Revolution to the year 1800 195
CONTENTS. Vli
CHAPTER IX.
From 1800 to 1812 212
CHAPTER X.
From the year 1812 to the year 1833 226
CHAPTER XI.
From 1833 to 1844 252
CHAPTER XII.
From 1844 to i860 271
CHAPTER XIII.
Augusta County and the War of Secession — i86o-'2 280
CHAPTER XIV.
Second Year of the War — 1862-'3 296
CHAPTER XV.
Third Year of the War— 1863~'4 308
CHAPTER XVI.
Fourth Year of the War— 1864-'5 316
CHAPTER XVII.
After the War— 1865 335
CHAPTER XVIII.
Reconstruction — 1865 to 1871 344
APPENDIX.
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray 361
ANNALS
OF
Augusta County, Virginia.
INTRODUCTION.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH.
At different periods subsequent to the Reformation, many
lowland Scotch people emigrated to the province of Ulster,
north Ireland. There they prospered greatly, and maintained
unimpaired the manners and customs and the religious faith of
the country from which they came. They and their posterity
regarded themselves — and were regarded by the Irish of Celtic
blood — as Scotch in all essential particulars. Some of these
settlers, before leaving their native land, goaded by persecution
under the Stuart Kings, had borne arms against the British
government, and were among the prisoners captured at Both-
well Bridge, in 1679. When the Revolution of 1688 occurred,
the Scotch-Irish sided with William of Orange. The siege of
Londonderry, in 1689, is one of the most remarkable events in
history. Upon the march northward of the army of James II,
says Macaulay, " All Lisburn fled to Antrim, and, as the foes
drew nearer, all Lisburn and Antrim together came pouring
into Londonderry. Thirty thousand Protestants, of both sexes
and of every age, were crowded behind the bulwarks of the
City of Refuge." The ordinary population of the town and
2 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
suburbs furnished only about six hundred fighting men; but
when the siege began there were 7,300 men armed for defence.
Dissenters having been excluded from offices in the army, none
of that class were fitted by previous military experience for
command. Therefore a majority of the higher officers were of
the Church of England. A majority of the inferior officers,
captains and others, were Presbyterians ; and of the soldiers
and people generally, the Dissenters outnumbered the others
by fifteen to one.
"Now," says Froude, in his History of Ireland, " was again
witnessed what Calvinism — though its fires were waning — could
do in making common men into heroes. Deserted by the
English regiments, betrayed by their own commander, without
stores and half armed, the shopkeepers and apprentices of a
commercial town prepared to defend an unfortified city against
a disciplined army of 25,000 men, led by trained officers, and
amply provided with artillery. They were cut off from the sea
by a boom across the river. Fever, cholera and famine came
to the aid of the besiegers. Rats came to be dainties, and
hides and shoe leather were the ordinary fare. They saw their
children pine away and die — they were wasted themselves, till
they could scarce handle their firelocks on their ramparts."
Still they held on through more than three miserable months.
Finally a frigate and two provision ships came in, and Derry
was saved after a siege of eight months. The garrison had
been reduced to about three thousand men. The Rev. Mr.
Walker, a minister of the Church of England, was one of the
prominent leaders. Enniskillen was successfully defended in
like manner.
Yet, notwithstanding their loyalty to the Crown, as settled by
the Revolution, and their heroic services, the Scotch Irish re-
ceived no favors from the British government, except a miser-
able pittance doled out to their clergy after a time. They were
proscribed because of their religion, being excluded from the
army, the militia, the civil service, and seats in municipal cor-
porations. Dissenters from the Irish Episcopal church were
not allowed to teach school. Presbyterian marriages were de-
clared illegal. The laws against Catholics were even more
severe than those against Protestant dissenters — so severe,
indeed, that they were not generally executed, public officers
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 6
revolting at their harshness. Presbyterians, however, were pur-
sued unrelentingly to the extent of the law. The Presbyterian
magistrates in Ulster, says Froude, were cleared out. Men
having nothing to recommend them but their going to church,
were appointed in their places. The power being now in their
hands, the bishops fell upon the grievance of the Presbyterian
marriages. Catholic marriages did not trouble them ; but, in
their view, a marriage ceremony by a Protestant dissenting
minister was only a license to sin. It was announced that the
children of all Protestants not married in a church should be
treated as bastards, and in 1704 many persons of undoubted
reputation were prosecuted in the bishop's courts as fornica-
tors for cohabiting with their own wives. Ministers, for the
offence of preaching the gospel outside of certain bounds, were
arrested and held for trial, while their hearers were threatened
with the stocks.
Yet the loyalty of the people to the Crown was unshaken,
doubtless owing to the fact that the sovereigns generally were
opposed to measures of persecution. William III had opposed
them, and George I in vain urged the repeal of the obnoxious
laws. Therefore when, in 17 15, the rebellion in behalf of the
Pretender, son of James II, began in Scotland, and an insurrec-
tion in Ireland was looked for, the Irish Presbyterians tendered
their services to the government. In the emergency military
commissions were distributed to them, although contrary to law,
and many regiments were speedily raised. After the danger
was over they were threatened with prosecution for even that
service.
The chief agents of persecution were the bishops of the estab-
lished church. Some of these prelates, during the earlier part
of the eighteenth century, were not only High Churchmen of
the most ultra sort, but at heart it was believed partisans of the
Stuart dynasty. Dean Swift, no friend to Dissenters, sarcasti-
cally described the nominees to the Episcopal bench of Ireland,
" as waylaid and murdered by highwaymen on Hounslow Heath,
who stole their letters patent, came to Dublin, and were conse-
crated in their places." All the Irish prelates, however, did not
deserve Swift's wholesale denunciation, notably Bishop Berke-
ley; and many of the parish clergy were worthy of all honor.
Every effort of enlightened statesmen to obtain a relaxation
4 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of the stringent laws against Dissenters failed, and in 17 19 the
Protestant emigration to America recommenced. In addition to
the restrictions on religion, Irish industry and commerce had
been systematically repressed. Twenty thousand people left
Ulster on the destruction of the woollen trade in 1698. Many
more were driven away by the first passage of the Test Act.
The stream had slackened in the hope of some relief. When
this hope expired, men of spirit and energy refused to remain
in the country. Thenceforward, for more than fifty years,
annual shiploads of families poured themselves out from Bel-
fast and Londonderry. England paid dearly for her Irish
policy. The fiercest enemies she had, in 1776, were the de-
scendants of the Scotch-Irish who had held Ulster against
James II. The earlier emigrants were nearly all Protestants.
The emigration of Catholics from Ireland to America, in large
numbers, did not begin till the nineteenth century. Previously,
when the Irish people of this class emigrated it was to France,
Spain, or other European Catholic country. " There was,"
says Froude, " first a Protestant exodus to America, and then
a Catholic, each emigrant carrying away a sense of intolerable
wrong."
The people of Ulster had heard of Pennsylvania, and the reli
gious liberty there enjoyed and promised to all comers, and to
that province they came in large numbers. They were mainly
farmers, tradesmen and artisans. But jealousies arose in the
minds of the original settlers of Pennsylvania, and restrictive
measures were adopted by the proprietary government against
the Scotch-Irish and German immigrants. Hence many of
both these races were the more disposed, in 1732 and after-
wards, to seek homes within the limits of Virginia, and run the
risk of the church establishment existing there. The Scotch-
Irish drifted on in the wake of John Lewis to the present county
of Augusta ; the German people generally located in the region
now known as Shenandoah, Page, and Rockingham. The two
races did not keep entirely apart, and there was some comming-
ling of them in the various settlements, and in a short time, a
few people distinct from either came into the Valley from lower
Virginia.
Many of our people are descendants of the defenders of Derry.
And to go back a little further, the list of prisoners captured at
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Bothwell Bridge and herded like cattle for months in Grayfriars'
Churchyard, Edinburgh, is like a muster-roll of Augusta people. ]
*An Appendix to the old Scotch book called "A Cloud of Witnes-
ses," says: "Anno, 1679, of the prisoners taken at Bothwell, were
banished to America 250, who were taken away by Paterson,
merchant at Leith, who transacted for them with Provost Milns, Laird
of Barnton, the man that first burnt the covenant, whereof 200 were
drowned by shipwreck at a place called the Mulehead of Darness,
near Orkney, being shut up by the said Paterson's order beneath the
hatches; 50 escaped." The following were a part of the 250, the
names of those who escaped being printed in italics : James Clark
and John Clark, of the parish of Kilbride ; John Thomson and Alex-
ander Walker, of Shots; William Waddel, William Miller, James Wad-
del a.nd John Gardner, of Monkland ; John Cochran, John Watson and
Thomas Brownlee, of Evandale ; Thomas Wilson, of Cathkin; John
Miller and John Craig, of Glassford ; David Currie, Robert Tod, John
White and Robert Wallace, of Fenwick ; Hugh Cameron, of Dalnul-
hington ; William Reid, of Mauchline ; John Campbell and Alexander
Paterson, of Muirkirk ; James Young and George Campbell, of Gal-
ston ; Thomas Finlay, William Brown, Robert Anderson and James
Anderson, of Kilmarnock; William Caldwell, of Girvan ; Mungo
Eccles, of Maybole ; Alexander Lamb and George Hutcheson, of
Straiton ; Robert Ramsey and John Douglas, of Kirkmichael ; John
White, of Kirkeswald; Thomas Miller, of Largo; Thomas Miller,
Thomas Brown and James Buchanan, of Gargrennock ; Thomas
Thomson and Atidrew Thomson, of St. Ninians ; Andrew Young,
John Morison and Hugh Montgomery, of Airlt ; Thomas Ingles, Pat-
rick Hamilton, John Bell, Patrick Wilson and William Henderson, of
Dalmannie ; James Steel and John Brown, of Calder; William Reid,
of Musselburgh ; James Tod, of Dunbar; James Houston, of Balmag-
hie ; Robert Brown and Samuel Beck, of Kilmackbrick , John Martin,
of Borque ; Andrew Clark, of Luckrictan ; John Scott, of Ettrick ;
John Glascow, William Glascoiv, Richard Young and James Young, of
Cavers; Walter Waddel, of Sprouston ; William Scott and Alexander
Waddel, of Castletown. The fifty men who escaped from the ship-
wreck made their way to the north of Ireland, and were not further
troubled.
CHAPTER I.
FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE FIRST COUNTY COURT.
As far as known, the country now embraced in Augusta
county was never entered by white men until the year 1716.
Six years earlier, however, some portion of the Valley of Vir-
ginia had been seen from the top of the Blue Ridge by Euro-
peans. Governor Spotswood, writing to the Council of Trade,
London, December 15, 17 10, says that a company of adventu-
rers found the mountains " not above a hundred miles from our
upper inhabitants, and went up to the top of the highest moun-
tain with their horses, tho' they had hitherto been thought to be
unpassable, and they assured me that ye descent on the other
side seemed to be as easy as that they had passed on this, and
that they could have passed over the whole ledge (which is not
large), if the season of the year had not been too far advanced
before they set out on that expedition." — \Spotswood Letters,
Vol. I, page 40.] It would seem that the adventurers referred
to looked into the Valley from the mountain in the neighbor-
hood of Balcony Falls, but no description of the country seen
by them is given.
This portion of the Valley was then entirely uninhabited. . The
Shawnee Indians had a settlement in the lower valley, at or near
Winchester, and parties of that tribe frequently traversed this
section on hunting excursions, or on warlike expeditions against
Southern tribes, but there was no Indian village or wigwam
within the present limits of the county. At an early day, In
dians, or people of some other race, had doubtless resided here,
as would appear from several ancient mounds, or burial places,
still existing in the county.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 7
The face of the country between the Blue Ridge and the North
Mountain was, of course, diversified by hill and dale, as it is
now, but forest trees were less numerous than at the present time,
the growth of timber being prevented by the frequent fires kin-
dled by hunting parties of Indians. Old men living within the
writer's recollection, described this region as known by them in
their boyhood. Many acres, now stately forests, were then
covered by mere brushwood, which did not conceal the startled
deer flying from pursuit.
At the time of which we speak, wild animals abounded in this
section. The buffalo roamed at will over these hills and valleys,
and in their migrations made a well-defined trail between Rock-
fish Gap, in the Blue Ridge, and Buffalo Gap, in the North
Mountain, passing by the present site of Staunton. Other deni-
zens of the region at that day were the bear, wolf, panther, wild-
cat, deer, fox, hare, etc. It would appear that wolves were very
numerous There were no crows, blackbirds, nor song birds,
and no rats, nor honey bees till the coming of the white people.2
The first passage of the Blue Ridge, and entrance into the
Valley by white men, was made by Governor Spotswood in
1716. 3 About the last of July, or first of August in that year,
the Governor, with some members of his staff, starting from
Williamsburg, proceeded to Germanna, a small frontier settle-
ment, where he left his coach and took to horse. He was there
joined by the rest of his party, gentlemen and their retainers, a
company of rangers, and four Meherrin Indians, comprising in
all about fifty persons. These, with pack-horses laden with pro-
visions, journeyed by way of the upper Rappahannock river,
and after thirty-six days from the date of their departure from
Williamsburg, on September 5th, scaled the mountain at Swift
Run Gap, it is believed. Descending the western side of the
mountain into the Valley, they reached the Shenandoah River
and encamped on its bank. Proceeding up the river, they
2The mocking-bird, common in Albemarle county, is still not found
in a wild state west of the Blue Ridge in Augusta.
3 It is claimed that several parties at different times, long before
Spotswood's expedition, came from the falls of Appomattox, now
Petersburg, crossed the mountains near the line of North Carolina, and
penetrated as far as New River. The country traversed, although
west of the mountain, is, however, no part of the Valley.
8 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
found a place where it was fcrdable, crossed it, and there, on the
western bank, the Governor formally ''took possession for King
George the First of England." The rangers made further
explorations up the Valley, while the Governor, with his imme-
diate attendants, returned to Williamsburg, arriving there after
an absence of about eight weeks, and having traveled about 440
miles out and back. 4
The only authentic account we have of the expedition is the
diary of John Fontaine, and that is very meagre. The gentle-
men of the party were: Governor Spotswood, Robert Beverley,
the historian. Colonel Robertson, Dr. Robinson, Taylor Todd,
Fontaine, Mason, Clouder, Smith and Brooke. They crossed
the Shenandoah river on the 6th of September, and called it
Euphrates. The river is said to have been very deep, and
" fourscore yards wide in the narrowest part." The Gover-
nor had graving irons, but could not grave anything, the stone
was so hard. " I," says Mr. Fontaine, " graved my name on a
tree by the river side, and the Governor buried a bottle with a
paper enclosed, on which he writ that he took possession of this
place in the name of King George First of England." The
most astonishing thing related by the diarist, however, is the
quantity and variety of liquors lugged about and drank by
the party. He says: "We had a good dinner" [on the 6th],
"and after it we got the men together and loaded all their arms,
and we drank the King's health in champagne and fired a volley,
the Princess's health in Burgundy and fired a volley, and all the
rest of the royal family in claret and a volley. We drank the
Governor's health and fired another volley. We had several
sorts of liquors, viz : Virginia red wine and white wine, Irish
usquebaugh, brandy, shrub, two sorts of rum, champagne, can-
ary, cherry punch, cider, &c." Bears, deer and turkeys were
abundant, and in the Valley the foot-prints of elk and buffalo
were seen.— [Dr. Slaughter's History of St. Mark's Parish]
4 In 1870 a silver knee buckle, of rare beauty and value, set in dia-
monds, pronounced genuine by competent jewelers, was found near
Elkton, Rockingham county. It is believed that this buckle was lost
by one of the Spotswood cavalcade. The silver was discolored by age,
and the brilliants somewhat deteriorated by long exposure to the ele-
ments. It was found, and is now held by one of the Bear family —
[Letter from Charles W. S. Turner, Esq.]
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 9
It was in commemoration of this famous expedition that
Governor Spotswood sought to establish the order of " Knights
of the Golden Horseshoe " But the Governor's account of the
expedition, as far as we have it, is very tame and disappointing.
He was thinking chiefly of protecting the English settlements
from the encroachments of the French, and apparently cared
little for anything else. He also either misunderstood the- In-
dians whom he encountered, or was grossly deceived by them in
regard to the geography of the country. In his letter to the
Board of Trade, under date of August 14, 1718, he said :
"The chief aim of my expedition over the great mountains,
in 1 7 16, was to satisfye myself whether it was practicable to
come at the lakes. Having on that occasion found an easy pas-
sage over that great ridge of mountains w'ch before were judged
unpassable, I also discovered, by the relation of Indians who
frequent those parts, that from the pass where I was it is but
three days' march to a great nation of Indians living on a river
w'ch discharges itself in the Lake Erie ; that from ye western
side of one of the small mountains w'ch I saw, that lake is very
visible, and cannot, therefore, be above five days' march from the
pass afore-mentioned, and that the way thither is also very prac-
ticable, the mountains to the westward of the great ridge being
smaller than those I passed on the eastern side, w'ch shews how
easy a matter it is to gain possession of those lakes." — [Spots-
wood Letters, Vol. II, pp. 295-6.]
The country thus discovered by Governor Spotswood, and
claimed by him for the British crown, became a part of the county
of Essex, the western boundary being undefined. Spotsylvania
was formed from Essex and other counties in 1720, and Orange
from Spotsylvania, in 1734.
The expedition of the " Knights of the Golden Horseshoe,"
trivial as it may now appear, was at the time regarded as very
hazardous; and it no doubt led to important results. The glow-
ing accounts given by Spotswood' s followers, if not by himself, of
the beauty and fertility of the Valley, attracted immediate atten-
tion, and induced hunters and other enterprising men to visit the
country. Of such transient excursions, however, we have no
authentic account; and at least sixteen years were to pass before
any extensive settlements were made by Europeans in this region.
At length John and Isaac Vanmeter, of Pennsylvania, in 1730,
10 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
obtained from Governor Gooch a warrant for 40,000 acres of land
to be located in the lower valley, and within the present counties
of Frederick, Jefferson, etc. This warrant was sold in 1731, by
the grantees, to Joist Hite, also of Pennsylvania. Hite proceeded
to make locations of his land, and to induce immigrants to settle
on his grant. He removed his family to Virginia, in 1732, and
fixed his residence a few miles south of the present town of Win
Chester, which is generally believed to have been the first perma-
nent settlement by white men in the Valley.
Population soon flowed in to take possession of the rich lands
offered by Hite; but a controversy speedily arose in regard to the
proprietor's title. Lord Fairfax claimed Hite's lands as a part
of his grant of the " Northern Neck." Fairfax entered a caveat
against Hite, in 1736, and thereupon Hite brought suit against
Fairfax. This suit was not finally decided till 1786, long after the
death of all the original parties, when judgment was rendered in
favor of Hite and his vendees. The dispute between Fairfax and
Hite retarded the settlement of that part of the Valley, and in-
duced immigrants to push their way up the Shenandoah river to
regions not implicated in such controversies. In 1738 there were
only two cabins where Winchester now stands. That town was
established by law in 1752.
A strange uncertainty has existed as to the date and some of
the circumstances of the first settlement of Augusta county*
Campbell, in his " History of Virginia " (pages 427-9), under-
takes to relate the events somewhat minutely, but falls into ob-
vious mistakes. He says: " Shortly after the first settlement of
Winchester (1738), John Marlin, a peddler, and John Sailing, a
weaver, two adventurous spirits, set out from that place" (Win-
chester) "to explore the 'upper country,' then almost unknown."
They came up the valley of the Shenandoah, called Sherando,
crossed James river, and reached the Roanoke river, where a
party of Cherokee Indians surprised and captured Sailing, while
Marlin escaped. Sailing was detained by the Indians for six years,
and on being liberated returned to Williamsburg. "About the
same time," says Campbell, "a considerable number of immi-
grants had arrived there, among them John Lewis and John
Mackey. * * Pleased with Sailing's glowing picture of the
country beyond the mountains, Lewis and Mackey visited it
under his guidance," and immediately all three located here.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 11
Whatever the truth may be in regard to other matters, Camp-
bell's dates are entirely erroneous. He would seem to postpone
the settlement of Lewis in the valley to the year 1744, although
he immediately refers to him as residing here in 1736.
Foote, in his " Sketches of Virginia," is silent as to the date of
the settlement. He mentions, upon the authority of the late
Charles A. Stuart, of Greenbrier county, a descendant of John
Lewis, that the latter first located on the left bank of Middle river,
then called Carthrae's river, about three miles east of the mac-
adamized turnpike. Thence he removed to Lewis' Creek, two
miles east of Staunton, where he built a stone house, known as
Fort Lewis, which is still standing. According to Foote, Mackey
and Sailing came with Lewis, or at the same time, Mackey mak-
ing his residence at Buffalo Gap, and Sailing his at the forks of
James river, below the Natural Bridge.
We are satisfied that Mackey and Sailing did explore the Val-
ley, but that it was about the year 1726, before there was any
settlement by white people west of the Blue Ridge. Withers,
in his " Border Warfare," gives the following account of Sal-
ling's captivity :
Sailing, he says, was taken to the country now known as Ten-
nessee, where he remained for some years. In company with a
party of Cherokees he went on a hunting expedition to the salt
licks of Kentucky, and was there captured by a band of Illinois
Indians, with whom the Cherokees were at war. He was taken
to Kaskaskia and adopted into the family of a squaw whose son
had been killed. While with these Indians he several times
accompanied them down the Mississippi river, below the mouth
of the Arkansas, and once to the Gulf of Mexico. The Span-
iards in Louisiana desiring an interpreter purchased him of his
Indian mother, and some of them took him to Canada. He was
there redeemed by the French governor of that province, who
sent him to the Dutch settlement in New York, " whence he
made his way home after an absence of six years." — [Border
Warfare, page 42.] Peyton, in his "History o{ Augusta
County," gives an account of the coming of Lewis to the Valley
quite different from Campbell's version of the matter, and some-
what at variance with Foote' s narrative. He says Lewis " had
been some time in America, when, in 1732, Joist Hite and a
party of pioneers set out to settle upon a grant of 40,000 acres
12 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of land in the Valley. * * Lewis joined this party, came to
the Valley, and was the first white settler of Augusta." Lewis
is represented as coming, not from Williamsburg, but from Lan-
caster, Pennsylvania, and the date of his arrival here is given as
"the summer of 1732." These statements and the authority
upon which they are made appear conclusive of the matter.
John Lewis and his sturdy sons were just the men to battle
with the adverse circumstances which surrounded them in this
wilderness country. He was a native of Donegal county, Prov-
ince of Ulster, Ireland, and of Scottish descent. He came to
America from Portugal, in which country he had taken refuge
after a bloody affray with an oppressive landlord in Ireland. It
is stated, however, that upon an investigation of the affray, Lewis
was formally pronounced free from blame. The story as related
is briefly as follows : An Irish lord who owned the fee of the land
leased by Lewis undertook to eject the latter in a lawless manner.
With a band of retainers he repaired to the place, and on the
refusal of the tenant to vacate, fired into the house killing an
invalid brother of Lewis and wounding his wife. Thereupon,
Lewis rushed from the house and dispersed his assailants, but
not until their leader and his steward were killed.
It is a question what number of sons John Lewis had. Vari-
ous writers state that he brought with him to America four sons,
viz: Samuel, Thomas, Andrew, and William, and that a fifth,
Charles, was born after the settlement here, but others mention only
four, omitting Samuel. Ex-Governor Gilmer, of Georgia, a great-
grandson of John Lewis, gives an account of the family in his
book called " Georgians," printed in 1854, and is silent as to
Samuel. Governor Gilmer's mother, a daughter of Thomas
Lewis, lived to a great age, and it is hardly possible that she
could have been ignorant of an uncle named Samuel, and that
her son should not have named him if there had been such an
one. All the others were prominent in the early history of the
country, and we shall have occasion to speak of them often in
the course of our narrative.
The permanent settlement of Lewis was in the vicinity of the
twin hills, "Betsy Bell and Mary Gray," which were so called
by him, or some other early settler, after two similar hills in
County Tyrone, Ireland.
Concurrently with the settlement of Lewis, or immediately
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 13
afterward, a flood of immigrants poured into the country. There
was no landlord or proprietor to parcel out the domain; the land
was all before them where to choose, and for several years the
settlers helped themselves to homes without let or hindrance.
It is believed that all the earliest settlers came from Pennsylvania
and up the Valley of the Shenandoah. It was several years
before any settlers entered the Valley from the east, and through
the gaps in the Blue Ridge. We may accompany, in imagina-
tion, these immigrants on their way from the settlements north
of the Potomac, through the wilderness to their future homes.
There was, of course, no road, and for the first comers no path
to guide their steps, except, perhaps, the trail of the Indian or
buffalo. They came at a venture, climbing the hills, fording the
creeks and rivers, and groping through the forests. At night
tney rested on the ground, with no roof over them but the broad
expanse of heaven. After selecting a spot for a night's bivouac,
and tethering their horses, fire was kindled by means of flint and
steel, and their frugal meal was prepared. Only a scanty supply
of food was brought along, for, as game abounded, they mainly
"subsisted off the country." Before lying down to rest, many
of them did not omit to worship the God of their fathers and
invoke His guidance and protection. The moon and stars
looked down peacefully as they slumbered, while bears, wolves
and panthers prowled around. It was impossible to bring
wagons, and all their effects were transported on horseback.
The list of articles was meagre enough. Clothing, some bed-
ding, guns and ammunition, a few cooking utensils, seed corn,
axes, saws, &c, and the Bible, were indispensable, and were
transported at whatever cost of time and labor. Houses and
furniture had to be provided after the place of settlement was
fixed upon. In the meanwhile there was no shelter from rain
and storm. The colonial government encouraged the settle-
ment of the Valley as a means of protecting the lower country
from Indian incursions. The settlers were almost exclusively
of the Scotch-Irish race, natives of the north of Ireland, but of
Scottish ancestry. Most of those who came during the first
three or four decades were Dissenters from the Church of Eng-
land, of the Presbyteria'n faith, and victims of religious persecu-
tion in their native land. They were generally a profoundly
religious people, bringing the Bible with them, whatever they
14 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
had to leave behind, and as soon as possible erected log
meeting houses in which to assemble for the worship of God,
with school-houses hard by.
Although the Church of England was established by law
throughout the colony, and a spirit of intolerance inseparable
from such a system prevailed in lower Virginia, the Dissenters
of the Valley, as far as we know, had comparatively little to com-
plain of in this respect.
For about twenty years the immigrants were unmolested by
the Indians. "Some," says Foote, "who had known war in
Ireland, lived and died in that peace in this wilderness for which
their hearts had longed in their native land." During this hal-
cyon time, the young Lewises, McClanahans, Mathewses, Camp-
bells, and others were growing up and maturing for many a
desperate encounter and field of battle.
But the authorities at Williamsburg had by no means relin-
quished the rights of the British crown, as held by them, to the
paramount title to the lands of the Valley. In assertion of those
rights, and without ability on the part of the people of the Valley
to resist, on September 6, 1736, William Gooch, " Lieutenant-
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony and Domin-
ion of Virginia," in pursuance of an order in council, dated
August 12, 1736, and in the name of " George II, by the grace
of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender
of the Faith," etc., issued a patent for the " Manor of Beverley."
The patentees were William Beverley, of Essex ; Sir John Ran-
dolph, of Williamsburg; Richard Randolph, of Henrico, and
John Robinson, of King and Queen ; and the grant was of
118,491 acres of land lying " in the county of Orange, between
the great mountains, on the river Sherando," etc. On the next
day, September 7, the other grantees released their interest
in the patent to Beverley. This patent embraced a large part of
the present county of Augusta, south as well as north of Staun-
ton.
William Beverley was a son of Robert Beverley, the histo-
rian of Virginia, and grandson of the Robert Beverley who
commanded the royal forces at the time of " Bacon's Rebel-
lion." He was a lawyer, clerk of Essex County Court from
1720 to 1740, a member of the House of Burgesses and of
the Governor's Council, and County-Lieutenant of Essex. He
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 15
died about the first of March, 1756. At the time of his death,
his only son, Robert, was a minor. °
The question is often asked, In what part of the county was
Beverley's Manor? Readers generally could not ascertain from
a perusal of the patent, and we have applied to several practical
surveyors, the best authorities on the subject, for information.
To Messrs. John G. Stover and James H. Callison we are indebted
for the following description, which, although not perfectly accu-
rate, will answer the present purpose : Beginning at a point on
the east side of South river, about four miles below Waynesbo
rough, thence up the same side of the river to a point opposite to
or above Greenville ; thence by several lines west or southwest
co a point near Summerdean ; thence northeast to Trimble's,
three miles south of Swoope's Depot; thence northeast by several
lines, crossing the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike, five or six
miles, and the Churchville road about three miles, from Staunton,
to a point not known to the writer ; and thence east by one or
more lines, crossing the macadamized turnpike at or near
Augusta church, to the beginning. The description given in the
patent begins at five white oaks on a narrow point between
Christie's creek and Beaver run (Long Meadow creek), near
the point where those streams enter Middle river, and thence
north seventy degrees ; west, etc.
From the familiar mention in the patent of various natural
features of the country — "Christie's Creek," " Beaver run," "the
Great Springs," " Black Spring," etc., it is evident that the country
had by that time, in the short space of four years, been explored
and to a great extent settled. The grant, of course, covered the
lands already occupied by settlers, who were in the view of the
law and of the patentee, mere "squatters " on the public domain.
Beverley, however, seems to have dealt towards the people with
5 Robert Beverley died near the close of the century, leaving several
sons, two of whom, Robert and Carter, were his executors. Carter
came to Staunton, and lived for some time in considerable style at
the place now called " Kalorama." He, however, became involved
in debt, and about the year 1810 his handsome furniture and equip-
age were sold by the sheriff under executions. He then left Staun-
ton, and afterwards was prominently implicated in the famous charge
of "bargain and corruption" preferred against Henry Clay and John
Quincy Adams.
16 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
a liberal spirit ; at any rate, there is no proof or tradition of any-
thing to the contrary. On February 21, 1738, he conveyed to
John Lewis 2,071 acres, a part of the Beverley Manor grant, the
deed being on record in Orange county, within which the grant
then lay.
In the spring of J 736, Benjamin Borden,6 the agent of Lord
Fairfax, came up from Williamsburg, by invitation, on a visit to
John Lewis. He took with him, on his return, a buffalo calf,
which he presented to Governor Gooch, and was so successful in
ingratiating himself with the Governor as to receive the royal
patent for a large body of land in the Valley, south of Beverley
Manor. The first settlers in Borden's grant were Ephraim
McDowell and his family. His daughter, Mary Greenlee, related
in a deposition taken in 1806, and still extant, the circumstances
under which her father went there. Her brother, James McDow-
ell, had come into Beverley Manor during the spring of 1736, and
planted a crop of corn, near Woods' Gap; and in the fall her
father, then a very aged man, her brother John, and her husband
and herself came to occupy the new settlement. Before they
reached their destination, and after they had arranged their camp
on a certain evening, Borden arrived and asked permission to
spend the night with them. He informed them of his grant, and
offered them inducements to go there. The next day they came
on to the house of John Lewis, and there it was finally arranged
that the party should settle in Borden's tract.
As early as 1734, Michael Woods, an Irish immigrant, with
three sons and three sons-in-law, came up the Valley, and push-
ing his way through Woods' Gap, settled on the eastern side of
the Blue Ridge.
At an early day, the people living on the east side of the
Blue Ridge received the soubriquet of Tuckahoes, from a small
stream of that name, it is said, while the people on the west side
were denominated Cohees, as tradition says, from their common
use of the term "Quoth he," or "Quo' he," for "said he."
Beverley and Borden were indefatigable in introducing settlers
from Europe. James Patton was a very efficient agent in this
enterprise. He was a native of Ireland, was bred to the sea,
6 This name is generally written Burden, but erroneously. From one
of the family Bordentown, New Jersey, derived its name.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 17
and had served in the royal navy. Afterward he became the
owner of " a passenger ship," and traded to Hobbes' Hole,
Virginia, on the Rappahannock river. He is said to have
crossed the Atlantic twenty-five times, bringing Irish immi-
giants, and returning with cargoes of peltries and tobacco. —
[R. A. Brock, " Dinwiddie Papers," Vol. I, page 8.]
Most of the people introduced by Patton were the class known
as " Redemptioners," or "indentured servants," who served a
stipulated time to pay the cost of their transportation.7 The
records of the county court of Augusta show that this class of
people were numerous in the county previous to the Revolution-
ary war. They were sold and treated as slaves for the time
being. Up to the Revolution there were comparatively few
African slaves in the Valley.
Missionaries, says Foote, speedily followed the immigrants
into the Valley. " A supplication from the people of Beverley
Manor, in the back parts of Virginia," was laid before the Pres-
bytery of 'Donegal, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1737, requesting
ministerial supplies. " The Presbytery judge it not expedient,
for several reasons, to supply them this winter." The next
year, however, the Rev. James Anderson was sent by the Synod
of Philadelphia to intercede with Governor Gooch in behalf of
the Presbyterians of Virginia. Mr. Anderson visited the settle-
ments in the Valley, and during that year, 1738, at the house of
John Lewis, preached the first regular sermon ever delivered in
this section of the country.
The proceedings of Synod, just referred to, were taken M upon
the supplication of John Caldwell, 8 in behalf of himself and
many families of our persuasion, who are about to settle in the
back parts of Virginia, desiring that some members of the Synod
may be appointed to wait on that government to solicit their
7 Some persons of this class were well educated, and were employed
as teachers. The maternal grandfather of the Rev. Dr. Baxter pur-
chased a young Irishman, who called himself McNamara, and the
father of the Rev. Dr. Alexander purchased another named Reardon,
and to these, respectively, were Drs. Baxter and Alexander indebted
for their early instruction in Latin, &c.
8 Grandfather of John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. Mr. Caldwell,
however, never lived in the Valley, but in Charlotte county.
18 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
favor in behalf of our interest in that place." — [Extract from
records of Synod, quoted by Foote, First Series, page 103.]
Mr. Anderson was the bearer of the following letter :
"To the Honourable William Gooch, Esquire, Lieutenant-
Governor of the Province of Virginia, the humble address of
the Presbyterian ministers convened in Synod May 30th, 1738.
May it please your Honour, we take leave to address you in
behalf of a considerable number of our brethren who are medi
tating a settlement in the remote parts of your government, and
are of the same persuasion as the Church of Scotland. We
thought it our duty to acquaint your Honour with this design,
and to ask your favour in allowing them the liberty of their
consciences, and of worshipping God in a way agreeable to the
principles of their education. Your Honour is sensible that
those of our profession in Europe have been remarkable for
their inviolable attachment to the house of Hanover, and have
upon all occasions manifested an unspotted fidelity to our gra-
cious Sovereign, King George, and we doubt not but these, our
brethren, will carry the same loy^l principles to the most distant
settlements, where their lot may be cast, which will ever influence
them to the most dutiful submission to the government which is
placed over them. This, we trust, will recommend them to your
Honour's countenance and protection, and merit the free enjoy
ment of their civil and religious liberties. We pray for the
divine blessing upon your person and government, and beg to
subscribe ourselves your Honour's most humble and obedient
servants."
To this document the Governor replied, in a letter to the
Moderator of the Synod, as follows :
"Sir, — By the hands of Mr. Anderson I received an ad-
dress signed by you in the name of your brethren of the
Synod of Philadelphia. And as I have always inclined to
favour the people who have lately removed from other prov-
inces to settle on the western side of our great mountains, so
you may be assured that no interruption shall be given to any
minister of your profession, who shall come among them, so as
they conform themselves to the rules prescribed by the Act of
Toleration in England, by taking the oaths enjoined thereby,
and registering the place of their meeting, and behave them-
selves peaceably towards the government. This you may
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 19
please to communicate to the Synod as an answer to theirs.
Your most humble servant, William Gooch."
The loyalty of the Scotch-Irish settlers of the Valley to
the house of Hanover is not over-stated by the Synod in
their address to the Governor. Indeed, that spirit was char-
acteristic of their race. Froude remarks, in substance, that
of all the people of Ireland, the Presbyterians of Ulster had
most cause to complain of the severities of the British gov-
ernment, for while uniformly loyal they received no favors in
return.
The Governor, in his reply, alludes to the "toleration"
of Dissenters provided by law. This was on certain con-
ditions. Their places of worship, or meeting-houses, were
required to be licensed and registered in the county courts.
In eastern Virginia the number of such places in a county
was limited, but in the Valley there appears to have been no
restriction of the kind. All ministers of the gospel were
obliged to take divers and sundry oaths, and especially to
abjure the " Pretender" to the throne of Great Britain, the Pope
of Rome, and the doctrine of transubstantiation. The people
were not liable to fine for not attending the parish churches,
but they were compelled to contribute to the support of the
established religion, and their ministers were not allowed to
celebrate the rite of marriage. Until the year 1781 any couple
desiring to be legally married had to send for or go to some
minister of the Established Church, however far off he might live.
Governor Gooch is regarded as being averse to persecuting
measures, yet he is supposed to have encouraged the settle-
ment of the Valley chiefly from a desire to remove the frontier
of civilization further from Williamsburg, and to place a hardy
and enterprising race of people between the capital and the
savage Indians.
Up to the time to which we have now arrived, the whole
region west of the Blue Ridge constituted a part of the county
of Orange. In the year 1738, however, on November 1, the
General Assembly of the colony of Virginia passed an act
establishing the counties of Frederick and Augusta. The new
counties were so named in honor of Frederick, Prince of Wales,
son of King George II, and father of George III, and his wife,
the Princess Augusta. The act separated all the territory west
20 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of the Blue Ridge, and extending in other directions " to the
utmost limits of Virginia," from Orange county, and erected it
into the two counties named. The line between them was "from
the head spring of Hedgman's river to the head spring of the
river Potomack." Augusta was much the larger of the two
counties. It embraced, northward, the present county of Rock-
ingham and a part of Page; to the south, it extended to the
border of Virginia; and to the west and northwest, it extended
over the whole territory claimed by Great Britian in those quar-
ters. It included nearly all of West Virginia, the States of Ken-
tucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and, as contended by Virginians,
a part of western Pennsylvania.
The act provided that the two new counties should remain
part of the county of Orange and parish of Saint Mark until it
should be made to appear to the Governor and council that
there was "a sufficient number of inhabitants for appointing jus-
tices of the peace and other officers, and erecting courts therein."
In the meanwhile, the inhabitants were exempted from "the pay-
ment of all public, county and parish levies in the county of
Orange and parish of Saint Mark "; but no allowance should be
made "to any person for killing wolves within the limits of the
said new counties." The act further provided for the payment
of all levies and officers' fees " in money or tobacco at three
farthings per pound," and also for the election, by freeholders
and housekeepers, of twelve persons in each county, to constitute
the vestries of the respective parishes as required by the laws
relating to the Established Church. As we shall see, the county
of Augusta was not fully organized and started on its independ-
ent career till the year 1745.
The Presbyterians of Augusta continued their "supplications"
to the Presbytery of Donegal for a pastor to reside amongst them.
In 1739, they first applied for the services of the Rev. Mr.
Thompson, who came and preached for a time. Next they pre-
sented a call to the Rev. John Craig. At a meeting of Presby-
tery, in September, 1740, "Robert Doak and Daniel Dennison,
from Virginia, declared in the name of the congregation of
Shenandoah, their adherence to the call formerly presented to
Mr. Craig; " and on the next day Mr. Craig " was set apart for
the work of the Gospel ministry in the south part of Beverley's
Manor."
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 21
The Rev. John Craig was born in 1709, in County Antrim,
Ireland. He was educated at Edinburgh; landed at New Castle
upon the Delaware, August 17, 1734; and licensed by the Pres-
bytery to preach in 1737. As stated, he came to Augusta in
1740. " I was sent," he recorded, " to a new settlement in Vir-
ginia of our own people, near three hundred miles distant."
At his death, in 1774, Mr. Craig left a manuscript giving some
account of himself and the times in which he lived. Referring
to his settlement in Augusta, he says: "The place was a new
settlement, without a place of worship, or any church order, a
wilderness in the proper sense, and a few Christian settlers in it
with numbers of the heathens travelling among us, but generally
civil, though some persons were murdered by them about that
time. They march about in small companies from fifteen to
twenty, sometimes more or less. They must be supplied at any
house they call at, with victuals, or they become their own stew-
ards and cooks, and spare nothing they choose to eat and
drink."
It is interesting to learn how the Dissenters of the Valley
managed their congregational affairs; and here is a copy of the
obligation subscribed by the people of Tinkling Spring : " Know
all men by these presents, yt us, ye undernamed subscribers,
do nominate, appoint and constitute our trusty and well-beloved
friends, James Patton, John Finley, George Hutchison, John
Christian, and Alexander Breckenridge, to manage our
public affairs; to choose and purchase a piece of ground
and to build our meeting-house upon it ; to collect our
minister's salary, and to pay off all charges relating to
said affair ; to lay off the people in proportion to this end ;
to place seats in our said meeting-house, which we do hereby
promise to reimburse them, they always giving us a month's
warning by an advertisement on the meeting-house door, a
majority of the above five persons, provided all be apprised of
their meeting, their acting shall stand ; and these persons above-
named shall be accountable to the minister and session twice
every year for all their proceeds relating to the whole affair.
To which we subscribe our names in the presence of Rev. Mr.
John Craig, August nth, 1741."
One of the subscribers having failed to pay his subscription,
or assessment, was sued in the County Court, and the commis-
22 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
sioners obtained a verdict and judgment against him for six
pounds.
When James Patton located in the county he took up his
abode on South River above Waynesborough, at or near the
present Porcelain Works, and called the place Springhill. Bever-
ley's patent embraced the land occupied by Patton, and the
latter had no deed till February 21, 1749, when Beverley con-
veyed to him the tract, 1,398 acres, more or less, for the nomi-
nal consideration of five shillings [833" cents].
Outside the large land grants to Beverley, Borden and others,
patents were issued from time to time for small tracts to various
persons. One of the earliest of this class, which we have seen,
is dated September 1, 1740, and is signed in the name of King
George II by James Blair, acting Governor. It granted to
James Anderson 270 acres " lying in that part of Orange county
called Augusta, on a branch of Cathry's river, called Ander-
son's branch," &c, in consideration of the importation of
five persons to dwell within this our Colony and Dominion of
Virginia, whose names are: John Anderson, Jane Anderson,
Esther Anderson, Mary Anderson, and Margaret Anderson,"
and the further consideration of five shillings — provided the
"fee rent" of one shilling for every fifty acres be paid an-
nually, and three acres in fifty be cultivated and improved within
three years. The tract is probably the same now owned by
Thomas S. Hogshead, near Stribling Springs. But no stream
in that neighborhood is known at this day as Anderson's
branch.
The inhabitants of the new county discovered before long
that living without payment of taxes was not desirable. Poor
people could not be provided for ; roads could not be cleared,
nor bridges built ; and, especially, the wolves were multiplying
beyond all endurance. They, therefore, made "humble suit"
to the assembly, and in accordance with their wishes, in May,
1742, an act was passed "for laying a tax on the inhabitants
of Augusta county." The act provided that the County Court
of Orange should divide the county of Augusta into precincts,
and appoint persons to take lists of tithables therein, and that
each tithable should pay two shillings (333 cents) yearly to
James Patton, John Christian and John Buchanan, to be laid
out by them in hiring persons to kill wolves, etc., etc., in such
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 23
manner as should be directed by the court-martial to be held
annually in the county.
What the people had to sell, and where they sold their
products, are questions we cannot answer. Probably pel-
tries and such live-stock as they could raise and send to market
were their only means of obtaining money.
The state of the country and of society in the settlement,
from its origin till the year 1745, was quite singular. The dwell-
ings of the people were generally constructed of logs, and the
furniture was simple and scanty. There were no roads wor-
thy of the name, and probably no wheeled vehicles of any
kind ; horseback was the only means of transportation. There
was no minister of religion till Mr. Craig arrived, except tran-
sient visitors on two or three occasions ; no marriage feasts,
nor funeral rites, and very few sermons on the Sabbath to call
the people together. There were no courts and court days,
except at Orange Courthouse, beyond the mountain. From
allowances by the vestry for professional services to the poor,
subsequent to 1747, we learn the names of several physicians
who lived in the county at an early day. Drs. Foyles and
Flood are mentioned in 1753, but we have no other information
in regard to them. No lawyer was known in this bailiwick
till 1745, when we find Gabriel Jones, the "king's attorney,"
residing on his estate near Port Republic. But the sturdy
Scotch-Irish people pressed into the country, and by the year
1745 the Alexanders, Aliens, Andersons, Bells, Bowyers, Breck-
enridges, Browns, Buchanans, Campbells, Christians, Craigs,
Cunninghams, Dickinsons, Doaks, Finleys, Johnstons, Kerrs,
Lewises, Lyles, Matthewses, Millers, Moores, McNutts, Mof-
fetts, McPheeterses, McClanahans, McClungs, McDowells, Pat-
tons, Pickenses, Pattersons, Pilsons, Poages, Prestons, Robin-
sons, Scotts, Sitlingtons, Stuarts, Tates, Thompsons, Trimbles,
Wilsons, Youngs, and others abounded in the settlement.
Other immigrants of the same races came in afterwards.
It has been thought that the German inscription on an ancient
tomb-stone in an abandoned grave-yard near Conrad's store (now
Elkton), in Rockingham county, proved that a settlement of German
people existed in that part of the Valley at least as early as 1724.
24 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
The supposition was, that some of the Germans of Germanna fol-
lowed on the track of Governor Spotswood, crossed the Blue Ridge
at Swift Run Gap, and settled on the Shenandoah river at Elkton
soon after the Governor's expedition of 17 16. An account of Virginia,
by the Rev. Hugh Jones, published about 1724, says: "Beyond Col.
Spotswood's furnace, above the Falls of Rappahannock River, within
view of the vast mountains, he has founded a town called Germanna,
from some Germans sent over by Queen Anne, who are now moved
up further." Colonel Byrd, in his " Progress to the Mines," in 1732,
refers to these Germans as " now removed ten miles higher, in the forks
of Rappahannock, to land of their own." The first colony of Ger-
mans came in 1714. and consisted of twelve families. In 1717 twenty
additional Protestant German families arrived and settled near their
countrymen. The names of some of these people were Spillman,
Hoffman, Kemper, Fishback, Wayman, Marten, Hitt, Holtzclaw and
Weaver. Finding Governor Spotswood a hard task-master, a portion
of the people went off in 17 18, and founded Germantown, in Fauquier.
Others, previous to 1724, it would seem, moved up to the present
county of Madison. There is no historical account, however, of the
settlement of any of these colonists in the Valley.
The inscription on the old tombstone plainly exhibits the year 1724;
but the question was, whether that was the date of death or of birth.
The work was done by an illiterate stonecutter, or one who did not
understand the German language. Some of the words are mis-
spelled, others are compounded of several words, and others still are
divided into several parts, so that the inscription is unintelligible to
most scholars. But Professor Scheie De Vere, of the University of
Virginia, has kindly deciphered the hieroglyphics, and furnished
translations in German and English. The German, he says, was
intended to be —
Den ers : Novom- : ist der Jacob B I geboren, aber der Gerechte ob
er gleich zur Zeit auch stirbt, ist er dock in der Ruhe, dem seine
Seele gefallt Gott da.
A literal English translation is as follows:
"The first November is the Jacob B I born, but the righteous
although he at the time also dies, is (he) still in (the) rest, for his
soul pleases God there."
The figures 1724 are at the top of the inscription, and appear to
indicate the year of birth. Nothing, therefore, is proved by the in-
scription in regard to the date of settlement in the Valley. It is
strange that the name of the deceased is not given in full, but it is
supposed to be Jacob Bear.
Another proof, however, is said to exist of a settlement in the
Valley earlier than 1732. Adam Miller resided at and owned the
place now known as Bear's Lithia Spring, near Elkton, and the cer-
tificate of his naturalization, issued under the hand of Governor
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. ZO
Gooch, March 13, 1741, set forth that he was a native of Scherstien,
in Germany, and had lived on the " Shenandoa" for fifteen years
next before the date of the paper. Mr. Charles W. S. Turner, of
Elkton, informs us that he has seen the paper, and if there be no
mistake as to date, etc., Miller must have settled in the Valley as
early as 1726. He and his associates may have been Germans from
Germanna, but being few in number, and out of the track of the
tide of immigration which afterwards poured in, they remained
unknown, or unnoticed, by the English-speaking people.
CHAPTER II.
FROM THE FIRST COURT TO THE FIRST INDIAN WAR.
At length the time for the organization of the county had
arrived. On October 30, 1745, Governor Gooch issued "a
Commission of the Peace," naming the first magistrates for
the county, viz: James Patton, John Lewis, John Buchanan.
George Robinson, Peter Scholl, James Bell, Robert Campbell,
John Brown, Robert Poage, John Pickens, Thomas Lewis, Hugh
Thompson, Robert Cunningham, John Tinla (Finley ?), Richard
Woods, John Christian, Robert Craven, James Kerr, Adam
Dickinson, Andrew Pickens, and John Anderson — in all, twrenty-
one.
At the same time, the Governor issued a commission to James
Patton as sheriff of the county. John Madison was ap-
pointed clerk of the county court by "commission under
the hand and seal of Thomas Nelson, Esq., Secretary of
Virginia," and Thomas Lewis was commissioned surveyor of
the county by " William Dawson, president, and the masters
of the college of William and Mary."
In anticipation of the organization, William Beverley, the
patentee, had erected a courthouse, no doubt a rough struc-
ture, on his land, and at the southwest corner of the present
courthouse lot. On the day the commissions to the county
officers were issued at Williamsburg, Beverley wrote from the
same place to the justices of Augusta, informing them that he
had erected the house referred to at his "mill place," and
would before spring make a deed for the " house and two acres
of land about the same to the use of the county to build their
prison, stocks, etc., on." It will be observed that nothing
ANNALS OF- AUGUSTA COUNTY. 27
was said about Staunton as the county-seat. There were
doubtless some dwellings and other houses here, but the spot
was then only known as Beverley's " Mill Place."
The justices appointed by the Governor assembled at the
courthouse on December g, 1745, and took the prescribed
oaths of office. Next, the commission of the sheriff was read,
and he was duly qualified. Thereupon, " court was pro
claimed," the following justices being on the bench: John Lewis,
John Brown, Thomas Lewis, Robert Cunningham, Peter Scholl,
John Pickens, Hugh Thompson, James Kerr, and Adam
Dickinson.
Thus was started the County Court of Augusta, which con-
tinued without material change till the year 1852, when justices
of the peace became elective by the popular vote. Previously,
during a period of one hundred and seven years, the justices
assembled in court nominated new members from time
to time, as the exigencies of the county required ; and the
executive of the colony, and afterwards of the State, con-
firmed the nominations by issuing the necessary commissions.
The justices received no pay, except that after a time the
system was introduced of conferring the office of high sheriff
of the county, for a term of two years, upon the justices
in rotation, according to seniority of commission ; the sheriffs
"farming out" the office to deputies who discharged all its
duties. Upon the expiration of the term of office, the high
sheriffs reverted to the position of justice of the peace, and
awaited their turn for the lucrative office, which, however,
very few obtained a second time.
The first business in order after the justices took their seats on
the bench and the court was proclaimed, was to receive and ap-
prove the official bond of the sheriff. The clerk was also quali-
fied; and William Russell, James Porteus, Gabriel Jones, John
Quin, and Thomas Chew qualified to practice as attorneys-at-
law.
On the next day, December 10, the commissions of Thomas
Lewis, surveyor, and his deputy, James Trimble, were produced
in court, and those officers were sworn in. The sheriff on the
same day, " moved the court to be informed how he was to se-
cure his prisoners, there being no prison." The provident Col.
Beverley had not thought of that. The court, however, ordered
28 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the sheriff to summon a guard, and " to provide shackles, bolts,
handcuffs, etc." A committee was also appointed to " build a
prison and erect stocks." Great importance was evidently at-
tached in those days to "stocks." It was thought quite impos-
sible for a well-ordered community to get along without them.
After a short session on the ioth, the court adjourned till the
next court in turn. In pursuance of the Act of 1738, the court
then met on the second Monday in each month.
The business of the county court, as indicated by the order
books, was heavy and diversified. The first session of court
was held, as stated, in December, 1745, and by the February
term following there was a large docket of causes for triaL
Single justices had jurisdiction of causes involving less than
twenty-five shillings. In all other causes at law and in equity,
civil and criminal, (not involving loss of life or member), the
court had jurisdiction, there being, however, a right of appeal
to the general court, which was then composed of the Governor
and his council. Attendance at the county court every month
became burdensome to the people, and in October, 1748, an act
of assembly was passed, establishing quarterly courts for the
trial of causes. Four or more justices were required to consti-
tute a court.
We may mention that the first clerk of the county court, John
Madison, was the father of the Rev. Dr. James Madison, for
some time bishop of the Episcopal church in Virginia. John
Madison, the clerk, Gabriel Jones, the lawyer, and Thomas Lewis,
the surveyor, whose wives were sisters (Misses Strother, from
Stafford county), lived in the same neighborhood, near Port
Republic.
Among the first justices of the peace we find John and An-
drew Pickens. One of these was the father of the distinguished
General Andrew Pickens, of South Carolina. General Henry
Lee states in his "Memoirs of the War" (page 594), that Gen-
eral Pickens was born in Paxton township, Pennsylvania,
September 19, 1739. His parents were from Ireland. When
he was a child his father removed to Augusta county, Vir-
ginia, and in 1752 to the Waxhaw settlement, in South Caro-
lina. He was actively engaged in the Indian wars and the
Revolution. He was conspicuous for his valor at the Cowpens,
Haw River, Augusta (Georgia) and Eutaw; and Lee declares
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 29
that he contributed in an equal degree with Sumpter and
Marion to the liberation of the Southern States. After the war
he served in the Legislature of South Carolina and the United
States Congress. "This great and good military chieftain,"
as General Lee styles him, died August n, 1817, at his seat
in Pendleton District, South Carolina, which had been the
scene of one of his earliest Indian battles. " He was," says
Lee, "a sincere believer in the Christian religion, and a devout
observer of the Presbyterian form of worship."
The first will presented in the County Court of Augusta was
that of Robert Wilson. It was executed November 3, 1745,
and was proved and admitted to record February 11, 1746,
not 1745, as the record is made to say by a blundering copyist.
The first deed recorded, dated December 9, 1745, was from
Andrew Pickens to William McPheeters, and conveyed twelve
and one-half acres of land in consideration of five shillings.
Deed Books, 1, 2 and 3, are occupied almost exclusively by
the conveyances of William Beverley to various persons.
Beverley no doubt made many deeds previous to 1745,
which were recorded in Orange; and from 1745 to 1755, no
less than one hundred and sixty six of his deeds were recorded
in Augusta. He never conveyed the two acres promised to
the justices in 1745 ; but in 1749 he donated much more land
to the county, as we shall see.
From the papers in an early suit we have ascertained the
prices in the county of several articles in the year 1745.
Money was then, and for a long time afterward, counted in
pounds, shillings, and pence, one pound, Virginia currency,
being $3. 33^3. 9 We state the prices here in the present
currency. The price of sugar was 16^ cents per pound, two
nutmegs 22 cents, half a pound of powder 33}^ cents, one
9 We cannot account for the change in the currency. English set-
tlers in Virginia, of course, brought with them the pound sterling of
Great Britain, equal to about $4.85. When, why, and how the Virginia
pound of $3.33,^3 was introduced, we have not been able to ascertain.
Governor Spotswood, in a letter to the Lords Commissioners of Trade,
dated May 24, 1716, alludes to "Virginia money " as something differ-
ent from English currency. The change was probably caused by the
lesser value of Virginia currency in England, compared with gold and
silver.
30 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and a-half pounds of lead 19^ cents, and one ounce of indigo
25 cents.
The rates for ordinaries fixed by the court, March 10, 1746,
were as follows: For a hot diet, 12^ cents ; a cold ditto, Syi
cents ; lodging, with clean sheets, 4^ cents ; stabling and
fodder a night, 8^3 cents; rum, the gallon, $1.50; whiskey,
the gallon, $1 ; claret, the quart, 83^3 cents.
The ordinary proceedings of the County Court, as recorded
in the order books, often illustrate the history of the times,
and we shall make frequent quotations.
As soon as the court was established, taverns were needed
at the county seat. Therefore, we find that on February 12,
1746, license to keep ordinaries at the courthouse was granted
to Robert McClanahan and John Hutchinson. And on the same
day it was " ordered that any attorney interrupting another at
the bar, or speaking when he is not employed, forfeit five
shillings."
On February 19, 1746, a court was held to receive proof of
"public claims," and the losses of several persons by the
Indians were proved and ordered to be certified to the general
assembly for allowance.
While the white settlers and the Indians who often passed
through the country were supposed to be at peace, and the
more prudent settlers sought by every means to conciliate the
savages, instances of robbery and massacre by Indians were
not infrequent, as is shown by the records of the County Court
and otherwise. Tradition tells of an Indian raid upon a home-
stead near Buffalo Gap, but at what date is not stated. The
ancestor of the Bell family of that neighborhood lived some
two miles from the gap, and the females and children who
were at home, learned that . a party of Indians were in the
vicinity. Feeling insecure, they abandoned their house and
sought safety elsewhere. The Indians would have passed the
dwelling without discovering it, but were attracted to the place
by the cackling of a flock of geese. They plundered the
house, setting it on fire, by design or accident, and went off.
From that day to the present no member or descendant of
that family of Bells has kept geese.
A more disastrous raid occurred, however, in December,
1742. A party of Indians from Ohio came into the Valley,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 31
and John McDowell, who lived on Timber Ridge (now Rock-
bridge) summoned his neighbors to watch, and, if need be,
resist the savages. The whiles fell into an ambush, near the
junction of the North river and the James, and at the first fire
McDowell and eight of his companions were slain. The In-
dians, alarmed at their own success, fled precipitately, and
were not pursued. The people of the neighborhood gathered
on the field of slaughter, and, says Foote, " took the nine
bloody corpses on horseback and laid them side by side near
McDowell's dwelling, while they prepared their graves, in
overwhelming distress."
John McDowell's grave may still be found in the family
burying ground near Timber Ridge church, marked by a
rough stone. He has been mentioned heretofore as one of
the first settlers in Borden's grant. His son, Samuel, was
Colonel of militia at the battle of Guilford, and the ancestor
of the Reids, of Rockbridge; and his son, James, who died in
early life, was the grandiather of the late Governor James Mc-
Dowell. His only daughter, Martha, married Colonel George
Moffett, of Augusta, a gallant soldier of the Revolution, whose
descendants are numerous in this county and elsewhere.
At the April term, 1746, of the County Court, John Nicho-
las having declined to act as prosecuting attorney, the court
recommended Gabriel Jones " as a fit person to transact his
majesty's affairs in this county." Mr. Jones was accordingly
appointed, and duly qualified at the next court.
At May term, 1746, John Preston proved his importation from
Ireland, with his wife, Elizabeth, William, his son, and Lettice
and Ann, his daughters, at his own charge "in order to partake
of his majesty's bounty for taking up land."
Foote speaks of John Preston as "a shipmaster in Dublin."
Brock says he was a ship carpenter. He came to the county in
the year 1740, with his brother-in-law, James Patton, who was a
brother of Preston's wife. He resided for a time at Patton' s
place, Springhill, but about the year 1743 he removed to the
tract known as Spring Farm, adjacent to Staunton, and there, in
a house near the site of the present city water works, he lived
and died. He and other Presbyterian people of Staunton and
vicinity, of his day, worshipped at Tinkling Spring church, and
32 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
his body was interred at that place. His eldest daughter mar-
ried Robert Breckenridge, the ancestor of several distinguished
men. The second daughter married the Rev. John Brown, pas-
tor of New Providence church, and from them descended John
Brown, of Kentucky, and James Brown, of Louisiana, both of
them United States senators, and the latter ministor to France.
William Preston was the father of a numerous family, male and
female, and many of his descendants have been eminent in
various walks of life. John Preston, the ancestor, appears to
have been a quiet man, and without the bustling energy which
characterized other pioneer settlers; but the traits which he and
"his wife Elizabeth" transmitted to their posterity is a noble
testimony that the pair possessed more than common merit.
He died in 1747, leaving a very small estate, as far as appears.
His wife qualified as administratrix, February 6, 1747, and exe-
cuted a bond, with John Maxwell and Robert McClanahan as
her securities, in the penalty of ^100, indicating a personal
estate of only ^50.
On the day that John Preston " proved his importation," the
court ordered that " Edward Boyle, for damning the court and
swearing four oaths in their presence, be put in the stocks for
two hours, and be fined twelve shillings" ($2).
Till the year 1746, no vestrymen had been elected, as provided
in the act of 1738. In that year, however, an election was held,
and twelve persons were chosen to constitute the vestry of the
parish, viz: James Patton, (Col.) John Buchanan, John Madison,
Patrick Hays, John Christian, (Mr.) John Buchanan, Robert
Alexander, Thomas Gordon, James Lockhart, John Archer, John
Matthews, and John Smith.
From the first settlement of Virginia the Church of Eng-
land had been established in the colony. The inhabited parts
were laid off into parishes, in each of which was a minister,
who had a fixed salary in tobacco, together with a farm
(called glebe) and a parsonage. There was a general assess-
ment on all the inhabitants to meet the expenses.
When a new parish was established, the vestrymen were
elected by the qualified voters, but vacancies occurring after-
wards were filled by the board. Two members were annually
chosen to act as church-wardens, and these were more particu-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 33
larly charged with all matters pertaining to religion and pub-
lic morals. The minister, or rector, was ex officio president of
the board.
Vestrymen were not merely ecclesiastical officers, but some
of the duties now performed by supervisors were imposed upon
them by law. They had the care of the poor, and attended
to the important duty, as it was then, of " processioning lands."
At a time when the boundaries of contiguous tracts of land
were ill defined, to prevent or settle disputes, commissioners
were appointed by the vestry to ascertain and fix the lines.
This custom had fallen into disuse, and every law on the
subject had disappeared from the statute books, till the de-
struction of many county records during the late war, led to
an act of Assembly, in i865-'6, reviving the practice. In
England the vestry has also charge of all highways in the
parish; but in Virginia, during colonial times, little or no con-
cern was taken about public roads.
The vestry held meetings statedly, at least once a year, to
count up and provide for the expenses of the parish. They
laid the parish levy ; and it is curious at this day to find that
here, as well as elsewhere in the colony, glebe farms were
bought, churches and parsonages built, ministers, readers and
sextons paid, and even the sacramental wine provided, out of
the public treasury.
All members of the vestry were required by law to take the
various oaths imposed upon public officers generally, and, in
addition, to subscribe a declaration " to be conformable to the
doctrine and discipline of the Church of England." It is
quite certain that most of the vestrymen of Augusta parish
in 1746 were Dissenters from the Established Church. How
they could, with a clear conscience, subscribe the declaration
referred to is a question. They probably pleaded the neces-
sity of the case. Without vestrymen and a rector the local
government could not be completed, the poor could not be
cared for, lands could not be " processioned," and especially
none of the young people in the county could get married
without much expense and inconvenience. The Scotch-Irish
vestrymen of Augusta parish, with James Patton at their head,
very likely agreed " to be conformable," &c, with the under-
standing that it was only for the time being and in respect to
34 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the particular public duties they undertook to discharge. They
did not relax their interest in the dissenting congregations to
which they belonged, and, as far as known, they did not incur
censure nor lose respect by their conformity as vestrymen.
Some Dissenters of the Covenanter stock no doubt compared
the Presbyterian vestrymen and church-wardens to Naaman,
the Syrian, bowing himself in the house of Rimmon, because
the King leaned upon his hand. As will be seen hereafter, the
practice of subscribing the declaration o[ conformity fell into
partial disuse, and some persons elected vestrymen refused, to
subscribe when required to do so, and retired from the board.
The vestry of Augusta parish met for the first time in the
courthouse, April 6, 1747. They elected John Madison clerk,
and Robert Alexander and James Lockhart church-wardens.
The Rev. John Hindman appeared with letters from the Gover-
nor, etc., recommending him for employment as "rector of
the parish." The vestry, however, were not in a hurry, and
proceeded to drive a bargain with Mr. Hindman. They agreed
to accept him, provided he would not insist upon the purchase
of glebe lands, etc., for two years, and would hold his ser-
vices in the meanwhile in the courthouse, " and in people's
houses of the same persuasion." Moreover, he was not to
complain to the Governor in regard to the tardiness of his
vestrymen. A glebe farm, however, was purchased, and a
church building was erected in Staunton in the course of time.
The farm was at the foot of North Mountain, about five miles
south of Swoope's depot, and is now owned by the Thompson
family. No church was ever built there, but farm buildings
were erected, and an acre or more of land was laid off for a
public burying ground. In common with other glebe lands,
the farm was disposed of as directed by law, after the dis-
establishment of the Church of England in the State. The
church in Staunton was built on land given by Beverley, April
3, 1750. It was begun in 1760, and finished in 1763.
Mr. Hindman' s salary, payable in money, was ^50 a year.
Commissary Dawson, in a letter of July 11, 1749, to the Bishop of
London, states that the parish was then vacant because of the
death of Mr. Hindman. At a meeting of the vestry, on the day
last named, Mr. Robert Clowseme, recommended by " Peter
Hedgman, gentleman," sought the vacant place, but he was
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 35
rejected, the vestry "not being acquainted with him," and
resolving to receive no minister "without a trial first had."
For more than two years the parish was vacant, and then, in
1752, the Rev. John Jones was inducted on the recommen-
dation of Governor Dinwiddie.
But we have anticipated the course of events. It is prob-
able that on the day, in 1746, that vestrymen were elected,
delegates, or " burgesses," to represent Augusta county in
the colonial assembly were also elected. We find no trace of
such election, however, in our local archives or elsewhere.
The county was duly represented in the " House of Burgesses,"
nevertheless, and from several acts found in Hening 's Statutes
at Large, it appears that the county was required to pay the
l< wages ' ' of her « representatives. The name and fame of one
of our earliest burgesses have been perpetuated by a stone
erected in the glebe burying ground. We give a literal copy
of the inscription :
HERE LY,S THE INTER,D BODY OF COL, JOHN
WILLSON WHO DEPARTED THIS LIF. IN THE -
YARE-OF OUR LORD 1773 IN - THE 72- YR-OF HIS
EAG HAVING SERVD HIS COUNTY - 27 - YA - REPRESE
- NTETIVE - IN - THE HONOURABLE - HOUS - OF BUR-
JESIS. IN VIRGINIA &c
Colonel Willson is not to be held responsible for the illit-
eracy and mistakes of the stone-cutter. We presume there is
no mistake as to the date of his death, and the statement
that he served twenty-seven years as a member of the House
of Burgesses. He must, therefore, have been elected in 1746,
and have served, upon repeated elections, continuously till his
death
R. A. Brock, Esq., Secretary of the Virginia Historical
Society, has furnished to us the following partial list of dele-
gates from Augusta in the House of Burgesses :
1751 — John Willson and John Madison.
1752 — John Willson and John Madison.
1757 — John Willson and Gabriel Jones.
1758 — John Willson and Gabriel Jones.
1759 — John Willson and Israel Christian.
1761 — John Willson and Israel Christian.
36 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
1768 — John Willson and William Preston.
1769 — John Willson and William Preston.
177 1 — John Willson and Gabriel Jones.
1773 — John Willson and Samuel McDowell.
1776 — George Mathews and Samuel McDowell.
In the interval, from 1761 to 1768, and probably at other
times, Thomas Lewis served as one of the delegates from
Augusta. James Patton also represented the county, for we find
that at November term of the County Court, 1755, an allowance
was made to his executor for "burgess wages." It is probable
that Patton was Col. Willson's colleague from 1747 to 1751, and
that he was a member of the House of Burgesses from 1752 to
1755.
We again revert to an earlier period in the history of the
county. On May 21, 1747, George Wythe appeared before the
county court and took the oaths required of attorneys. At the
same time the grand jury presented five persons as swearers and
two for Sabbath breaking.
On the 22d of May, 1747, the Rev. Samuel Black, a dissent-
ing minister, appeared before the court and took the prescribed
oaths. We have no further information in regard to Mr. Black.
The number of tithables in the county in 1747 was 1,670, and
the tax per head as levied by the vestry, six shillings.
The following extract from the records of the court, of date
May 20, 1748, is a part of the history of the times, and pos-
sesses some special interest: "On the motion of Matthew Lyle,
yts ordered to be certified that they have built a Presbyterian
meeting-house at a place known by the name of Timber Ridge,
another at New Providence,10 and another at a place known by
the name of Falling Spring." All these places are in the
present county of Rockbridge, then part of Augusta. The
record shows, among other things, the rapid settlement of the
country.
"West of the Blue Ridge," says Foote [First Series, page
309] "the inhabitants were generally Dissenters, and coming
10 There was a house of worship in Pennsylvania, near Norristown,
called Providence. " From this many families emigrated to New Vir-
ginia, settled together, and built a meeting-house, which they called
New "Providence." — [Life of R 'ev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, page 6.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 37
into the province such, there was always less difficulty in obtain-
ing license for houses of worship than in those counties east of
the Ridge, where no Dissenters, or but few, had settled, and those
that appeared were converts from the Established Church." The
early meeting-houses in Augusta, erected before the year 1745,
were doubtless registered in Orange county.
Early in the century the American Presbyterian Church became
divided into what were known as the "Old Side" and the "New
Side." There was no question in regard to doctrine, but only
as to the proper methods of promoting religion. The New Side
Presbyterians, sometimes called "New Lights," were admirers
and followers of George Whitefield, who traversed the country,
and by his zeal and eloquence caused an extraordinary religious
excitement. The Old Side party was composed of the more
conservative and less aggressive element of the church, who
feared excitement, and perhaps were not specially zealous. The
various Presbyterians adhering to the Old Side were associated
as the Synod of Philadelphia, and those of the New Side as the
Synod of New York. There was no Presbytery in Virginia till
the year 1755, when Hanover Presbytery was formed by au-
thority of the Synod of New York, and was composed of New
Side ministers and churches. This Presbytery consisted at first
of only six ministers, including the celebrated Samuel Davies, of
Hanover county ; Rev. John Brown, of New Providence, and
Rev. Alexander Craighead, of Windy Cove. The Rev. John
Craig, of Augusta and Tinkling Spring, was not a member of it
till the breach was healed, in 1758, and the two parties came to-
gether again. During the alienation most, if not all, the Presby-
terian churches in the present county of Augusta adhered to the
Old Side, and those in the region now composing Rockbridge
county (New Providence, Timber Ridge, Falling Spring, Hall's
meeting-house, afterwards Monmouth, or Lexington) to the New
Side. While the strife lasted much bitterness of feeling was ex-
hibited, and the cause of the Dissenters, and of religion itself,
was no doubt greatly injured thereby. Missionaries were sent
to Virginia by both the Northern Synods. A minister named
Robinson, sent out by the Synod of New York, was preaching
in the Valley, when one of the inhabitants of Augusta, going into
the lower country for salt and iron, met some of the attendants
upon Morris's meetings in Hanover, and recommended Mr.
38 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Robinson to them. He was invited to visit them, which he did,
and his visit led to the settlement of Samuel Davies in Virginia.
To show further how the Dissenters managed their affairs
during colonial times, we mention that, in 1747, James Patton,
John Christian, John Finley, James Alexander and William
Wright, 'chosen commissioners and trustees," received a deed
from William and John Thompson for one hundred and ten
acres of land for the use of " the Presbyterian congregation of
Tinkling Spring." Many years afterwards an act of the Legis-
lature authorized the congregation to sell as much of the tract
as they wished, and expend the proceeds in repairing their
meeting-house, or in building a new one.
It is stated that, as early as 1748, Colonels Patton and Bu-
chanan and others, with a number of hunters, made an exploring
tour to the southwest. They discovered and named the Cum-
berland mountain and Cumberland river, so called in honor of
the Duke of Cumberland, who had recently gained the battle
of Culloden, in Scotland.
And now, in the year 1748, we come to the first mention of
the town of Staunton. During that year William Beverley laid
off the beginning of the town, within his manor, and at his
"Mill Place." The surveying was done by Thomas Lewis,
the county surveyor, and the plot is highly creditable to the
surveyor's skill. The number of town lots is forty-four, each,
with a few exceptions, containing half an acre. The streets laid
off and named are Beverley, Frederick and Johnson, running
east and west, and Augusta, Water and Lewis, running north
and south. A plot of twenty-five acres, east of Augusta street,
and extending half a square north of Frederick street, was
reserved for the use of the county. The inscription under the
plot, signed by the surveyor, is as follows; "A plan of the
town of Staunton, in Augusta county, each lot containing half
an acre * * * laid out in the year 1748, and since con-
firmed by an act of the last session of assembly."
The plan was produced in court by William Beverley, Feb
ruary 27, 1749, and ordered to be recorded. It may be found
in Deed Book No. 2, page 410.
It appears, however, that several streets and town lots were
laid off by Thomas Lewis for Beverley, July 15, 1747, as we
learn from the original plot which was not recorded. The
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 39
number of lots was only thirteen, so moderate was the expecta-
tion in regard to the town ; but by the next year it was thought
advisable to extend the dimensions of the embryo city, and
thirty-one lots were added in 1748. In the divisions of 1747,
each lot contained half an acre, as in the plot of 1748. Lot
No. 1 was between Spring Lane and the creek, west of Augusta
street. The two squares north of Spring Lane and west of
Augusta street were laid off, and each was divided into four
lots. Lots 10, 11, 12, and 13 were west of Water street, and
between Spring Lane and Frederick street, the north branch
of Lewis's creek running through each of them. Beverley
retained (in 1747) lots 2, 10, and 11, and sold off the other lots ;
Joseph Bell purchased No. 3 (southwest corner of Beverley and
Augusta streets, on a part of. which the Augusta National Bank
now stands) for ^5, or $16.66^3. Robert McClanahan pur-
chased two lots, No. 7 (southeast corner of Beverley and Water
streets — Old Central Bank, &c. ), for £9, 15s. $32.50,n and No.
12 (northeast corner of Beverley and Water streets — Lutheran
Church, &c), for ^5. Other purchasers of lots were Samuel
Wilkins, John Brown, William Lyndwell, Andrew Campbell,
John Ramsey, David Stuart, and Patrick McDonal. In the
plot of 1748, as recorded, the streets designated are named as at
present ; in the original plot of 1747, Augusta was called Gooch
street, Water was called William, and Beverley was called Cross
street. Spring Lane was so called from the first, although now
generally known as Irish Alley. The name Staunton was
originally often written Stanton. It is generally supposed that
Augusta and other parallel streets were intended to lie exactly
north and south, but in the original plot those streets are
represented as slightly departing from the meridian line.
Twenty five acres heretofore referred to, were conveyed by
Beverley to the justices of the peace for the use of the court-
house, etc., April 21, 1749.
Why Staunton was so called has been a question for many
years. We long ago saw a statement in print somewhere, that
the new town was named in honor of Lady Gooch, wife of the
Governor, who, it was said, was a member of the English family
11 About one-half of this lot was sold at auction March 5, 1886, for
$13,300, the value of buildings being hardly estimated.
40 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of Staunton, but we do not vouch for the truth of the statement.
There is a small town of the same name near Kendal, West-
morland county, England.
The inscription by the surveyor alludes to an act of assembly
establishing- the town. No such act is found in Hening, but it
appears from a proclamation issued by Governor Dinwiddie,
April 8, 1752, that " An act for establishing a town in Augusta
county, and allowing fairs to be kept there," was passed by the
assembly in 1748. It was, however, for some unexplained rea-
son, "disallowed" by King George II, and pronounced by the
Governor " utterly void and of none effect." Thus the aspira-
tions of Staunton were repressed, and the rising town had to
wait for thirteen years for a new king liberal enough to grant
her a charter.
Governor Dinwiddie, a native of Scotland, trained to business
in a West India custom-house, and recommended for promotion
by his detection and exposure of some gigantic frauds prac-
ticed by his official superiors there, arrived in Virginia early in
1752, and immediately gave offence by declaring the king's
dissent to various acts which his predecessor had approved.
The Assembly remonstrated against this exercise of the royal
prerogative, but in vain.
The biographers of the celebrated Daniel Boone state that he
came from Pennsylvania on an excursion to Augusta, about
i748-'9, with his cousin, Henry 'Miller. The latter returned to
the county, and built on Mossy Creek the first iron furnace in
the Valley.
From the proceedings of the vestry, August 22, 1748, it
appears that John Lewis had contracted to erect the public
buildings of the parish for ^148, and it was ordered that he
be paid ^74 on " raising the said buildings, and the remainder
on their completion." From a bond executed by Colonel
Lewis, with Robert McClanahan as security, at the date just
mentioned, but not recorded till November 28, 1753, it ap-
pears that one of the buildings was a dwelling house for the
parish minister. According to tradition, this was the old frame
house which lately stood on the southwest corner of Augusta
street and Irish Alley.
We continue the extracts from the records of the court:
May 19, 1749. — "Ordered that James Montgomery and
ANNALS OF. AUGUSTA COUNTY. 41
Richard Burton, or any one of them, wait on the court of
Lunenburg, and acquaint them that the inhabitants of Augusta
have cleared a road to the said county line, and desire that
they will clear a road from the courthouse of Lunenburg to
meet the road already cleared by the inhabitants of Augusta."
Lunenburg and Augusta were therefore adjoining counties at
that time.12 It will be observed that here, as well as elsewhere,
nothing is said about grading the road — it was only "cleared."
Till many years afterward nothing else was attempted, and it
was not till the present century that our road surveyors could
be persuaded that the distance was as short round a hill as
over it.
November 28, 1749. — "A commission to Robert McClanahan,
gent., to be sheriff of this county during his majesty's pleasure,
was produced in court," etc. Adam Breckenridge qualified as
deputy sheriff.
Robert McClanahan was a native of Ireland, and came to
Augusta at an early day. A brother of his, Blair McClanahan,
was a merchant in Philadelphia, a prominent politician and
member of Congress after the Revolution. The wife of Ro-
bert McClanahan was Sarah Breckenridge, and his children
were four sons and two daughters. Three of the sons, Alex-
ander, Robert and John, were prominent in the Indian wars,
and Alexander was a lieutenant-colonel during the Revolution.
One of his daughters married Alexander St. Clair, who came
from Belfast, Ireland, and was long a prosperous merchant at
Staunton, and an active member of the County Court. Mr. St.
Clair also represented Augusta in the State Senate in the years
I79I-3-13
12 In 1752 Halifax county was formed from the southern part of Lu-
nenburg, adjacent to Augusta ; and in 1753 Bedford was formed from
the northern part, so that after 1753, for several years, Augusta was
bounded on the east by the counties of Orange, Albemarle, Bedford
and Halifax. New London, at first the county seat of Lunenburg, and
afterwards of Bedford, is now in Campbell county.
13 Robert McClanahan, after living at various places in Staunton, re-
moved to his farm, a mile south of town, now (1886) owned by Mrs.
Gay and her children. This farm was conveyed to McClanahan, in
1748, by Robert Beverley, and was left by the former at his death, in
42 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
The grand juries of the county were apparently determined
to enforce the observance of the Sabbath day. In 1749, An-
drew McNabb was presented for a breach of the Sabbath — in
what way is not stated ; in 1750, Jacob Coger was presented
"for a breach of the peace by' driving hogs over the Blue Ridge
on the Sabbath;" and in 1 751, James Frame was presented "for
a breach of the Sabbath in unnecessarily traveling ten miles."
At laying the county levy in 1750, allowance was made for
two hundred and fifty-six wolf heads — the entire head had to
be produced. In 1751 allowance was made for two hundred
and twenty-four heads. In 1754 William Preston obtained an
allowance for one hundred and three heads. They were hardly
all trophies of his own skill, but most, if not all of them, were
probably purchased by him. Indeed, wolf heads constituted a
kind of currency.
The court and grand juries were extremely loyal. In 1749,
Jacob Castle was arrested "for threatening to goe over to and be
aiding and assisting of the French ag'st his Majesty's forces."
In 1751, Owen Crawford was presented "for drinking a health
to King James, and refusing to drink a health to King George."
The accused made his escape, and the presentment was dismissed.
Constables were appointed at various times on the Roanoke
and New rivers.
The first classical school west of the Blue Ridge was opened
in 1749, by Robert Alexander, two miles southwest of the present
village of Greenville. The teacher was educated at Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin. He emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1736, and to the
Valley in 1743. How long Mr. Alexander conducted the school
we do not know. He was succeeded by the Rev. John Brown,
and the school was removed first to Old Providence, then to New
Providence, and shortly before the Revolutionary war to Mount
Pleasant, near Fairfield. It was latterly under the care of Han-
over Presbytery.
1791, to his executors, Alexander McClanahan and Alexander St. Clair,
to do with it as they pleased. The terms imply a secret trust. At any
rate, the executors conveyed the farm to Robert McClanahan, the third
of the name, and grandson of the first. In 1808, the last named Robert
sold the farm to John McDowell, who built the present handsome brick
dwelling on the hill, having lived in the meanwhile, as the first Robert
McClanahan had, in a small house near the Greenville road.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 43
The next extract from the records of the court is of peculiar
interest. Under date of August 29, 1751, we find the following:
"Ordered that the sheriff employ a workman to make a duck-
ing stool for the use of the county according to law, and bring in
his charge at laying the next county levy."
An act of assembly, passed in 1705, in accordance with the old
English law, prescribed ducking as the punishment for women
convicted as "common scolds." The ducking stool was no
doubt made as ordered, but we have searched in vain for an in-
stance of its use "according to law." The failure to use it was
certainly not because there were no scolding women in the county
at that time; for soon after the machine was constructed, or
ordered, one Anne Brown went into court and "abused William
Wilson, gentleman, one of the justices for this county, by calling
him a rogue, and that on his coming off the bench she would
give it to him with the devil." Mrs. Brown was taken into cus-
tody, but not ducked, as far as we can ascertain. Nor was the
failure to use the stool due to timidity or tender heartedness on
the part of members of the court. They lashed women as well
as men at the public whipping-post, and were brave enough to
take Lawyer Jones in hand on one occasion for "swearing an
oath." After thorough investigation and mature reflection, we
have come to the conclusion that the making of the ducking
stool was an " Irish blunder" on the part of our revered ances-
tors. Having provided a jail, stocks, whipping-post, shackles,
etc. — all the means and appliances necessary in a well-ordered
community — they ordered a ducking stool without reflecting that
there was no water deep enough for its use within reach of the
court-house.
Let us now refer again to the Rev. John Craig and his narra-
tive. The territory occupied by his congregation was " about
thirty miles in length and nearly twenty in breadth." The
people agreed to have two meeting-houses, expecting to have
two congregations, as afterwards came to pass. The people of
the Augusta, or stone church neighborhood, amongst whom
Mr. Craig lived, " were fewer in numbers, and much lower as
to their worldly circumstances, but a good-natured, prudent,
governable people, and liberally bestowed a part of what God
gave them for religious and pious uses ; always unanimous
among themselves." " I had no trouble with them," says Mr.
44 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Craig, "about their meeting house. * * * They readily
fixed on the place, and agreed on the plan for building it, and
contributed cheerfully, money and labor to accomplish the
work, all in the voluntary way, what every man pleased." But
the people of the other section were, according to Mr. Craig's
way of thinking, a stiff-necked and perverse generation. He
says : " That part now called Tinkling Spring was most in num-
bers, and richer than the other, and forward, and had the
public management of the affairs of the whole settlement ; their
leaders close-handed about providing necessary things for pious
and religious uses, and could not agree for several years upon
a plan or manner, where or how to build their meeting-house,
which gave me very great trouble to hold them together, their
disputes ran so high. A difference happened between Colonel
John Lewis and Colonel James Patton, both living in that con-
gregation, which was hurtful to the settlement but especially to
me. I could neither bring them to friendship with each other,
or obtain both their friendships at once, ever after. This con-
tinued for thirteen or fourteen years, till Colonel Patton was
murdered by the Indians. At that time he was friendly with me.
After his death, Colonel Lewis was friendly with me till he died."
The feud between Colonel Lewis and Colonel Patton must
have begun in 1741 or 1742. What it was all about, we do
not know, but it probably related, in part, to the location of
Tinkling Spring church. Mr. Craig himself was not a neutral
nor lamb-like in that strife. He, and doubtless Colonel Lewis
also, wanted the church built north of the site finally selected;
while Colonel Patton and most of the people insisted upon
Tinkling Spring as the place. Mr. Craig at last appealed to
James Pilson, an aged man, to settle the controversy, and when
the latter cast his vote for Tinkling Spring, the irate pastor
is said to have exclaimed: "Are you too against me, Jimmy!
Well, I am resolved that none of that water shall ever tinkle
down my throat." And he kept his word.
It is said that Mr. Craig generally walked the five miles from
his residence to the stone church. His morning service con-
tinued from 10 o'clock till after 12. The afternoon service
lasted from 1 o'clock till sunset, and it was sometimes so late
that the clerk found it difficult to read the last psalm. His only
printed sermon is from 2 Samuel, xxiii, 5, and being on the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 45
old-fashioned, "exhaustive method," contains fifty-five divisions
and sub-divisions. He was once sent by Hanover Presbytery
to organize churches among the settlements on New River and
Holston, and on his return reported a surprising number of
elders whom he had ordained. Being questioned how he
found suitable materials for so many, he replied in his rich
idiom: "Where I cudna get hewn stanes, I tuk dornacks."
He was regarded as very orthodox, but somewhat lax as to
church discipline. — [Davidson's History of the Presbyterian
Church in Kentucky, page 24.]
Withers, in " Border Warfare" [page 48], gives the following
account of the discovery and first occupancy of the Greenbrier
country :
About the year 1749 there was in Frederick county a man
subject to lunacy, who was in the habit of rambling into the
wilderness. In one of his wanderings he came to some of the
waters of Greenbrier river. Surprised to see them flowing west-
wardly, he made report of it on his return to Winchester, and
also the fact that the country abounded in game. Thereupon,
two men, named Sewel and Martin, recently arrived from New
England, visited the Greenbrier country, and took up their
abode there. They erected a cabin and made other improve-
ments, but an altercation arising Sewel went off a short dis-
tance and lived for some time in a hollow tree. Thus they
were found in 1751 — Martin in the cabin and Sewel in the tree —
by John Lewis and his son, Andrew, who were exploring the
country. They were, however, by that time on friendly terms.
Sewel soon afterwards moved forty miles west, and fell a prey
to the Indians, and Martin returned to the settlement.
After this brief excursion beyond the frontier, let us return
to the county seat. We have several times alluded to the
twenty-five acres of land conveyed by Beverley to the county,
April 24, 1746. In 1750, the County Court employed Andrew
Lewis as surveyor, to lay off the tract in town lots, extending
several existing streets, and opening new ones. The first street
opened by Lewis, east of and parallel with Augusta, was called
New street. The four main squares, constituting the heart of
Staunton, were fixed by this survey, each square containing
two acres, and being divided into four lots of half an acre each.
Three lots, of forty-eight poles each, were laid off between
46 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Courthouse street and the creek. The court retained for the
use of the county only two of the lots — the half acre on which
the courthouse stood, designated on the plat as No. 2, and the
lot of iorty-eight poles, immediately opposite, across Court-
house street where the county jail now stands, designated as
No. 1. The courthouse was at the southwest corner of the lot
on which it stood, and the jail on the southeast corner of the
same lot.
The court appointed Andrew Lewis, Robert McClanahan and
Robert Breckenridge, commissioners, to convey the lots to
purchasers. Thomas Paxton purchased three lots for £8,
($26.66^,) viz : the half acre at southwest corner of Beverley
and New streets, the corresponding lot diagonally opposite, and
the lot of forty-eight poles, southeast corner of New and Court-
house streets. Alexander McNutt purchased for ^3 the lot
of forty-eight poles adjoining and east of the present jail lot,
where the Bell Tavern afterwards stood. The half acre lot,
southeast corner of Augusta and Frederick streets, was pur-
chased by Joseph Kennedy for ^3. Robert McClanahan pur-
chased two half acre lots — northwest corner of Beverley and
New Streets, (where the Wayne Tavern afterwards stood,) and
the northwest corner of Courthouse and New streets — for £2, 10s.
In giving possession of these lots, the old English custom of
"livery of seizin" was practiced, the commissioners and pur-
chasers going on the premises, and the former delivering to the
latter a handful of earth in token of the delivery of the whole.
It is a question as to how the town was entered from the east
in the early days of the settlement. The plots alluded to give
no indication of a road or street leading, as at present, from the
Virginia Hotel to the creek near the Valley railroad depot; and
it is probable that the land between the points named was swampy
and ordinarily impassable. If so, the road must have passed over
Abney's or Garber's hill.
It appears that, in 1750, a man called Ute Perkins and others
were perpetrating robberies in the county ; but we have no in-
formation in regard to the matter, except several hints in the pro-
ceedings of the court. The following order was entered Novem-
ber 28, 1750 : " On the motion of Peter Scholl, gent., it's ordered
that the sheriff demand of Joseph Powell a saddle supposed to
belong to Ute Perkins and his followers, and that John Harrison
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 47
deliver the several goods in his possession (supposed to belong
to the said Perkins or some of his followers) to the said Scholl,
he being one of the coroners, till further order " And again,
February 19, 175 1 : "The petition of John and Reuben Harrison,
praying a reward for killing two persons under the command of
Ute Perkins, who were endeavoring to rob them, was read and
ordered to be certified." The Harrisons lived in the northern
part of the county, now Rockingham.
On the 29th of November, 1750, the Rev. John Todd, a Dis-
senting minister, appeared in court and took the prescribed oaths.
Mr. Todd was a Presbyterian minister and lived in Louisa county.
He never resided in Augusta, but his object was to qualify him-
self, according to law, for officiating here occasionally.
In the early winter of 1750, the country was visited by a storm
of unusual violence, as we learn from a paper found in the clerk's
office of the circuit court, having been filed in the old cause of
Stuart vs. Laird, &c. There is no signature to the paper, but
it is endorsed, "Hart's Field-Notes." In the answer the notes
are called "Trimble's," and it is probable that the writing was
scribbled on the back of his field -notes by the assistant county
surveyor, who was caught out in the storm while on a professional
excursion. He thus relates his dismal experience, and gives ex-
pression to his alarm, but, at the same time, deep piety :
" December 21, 1750, being fryday, and being the most dismal
Judgment-like day that I have seen, the day before having been
excessive great rain, &c, frost freezing on the trees and branches,
as also 2 nights, and the snow beginning before day this morn-
ing, so overloaded the trees and branches, that their falling is as
constant as clock-work, so that there seems to be scarce a whole
tree left in the woods. Doubtless whoso lives to hear of the end
of this storm thence will account of many men and cattle lost
and killed ; and this day was 8 vears, was the Day that 8 corps
killed by the Indians, was bury'd at Mr. Bordin's, where I am
now storm-stead or weather bound, being 22 years since I was
cast away, but through God's Great Mercy preserved on the
windy Saturday in harvest, being the 24th of August, 1728.
Blessed be Almighty God who has saved me hitherto from
many Eminent Dangers. O Lord, Grant it may be taken as
special warnings to me and others."
The following order of the County Court of Augusta was
48 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
entered February 19, 1751 : " Catherine Cole being presented by
the grand jury for having a bastard child and refusing to pay her
fine or give security for the same according to law, it is ordered
that she receive on her bare back at the public whipping post of
this county twenty lashes well laid on, in lieu of said fine, and it
is said to the sheriff that execution thereof be done immedi-
ately." Another woman was ordered at the same time to be
punished in like manner for the same offence.
On May 30, i75i,John David Wilpert (the only man with
three names, locally recorded to such date,) petitioned the court,
setting forth that he had been "at considerable expense in
coming from the northward and settling in these parts," and had
rented three lots in the new erected town of Staunton, through
which runs a good and convenient stream of water, and praying
leave to build a grist and fulling mill. The petition was resisted
by John Lewis, who had a mill within a mile of town, and the
case was taken by appeal to the General Court. How it was
ultimately decided we are not advised, but the petition no doubt
indicates . the origin of " Fackler's mill," which stood on the
creek south of Beverley street and between Water and Lewis
streets. Wilpert was afterwards prominent in the Indian wars,
and received from the government six hundred acres of bounty
land. He went to Kentucky and gave his name to a creek in that
State, which has been changed, however, into Wolfert's creek.
In the year 1751, Governor Dinwiddie appointed James
Patton, Joshua Fry, and Lunsford Lomax, commissioners, to
meet the Indians at Logstown, on the Ohio river, sixteen miles
below Pittsburg, and conclude a treaty with them. Under date
of December 13, 1751, the Governor instructed Patton to pro-
ceed immediately to Fredericksburg, "and there receive from
Mr. Strother the goods sent as a present by His Majesty to the
Indians, and provide everything necessary for the gentlemen
appointed commissioners on behalf of this government, to meet
and treat with the Indians, and to order all to be laid down at
Mr. George Parish's near Frederick Town." The treaty was
concluded June 13, 1752, but was observed for a short time only. —
[Dinwiddie Papers \ Vol. I, page 9.]
Several acts were passed by the Assembly of Virginia, in the
year 1752, " for encouraging persons to settle on the waters of
the Mississippi river, in the county of Augusta."
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 49
The vestry of the parish held no meeting during the year
1749. At their meeting on May 21, 1750, it was ordered that
^64, 17s. id. be paid to Colonel John Lewis, the balance due
to him on the glebe buildings.
On the 16th of October, 1752, Governor Dinwiddie wrote to
the vestry introducing the Rev. John Jones "as a worthy and
learned divine," and recommending him to them as their pas-
tor, " not doubting but his conduct will be such as will entitle
him to your favour by promoting peace and cultivating morality
in the parish." Mr. Jones was accordingly inducted, Novem-
ber 15th, with a salary of ^50 a year. The glebe buildings
not being finished, Colonel Lewis, the contractor, agreed to
allow Mr. Jones ^20 a year in the meanwhile. A " Reader to
this parish, to be chosen by Mr. Jones," was allowed pay at the
rate of £6, 5s. a year. A cellar under the minister's house
was ordered to be dug. Many poor children, male and female,
were bound out by the church-wardens from time to time.
Of the Rev. John Jones we can obtain no information what-
ever, except from the records of the vestry. Bishop Meade,
in his voluminous work called "Old Churches and Old Fami-
lies in Virginia," gives sketches of many ministers, relating with
perfect candor the bad as well as the good, but he could find
little to say about Mr. Jones. Although the latter lived here
and held a prominent position for more than twenty years, no
anecdote or tradition in regard to him has come down to us.
He was probably a bachelor, and a man of mature age when
he settled at Staunton. We should judge that he was a kindly,
good man, generally respected, though possibly, from physical
infirmity, not very energetic. There is no record of the date of
his death, and at the close of the old vestry book he disappears
from view as mysteriously as he came, leaving no represen-
tative, successor, nor estate behind him.
Up to the year 1760, and indeed for long afterwards, there
was no meeting-house for religious worship in the county,
except those of the Presbyterian denomination. The Church
of England, established by law, had a rector and vestry, as
we have seen, but the building of a church was not begun till
1760, and the rector officiated in the courthouse and such dwell-
ings as he had access to. The first meeting-houses of Tinkling
Spring and Augusta were probably built before the year 1740.
50 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
At what date the present "Augusta stone church" was built
is not known. It was some time between 1740 and 1755, and
according to tradition, men, women and children labored at the
erection, transporting sand from Middle river on horseback, and
timber and stone in like manner. The current belief is, that
the building was completed in 1748. The original log meeting-
house stood in the old burying ground.
/ In the year 1746, the Rev. John Blair,14 a New Side minister
from the north, visited the county and organized four Presbyte-
rian congregations — Forks of James, Timber Ridge, New Provi-
dence, and North Mountain."" The first named afterwards
became Hall's meeting-house, then New Monmouth, and finally
Lexington. North Mountain meeting-house was a little to the
right of the road leading from Staunton to Middlebrook, about
nine miles from the former, and on land now [1886] owned by
Charles T. Palmer. No trace of the former use of the spot
remains at this day, except the old burying ground, " where
the forefathers of the hamlet sleep." There repose many
Moffetts, Tates. Trimbles and others. North Mountain con-
gregation never had a separate pastor, but depended during
most of its existence on "supplies," and the labors of neigh-
boring ministers. The Rev. Charles Cummings was pastor at
Brown's meeting-house [Hebron] from 1767 till 1773 ; and the
Rev. Archibald Scott, a native of Scotland, was pastor of
Brown's meeting-house and North Mountain congregations
from 1778 to about 1798. After the organization of Bethel con-
gregation, through the influence of Colonel Doak, North Moun-
tain was abandoned, the worshippers dividing between Bethel
and Hebron.
Mr. Blair also visited the Big Calf Pasture in 1746. THis
beautiful Valley was occupied by emigrants, and the congrega-
tion of Rocky Spring was organized, in a short time after the
first settlement of the county.
uThe Rev. John Blair, a native of Ireland, while living in Cumber-
land county, Pennsylvania, made two visits to Virginia, the last in 1746.
He officiated for a time as Vice-President of Princeton College, and
died in Orange county, New York, in 1771. He was the father of the
Rev. John D. Blair, the first Presbyterian minister in Richmond, Vir-
ginia. Another son, William Lawrence Blair, became a lawyer and set-
tled in Kentucky.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 51
The vestry of the parish met August 21, 1753, and ordered
the church-wardens " to pale in a church yard one hundred
feet square," and also "to pale and clear out a garden of
half an acre at the glebe." At the meeting on November
28th, Robert Campbell, of whom the glebe land was pur-
chased, acknowledged payment of ^60 in full. Colonel John
Lewis acknowledged payment to him of ,£148, the " full sum
agreed on for building the glebe work according to bargain,"
and renewed his obligation to pay Mr. Jones ^20 a year till
the buildings should be finished, Mr. Jones consenting thereto.
The Colonial Assembly passed an act at their session which
began in November, 1753, reciting that part of the county and
parish of Augusta was within the bounds of the Northern Neck
belonging to Lord Fairfax, and setting off this portion of Au-
gusta and a part of Frederick to form the county of Hampshire.
The "returns" of the early sheriffs give us an idea of the
state of the country and the times in which these officers lived.
In the year 1751 the sheriff, on an execution issued in the cause
of Johnson vs. Brown, made return: "Not executed by reason,
there is no road to the place where he lives." Other execu-
tions were returned as follows: "Not executed by reason of
excess of weather;" "Not executed by reason of an axx;"
"Not executed by reason of a gun." In Emlen vs. Miller,
1753 : " Kept off from Miller with a club, and Miller not found
by Humphrey Marshal." In Bell vs. Warwick, 1754: "Exe-
cuted on the within John Warwick, and he is not the man."
In August, 1755, forty-nine executions were returned : " Not
executed by reason of the disturbance of the Indians."
Major Andrew Hamilton was born in Augusta county in 1741. His
parents were Archibald and Frances Calhoun Hamilton, who came to
this country from Ireland. Archibald is said to have been a descend-
ant of James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, who was regent of Scotland
during the infancy of Mary Stuart.
The date of Archibald Hamilton's settlement in Augusta is not
known. He was probably one of the first to come, and like other
early settlers, located on the public domain, without legal title to his
homestead. In 1747, however, he received from William Beverley, the
patentee, a deed for three hundred and two acres of land on Christian's
52 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
creek, in Beverley Manor, for the nominal consideration of five shil-
lings. He also acquired lands by patent from the government. He
survived till about the year 1794. His children were five sons, Audly,
John, Andrew, William, and Archibald, and a daughter named Lettice.
Andrew Hamilton married, in- Augusta, Jane Magill, a native of
Pennsylvania, and in 1765 removed to South Carolina and settled at Ab-
beville, in the neighborhood of Andrew Pickens, afterwards the cele-
brated General Pickens, who had gone with his parents from Augusta
some years previously. Both Hamilton and Pickens entered the mili-
tary service at the beginning of the Revolutionary war. The former
served through the whole war, first as captain and then as major under
General Pickens, and took part in nearly all the important battles in
South Carolina and Georgia. At one time he was imprisoned in a
block-house on his own estate.
After the war, Major Hamilton was elected to the Legislature of
South Carolina, and continued to serve in that capacity till he was
unfitted for it by old age. Then he was requested to nominate his suc-
cessor, who was immediately elected.
The life of Major Hamilton was long and eventful. He died January
19, 1835, in the ninety-fifth year of his age, his wife having died April
20, 1826, in her eighty-sixth year. The remains of this aged and dis-
tinguished couple lie in the cemetery of Upper Long Cane Church, of
which General Pickens and Major Hamilton are said to have been the
first elders.
Major Hamilton is described as a strict Presbyterian in his religious
faith and a man of inflexible will, dauntless courage, and superb physi-
cal development. He left many descendants, and among them are the
Simonds and Ravenels, of Charleston, Parkers and Waties, of Colum-
bia, Calhouns, of South Carolina and Georgia, and Alstons and Cabells,
of Virginia. Some time before the year 1830, Major Hamilton and one
of his daughters, Mrs. Alston, made a trip on horseback from South
Carolina to Augusta county, to visit the spot where he was born and
reared. It was his first visit — one of tender remembrance — since he
had left the county in his youth. A brother of his went to Kentucky
and was the founder of a wealthy and distinguished family.
The Rev. Charles Cummings was born in Ireland and emigrated to
Lancaster county, Virginia, where he taught school and studied the-
ology with the Rev. James Waddell. He was licensed to preach by
Hanover Presbytery at Tinkling Spring, April 17, 1766. As stated, he
became pastor of Brown's meeting-house congregation in 1767. The
elders present at his ordination were George Moffett, Alexander
Walker, and John McFarland. In 1773 ne was called to minister to two
congregations on the Holston. and settled near Abingdon. The call
was signed by one hundred and twenty heads of families — Campbells,
Blackburns, Edmondsons, Christians, Thompsons, Montgomerys, and
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 53
others. The country on the Holston was then exposed to Indian
inroads, and Mr. Cummings was in the habit of carrying his rifle with
him into the pulpit. On one occasion he was engaged in a deadly con-
flict with the Indians. In 1776 he accompanied the troops under
Colonel Christian in their expedition against the Cherokees, and was
the first minister that ever preached in Tennessee. He died in 1812.
The Rev. James Madison, D. D., was born August 27, 1749, near Port
Republic, then in Augusta county. He was educated at William and
Mary College, and first studied law, but soon abandoned that profes-
sion for the ministry. In 1773 he was chosen Professor of Mathematics
in William and Mary, and going to England was there licensed as a
minister by the Bishop of London. Returning to Virginia he resumed
his place in the College, of which he became President in 1777. He
presided as Bishop over the first Convention of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church of Virginia in May, 1785. During the same year the degree
of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the University of
Pennsylvania. He died in 1815. His children were a son, James C.
Madison, of Roanoke county, and a daughter, Mrs. Robert G. Scott, of
Richmond.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN WARS, ETC., FROM 1753 TO 1756.
From 1753, for more than ten years, war raged all along the
frontier. We do not propose to give a history of the general
war, and can only briefly sketch some of the principal events
which immediately concerned the people of Augusta county.
Some account of the Indian tribes most frequently in contact
with the white settlers of this region is appropriate here. With-
ers states, in his "Border Warfare" [p. 39], that when Virginia
became known to the whites, the portion of the State lying-
northwest of the Blue Ridge and extending to the lakes was pos-
sessed by the Massawomees. These were a powerful confed-
eracy, rarely in unity with the tribes east of that range of moun-
tains ; but generally harassing them by frequent hostile irrup-
tions into their country. Of their subsequent history, nothing
is now known. They are supposed by some to have been the
ancestors of the Six Nations.
"As settlements were extended from the sea shore," says
Withers, "the Massawomees gradually retired; and when the
white population reached the Blue Ridge, the Valley between it
and the Alleghany was entirely uninhabited. This delightful re-
gion of country was then only used as a hunting ground, and as
a highway for belligerent parties of different nations, in their
military expeditions against each other. In consequence of the
almost continuous hostilities between the northern and southern
Indians, these expeditions were very frequent, and tended some-
what to retard the settlement of the Valley, and render a resi-
dence in it, for some time, insecure and unpleasant. Between
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 55
the Alleghany mountains and the Ohio river, within the present
limits of Virginia, there were some villages interspersed, in-
habited by small numbers of Indians ; the most of whom retired
northwest of that river as the tide of emigration rolled towards
it. Some, however, remained in the interior after settlements
began to be made in their vicinity.
" North of the present boundary of Virginia, and particularly
near the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, and
in the circumjacent country, the Indians were more numerous,
and their villages larger. In 1753, when General Washington
visited the French posts on the Ohio, the spot which had been
selected by the Ohio Company as the site for a fort, was occu-
pied by Shingess, King of the Delawares ; and other parts of the
proximate country were inhabited by Mingoes and Shawanees
[Shawnees]. When the French were forced to abandon the posi-
tion which they had taken at the forks of Ohio, the greater
part of the adjacent tribes removed further west. So that when
improvements were begun to be made in the wilderness of North-
western Virginia it had been almost entirely deserted by the na-
tives ; and excepting a few straggling hunters and warriors, who
occasionally traversed it in quest of game, or of human beings
on whom to wreak their vengeance, almost its only tenants were
beasts of the forest."
We have no statistics of Indian population in 1753. A Cap-
tain Hutchins visited most of the tribes in 1768, and made the
most accurate estimate he could of their numbers at that date.
The Indian population was no doubt much greater in 1753
than in 1768; ten years of war having thinned their ranks con-
siderably. In the latter year the statistics were as follows,
as reported by Hutchins: The Cherokees, in the western part
of North Carolina, now Tennessee, numbered about two thou-
sand five hundred. The Chickasaws resided south of the
Cherokees, and had a population of seven hundred and fifty.
The Catawbas, on the Catawba river, in South Carolina, num-
bered only one hundred and fifty. These last, although so
few, wrere remarkably enterprising. They are said to have
frequently traversed the Valley of Virginia, and even pene-
trated the country on the Susquehanna and between the Ohio
and Lake Erie, to wage war with the Delawares. The more
northern tribes were the Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas,
56 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Wyandots, Miamis and other northwestern tribes, and had an
aggregate population of about three thousand five hundred.
The Shawnees, the terror of the inhabitants of Augusta county
from the frontier to the Blue Ridge, in 1753, numbered only
about three hundred in 1768/ They then dwelt on the Sciota
and Muskingum rivers, in Ohio.
Kercheval states that the Catawba and Delaware Indians were
said to have been engaged in war at the time the Valley was
first entered by white people, and that the feud was continued
for many years afterwards. Several bloody battles were fought
between these tribes on or near the Potomac. One of these
occurred at the mouth of Antietam creek, in 1736, it is believed.
"The Dela wares, " says Kercheval, "had penetrated far to the
south, committed some acts of outrage on the Catawbas, and
on their retreat were overtaken at the mouth of this creek,
when a desperate conflict ensued. Every man of the Delaware
party was put to death, with the exception of one who escaped
after the battle was over, and every Catawba held up a scalp,
but one. This was a disgrace not to be borne ; and he instantly
gave chase to the fugitive, overtook him at the Susquehanna
river, (a distance little short of one hundred miles,) killed and
scalped him, and returning showed his scalp to several white
people, and exulted in what he had done." Other battles
between these tribes occurred at Painted Rock, on the South
Branch ; at Hanging Rock, in Hampshire ; and near the site of
Franklin, Pendleton county. According to Kercheval, a few
Shawnees continued to live in the lower valley till 1754, when
they removed west of the Alleghany mountain.
According to tradition, a battle between Indians occurred on
the Cowpasture river, near Millborough, Bath county, where
there is a small mound supposed to cover the remains of the
slain. In the spring of 1886 the floods washed away a portion
of the mound, and exposed to view five large skeletons in a good
state of preservation.
Europeans paid little or no attention to the claim of the
Indians to the territory which they held, or roamed over.
France held Canada and Louisiana, which latter was understood
to embrace all the country west of the Mississippi river. The
territory mentioned was conceded by England to France; but
not content with this vast domain, the French claimed all the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 57
territory watered by streams tributary to the Mississippi. In
pursuance of their claim, they built Fort Du Quesne, where
Pittsburg now stands, at that time, as held by Virginians, within
the county of Augusta. In 1753, Governor Dinwiddie sent
Major Washington to remonstrate with the French officer com-
manding on the Ohio, and to warn him that war was inevitable
unless he withdrew. The French persisting in their claim,
Dinwiddie began to prepare for the conflict, and invited the
co-operation of the other colonies. The Indians, at first not
specially friendly to either side, were conciliated by the French,
and proved their faithful and efficient allies during the war.
Colonel James Patton was " County Lieutenant," or com-
mander-in-chief, of the Augusta militia, in 1754. In January of
that year, Governor Dinwiddie wrote to him that he had deter-
mined to send two hundred men to reinforce the troops then build-
ing a fort on the Monongahela. He therefore ordered Patton to
"draw out" the militia of the county, and from them obtain
by volunteering, or drafting, fifty men for the purpose. The
troops were to be "at Alexandria, the head of Potomack river,
by the 20th of next mo. and if possible with their arms, &c."
As the county was large, the number of men called for so small,
"and the pay so very good," the Governor did not doubt that
there would be a sufficient number of volunteers. They were
to be commanded, he said, by Major George Washington.
The company was no doubt raised and led by Andrew Lewis.
At any rate, Lewis was with Washington, July 4, 1754, at the
capitulation of Fort Necessity, and, although wounded and
hobbling on a staff, by his coolness probably prevented a gene-
ral massacre of the Virginia troops. Washington had been
compelled to fall back to Fort Necessity, a rude stockade at
Great Meadows. On the 3d of July, about noon, six hundred
French, with one hundred Indians, came in sight, and took
possession of one of the eminences, where, says Bancroft, [Vol.
IV, p. 121,] every soldier found a large tree for his shelter, and
could fire in security on the troops beneath. For nine hours,
in a heavy rain, the fire was returned. At last, after thirty of
the English, and but three of the French had been killed,
De Villiers, the French commander, proposed a parley. The
terms of capitulation which were offered were interpreted to
Washington, who did not understand French, and, as inter-
58 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
preted, were accepted. On the 4th, the English' garrison,
retaining all its effects, withdrew from the basin of the Ohio.
In his book called " Georgians," to which we have heretofore
referred, Governor Gilmer relates an occurrence near Staunton
as follows :
" In June, 1754, a party of twelve Northwestern Indian war-
riors stopped at John Lewis's on their return from the South,
where they had been satisfying their revenge upon the Cherokees
for some injury received. Some of his neighbors happened to be
there, whose families or friends had suffered from attacks of the
Indians. They insisted upon the party remaining until night, and
exhibiting their dances. Upon their consenting, they left and
employed the time until dark collecting the neighbors who had
suffered from Indian murders. A beef was killed, and a large
log fire made, around which the Indians assembled, cooking and
eating to their stomach's content. They danced and drank
whiskey until their lookers-on were satisfied with the display of
their antics, and then went on their way homeward as far as the
Middle river, where they lodged in Anderson's barn. As soon
as they were sound asleep the whites were upon them with their
axes, knives and guns. Only one escaped. For that night's
doings many Virginia wives were made widows, and mothers
childless. The government of Virginia endeavored to punish
the perpetrators. All fled to some distant part of the extended
frontier of the colonies, except one by the name of King, who
lived a skulking life for a long time, always keeping his gun
near him. He sometimes would go to the old Augusta church,
the great assembling place for worship of the Scotch-Irish of
that part of the country, where, seated upon the sill of the door
with his inseparable companion, the rifle, in his hand, he listened
to the words of the preacher, so necessary to the comfort of the
Irish spirit, whether Protestant or Catholic. He was suffered
to work out his own punishment, avoiding all men, and avoided
by all."
We presume this story is substantially true as related. Gover-
nor Gilmer's mother being a daughter of Thomas Lewis, the
surveyor and burgess, the facts had to pass through only one
or two hands to reach him. We, however, think it probable
that the occurrence took place a year or two earlier than the
time mentioned ; and we find no evidence in the proceedings of
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 59
the County Court, or the voluminous correspondence of Gover-
nor Dinwiddie, of any effort to bring the perpetrators of the
outrage to punishment.
Governor Dinwiddie, wisely or unwisely, precipitated the war
between the English and French in America. After it began he
threw himself into the fray with great ardor. He was indefati-
gable in recruiting troops, calling for help from neighboring colo-
nies and England, writing letters, and scolding and blustering.
He rivaled Horace Walpole, one of his correspondents, in the
number, if not in the elegance, of his epistles. His voluminous
correspondence, published by the Virginia Historical Society,
and edited by R. A. Brock, secretary, &c, is full of interest to
those who have a taste for such literature. He was too much
pressed for time and space to write his words in full, and often it
is difficult to read his productions. He set the rules of gram-
mar and spelling at defiance — especially when in a passion he
rebuked a military officer, or abused the savages. The latter
suffered terribly at his hands, being denounced as " wicked mur-
derers," "insatiate cowards," "villainous," "banditti," "infi-
dels," "vermin." He was economical to the extent of parsi-
mony, demanding an account of every pound of powder or lead
he issued to the troops. Without military training or expe-
rience he planned campaigns, and undertook to instruct George
Washington and Andrew Lewis how to fight the Indians. He
was punctilious in etiquette, and informed Washington : " The
method that you are to declare war is at the head of your com-
panies, with three vollies of small arms for his Majesty's health
and a successful war."
Many of the Governor's letters were addressed to Augusta
men, and others relating to events taking place here. We shall
refer to some of them.
Writing to the Lords of Trade, July 24, 1754, Governor
Dinwiddie gives a highly exaggerated account of the casual-
ties at Fort Necessity. He reports the number of the enemy
killed as three hundred, and " of our people," thirty.
He set to work energetically to repair the disaster and to
organize another expedition to the Ohio. By his order, Fort
Cumberland was built at Wills' s creek where the city of Cum-
berland, Maryland, now stands, and Colonel James Innes was
put in command of it. This gentleman was born in Scotland,
60 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
but came to Virginia with some troops from North Carolina.
He was a favorite with the Governor, who addressed him in one
of his letters as " Dear James." Notwithstanding " the intoler-
able obstinacy of our neighboring colonies," as Governor
Dinwiddie expressed it, North Carolina had sent some troops.
One of the companies, commanded by Captain Bryan, on their
march towards Cumberland on the 27th of July, " mutinied at
Augusta Courthouse," says the Governor, "and would march
no further till a friend of mine advanced ^40." Innes was
expected to proceed across the Alleghanies and assail the
French, and Washington, then a colonel, was to co-operate.
Andrew Lewis was a captain in Washington's regiment, having
been commissioned March 18, 1754.
Richard Pearis, whose name is also written Parris, or Paris,
was located on Holston river, Augusta county, in 1754, in order
to trade with the Cherokees and other southern Indians. The
Governor utilized him as far as possible. Some Indian depreda-
tions had occurred in that quarter, and the Governor writes to
Pearis August 2d, " I am surprised the inhabitants on Holstein
river should submit to be robbed by a few Indians." He sends
his thanks to a certain Chickasaw warrior for "resenting the
murder of one of our people." "Let the Chickasaw know I
greatly approve of his conduct, and have a real esteem for him."
He wishes to know whether "the Emperor," or "Old Hop" is
the head man of the Cherokees. He exhorts Pearis to stir up
the Indians to prevent the building of forts by the French in that
quarter. The trader wanted to obtain " the long island in Hol-
ston river," and is encouraged to hope he may get it.
As we have seen, Governor Dinwiddie was all agog for a
campaign immediately against the Fiench at Fort Duquesne
[Pittsburg]. Washington was opposed to it under the circum-
stances. The force which could be raised was too small, and the
season was too late for a march over the Alleghanies. The Vir-
ginia Assembly at first refused to vote a supply of money. Some
members of that body had opposed the original measures of the
Governor, which resulted in the war. They were not sure that
England had a just title to the region around Fort Duquesne,
which was held and claimed by the French. — [Irving' s Life of
Washi7igton, Vol. I, p. 103.] Under the pretext of protecting
all settlers on the waters of the Mississippi, a supply was finally
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 61
granted, and the Governor proceeded to raise a regiment of
three hundred men, divided into six companies, of fifty men each.
Joshua Fry was Colonel, and Washington, Lieutenant-Colonel;
but the latter soon succeeded to the command, on the death of
the former. Recruiting went on slowly, till bounty land on the
Ohio river was promised to the soldiers. Early in August, 1754,
Washington rejoined his regiment at Alexandria, and was urged
by the Governor to raise the full complement of men, and unite
with Colonel Innes, at Wills's creek.
Governor Dinwiddie wrote to the Earl of Albemarle, August
15, 1754, pleading for assistance from "home," as England was
still called. Two regiments of regular forces, he said, would be
absolutely necessary. To Earl Granville he wrote on the same
day, that the French intended to build forts, not only on the
Ohio, but on Greenbrier, Holston and New rivers, and " the
back of North Carolina." On the 6th of September, he had
heard " complaints from our frontier in Augusta county of many
parties of Indians, &c, robbing and ill-treating our people." In
another letter of the same date, he says: "The French and
Indians are now making incursions among our inhabitants in
Augusta county, threatening our people to depart from their
plantations, and propose building forts on Holstein's, Green
Brier's and other rivers."
"Therefore," wrote the Governor to Washington, September
11, 1754, "I now order you to give a detachment of forty or
fifty men to Capt. Lewis. With them he is to march imediately
to Augusta county, in order to protect our frontier from the in-
cursions of small parties of Indians, and I suppose some French.
Order him to march imediately, and to apply to Col. Patton, the
County-Lieutenant, who will direct him where to proceed that he
may be most usefull." A letter was addressed to Captain Andrew
Lewis the same day — the first of a long series — of which we give
a literal copy :
"Sir : I have order'd Colo. W. to give You a detachm't of
40 or 50 Men from his regim't ; with them You are imediately to
march for Augusta Co'ty. Apply to the Co'ty Lieut, for his
direct' n, where You may be most usefull in protect' g the Fron-
tiers of y't Co'ty. If You happen to meet with any Parties of
French or Ind's; You are imediately to examine the Ind's, of
w't Nat'n, and take them Prisoners, if they cannot give a proper
62 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Acc't of themselves, and if any Party sh'd be obstrepolous and
comit any hostilities on our Subjects, in y't Case You are to
repell Force by Force, but I expect You will be very circum-
spect in Y'r Conduct, and behave with good Discipline of Y'r
Men, and a proper Courage, so y't You may recomend Y'rself
to the Service of Y'r Country. You are to apply to Colo.
Patton, Y'r Father, or any other Person for Provisions for Y'r
Men. I recomend Frugality on this Head, and" [that you]
"have Y'r Acc't thereon properly kept, and so just, y't You
can swear to the Truth thereof, and it shall be p'd. You are
to carry with You a suitable Qu'ty of Amunit'n, and if two
or three Horses are wanted to carry the same, apply to Maj'r
Carlyle, shew him this Let'r, and he will supply You there-
with. You shall hereafter have my Orders w'n to return to
join the other Forces. I now desire You to be as expeditious
as possible in getting to Augusta, as I have several Letters of
some Parties of Ind's, &c, Robbing and Plundering our Peo-
ple. Write me from Augusta. I wish You Health and Suc-
cess in the Com'd You are ordered on, and I remain, Sir, Y'r
Friend, &c."
On the 6th of October Captain Lewis was on his march to
protect the frontier. He went somewhere west or south of
Staunton, but to what point we cannot ascertain, and built a
stockade fort there to check Indian raids — perhaps it was in
the Greenbrier county, or it may have been Fort Lewis, near
the site of the present town of Salem, in Roanoke county.
He could not be spared, however, to remain there long, when
an advance of the main army from Wills's Creek, or Fort Cum-
berland, was contemplated. The Governor wrote to him on
November 5th : ' ' You are to be in readiness to march to Wills's
Creek on the first notice from Governor Sharpe" [of Maryland],
" who now commands the forces, or by order of Colonel Ste-
phens. I am now recruiting more men ; if you can get any with
you I desire you may enlist them, and if you want money for
that service, if Colonel Patton or any other person advances it,
draw on me, and I will pay it." It is matter of regret that we
have no account of what Andrew Lewis did or suffered in this
expedition.
In October, the House of Burgesses made a liberal grant for
the public service, and during the winter of 1754-5 ten thousand
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 63
pounds were sent from England. The. Governor became more
energetic than ever. He determined to increase the number of
companies to ten, and to settle disputes among officers about
rank he reduced all the commands to independent companies,
so that there should.be no officer in a Virginia regiment above
the rank of captain. Washington, considering it derogatory to
his character to accept a lower commission than he had held,
resigned and went home.
Peter Hogg,15 born in Scotland in 1703, settled in Augusta
with his brothers, James and Thomas, about 1745, and married
here Elizabeth Taylor. He was a captain in Washington's
regiment, having been commissioned March 9, 1754. He
finally became a lawyer of some note in the Valley. In January,
1755, he was recruiting on the Eastern Shore, and on the 19th
of that month Governor Dinwiddie wrote to him with charac-
teristic bluntness : " When you had your commission I was
made to believe you could raise forty men. You carried up to
Alexandria only nine, and that at a very great expense. You
have now been two months getting fourteen. There is not an
ensign that has been recruiting but has had more success. * *
The forces are all marched for Wills's Creek. I therefore order
you to proceed directly with all the recruits you have raised
either to Alexandria or Fredericksburg, and make what dispatch
you can to join the forces at Wills's Creek." On the 1st of
February the Governor wrote to Hogg : " I received your letter
and am glad you have raised forty men, with whom I desire you
to proceed the most ready way for Winchester and Wills's
Creek, where I expect the rest of our forces are by this time."
[In the foregoing extracts we have omitted most of the capital
letters and written out many words in full.]
Andrew Lewis was left in Augusta till after February 12, 1755.
The Governor wrote to him on that day : " I now order you to
leave the Ensign, a Sergeant, or corporal, and eighteen private
men at the fort you have built, and with the rest of your com-
pany you are to march imediately for Winchester, and there re-
main till you have further orders. * * If you can 'list some
stout young men that will march with you to Winchester, they
15 Ancestor of the Hoges of Augusta.
64 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
shall, after review, be received into the service, and be paid their
enlisting money."
The ensign left to hold the fort was William Wright. The
Governor wrote to him on the 12th, instructing him "to keep a
good look out," to be exact in his duties, to make short excur-
sions from the fort, and to apply to Colonel Patton, in case of
danger, to have some of his militia ready at an hour's warning.
The apathy of other colonies was a great affliction to the Vir-
ginia Governor. He wrote to Lord Halifax, February, 24, 1755:
" But my heart is grieved, and I want words to express the obdu-
rate and inconsistent behaviour of our neighboring colonies, not
as yet awakened from their lethargy, North Carolina only ex-
cepted, who have voted ^5,000 for the expedition. Maryland
Assembly now sitting. Pennsylvania Assembly adjourned with-
out voting one farthing."
Where Andrew Lewis was and what doing from February 12,
1755, till the fall of that year, we cannot ascertain. Although
ordered by the Governor, in February, to proceed with most of
his company to Winchester, he could not have accompanied
General Braddock on his disastrous expedition. In a letter to
Colonel Stephen, April 12, 1755, the Governor refers to Captain
Lewis as if he were not then at Cumberland, but he was proba-
bly in the vicinity of that place. Writing to Lewis himself,
however, July 8th, he says : " You was ordered to Augusta with
your company to protect the frontier of that county. We have
lately a messenger from thence giving an account of some bar-
barous murders committed on Holston's river, which has greatly
intimidated the settlers. Colonel Patton being here he carries
up blank commissions for officers to raise one company of ran-
gers of 50 men, for the further protection of the inhabitants. I,
therefore, desire you will correspond with the above gentleman,
and if occasion is, he has orders to send for you to assist in de-
feating the designs of these wicked murderers." But in a letter
to Colonel Patton, on the 8th, he says : " Inclosed you have a
letter to Captain Lewis, which please forward to him. I think
he is at Green Brier ; and another letter to Lieutenant Wright,
who I think is at Holston's river."
Lieutenant Wright seems to have gone from his former post —
the fort built by Lewis — to Holston river, and the Governor
was dissatisfied on account of the poor speed he made. Writ-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. . 65
ing to the Lieutenant, also on the 8th, he says: — "I have been
informed you was twenty- two days in marching six miles; this
is not agreeable to the opinion I conceived of you."
General Braddock arrived in Virginia February 19, 1755, with
two regiments of British soldiers, and proceeded to Alexandria,
as the most convenient place at which to organize an expedition
to the Ohio. Washington was summoned from Mt. Vernon,
to act as one of the General's aides, and promptly undertook
the duty. The command consisted of the two regiments of
regulars, augmented by some Virginia levies selected for the
purpose; two companies of "hatchet men"; six of rangers,
from different provinces; and one troop of light horse. The
whole composed an army of nearly twenty- five hundred men.
The Virginia recruits and companies were clothed and drilled
to make them look like soldiers. They were ridiculed by young
British officers, one of whom wrote : " They performed their
evolutions and firings as well as could be expected, but their
languid, spiritless and unsoldier-like appearance, considered
with the lowness and ignorance of most of their officers, gave
little hopes of their future good behavior." In a few weeks,
however, the survivors of Braddock's army entertained a dif-
ferent opinion of the provincial troops.
The army set out from Alexandria April 20th, and proceeded
by way of Winchester, Fredericktown and Cumberland. What
Augusta men accompanied the expedition, we do not know.
It is said that Peter Hogg was one of the Virginia captains,
and we know nothing to the contrary. He was ordered by
Governor Dinwiddie to repair to Alexandria, only a little before
General Braddock arrived there. An humble member of the
expedition was a negro slave named Gilbert, who died in Staun-
ton, in 1844, at the reputed age of one hundred and twelve
years.
Leaving General Braddock and his army to pursue their
tedious 'and painful march, let us observe the course of a peace-
ful traveler who at the same time traversed the Valley of Virginia.
The Rev. Hugh McAden, a young Presbyterian minister, went
from Pennsylvania to North Carolina on horseback in 1755. He
kept a diary of his trip, which we find in Foote's Sketches of
North Carolina. It appears from the diary that an excessive
drought prevailed in the county during that summer.
66 . ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
On Thursday, the 19th of June, Mr. McAden set off up the
Valley of the Shenandoah, of which he says : " Alone in the wil
derness. Sometimes a house in ten miles, and sometimes not
that." On Friday night (20th) he lodged at a Mr. Shankland's,
eighty miles from Opecquon (near Winchester), and twenty
from Augusta Courthouse. On Saturday he stopped at a Mr.
Poage's — "stayed for dinner, the first I had eaten since I left
Pennsylvania."
From Staunton he went with Hugh Celsey [Kelso?] to Samuel
Downey's, at the North Mountain, where he preached on the
fourth Sabbath of June, according to appointment. His horse
being sick, or lame, he was detained in the county, and preached
at North Mountain again on the fifth Sabbath in June, and in
" the new courthouse" on the first Sunday of July. The diary
says : " Rode to Widow Preston's Saturday evening, where I was
very kindly entertained, and had a commodious lodging." The
lady referred to was the widow of John Preston, and lived at
Spring Farm, now Staunton Water Works.
On Monday, July 7th, Mr. McAden rode out to John Trim-
ble's, more encouraged by the appearances at North Mountain
than in Staunton. He went on Tuesday to the Rev. John
Brown's, the pastor of New Providence and Timber Ridge. Mr.
Brown had set apart a day of fasting and prayer " on account of
the wars and many murders committed by the savage Indians on
the back inhabitants," and vehemently desired the traveller to
tarry and preach "in one of his places." He consented, and
preached on Friday, July nth, at Timber Ridge "to a pretty
large congregation."
The diary proceeds : "Came to Mr. Boyer's [Bowyer], where
I tarried till Sabbath morning, a very kind and discreet gentle-
man, who used me exceedingly kindly, and accompanied me to
the Forks, twelve miles, where I preached the second Sabbath
of July [13th] to a considerable large congregation. * * Rode
home with Joseph Lapsley, two miles, from meeting, where I
tarried till Wednesday morning [16th]. Here it was I received
the most melancholy news of the entire defeat of our army by the
French at Ohio, the general killed, numbers of inferior officers,
and the whole artillery taken. This, together with the frequent
accounts of fresh murders being daily committed upon the fron-
tiers, struck terror to every heart. A cold shuddering possessed
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 67
every breast, and paleness covered almost every face. In short,
the whole inhabitants were put into an universal confusion.
Scarcely any man durst sleep in his own house, but all met in
companies with their wives and children, and set about building-
little fortifications to defend themselves from such barbarians and
inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let loose upon
them at pleasure. I was so shocked upon my first reading
Colonel Innes's letter that I knew not well what to do."
This was Braddock's defeat, which occurred on the 9th of
July. On Wednesday, the 16th, Mr. McAden left Mr. Lapsley's
in company with a young man from Charlotte county, who had
been at the Warm Springs, and was flying from the expected
inroad of savages.
The speed with which news of the disaster was circulated is
wonderful. Colonel Innes was left by Braddock in command of
Fort Cumberland. He wrote to Governor Dinwiddie on the
nth, giving him the first tidings of the defeat, and the letter
was received by the Governor on the 14th, Cumberland being
distant from Williamsburg 259 miles. It is hardly possible that
this was the letter alluded to by Mr. McAden, who was more
than 150 miles from Williamsburg; but Colonel Innes no doubt
wrote also to the County Lieutenant of Augusta, and the direful
news was speeded through the country.
Thackeray, in his novel called "The Virginians," gives an ac-
count of Braddock's defeat, and refers to the marvelous rapidity
with which tidings of the disaster were circulated. Alluding to
Eastern Virginia, he says : " The house negroes, in their mid-
night gallops about the country, in search of junketing or sweet-
hearts, brought and spread news over amazingly wide districts.
They had a curious knowledge of the incidents of the march for
a fortnight at least after its commencement. * * But on the
10th of July a vast and sudden gloom spread over the province.
A look of terror and doubt seemed to fall upon every face.
Affrighted negroes wistfully eyed their masters and retired, and
hummed and whispered with one another. The fiddles ceased
in the quarters ; the song and laugh of those cheery black folk
were hushed. Right and left, everybody's servants were on the
gallop for news. The country taverns were thronged with horse-
men, who drank and cursed and bawled at the bars, each bring-
ing his gloomy story. The army had been surprised. The
68 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
troops had fallen into an ambuscade, and had been cut up almost
to a man. All the officers were taken down by the French
marksmen and the savages. The General had been wounded and
carried off the field in his sash. Four days afterwards the report
was that the General was dead, and scalped by a French Indian."
We have further evidence of the widespread anxiety and
alarm, in the sermons of the celebrated Samuel Davies, who
then resided in Hanover county. On the 20th of July, 17^5, he
preached to his people from Isaiah, xxii, 12-14: "And in that
day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning,"
&c. When he began to prepare his discourse, the news of
the disaster had not been received, but full of forebodings the
preacher, after referring to the peace and abundance lately
enjoyed by Virginia, exclaims: "But what do I now see? —
what do I now hear? I see thy brazen skies, thy parched
soil, thy withered fields, thy hopeless springs, thy scanty har-
vests. Methinks I hear the sound of the trumpet, and see gar-
ments rolled in blood, thy frontiers ravaged by revengeful
savages, thy territories invaded by French perfidy and violence.
Methinks I see slaughtered families, the hairy scalp clotted with
gore, the horrid arts of Indian and popish torture." So he pro-
ceeds for several pages, and then : " Thus far had I studied my
discourse before I was alarmed with the melancholy news that
struck my ears last Thursday. Now every heart may meditate
terror indeed ; now every face may gather blackness ; now I may
mingle darker horrors in the picture I intended to draw of the
state of my country. For what do I now hear ? I hear our
army is defeated, our general killed, our sole defence demol-
ished." The people are earnestly exhorted to rally and show
themselves " men, Britons, and Christians on this trying occa-
sion." "What," asks the preacher, " is that religion good for
that leaves men cowards upon the approach of danger?" "And,
permit me to say," he continues, " that I am particularly solicitous
that you, my brethren of the Dissenters, should act with honor
and spirit in this juncture, as it becomes loyal subjects, lovers of
your country, and courageous Christians." At the close of the
discourse he remarked : "It is certain many will be great suf-
ferers by the drought, and many lives will be lost in our various
expeditions. Our poor brethren in Augusta and other frontier
counties are slaughtered and scalped."
ANNALS OF. AUGUSTA COUNTY. 69
Braddock's defeat occurred, as stated, on July 9, 1755. It was
a slaughter, rather than a battle. Colonel Dunbar, the British
officer who succeeded to the command on the death of Braddock,
retreated, or rather fled, with the remnant of the armv to Win-
chester ; and fearing for his safety even there, retired with the
regulars to winter quarters in Philadelphia. Washington and
other Virginians who escaped the massacre, returned to their
homes deeply mortified and indignant at the inefficiency of the
leaders of the expedition.
The consternation was universal, and many of the settlers on
the western frontier fled across the Blue Ridge, and even to
North Carolina. Among the refugees to that province was the
Rev. Alexander Craighead, with a portion of his congregation.
Mr. Craighead came from Pennsylvania and settled on the Cow-
pasture river, near Windy Cove (now Bath county), in 1749. It
is said he had a double motive for leaving Virginia — to escape
the savages, and also the disabilities imposed here upon Dissent-
ing ministers. He was a man of ardent temper, and could not
brook the idea of holding the frontier and protecting the people
of Eastern Virginia from savage inroads, while not permitted to
celebrate the rite of marriage according to the ceremonies of his
own church. He died in North Carolina in 1766.
The alarm about Staunton is described by the Rev. John
Craig in his narrative. He says : "When General Braddock
was defeated and killed, our country was laid open to the enemy,
our people were in dreadful confusion, and discouraged to the
highest degree. Some of the richer sort that could take some
money with them to live upon were for flying to a safer part of
the country. My advice was then called for, which I gave,
opposing that scheme as a scandal to our nation, falling below
our brave ancestors, making ourselves a reproach among Vir-
ginians, a dishonor to our friends at home, an evidence of
cowardice, want of faith and a noble Christian dependence on
God, as able to save and deliver from the heathen; it would be
a lasting blot to our posterity." Mr. Craig urged the building
of forts, one of which was to be the church. He says : " They
required me to go before them in the work, which I did cheer-
fully, though it cost me one-third of my estate. The people
readily followed, and my congregation in less than two months
was well fortified." — [See Footers Sketches, page 32.]
70 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
In the above extract, Mr. Craig seems to refer to the building
of the present stone church, and to fix the date as not earlier
than 1755; but the tradition in the congregation is, that the
house was completed in 1748. Possibly his reference is par-
ticularly to the fortifications constructed around the building, the
remains of which are still visible. Many families took refuge
there upon occasions of alarm. The cattle were, of course, left on
the farms, and the cows were likely to suffer by going unmilked.
It is said that the MofTett family, whose residence was miles
away, had a negro female servant who displayed courage and
fidelity at such times worthy of a heroine. Every night,
mounted on a black horse, as less likely to be seen by a lurk-
ing foe than one of a different color, she rode home, relieved
the swollen udders of the kine, churned the milk of the previous
night, and returned with the butter to the fort before daylight.
Governor Dinwiddie, never wearied in denouncing and ridi-
culing Colonel Dunbar for going into winter quarters in mid-
summer. Writing to Colonel Patton July 16th, he says: "I am
sorry to hear a further dismal account of murders in your
county, and I fear your people are seized with a panic in suf
fering the Indians in such small companies to do the mischief
they do without raising to oppose them. Surely if they were
properly headed and encouraged they would overcome them all.
I have sent some powder, &c, to Colonel Stewart. I have
ordered the whole militia of this dominion to be in arms,, and
your neighboring counties are directed to send men to your
assistance on your application."
It is curious to discover that the people of Halifax county
also were apprehensive of Indian invasion, but Halifax then
extended westward to the Blue Ridge.
The Governor of Virginia, found constant occupation during
this time in writing scolding letters, but in writing abroad he
stood up for the credit of the provincial troops. To Sir Thomas
Robinson, referring to Braddock's disaster, he said : " All the
officers and men raised here behaved well, but am sorry to hear
the private men of the regulars were seized with panic, run
away like sheep."
To Colonel James Patton, the Governor wrote, August 1st :
" This day I have sent a cart load of ammunition, <&c, to your
Court House. How can you think I am able to order susten-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 71
ance to the poor people that have left their plantations ? I wish
they had not been seized with such panic as prevented their
resisting the few enemies that appeared in your county." At
the date of this letter Colonel Patton was in his grave.
Footers Sketches of Virgi?iia, second series, contain a long
account of the circumstances attending the death of Colonel
Patton, and of the captivity and escape of Mrs. Mary Ingles.
Dr. John P. Hale, of Kanawha, a descendant of Mrs. Ingles,
in his work called " Trans- Alleghany Pioneers," 16 gives a still
fuller and, doubtless, more accurate account, and we shall
mainly follow the latter.
Thomas Ingles, says Dr. Hale, came from Ireland when a
widower, with his three sons, William, Matthew, and John, and
settled first in Pennsylvania. According to tradition, he, in
1744, accompanied by his son, William, then a youth, made an
excursion into the wilds of Southwest Virginia, going as far as
New river. On this occasion, it is supposed, he became ac-
quainted with Colonel James Patton. The latter then or soon
afterward held a grant from the British crown of 120,000 acres
of land west of the Blue Ridge, at that time Augusta county,
but in the present counties of Botetourt, Montgomery, &c.
The old town of Pattonsburg, on James river, in Botetourt, was
called for him, and the opposite town of Buchanan was so named
for his son-in-law, Colonel John Buchanan.
During the same excursion, probably, the Ingleses for the
first time encountered the Draper family, who had settled on
James river, at Pattonsburg. This family consisted of George
Draper, his wife, and his two children, John and Mary. While
living at Pattonsburg, George Draper went out hunting, and
was never heard of again. About the year 1748 the Ingleses,
Drapers, Adam Harman, Henry Leonard and James Burke,
removed from James river and settled near the present town of
Blacksburg, in Montgomery county, calling the place Draper's
Meadows, since known as Smithfield.
In April, 1749, the house of Adam Harman was raided by
Indians, but, as far as appears, no murders were perpetrated.
This is said to have been the first depredation by Indians on
16 For the opportunity of reading some sheets of this work in advance
of its publication, we are indebted to Major Jed. Hotchkiss.
72 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the whites west of the Alleghany. It was reported to a justice
of the peace for Augusta county, with a view to the recovery of
damages allowed by law.
William Ingles and Mary- Draper were married in 1750, and
John Draper and Bettie Robertson in 1754. The marriages no
doubt took place in Staunton, there being no minister nearer
Draper's Meadow authorized to perform the ceremony.
In July, 1755, Colonel Patton went to the upper country on
business, and was accompanied, it is said, by his nephew, Wil-
liam Preston. He was resting from the fatigues of his journey,
and also seeking recovery from sickness, at the dwelling of
William Ingles and the Drapers. It was on Sunday, the 8th of
July, says Dr. Hale — but circumstances had led us to fix the
date at least a week later— that an unexpected assault was made
on the house by Indians. Preston had gone to Philip Ly-
brook's to engage his help in harvesting. William Ingles and
John Draper were away from the house. Foote says they and
others were at work in the harvest field ; but if it was on Sun-
day the statement is quite certainly incorrect. Mrs. John Draper,
being in the yard, was the first to discover the Indians. She
hastened into the house to give the alarm, and snatching up
her sleeping infant ran out on the opposite side. Some of the
Indians fired upon her, breaking her right arm, and causing the
child to fall to the ground. Taking up the infant with her left
hand she continued her flight, but was overtaken, and the skull
of the child was crushed against the end of a log. At the
moment of the assault, Colonel Patton was sitting at a table
writing, with his broadsword before him. Being a man of great
strength, of large frame, and over six feet high, he cut down two
Indians, but was shot and killed by others out of his reach.
Other persons killed were Mrs. George Draper, the child of John
Draper, and a man named Casper Barrier. The Indians plun-
dered the premises, securing all the guns and ammunition, and
setting fire to the buildings, immediately started on their retreat,
carrying with them as prisoners Henry Leonard, Mrs. John
Draper, and Mrs. Ingles and her two children — Thomas four,
and George two years of age. The unarmed men in the field
could only provide for their own safety. The country was
sparsely settled, and some days elapsed before a rescuing party
could be collected.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 73
The Indians, on their hasty retreat, stopped at the house of
Philip Barger, an old man, cut off his head and carried it in a
bag to Ly brook's. Preston and Lybrook had gone back to
Draper's Meadows by a different route from that taken by the
Indians, and thus they escaped.
In letters written by Governor Dinwiddie on the nth of Au-
gust (nine letters were written by him the same day) he referred
to Colonel Patton's death. To Colonel David Stewart, of Au-
gusta, he wrote that Patton " was wrong to go so far back with-
out a proper guard." He hoped the wagons with ammunition
did not fall into the hands of the Indians ; but he could not con-
ceive what Patton was to do with ammunition "so far from the
inhabited part of the country." Writing to Colonel Buchanan
at the same date, he expressed regret that the men sent by
Buchanan "after the murderers, did not come up with them."
This is the only information we have of any pursuit.
Colonel Patton's will was admitted to record by the County
Court of Augusta, at Staunton, at November term, 1755. It
was executed September i, 1750, and witnessed by Thomas
Stewart, Edward Hall, and John Williams. The following are
extracts :
" I commend my soul to God who gave it, hoping, through
his mercy and the merits and intercession of my Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, to be eternally happy. My body I commit
to Providence, but if convenient to where I resign my last breath,
to be buried at the Tinkling Spring, where my wife now lays.
* * I order ten pounds to be paid to the Rev. John Craig,
minister at ye Tinkling Spring, as his stepans due from October,
1740, until October, 1750, out of the money now due me by y't
congregation, which money I have advanced for them to build
their meeting-house, &c. Providing I do not pay s'd ^10 be-
fore my death. I leave ten pounds out of the aforesaid debt
when collected, to be layed out by the minister onley for a pulpit
and pulpit cloth."
The testator divided his estate between his two daughters,
Mary, wife of William Thompson, and Margaret, wife of Colonel
John Buchanan, and their children. The Thompsons thus ac-
quired Springhill and about 3,000 acres known as "Indian
Fields," on the waters of Holston river. William Thompson
and wife had a life estate in the property, with remainder to their
74 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
son, James Thompson. The Buchanans appear to have had only
one child, a daughter named Mary.
The executors appointed were John Buchanan, William
Thompson, William Preston, and Silas Hart The last named
declined to serve. Possibly he did not like the direction of the
will, that any question arising between the executors about the
estate should be finally settled by the minister and elders of
Tinkling Spring congregation ! The inventory of the estate
shows that the testator was wealthy, independently of his lands.
It is unnecessary to say that Colonel Patton's request as to his
burial place, was not complied with. It was impossible at that
day to transport a corpse from Smithfield to Tinkling Spring.
He was buried near the spot where he " resigned his last breath,"
and his grave was covered with loose stones. There is no slab
or inscription. An idle report arose that a large amount of
money was buried with the body, and the grave was desecrated
a few years ago by vandals in search of the treasure.
Let us now briefly relate the adventures of Mrs. Ingles. On
the third night out she gave birth to a female child, but was able
to proceed the next day on horseback. She and the other
prisoners were taken by the Indians to Ohio. Being a woman
of extraordinary courage and tact, she ingratiated herself with
the savages, making shirts for them and gaining their good-will
in a hundred ways. Her two older children were, however,
separated from her, and she then determined to escape, if possi-
ble. The narrative of her courage and sufferings on her trip
home is almost incredible. She was absent about five months,
of which time forty-two days were passed on her return.
With an elderly " Dutch woman," captured on the frontier of
Pennsylvania and detained in servitude, Mrs. Ingles was taken
by a party of Indians to Big Bone Lick, now Boone county,
Kentucky, to make salt. This place was so called from the
large number of mastodon bones found there — some of the ribs
and tusks were so long as to be used for tent poles. She pre-
vailed upon the old woman mentioned, whose name is not
known, to accompany her in her flight. Her infant could not be
taken along. It was therefore deposited in a crib and aban-
doned by its mother, whose grief may be imagined, but not
described. Loading a horse with corn, the fugitives proceeded
up the Ohio river. Before they reached the Big Kanawha the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 75
old woman became frantic from exposure and hunger. She
afterwards made an insane attack upon Mrs. Ingles's life, and
the latter only escaped by outrunning her pursuer and conceal-
ing herself.
Mrs. Ingles finally came to the remains of some abandoned
settlements and found a few turnips which had not been
consumed by wild animals. She had now been out forty days
and had traveled not less than twenty miles a day. Her clothing
had been worn and torn by the bushes until few fragments
remained. In this condition she reached a clearing made in the
spring on New river by Adam Harman. He recognized her
call, and hastened to meet and carry her to his cabin. Mr.
Harman took her on horseback to a fort at Dunkard's Bottom,
and there she was found the next day by her husband and her
brother, John Draper, who had been making every effort in
their power for the rescue of the captives.17
The old Dutch woman found her way to the settlements, and
in course of time returned to Pennsylvania through Staunton
and Winchester.
Mrs. Draper was released six or seven years afterward.
George Ingles died in captivity while still a child. Thomas was
redeemed by his father when he was seventeen years of age.
He was unable to speak English, and is said to have been a per-
fect savage in appearance and manners, His father sent him to
school, but he never became fully reconciled to civilized life.
But let us follow the fortunes of Mrs. Ingles somewhat further.
As stated, she was taken on her return to a fort at Dunkard's
Bottom, on the west side of New River, near Ingles's Ferry.
Feeling insecure there, her husband took her twenty miles fur-
ther east to Vass's fort, where the settlers of that region had
gathered for safety. This fort was near the head of Roanoke
river, about ten miles west of where Christiansburg now stands.
Many of the forts, so called, were merely log pens, and others
were log or stone dwellings, larger and stronger than ordinary,
which, however, afforded shelter from savages unprovided with
17 Mrs. Judge Allen Taylor, of Botetourt, was a descendant of Mrs.
Ingles. Other descendants, besides Dr. Hale, are the children of the
late Mrs. William J Gilkeson, and also Mrs. R. S. Harnsberger, Mrs..
William D. Anderson, and others, of Augusta.
76 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
artillery. Vass's fort was a small structure erected by the set-
tlers as a place of temporary refuge.
Still fearing an attack by Indians, Mrs. Ingles prevailed upon
her husband to take her east of the Blue Ridge. On the very day
they left Vass's, that fort was captured by Indians, and every one
in it killed or taken prisoner. John Ingles, a bachelor, and the
wife and child of his brother, Matthew, were killed in the fort.
Matthew was out hunting when the attack was made, and hearing
the firing hastened back. He shot one Indian, and clubbed
others with his gun, till it was wrenched from his hands. He
then seized a frying pan that happened to be near, and belabored
his foes with the handle till he was wounded and overcome. The
Indians carried him off, but some time after, being released or
escaping, he returned to the settlement. He never entirely re
covered from his wounds, however, and died a few months after
his return.
The fort is supposed to have been destroyed by the Indians.
In 1756, however, a stronger fort was built there at public ex-
pense, under the superintendence of Captain Peter Hogg, and
the latter is the fort alluded to by Governor Dinwiddie in his
correspondence as Vass's or Voss's fort.
From early in 1755 till he finally left the province and went
"home," Governor Dinwiddie' s letters flew thick and fast. On
the nth of August he wrote to Captain Andrew Lewis, recog-
nizing him as next in command to Colonel Patton, in Augusta,
and enclosing blank commissions for the officers of a company of
rangers. He also sent him ^200 to defray expenses. To Col-
onel John Buchanan he wrote, recommending the employment of
dogs for finding out the Indians. By the 25th of August he had
four companies of rangers in Augusta. In another letter of the
same date he speaks of five, companies on the frontier of the
county. He still had an eye to economy, however, and took
time to advise Captain John Smith that forty shillings was too
much to pay for a coat to be given to some friendly Indian war-
rior. He never did get over the loss of the wagon which Colonel
Patton had with him in his last expedition. In a letter to Wash-
ington, dated December 14, 1755, the Governor complained of
Captain Hogg's extravagance as follows : "Captain Hogg sent
a messenger here for money to pay for provisions for his com-
pany. The quantity he mentioned I think was sufficient for
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 77
twenty months, and charged ^10 for a trough to salt the meat
in, besides the barrels."
In pursuance of measures adopted by the colonial government,
Washington was commissioned as Colonel and Commander-in-
Chief of Virginia troops. The officers next in rank to him,
chosen by himself, were Lieutenant- Colonel Adam Stephen and
Major Andrew Lewis.
The records of the County Court always indicate the state of
the times. At August court, 1755, Joseph Carpenter, having
supplied several Indians with ammunition, whom he thought to
be friendly, the court fearing they might be "allied to the French
king," ordered the accused into custody till he should give
security.
At October term, 1755, many claims were allowed for patrol-
ling, for provisions for Captain David Lewis's company of
rangers, for going on express, and for guarding the arms and
ammunition sent for the use of the county. At November court
a number of persons qualified as officers of foot companies.
A new courthouse was completed in 1755, and first occupied
by the court August 21.
In several letters, Governor Dinwiddie expressed disapproba-
tion of the conduct of Captain Dickinson, of the Augusta
rangers, in allowing certain Indians to slip out of his hands.
They were called " Praying Indians," because they professed to
be Christianized, but were supposed to be partisans of the
French. Some friendly Cherokees were expected at Staunton
to be employed against the Shawnees, and the Governor wrote
to David Stuart and Robert McClanahan to treat these allies
well.
By October nth, Washington was in command at Winchester,
and at that date wrote to the Governor giving an account of
affairs there. The utmost alarm and confusion still prevailed.
The militia refused to stir. No orders were obeyed which
were not enforced by a party of soldiers or the com-
mander's drawn sword. The people threatened to blow
out his brains. On one day an express, spent with fatigue
and fear, reported a party of Indians twelve miles off, the in-
habitants flying, &c. A second express ten times more terri-
fied than the former, arrived with information that the Indians
had gotten within four miles of town, and were killing all before
78 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
them. Only forty-one men could be mustered, and on leading
them out the colonel found, instead of Indians, three drunken
soldiers of the light horse on a carousal. A mulatto and a
negro hunting cattle and mistaken for Indians, had caused the
alarm at the further point. The inhabitants, however, pressed
across the Blue Ridge, firmly believing that Winchester was
taken and in flames. Captain Waggoner, who had arrived from
Eastern Virginia, reported that he " could hardly pass the Ridge
for the crowds of people who were flying as if every moment
was death."
Washington had lately made a visit of inspection from Fort
Cumberland, on the Potomac, to Fort Dinwiddie on Jackson's
river. On the 14th of October Major Lewis arrived at Win-
chester.
Badly as the Governor thought or wrote of our forefathers of
Augusta county, he did not think more favorably of the people
elsewhere. In October he condoled with Lord Fairfax, County
Lieutenant of Frederick, for having to live among such a set of
people.
After so much strife and excitement, it is a relief to close this
chapter and the year 1755 with a peaceful extract. At a meet-
ing of the vestry of the parish, November 27th, it was "ordered
that the Rev. Mr. John Jones preach at James Neeley's on Roan
Oke ; at John Mathews, Sn., in the forks of James river ; at Au-
gusta Courthouse; at Captain Daniel Harrison's, and at any
place contiguous to Mr. Madison's, at such times as said Jones
shall think proper." The forks of James river was in the pres-
ent county of Rockbridge, and Captain Harrison and Mr. Madi-
son lived in Rockingham.
CHAPTER IV.
INDIAN WARS, &C, FROM 1756 TO 1758.
Although the preceding chapter closed so peacefully, the war
was not over. In fact the worst part of it was still to come, and
for eight years longer there was no peace on the frontiers, and
no feeling of security by any of the white settlers west of the
Blue Ridge.
It is impossible to relate a tenth part of all the stories of ad-
venture during these stirring times which have come down to
us. Many of these are of doubtful authority, and others founded
on fact are so marred by mistakes as to time, place, &c. , that
they have to be omitted. Nobody appears to have cared or
thought at the time of making a record of passing events, and
in the course of a few generations oral tradition became contra-
dictory and unreliable.
Governor Gilmer and other writers relate that the house of
Colonel John Lewis was assailed by Indians on one occasion
when the sons and retainers of the family were absent. Though
old and infirm, Colonel Lewis is said to have stationed himself
at a port-hole and kept up a constant shooting at the Indians,
whilst his wife reloaded the guns. His sons and servants hear-
ing the report of guns returned home and drove the Indians oft.
As related, this story is inconsistent with the authentic history
of the times. It is not probable that any dwelling within two
miles of Staunton was ever besieged or assailed by hostile
Indians. We know, however, that before war had arisen, par-
ties of Indians often traversed the country, calling at houses, and
soliciting, and to some extent demanding, supplies, just as white
"tramps" do now-a-days. Very likely, during this time, a party
80 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
came to the house of Colonel Lewis, and becoming troublesome,
the doors were closed, and guns fired to frighten them away.
Here we may give some particulars in regard to the sons of
Colonel Lewis, all of whom were men of mark, and very con-
spicuous in the early times of the county.
Of Andrew Lewis we have already said much, and shall say
much more in these Annals.
Thomas Lewis, the county surveyor, was disqualified for mili-
tary service by defective vision, but was a man of culture and
influence, and held various important positions. He was a mem-
ber of the House of Burgesses and of the State Convention in
1775, and commissioner in 1777 to treat with the Indian tribes
on the Ohio. He died October 31, 1790.
William Lewis is said by some of his descendants to have
been a physician [see Peytori s History of Augusta county],
while others deny or question the statement. According to
Governor Gilmer's testimony, he was as powerful in person and
brave in spirit as any of his brothers, but less disposed to seek
fame by the sacrifice of human life. Says Governor Gilmer :
" He served in the army only when required. He was an officer
under Braddock, and wounded at his defeat. He was an elder
in the Presbyterian church, of the old covenanting sort."
The fame of Charles Lewis, the youngest of the family, has
come down to us as that of a hero of romance. From all ac-
counts he was an admirable man, and if his life had not ended pre-
maturely would have achieved great distinction. At an early
age he was reported to be the most skillful of all the frontier In-
dian fighters. Once, it is said, he was captured by Indians, whilst
out hunting, and suffered the usual treatment at their hands, but
made his escape. He was forced to go with the Indians many
miles, barefoot, his arms pinioned behind him, and goaded on by
knives. Upon coming to a high bank, he burst the cords which
bound him and plunged down the steep into the bed of a stream.
The Indians followed him, but when his strength failed he fell
among some tall weeds, and his pursuers failed to discover him.
Before he could rise and continue his flight, a new enemy was
discovered. A rattlesnake was coiled near his face and appa-
rently about to strike ; but on his remaining still, the reptile
glided away. A Captain Charles Lewis was a member of a gen-
eral court martial at Winchester, May 2, 1756. Charles Lewis,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 81
of Augusta, was then only twenty years of age. There was,
however, another person of the same name, living at the time in
Eastern Virginia, and he may have been the member of the court
martial referred to.
During December, 1755, or earlier, Governor Dinwiddie
planned an expedition against the Shawnee town supposed to be
on the Ohio river, at or near the mouth of the Big Sandy. This
expedition has been known as the " Sandy Creek Voyage."
Washington did not approve of it, but at the request of the Gov-
ernor, appointed Major Andrew Lewis to command. The dis-
tance from the settlements was too great ; supplies for a large
body of men could not be transported such a distance over so
rugged a route, and the army could not find subsistence in the
wilderness, and, moreover, it was doubtful whether there was any
Indian settlement at or near the Big Sandy. But the Governor
was full of his plans, and could not be dissuaded. He entertained
high expectations, and wrote on the subject to nearly every-
body—to Major Lewis and his subordinate officers, and to public
functionaries in America and England.
In a letter of January 2, 1756, Governor Dinwiddie speaks of
his efforts to conciliate the Cherokees, and says: "It had its
proper effect, for they took up the hatchet and declared war
against the French and Shawnesse, and sent into Augusta county
one hundred and thirty of their warriors to protect our frontier.
These people proposed marching to the Shawnesse town to cut
them off. I agreed thereto, and ordered four companies of our
rangers to join them."
As much doubt remains in regard to many facts connected
with this famous expedition, as surrounds the wars between the
Greeks and Trojans. Various writers state that the expedition
took place in 1757, and that the men were recalled, when near
the Ohio river, by order of Governor Fauquier; but the Din-
widdie papers show that it occurred early in 1756, and that the
survivors returned home more than two years before Fauquier
became Governor of Virginia. To this day, however, the num-
ber of men led out into the wilderness by Lewis is uncertain,
and also how many companies there were, and who commanded
them. Governor Dinwiddie, in his instructions to Major Lewis,
not dated, says he had ordered Captain Hogg, with forty of his
company, to march on the expedition; that a draft of sixty men
82
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
would be made from the companies of Captains Preston and
Smith, to be commanded by the latter; and that Captain Sam-
uel Overton's company consisted, he supposed, of forty men,
and Captain Obadiah Woodson's of forty more. He says:
«
»« One Capt. McMett and some others proposed some men on a
voluntary subscription." " From the forementioned four com-
panies," continues the Governor, " the Cherokee Indians and the
volunteers, making in all 350 men, I think will be sufficient for
the expedition; but if you should think more men necessary, I
leave it to you." He appears never to have known the number
of the men. In several of his letters he speaks of the Chero-
kees under Pearis as numbering one hundred and thirty, and in
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 83
another as eighty ; while his statements of the number of white
men vary from two hundred to three hundred. Among the
captains usually mentioned are, Peter Hogg, William Preston,
John Smith and Robert Breckenridge, besides Captains Overton
and Woodson. These were captains of rangers, then employed
in guarding the frontier. Archibald Alexander commanded a
volunteer company, and, it is said, that Captains Montgomery
and Dunlap led other companies also raised for this special ser-
vice. Certainly there was no scarcity of captains, but the size
of the companies was small, and we are not sure that all the per-
sons named accompanied Lewis. Captain David Stuart acted
as commissary.
Of Peter Hogg and William Preston we have already spoken.
John Smith was the ancestor of the late Judge Daniel Smith of
Rockingham, Joseph Smith of Folly Mills and others.
Dr. William Fleming was a lieutenant, but in whose com-
pany does not appear. From a letter addressed to him, Feb-
ruary 6th, by Governor Dinwiddie, it seems that he acted also as
surgeon of the expedition, and was to be paid for his " extra
trouble." Medicines were furnished by Dr. George Gilmer,
physician and apothecary in Williamsburg.
Captain Overton's company was raised in Hanover county,
and was the first organized in the colony after Braddock's defeat.
To this company the Rev. Samuel Davies preached, by request,
August 17, 1755, from the text: "Be of good courage, and let
us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God,"
&c. 2 Sam. x, 12. The preacher asks: "Is it a pleasing
dream ? Or do I really see a number of brave men, without the
compulsion of authority, without the prospect of gain, volun-
tarily associated in a company to march over trackless moun-
tains, the haunts of wild beasts, or fiercer savages, into a hideous
wilderness, to succor their helpless fellow-subjects, and guard
their country?" But the sermon is memorable chiefly on ac-
count of a note by the preacher, in which he speaks of " that
heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom," he says, "I cannot
but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a man-
ner, for some important service to his country."
Archibald Alexander was the executor of Benjamin Borden,
the patentee, and ancestor of the well-known Rockbridge family
of that name, and the late Mrs. McClung, of Staunton.
84 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
The person referred to by Governor Dinwiddie as " one Cap-
tain McMett " was no doubt Alexander McNutt,18 a subaltern
officer in Captain Alexander's company. He has been men-
tioned as the purchaser of a town lot in Staunton. It is stated
that Lieutenant McNutt kept a journal of the campaign, which
he presented to Governor Fauquier when the latter came into
office, and which was deposited in the executive archives at
Williamsburg. In this journal the writer reflected upon the
conduct of Major Lewis, which led to a personal affray between
Lewis and McNutt in Staunton,
For some years McNutt resided in Nova Scotia, but the
popular belief that he was Governor of that province is un-
founded. After the Revolutionary war began he joined the
American army at Saratoga, and was afterwards an officer under
De Kalb in the south. He died in 1811, and was buried in the
Falling Spring churchyard, Rockbridge.
Major Lewis's command rendezvoused at Fort Frederick,
which is stated by some writers to have been on New River, and
by others, on the Roanoke, near the site of the present town of
Salem. While waiting at the fort for horses and pack saddles,
the Rev. Messrs. Craig and Brown preached to the soldiers.
In his instructions to Major Lewis, the Governor is very
minute. Among other things, he says : " You are to do every-
thing in your power to cultivate morality among the men, and
that they may have dependence on God, the God of armies and
the giver of victory." He does not omit to "recommend fru-
gality."
To several of the captains, the Governor wrote also. Captain
John Smith, it seems, wanted biscuit furnished for the expedition,
but is told he must provide corn-meal or flour. Money to the
amount of ,£100 was sent to the Captain, which "you must ac-
count for on your return," says the Governor. To one and all
he recommended "care and diligence," "love and friendship."
He sent ^100 to Pearis, or Paris, reminding him, however, that
it was to be accounted for, and enjoining "unanimity and friend-
ship."
The Governor thought the expedition ready to start on Feb-
18 Ancestor of the Anderson, Glasgow, Paxton, and other prominent
families of Rockbridge county.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 85
ruary 6th, and so wrote to Governor Dobbs, of North Carolina,
but in this he was premature ; and finding out his mistake, he
rebuked Major Lewis for his tardiness. At the same time he
charged the Major to " take care [that] Mr. Pearis behaves well
and keeps sober." The distance, he thinks, is 200 miles. He
concludes as follows : 'I have no further orders than desiring
you to keep up good discipline and your people in good mo-
rality, forbidding swearing and all other vices, and put your trust
in God, the protector and disposer of all things."
We pause to mention that in February, 1756, John O'Neil
was examined by the County Court on the charge of speaking
treasonable words and acquitted, but being convicted of " abusing
the government and cursing the Bible" he was held for trial.
The expedition having started at last, Governor Dinwiddie
turned his attention for a time to other matters. He indited a
long report to the Lords of Trade on the state of the province.
In this he broaches the idea of a chain of forts from the head
waters of the Potomac, upon the ridges of the Alleghany, to the
North Carolina line, for the protection of the frontier, and also
the establishment of another colony west of the Alleghany, with
such indulgences in matters of religion, &c. , as would induce
Protestant Dissenters to settle in that region.
In March, 1756, the Provincial Assembly passed an act pro-
viding for the construction of the forts referred to — " to begin at
Henry Enoch's, on Great-Cape -Capon, in the county of Hamp-
shire, and to extend to the south fork of Mayo river, in the
county of Halifax."
In regard to the Dissenters in the province, the laws affecting
them were always relaxed in times of war or public danger,
and many of them were disposed to act as if all such laws were
abolished. We find that the Rev. John Brown, of New Provi
dence, was so imprudent as to perform the marriage ceremony
twice in 1755 for members of his flock, but, discovering his
mistake, he did not officiate again in that manner till 1781, when
the law authorized him to do so. — [See list of marriages by Mr.
Brown, published in Staunton' Spectator of December 18, 1866.]
We are not done, however, with Governor Dinwiddie' s report
to the Lords of Trade. He had been endeavoring for more
than four months to raise a thousand men for the protection of
the frontier, but had not been able to recruit above half that
86 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
number. He says : " They are a lazy, indolent set of people,
and I am heartily weary of presiding over them." He esti-
mated the population of the colony as 293,472 — whites 173,316,
and blacks 120,156. The number of white tithables in Augusta
county in February, 1756, he states as 2,273, and of blacks only
40. Multiplying the white tithables by 4, as he did, the white
population of the county was 8,992. All negroes, male and
female, over sixteen years of age, were tithables, and therefore
the black tithables were, multiplied by 2, showing a total black
population in the county of about 80.
After the departure of Major Lewis on his expedition, Gover-
nor Dinwiddie did not forget the enterprise. He continued to
refer to it in his correspondence, and to express sanguine hopes.
He had also sent commissioners, Peter Randolph and William
Byrd, to conclude formal treaties with the Cherokee and Catawba
Indians.
Major Lewis started from Fort Frederick on February 18,
and reached the head of Sandy Creek on the 28th. Before the
middle of March the supply of provisions began to run low, and
soon afterwards some of the party were rescued from star-
vation only by the killing of several elks and buffaloes. On
March 11 ten men deserted, and finally the whole body, except
the officers and twenty or thirty of the privates, declared their
purpose to return. It is related that on the westward march the
raw hides of several buffaloes were hung upon bushes near a
certain stream, and that on the return the men in the extremity
of their hunger cut these hides into thongs, or tugs, and de-
voured them. From this circumstance, it is said, the stream
referred to received the name of Tug river, which it still bears.
Some writers state that a day or two after the retreat began a
party of Captain Hogg's men went out from camp in pursuit
of wild turkeys and encountered a dozen Indians in war paint,
who fired upon them. According to these writers, two of the
white men were killed, and the fire being returned, one Indian
was wounded and captured. What was done with him is not
mentioned. This story, however, like many other things related
of the expedition, is of doubtful authenticity. Governor Din-
widdie's letters imply that no hostile Indians were encountered.
It required two weeks for the men to reach the nearest settle-
ment, and during that interval they endured great suffering from
ANNALS OF' AUGUSTA COUNTY. 87
cold and hunger. Some of the men who separated from the
main body perished.
At what date Major Lewis and other survivors of the expe-
dition returned to the settlements, we have not found stated.
Governor Dinwiddie alludes to their return, in a letter to Wash-
ington, dated April 8th. He takes no blame to himself, but in-
dulges in sarcasm towards Lewis. "Major Lewis," he says,
" and his men are returned, having done nothing essential. I
believe they did not know the way to the Shawnesse towns. I ex-
pect him in town to give an account of his march, &c." To
Governor Dobbs he writes, April 1.3: "The expedition against
the Shawnesse proved unsuccessful. They were gone upwards
of a month; met with very bad weather; a great part of their
provisions lost crossing a river, the canoes being overset. They
were obliged to eat their horses, and are returned, having taken
the Frenchmen, who I believe are of the neutrals, bound to Fort
Duquesne. The commissioners that went to the Cherokees, &c,
are not returned, but write me the Cherokees and Catawbas are
in good humor and profess great friendship. They are ready to
assist us with their warriors, if they can have a fort built for their
women and children."
Fifteen of the returned Cherokees visited the Governor at
Williamsburg, and he endeavored to induce the whole party, re-
duced to sixty, to march to Winchester and join Washington.
Andrew Lewis made his peace with the Governor. At
any rate, whether in wrath or as a token of favor, he was
immediately ordered to proceed to the Cherokee country, now
East Tennessee, and build the fort those Indians had stipulated
for as a condition of their sending reinforcements. He was
directed to enlist sixty men who could use saw and axe, "taking
great care to be as frugal as possible," to be much on his guard
"against any surprise from the enemy lurking in the woods,"
and to lose no time about the business. This order was issued
April 24th. Of course it required some time for Major Lewis to
get ready, and in the meanwhile he was the superior military
officer in Augusta.
On the 27th of April, in consequence of a report that the
French and Indians had invested Winchester, the Governor called
out the militia of ten counties, and Major Lewis was ordered to
speed the departure of the Cherokees under Pearis to join Wash-
88 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
ington. The reports from Winchester were gieatly exaggerated,
and the alarm in that quarter soon subsided ; but some new cause
of anxiety had arisen in Augusta. On the 5th of May the Gov-
ernor wrote to Lewis, in a very sulky mood. He was surprised
at "the supineness of the people of Augusta," who were "in-
timidated at the approach of a few Indians," and most shame-
fully ran away. " They are always soliciting for arms and am-
munition. Of the first," said the Governor, " I have none, and
powder and lead they have been supplied with more from me
than any six counties in this Dominion, and as they have not
exerted themselves in any action against the enemy I fear those
supplies have been misapplied, but still if they want a little pow-
der I can supply them if they will send for it, as the other coun-
ties do, but I have no lead." That unfortunate wagon lost by
Colonel Patton the year before, was still on the Governor's mind,
and he declares that the county must pay for it. Colonel Jeffer-
son, of Albemarle (father of President Jefferson), was ordered to
take half of his militia to Augusta; but Lewis was on no account
to remain here. He was, with all possible dispatch, to proceed
to the Cherokee country and build the fort there. No time was
to be lost. Captain Hogg would assist the people of Augusta.
It was hoped that the Cherokees were on the march to Win-
chester.
We do not know in what part of the country this alarm arose.
Probably it was the disaster at Edward's fort, April 18th, men-
tioned in a note on page in, Volume I, Dinwiddie Papers.
This note states that Edward's fort was on the Warm Springs
mountain, now Bath county, but Kercheval, who was more likely
to be accurately informed, says it was on Capon river, between
Winchester and Romney. In 1756, according to the note
referred to, but in 1757, according to Kercheval, thirty or forty
Indians approached the fort and killed two men who were out-
side. Captain Mercer, at the head of forty of the garrison,
sallied out in pursuit of the enemy, but fell into an ambush, and
he and all his men, except six, were slain. One poor fellow,
who was badly wounded, lay for two days and nights before he
was found, the whites not venturing sooner to collect and bury
the dead.
The apprehension of the people, and the unwillingness of the
men to enlist in the army, were natural and unavoidable. Au-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 89
gusta men were always ready to go on any warlike expedition
when their homes could be left in safety, but to abandon wives
and children to the merciless savages, who came by stealth to
slaughter or capture their helpless victims, was more than ought
to have been demanded. It was no common danger, and one
which no courage could guard against. Governor Dinwiddie,
in his comfortable quarters at Williamsburg, was totally unable
to appreciate the difficulties and the spirit of the people.
The Governor's vituperation of the people of Augusta did not
impair the intense loyalty of the County Court, however others
of the population may have been affected by it. This spirit was
carried to excess, and rather absurdly exhibited at times. It
was in 1756 that one Francis Farguson was brought before the
court " by warrant under the hand of Robert McClanahan, gent.,
for damning Robert Dinwiddie, Esq., for a Scotch peddling son
of a b ," and found guilty. He was discharged, however, on
apologizing and giving security to keep the peace.
Major Lewis did net get off till the month of June. The
Cherokees brought out by Pearis refused to go to Winchester,
but went home, promising, however, to come back with a larger
reinforcement of their tribe. The Governor, on the 12th of
June, addressed a stately message " to the Emperor, Old Hop,
and other sachems of the great nation of Cherokees."
It was determined by a council of war, held at Fort Cumber-
land, that Captain Hogg should have the care of constructing
the forts provided for by Act of Assembly. Washington ad-
dressed instructions to Hogg, dated Winchester, July 21. 1756.
The militia of Augusta were ordered out to assist. The forts
were to be twenty or thirty miles apart, to the southward of Fort
Dinwiddie, on Jackson's river. Lieutenant Bullet was to be
left at Fort Dinwiddie, with thirty privates of Hogg's company,
and the other forts were to be garrisoned by fifteen to thirty
men each. Hogg was instructed not to divide his force, but to
keep his men together, and build fort after fort, without attempt-
ing to construct more than one at the same time. This pre-
caution indicates the danger of attack by the enemy. The
building of the forts was a scheme of the Governor's, disap-
proved by Washington, and resulted in no good.
In a letter to Henry Fox, Esq., dated July 24th, Governor
Dinwiddie says : " About one month ago, one hundred French
90 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and Indians came into Augusta county, murdered and scalped
some of the unweary and unguarded people, but I think the
militia drove them over the mountains." It is tantalizing that
we cannot ascertain the scene of this raid, and other circum-
stances ; but it probably occurred on the frontier, and more or
less remote from the western limit of the present county. In a
letter to General Abercrombie, dated August 12th, the Governor
alluded to the raid just mentioned, or another — we cannot tell
which. He says: "About a month ago, a hundred of them "
[Shawnee Indians] "with some French, came into the county of
Augusta, in this Dominion, killed and carried away prisoners
twenty-four of our people. We killed sixteen of them."
The record book of Courts Martial held by officers of Augusta
militia, from 1756 to 1796, has in part escaped destruction. Both
backs have disappeared, and some leaves also here and there,
but a large part of the volume remains.
We find from this volume that "a Council of War" was held
at Augusta Courthouse, July 27, 1756, by order of the Governor,
to consider and determine at what points forts should be erected
along the frontier for the protection of the inhabitants. The
Council was composed of Colonels John Buchanan and David
Stewart, Major John Brown, and Captains Joseph Culton, Robert
Scott, Patrick Martin, William Christian, Robert Breckenridge,
James Lockhart, Samuel Stalnicker, Israel Christian, and Thomas
Armstrong. William Preston acted as clerk. The William
Christian mentioned could not have been Captain Israel Chris-
tian's son of the same name, who twenty years later was
a prominent man, unless he was a wonderfully precocious boy
in 1756.
The Council unanimously agreed that forts should be con-
structed at the following places: "At Peterson's, on the South
Branch of Potowmack, nigh Mill Creek," two miles from the
northern county line ; at Hugh Man's Mill, on Shelton's tract,
18 miles from Peterson's; "at the most important pass between
the last named place and the house of Matthew Harper, on Bull
Pasture" [the place afterwards designated was Trout Rock, 17
miles from Man's] ; at Matthew Harper's, 20 miles from Trout
Rock ; and at Captain John Miller's, on Jackson's river, 18 miles
from Harper's. The Council then say: "As the frontiers are
properly protected by the forts of Captains Hog [Dinwiddie's],
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 91
Breckenridge and Dickinson, there is no want of a fort unto the
mouth of John's Creek, a branch of Craig's Creek, at which
place a fort is to be erected." John's Creek was 25 miles from
Dickinson's fort. Fort William, 20 miles from John's Creek, and
supposed to be the same as Breckenridge' s fort, was deemed
"sufficient to guard that important pass," and the next place to
the southwest, 13 miles distant, designated for a fort, was Neal
McNeal's. The remaining places named for forts are, Captain
James Campbell's, 13 miles from McNeal's; Captain Vaux's
[Vass's], 12 miles from Campbell's; and Captain John Mason's
on the south side of Roanoke, 25 miles from Vaux's. From
Mason's "to the first inhabitants in Halifax county, south side
of Ridge," was 20 miles.
The Council ordered, subject to the approval of Captain Peter
Hog, that Fort Vaux be at least one hundred feet square in the
clear, with stockades at least sixteen feet long, and be garrisoned
by seventy men. The other forts were to be sixty feet square,
with two bastions in each. The garrisons, besides Vaux's, were
to be as follows : Mason's and McNeal's thirty men each, Dickin-
son's forty, Dinwiddie's sixty, and each of the others fifty men.
The length of frontier to be protected was estimated by the
Council as two hundred and fifty miles, and the number of men
to garrison the forts as six hundred and eighty. The scheme
was abandoned, however, only one or two new forts having been
built.
The Courts Martial record book gives the names of the cap-
tains of militia in 1756. The captains of horse were Israel
Christian, Patrick Martin and John Dickinson; of foot, besides
those already named, Samuel Norwood, James Allen,19 George
Willson, John Mathews, Joseph Lapsley, James Mitchell, Daniel
19 Captain James Allen was one of the first elders of the stone church.
One of his daughters married Captain James Trimble, and removed
with her husband to Kentucky after the Revolutionary war. She was
the mother of Governor Allen Trimble, of Ohio, and the late Mrs.
James A. McCue, of Augusta, the mother of Major J. M. McCue.
Another daughter of Captain Allen married the Rev. John McCue, the
father of Mr. James A. McCue and others. Captain Allen's company, in
1756, consisted of sixty-eight men, and was composed of Walkers,
Turks, Kerrs, Robertsons, Bells, Crawfords, Givenses, Craigs, Patter-
sons, Poages, and others.
92 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Harrison, Abram Smith, Ephraim Love, Ludovick Francisco,
and Robert Bratton.
The Governor had received no report from Major Lewis up
to August 19th. Writing to Washington on that day, he says :
" Col. Stewart, of Augusta, proposed and sent the sketch for
fourteen forts, to be garrisoned by 700 men, but I took no notice
of it, waiting for Captain Hogg's report of what he thinks may
be necessary, and to be managed with frugality, for the people
in Augusta appear to me so selfish that private views and inter-
est prevail with them without due consideration of the public
service, which makes me much on my guard with them." He
appears to have cherished a bitter animosity towards Stewart,
the name being then generally so written at that time, but now
Stuart.
On the 20th, the Governor had tidings from Lewis, and was
happy in the expectation of soon receiving a reinforcement of
one hundred and fifty Cherokees and fifty Catawbas. He de-
sired to have provisions for these allies at several points on their
march to Winchester, and, not being acquainted with any per-
son in Augusta he could confide in, ordered Colonel Clement
Read, County-Lieutenant of Lunenburg county, to make ar-
rangements for supplies at Roanoke and Augusta Courthouse.
Colonel Buchanan had advised him that wheat could be bought
at Roanoke for 2s. 6d., and if Read had "an opinion " of Buch-
anan, the latter might be employed to make purchases. Five
chests of small arms and six barrels of gunpowder were sent to
Roanoke for the Indians. To Lewis the Governor wrote on the
30th of August: "I have wrote Col. Washington that he may
expect the Cherokees under your conduct, and I order you to
march them with all possible expedition. They shall be sup
plied at Winchester with all sorts of ammunition, but no cut-
lasses to be had here."
Captain Hogg enjoyed the Governor's entire confidence, and
was no doubt worthy of it — they were brother Scots. To him
the Governor poured out his heart on September 8th: — "The
behavior and backwardness of the militia in assisting you is un-
accountable, or can I account for the dastardly spirit of our
lower class of people in general, but that of Augusta county, I
think, exceeds them all." Colonel Buchanan, commanding the
Augusta militia, and probably then residing on the Roanoke
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 93
river, is accused of inefficiency; and it turned out that Colonel
Read " has no influence but in his own county." By the date
of this letter, the writer had changed his mind about the forts.
He thought as many as three unnecessary, and the one Hogg
was then building, enough. " Dickinson," adds the Governor,
" is now here, and says he was sent for to the general muster
when his fort was attacked. I told him he had no call to be
there when he otherways was on duty, and he confesses his
errors, but says he constantly kept centries and scouting parties
from the fort for some months" [or miles] " round, and those
that went after the Indians, he says, were militia under different
officers, that he could not command them ; that he had 120
pounds of powder and 200 pounds of lead when attacked. In
short, I am of opinion, if there had been proper conduct they
might have destroyed some of the enemy."
Here again we are ignorant of details. Dickinson's fort was
on the Cowpasture river, some four miles below Millborough.
Withers says [Border Warfare, page 75] the garrison was so
careless that several children playing under the walls outside the
fort were run down and caught by the Indians, who were not
discovered till they arrived at the gate. He states that the cir-
cumstance occurred in 1755, but was no doubt mistaken in re-
gard to the date. He, moreover, is silent as to an assault upon
the fort ; but in addition to the Governor's reference to one,
there is a reliable tradition of an assault, during which a young
gir) aided in moulding bullets for the men. This young girl was
the grandmother of Judge William McLaughlin. The incident
mentioned of her may, however, have occurred in 1757, when
Dickinson's fort was assailed again. Tradition also informs us
that at one time, when a party of hostile Indians was believed to
be at hand, a married woman, hastening with her family and
neighbors to take shelter in Dickinson's fort, was seized with the
pains of child-birth on the way, and was detained in the forest
till her agony was over.
In September, 1756, the number of Indian allies expected by
the Governor had grown to four hundred, and he was correspond-
ingly elated. The Cherokees were highly pleased with their fort,
but desired a small garrison of white men to hold it during the
absence of their warriors. Captain Overton, with most of the
94 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
men sent to build the fort, had returned by September 18th.
Major Lewis remained to bring in the Indian reinforcement.
At a Court Martial held September ir, 1756, Colonel David
Stewart presiding, several persons were exempted from military-
duty, among them one man for the reason that two of his chil-
dren were "natural fools."
The alarm in Augusta still continued. " One-third of the
militia from Augusta," wrote the Governor on September 30th,
11 and some from other counties contiguous have been ordered
out for protection of their frontiers, but they are such a dastardly
set of people that I am convinced they do not do their duty,
which is the reason of the late invasion there. They have neither
courage, spirit, or conduct." Again, on the 26th of October, to
Washington : " I received your letter from Augusta, and observe
its contents. The behavior of the militia is very unaccountable,
and I am convinced they are under no command. I ordered part
of the militia to the frontier and there to remain till relieved by
others, * * instead thereof, they go and come at their own
pleasure, and many of them come here with large demands as if
they had done the duty ordered in a proper manner : they are a
dastardly set of people, and under no management or discipline,
much owing to their officers, who I fear are little better than the
private men."
At last Major Lewis returned from the Cherokee country, and
brought in only seven warriors and three women, to the Gover-
nor's " great surprise and concern."
The French, it was feared, had been tampering with the South-
ern Indians, and had seduced them from the English. One of
the seven was sent back to remind the Cherokees of their re-
peated promises, and the others in Augusta were exhorted by
the Governor to accompany Major Lewis to Winchester.
The fort built by Andrew Lewis was called Fort Loudoun. It
was on the south bank of the Tennessee river, at the head of
navigation, and about thirty miles south of the present town of
Knoxville. In 1760, when garrisoned by two hundred men, it was
beleaguered by Cherokee Indians who had become hostile. Re-
duced to the point of starvation, and without hope of rescue, the
garrison surrendered. Accounts vary as to the fate of the
prisoners. One account states that the Indians fired upon the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 95
whites and killed twenty-five or thirty of them the day following
the surrender, but that the greater number effected their escape.
Another account states that all tjie prisoners, except three, were
massacred, and that the Indians made a fence of their bones.
Captain Stuart, one of the three, was saved by a friendly Indian.
The fort was destroyed. — [Ramsay's Annals of Tennessee^
The South-western boundary of Virginia was not defined at this
time, and, until about twenty years afterwards, all the settlements
on the Holston, even those now in Tennessee, were supposed to
be in Virginia.
The middle of November, 1756, having arrived, Governor
Dinwiddie, thinking there was no danger of invasion during the
cold season, ordered Major Lewis to recall .the men on the fron-
tiers, and to reduce the Augusta companies in service to three.
In the meanwhile, however, he was much concerned about the
accounts sent in by the officers of militia in Augusta. Colonel
Buchanan was instructed to scrutinize the accounts closely, with
the assistance of Captain Hogg. These officers were to meet at
Vass's fort, where Hogg was stationed. When December 23d
came round, the Governor's wrath was particularly directed to
Captain Robert Breckenridge, of Augusta, and Major Lewis
was peremptorily ordered to "put him out of commission."
Early in January, 1757, Governor Dinwiddie was full of another
scheme. This one was instigated apparently by Captain Voss,
Vass, or Vance — the Governor writes the name all sorts of ways,
but Vaux was probably the correct mode — and encouraged by
Colonel Read and others. It seems that a number of persons
calling themselves " Associators," proposed to raise two hun-
dred and fifty to three hundred men for an expedition against
the Shawnees. They were to choose their own officers, to be
provided by the government with provisions, arms and ammu-
nition, to have all the plunder, and to be paid ^"io for every
scalp or prisoner brought in. The provisions were to be car-
ried to Vass's fort, and from thence on horses to the pass in the
mountains, where the horses should be kept under a guard.
The whole affair was to be kept as secret as possible, to pre-
vent intelligence of it getting to the enemy. The Governor had
the affair "much at heart," and on the 1st of February he
wrote: "The expedition is very pleasable." It is observable
that he wrote to nobody in Augusta on the subject. On the 5th
9 3 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of April he wrote to Colonel Read : " Last Thursday I arrived
from Philadelphia, where I was much surprised after the san-
guine expressions and assurances of three hundred men from
Augusta, &c, entering an -association to march against the
Shawness towns is defeated by a presumption, they would not
proceed with fewer than six hundred. This, I conceived, was
intended to load the country with extraordinary expense, and to
furnish arms, &c, for that number, which can't be done. * *
I believe it's only a few persons that wanted command occasioned
this hindrance, and I find it has been usual with the people of
Augusta to form schemes of lucrative views, which, for the future,
I will endeavor to prevent."
Thus another well-laid plan came to naught. Of course, the
people of Augusta were responsible for the failure ! By this time
the Governor was clamoring to be relieved of his labors — he was
weary and sick, and doubtless nearly all the people in the colony
desired his departure, the people of Augusta most of all.
We find from the correspondence, that two parties of Indian
tramps, professing friendship, were roaming about in Lunenburg
and Halifax counties, and committing depredations. They
scalped one of their number in Colonel Read's yard, and other-
wise behaved in a "rude and villainous" manner. The Gov-
ernor feared that Paris was "the ring-leader of all these enormi-
ties " ; but advised caution in bringing the Indians to reason,
as he greatly dreaded a war with the Cherokees.
The Governor's instructions to Washington, of May 16, 1757,
state how sundry forts were to be garrisoned, &c. Fort Loudoun
[Winchester], 100 men under Washington himself; Edward's,
25 men under a subaltern ; Dickinson's, 70 men under Major
Lewis; Vass's, 70 men under Captain Woodward. At the same
time, as he wrote to the Lords of Trade, he had in service 400
Indians from the Catawbas, Cherokees and Tuscaroras. " I or-
dered them out with some of our forces," he says, "to observe
the motions of the enemy, protect our frontiers, and go a scalp-
ing agreeable to the French custom." In another letter of the
same date, he says : "I've ordered them out in parties with some
of our men to discover the motions of the enemy and to scalp
those they can overcome — a barbarous method of conducting
war, introduced by the French, which we are obliged to follow
in our own defence."
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 97
On the 18th of May, one hundred and ten of the Catawba
allies were in Williamsburg, on their way home, " pretending
they discovered the tracks of Shawnesse and Dela wares march-
ing towards their towns ; that they must go to protect their
women and children." They, however, brought the Governor
two Shawnee scalps. On the 26th of May, only some Cherokees
and eleven other friendly Indians remained on our frontiers. At
that date the Governor complained of many disorders by the
Cherokees, while marching through the country. They had
killed a Chickasaw warrior, whose squaw, however, made her
escape.
A party of thirty Cherokees was at Williamsburg on June
16th, on their way to Winchester, and the Governor was obliged
to give them shirts, leggins, paint, &c. Old Hop promised
to send out three other parties by way of Augusta.
From a letter written by Governor Dinwiddie to Washington,
June 20th, we learn that there was a new alarm at Winchester.
French and Indians were said to be marching from Fort
Duquesne, probably to attack Fort Cumberland, and one-third
of the militia of Frederick, Fairfax, and other counties, were
called out. This apprehension subsided ; but the Governor
wrote to the Earl of Halifax : " I think we are in a very melan-
choly situation." On the 24th he wrote to Washington : " Major
Lewis has been very unlucky in all his expeditions."
During the month of July there were " weekly alarms from
our frontiers of the enemy's intention to invade us," and cor-
responding vigilance and activity on the part of the Governor.
On August 3d he wrote to Colonel Read : " It surprises me that
I have no account from Augusta of the terrible murders com-
mitted on the frontiers. * * I hope I shall have the news
you write contradicted, or at least not so dismal as represented,
though I am in great uneasiness till I hear from some of the
commanding officers in Augusta."
We do not know the scene, and have no account of the cir-
cumstances of the disaster referred to in the letter just quoted.
Perhaps, however, a letter of August 8th to Colonel Buchanan,
colonel of Augusta militia, indicates the place. "Your letter of
the 23d of last month," writes the Governor, "I did not re-
ceive till the 6th of this, so it was fifteen days coming to my
bands. I am sincerely sorry for the many murders and cap-
98 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
tives the enemy have made, and I fear the people in pay do
not execute their duty. Where was Captain Preston and the
people at Hogg's?" — [the fort built by Captain Hogg, and
known as Vass's, or Vaux's fort.] " Surely they ought to have
been sent for, and repelled the force of the enemy, as the bearer
assures me there were not above six attacked their house, and
you must be misinformed of the number of two hundred at
Dickinson' s fort — that number, I conceive, would have carried
their point, and I am informed Dickinson was not at his fort.
This I leave you to inquire into, for I fear the country is greatly
imposed on by neglect of the officers," &c. It seems that some
people were captured and carried off by the Indians. ''One
thousand men," continues the letter, "could not cover the
whole frontiers, and I am surprised the reinforcement from the
regiment are not arrived in Augusta, as Colonel Washington
had my orders the 18th of last month to send them directly,
and I hope they are with you before this time. * * I am
pretty well convinced the enemy must have returned to their
towns before this. Let me know where Captain Preston is, and
whether the men at Hogg's fort were apprised of the enemy's
cruelties, and the reason they did not march against them.
* * I am sensibly concerned for the poor people, and hear-
tily wish it was in my power to give them a thorough protec-
tion." In a letter to Washington, on the 9th of August, the
Governor refers to letters from Augusta, Halifax and Bedford,
informing him that the enemy had murdered seven people and
captured eleven.
At Dickinson's fort, in 1757, was a boy who in after years be
came quite famous. He was born in Augusta county, in 1742,
and his name was Arthur Campbell. He had volunteered as a
militiaman to aid in protecting the frontier. Going one day
with others to a thicket in search of plums, the party was fired
upon by Indians lying in ambush, and young Campbell was slightly
wounded and captured. He was taken to the vicinity of the
great lakes, and detained a prisoner for three years, when he
made his escape and returned home. About six years before
the Revolution, he removed to the Holston river, now Washing-
ton county, his father and family soon following. He was after-
wards prominent in the assembly and the state convention of
1788, as well as during the Revolutionary war. One of his sons,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 99
Colonel John B. Campbell, fell at Chippewa, where he commanded
the right wing of the army under General Scott. General Wil-
liam Campbell,20 the hero of King's mountain, also a native of
Augusta county, was Arthur Campbell's cousin and brother-in-
law.
By this time, Governor Dinwiddie was in an ill-humor with
Washington, and wrote him a scolding letter on the 13th of August.
Washington had sent in certain accounts, and the Governor
complains that he could not tell whether the amount was ^100
or ^1000. "You have sent a detachment from the regiment to
Augusta," says the letter, "but you do not mention the number,
or do you mention the receipt of the small arms sent from this,
or any account of the misunderstanding with the Indians at
Winchester. You must allow this is a loose way of writing, and
it is your duty to be more particular to me. * * I approve
of your hanging the two deserters." Washington was directed,
by the same letter, to give Paymaster Boyd, of the Virginia
regiment, a small escort to Augusta Courthouse, where he was
to deliver money to Major Lewis, for the men on duty in this
county. Lewis appears to have been sent by Washington, with
several companies of the Virginia regiment, from Winchester to
Augusta, in pursuance of the Governor's order.
On the 15th of August, the Governor being much indisposed,
Secretary Withers wrote to Major Lewis, leaving it discretionary
with him as to abandoning Vass's fort. About one thing, how-
ever, the Major was left no discretion : he must forthwith suspend
Colonel Stewart from command, "for raising false alarms, terri-
fying the people," &c. Stewart, or Stuart as now written, was
a colonel of militia. He no doubt communicated to the Gover-
nor the recommendation of the Council of War in regard to the
chain of forts, which, as we have seen, was contemptuously
rejected.
The Governor had not forgotten Captain Dickinson. On
September 19th, he wrote to Major Lewis: " Pray ask Captain
Dickinson where he was when his fort was last invested. I hear
20William Campbell was born in 1745, and at an early age settled
on the Holston. He died during the siege of Yorktown, at the age
of thirty-six. He was the maternal grandfather of William Campbell
Preston, of South Carolina.
100 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
he wasn't in it " The House of Burgesses had voted to raise
three hundred rangers, and two hundred of them were intended
for the Augusta frontier. The Governor desired Captain Hogg
to command them, as he sai*d in writing to Washington on the
24th. In this letter he accuses Washington of ingratitude.
The following extract from a letter of Dinwiddie to Washing-
ton, dated October 19th, though not a part of the Annals of Au-
gusta, is too interesting to be omitted : " I cannot agree to allow
you leave to come down here at this time ; you have been fre-
quently indulged with leave of absence. You know the fort is
to be finished, and I fear in your absence little will be done, and
surely the commanding officer should not be absent when daily
alarmed with the enemy's intentions to invade our frontiers. I
think you are wrong to ask it. You have no accounts, as I know
of, to settle with me, and what accounts you have to settle with
the committee may be done in a more proper time. I wish you
well."
Captain Hogg was duly commissioned to command one of the
new companies of rangers in Augusta, under direction of Major
Lewis. The private men were to be paid twelve pence, about
fifteen cents, a day, and find their own clothing. To Major
Lewis, the Governor wrote, in October : " Recommend morality
and sobriety to all the people, with a due submission and regard
to Providence. Let swearing, private quarrels, drunkenness and
gaming be strictly forbid."
The next victim of Governor Dinwiddie' s displeasure was Col-
onel John Spotswood, County Lieutenant of Spotsylvania county.
Some blank commissions had been sent to Colonel Spotswood to
be delivered to company officers when appointed. Colonel
bpotswood, however, had committed the offence of giving a
colonel's commission to Benjamin Pendleton, and a major's to
Charles Lewis. This was not, we presume, the Augusta hero of
the same name.21 The offence was enhanced by the fact that
21 An act of the General Assembly, passed in 1769, in regard to certain
entailed lands, shows that a John Lewis, who lived in Gloucester county,
had a son named Charles. This Charles was probably the person re-
ferred to by the Governor. It is not likely that the County Lieutenant
of Spotsylvania would have delivered a commission to Charles Lewis,
of Augusta.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 101
Pendleton had no estate in the county, and kept an ordinary. As
to Lewis, whatever his fault may have been, he " deserves no
commission from me," says the angry Governor. Moreover,
Thomas Estib and Aaron Bledstone had been appointed captains,
although they were insolvent and not able to pay their levies.
" This conduct," says the Governor, " is prostituting my com-
missions entrusted with you, and pray what gentleman of charac-
ter will role with such persons that have neither land nor ne-
groes" !
The Governor's last letter to Major Lewis is dated December,
1757. In this parting shot, he denounced again the "many vil-
lainous and unjust accounts" sent in from Augusta. He said :
" Preston and Dickinson are rangers, and so must Captain
Hogg's ; but I don't agree to have any militia in pay, for they
have hitherto been pick pockets to the country."
Here we take leave of rare Governor Dinwiddie. He took his
departure from the country, in January, 1758. On account of
the historical value of his letters we could have better spared a
better man.
The vestry of Augusta parish had established a "chapel of
care" at the forks of James river, and paid Sampson Mathews
a small salary for his services as reader at that point ; but in the
fall of 1757, the greater part of the inhabitants thereabouts
"having deserted their plantations by reason of the enemy
Indians," it was resolved that the chapel referred to was unne-
cessary, and the services of the reader were discontinued.
At the same meeting, it appearing that the glebe buildings
had not been completed, it was ordered that suit be brought
against the contractor, Colonel John Lewis. Our ancestors be-
lieved in law-suits, and were no respecters of persons. For a
year or more the vestry were engaged in litigation with another
prominent citizen, Robert McClanahan, who had been High
Sheriff and collector of the parish levy, without accounting
therefor, it was charged.
CHAPTER V
INDIAN WARS, ETC., FROM 1758 TO 1764.
Before the departure of Dinwiddie, the Earl of Loudoun,
commander-in-chief of British forces in America, was commis-
sioned Governor of Virginia, but it is believed he never visited
the colony. Francis Fauquier was afterwards appointed, and
arrived in June, 1758, the duties of the office being discharged
in the meanwhile by John Blair, President of the Council.
It is stated that in the early part of 1758 sixty persons were
murdered by Indians in Augusta county, but exactly where and
when we are not told. — [Campbell's History of Virginia, page
500.] Possibly the allusion is to the massacre at Seybert's fort.
This fort was in the northern part of the present county of
Highland, then Augusta. There the inhabitants of the sur-
rounding country had taken shelter from the Indians. Between
thirty and forty persons of both sexes and all ages were in the
enclosure. No Indians having yet appeared, a youth named
James Dyer and his sister went outside one day for some pur-
pose, and had not proceeded far before they came in view of
forty or fifty Shawnees going towards the fort. Hurrying back
to provide for their own safety and give the alarm, they were
overtaken and captured. The place was incapable of withstand-
ing a vigorous assault, and the garrison was poorly supplied with
ammunition. Captain Seybert, therefore, determined to surren-
der, and did so in spite of the opposition of some of the peo-
ple. The gate was thrown open, and the money and other
stipulated articles were handed over to the Indians. Thereupon,
one of the most ruthless tragedies of Indian warfare was perpe-
trated. The inmates of the fort were arranged in two rows and
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 103
nearly ali of them were tomahawked. A few, spared from
caprice or some other cause, were carried off into captivity.
Young Dyer was the only captive who ever returned.
He was taken to Logstown, thence to the Muskingum, and
thence to Chilicothe, where he remained a prisoner nearly two
years. Accompanying the Indians to Fort Pitt, he there con-
cealed himself in a hovel, and after two years more returned
home.
• At a court-martial held at the courthouse May 19, 1758, upon
the complaint of Edward McGary, the conduct of Captain
Abraham Smith on a recent occasion was inquired into. Cap-
tain Smith was "out with a part of his company on the South
Branch after Seybert's fort was burned by the enemy," and was
accused by McGary, a member of the company, of cowardice.
The court declared the charge without foundation and malicious.
They then took McGary in hand, found him guilty of insubor-
dination, and fined him forty shillings for that offence and five
shillings "for one oath."
Another expedition for the capture of Fort Duquesne was set
on foot early in 1758. It was under command of General Forbes,
a meritorious British officer, but in a feeble state of health.
Washington was still commander-in-chief of the Virginia troops,
now consisting of two regiments, one led by himself and the
other by Colonel Byrd. Forbes' s command consisted of about
1,600 British regulars, 2,700 men contributed by Pennsylvania,
and the Virginia regiments of 1,800 or 1,900, making altogether
an army of more than 6000 men, besides some Indian allies.
Washington gathered his regiment at Winchester, several of
the companies being recalled from Augusta, and from that place
was ordered to Fort Cumberland, where he arrived on the 2d of
July, and was detained there till the middle of September.
The troops being scantily supplied with clothing, Washington
equipped two companies, under the immediate command of
Major Lewis, in hunting shirts, and that style soon became all the
fashion.
Colonel Bouquet, who commanded the advanced division of
the army, took his station at Raystown, in the centre of Penn-
sylvania. General Forbes arrived at that place in September,
and ordered Washington to join him there. Bouquet then made
a further advance, and, while upwards of fifty miles from Du-
104 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
quesne, sent on a detachment under Major Grant to reconnoitre.
This body consisted of eight hundred picked men, some of
them British regulars, others in Indian garb, a part of the Vir-
ginia regiment, and commanded by Major Lewis.
Arrived in the vicinity of the fort, Grant posted Lewis in the
rear to guard the baggage, and, forming his regulars in battle
array, sent an engineer to take a plan of the works, in full view
of the garrison. When he was completely thrown off his
guard, " there was a sudden sally of the garrison, and an at-
tack on the flanks by Indians hid in ambush. A scene now
occurred similar to that at the defeat of Braddock. The
British officers marshaled their men according to European
tactics, and the Highlanders for some time stood their ground
bravely, but the destructive fire and horrid yells of the
Indians soon produced panic and confusion. Major Lewis,
at the first noise of the attack, left Captain Bullitt with fifty
Virginians to guard the baggage, and hastened with the main
part of his men to the scene of action. The contest was kept
up for some time, but the confusion was irretrievable. The
Indians sallied from their concealment, and attacked with the
tomahawk and scalping-knife. Lewis fought hand to hand with
an Indian brave, whom he laid dead at his feet, but was sur-
rounded by others, and only saved his life by surrendering
himself to a French officer. Major Grant surrendered himself
in like manner. The whole detachment was put to the rout
with dreadful carnage." — \_Irvings Life of Washington, Volume
I, page 285.]
Captain Bullitt rallied some of the fugitives, and made a gal-
lant stand. He finally drove off the pursuing Indians, and
then collecting as many of the wounded as he could, hastily
retreated. The routed detachment returned in fragments to
Bouquet's camp, with the loss of twenty-one officers, and two
hundred and seventy-three privates, killed and taken. Wash-
ington's regiment lost six officers and sixty-two privates.
The Highlanders of Grant's command were not acquainted
with the Indian custom of scalping, and it is said that when
Lewis was advancing with his provincials he met a Highlander
flying from the field, and inquiring about the battle, was answered
that they were "a' beaten, and Donald McDonald was up to
his hunkers in mud, with a' the skeen af his heed."
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 105
No doubt many Augusta men were in the affair just men-
tioned; but Andrew Lewis is the only one of them whose name
we know. Nor do we know how long Major Lewis remained a
prisoner. He will not appear again in these Annals till 1763,
when he was at home, but preparing to go to war.
The army of General Forbes resumed its march in November,
Washington commanding a division and leading the way.
Nearing Fort Duquesne, the ground was strewed with human
bones, the relics of Braddock's and Grant's defeats. Arriving in
sight of the fort, the place was found to be abandoned. The
French, not exceeding five hundred in number, deserted by the
Indians, and without a sufficient supply of provisions, had set
fire to the fort and retreated down the Ohio in boats. On the
25th of November, Washington marched in, and planted the
British flag on the smoking ruins. The fortress was repaired,
and the name changed to that of Fort Pitt.
The officers and men of Forbes' s army united in collecting
the bones of their fellow-soldiers who had fallen in the recent
battles and routs, and burying them in a common grave.
Washington soon retired from the army, and was not again
engaged in war till called out at the Revolution. In 1758, he
was elected a member of the House of Burgesses from Frede-
rick county.
The County Court of Augusta and the vestry of the parish
held regular meetings in 1758, but we find little that is interest-
ing in their proceedings. The vestry appear to have been faith-
ful in taking care of the poor, at least in burying them ; and at
every pauper burial there was a liberal allowance of liquor at
public expense. At one time the parish collector was credited by
six shillings expended by him, "for a poor child's burial, two
gallons of liquor." At the same time credit was given for 5s.
8d. "for nine quarts of liquor at burial of William Johnson."
James Wiley cost the parish, one year, £13, is. He seems to
have been "a beggar on horseback," as John Young was al-
lowed 10s. for keeping his horse, and 2s. for shoeing the same.
He was also allowed 2s. 6d. for leather breeches, and 2s. 3d. for
making a shirt. Possibly Wiley was an old ranger who had
been disabled in the public service.
At the meeting of the vestry in November, 1758, James Lock-
hart moved to "lay a levy for building a church in the parish,"
106 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
but the proposition was defeated, the vote standing : for a
church, James Lockhart, John Archer, Sampson Archer and John
Matthews ; against, Colonel Buchanan, John Buchanan, John
Christian, Robert Breckenridge and John Smith.
From the close of 1758 till 1761, the people of Augusta ap-
pear to have been relieved from the alarms of savage warfare.
We have no account of any massacre or raid during that time.
The year 1759 is a blank in our Annals, affording not one item.
In 1760, however, a tragedy occurred in the present county
of Rockingham, then part of Augusta, which must be briefly
related. Two Indians came to Mill Creek, now Page county,
and were pursued by three white men. One of the Indians was
killed, but the other escaped with the loss of his gun. The
fugitive encountered a young woman named Sechon, on horse-
back, near the site of New Market. Dragging her from the
horse, he compelled her to accompany him. After traveling
about twenty miles, chiefly in the night, and getting nearly
opposite Keezeltown, in Rockingham, the poor girl broke
down, it was supposed, and was beaten to death with a pine
knot. Her cries were heard by persons in the neighborhood,
and the next day they found her body stripped naked.
We are indebted to Kercheval (page 138) for this narrative.
He has preserved accounts of many Indian massacres, but all
of them, except the above, occurred outside of Augusta county,
even as it was originally, and therefore do not come within the
scope of these Annals.
In or about the same year, 1760, a party of eight or ten
Indians crossed the Blue Ridge, and murdered some people
living east ot the mountain, in what was then Bedford or Hali-
fax county. They took several women and children prisoners,
and loading horses with plunder returned by way of the New
River settlement. A man from the Ingles Ferry fort, who was
out in search of strayed horses, discovered the Indians in their
camp at night, six miles from that fort. William Ingles as-
sembled sixteen or eighteen men, and, guided by the man who
had made the discovery, proceeded to attack the Indians. The
assault was made while the Indians were preparing their break-
fast, and a sharp fight ensued. One white man was killed.
Seven Indians were shot down, and the remainder escaped.
All the captives and stolen property were recovered. This is
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 107
said to have been the last battle with Indians in that region. —
[Dr. Hale's narrative.]
The vestry of Augusta county, at their meeting in May, 1760,
unanimously agreed to build a church in Staunton, on the
ground laid off for that purpose. A committee was appointed to
let out the work, which was to be done in " a fashionable and
workmanlike manner." The dimensions of the building were
40 feet by 25 feet, and the total cost ^499, or $1,663.33^.
Francis Smith, of Hanover county, contracted to build the
church, of brick, and to finish it by December 1, 1762. He en-
tered into bond, with William Preston and Charles Lewis as his
securities.
In 1761 the Indians renewed the war with all its horrors, if
indeed it had ever been suspended. But from this time, for sev-
eral years, there is much uncertainty in respect to dates and the
scenes of occurrences which are related more or less circumstan-
tially. Our chief authority for some two years is Withers's
"Border Warfare," and we shall repeat the narratives of that
writer without being able to elucidate the history.
Withers states that in the summer of 1761 about sixty Shaw-
nee warriors penetrated the settlements on the head waters of
James river. They avoided the fort at the mouth of Looney's
creek, and passed through Bowen's gap in Purgatory mountain
(near Buchanan, in Botetourt county). Coming to the settle-
ments, they killed Thomas Perry, Joseph Dennis and his child,
and made prisoner his wife, Hannah Dennis. Proceeding to the
house of Robert Renix, who was not at home, they captured
Mrs. Renix (a daughter of Sampson Archer, one of the vestry-
men of Augusta parish) and her five children — William, Robert,
Thomas, Joshua and Betsey. At the house of Thomas Smith,
they shot and scalped Smith and Renix, and captured Mrs. Smith
and a servant girl named Sally Jew.
George Mathews, of Staunton, and William and Audley
Maxwell were on their way to Smith's house at the time of the
assault. Hearing the report of the guns as they approached,
they supposed there was a shooting match at the place ; but on
riding up to the house, they discovered the dead bodies of Smith
and Renix lying in the yard. The Indians had concealed them-
selves in and behind the house when they saw Mathews and his
companions approaching, and fired upon them as they wheeled
108 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
to ride back. The curl of Mathews's cue was cut off, and Aud-
ley Maxwell was slightly wounded in the arm.
The Indians then divided their party, twenty of them with
their prisoners and plunder returning to Ohio, while the remain
der started towards Cedar creek to commit further depredations.
But Mathews and the Maxwells had aroused the settlement, and
all the people soon collected at Paul's fort, at the Big Spring,
near Springfield. Here the women and children were left to be
defended by Audley Maxwell and five other men ; twenty-one
men led by Mathews, going in search of the enemy. The In-
dians were soon encountered, and, after a severe engagement,
took to flight. They were pursued as far as Purgatory creek,
but escaped in the night, and overtaking their comrades at the
mouth of the Cowpasture river, proceeded to Ohio without fur-
ther molestation. Three whites (Benjamin Smith, Thomas
Maury and the father of Sally Jew) and nine Indians were killed
in the engagement. Returning to the battlefield the next morn-
ing, Mathews and his men buried the dead Indians on the spot.
The whites slain there, and those murdered on the preceding
day, were buried near the fork of a branch in what was (in 1831)
the Meadow of Thomas Cross, Sen.
Mrs. Dennis was detained by the Indians at Chilicothe towns
till 1763, when she made her escape, as will be related. Mrs.
Renix remained with the Indians till 1767.
The town of Staunton was at last chartered by act of assembly,
in November, 1761. The first trustees of the town were, Wil-
liam Preston, Israel Christian, David Stuart, John Brown, John
Page, William Lewis, William Christian, Eledge McClanahan,
Robert Breckenridge, and Randal Lockheart. The act pro-
vided that two fairs might be held annually, in June and
November, but positively prohibited the building of wooden
chimneys in the town.
An aged man named James Hill, testifying in 1807, in the cause
of Peter Heiskell vs. The Corporation of Staunton^ gave some
account of the town in 1762 when he settled here. Sampson
and George Mathews kept store at the northeast corner of
Beverley and Augusta streets. Sampson Mathews also kept an
ordinary in the long frame building, a story and a half high,
with dormer windows, which formerly stood on the east side of
Augusta street below Frederick. The lot at the southwest cor-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 109
ner of Augusta and Frederick was, in 1762, "Mathews's stable
lot." Mrs. Woods lived on the west side of Augusta street,
about midway between Beverley and Frederick. Mrs. Cowden
lived on the west side of Augusta street, a little north of Bev-
erley, and Daniel Kidd lived where the Lutheran church now
stands. The deposition of Hill and the diagram which accom-
panied it show that most of the twenty-five acres donated by
Beverley in 1749 to the county, was occupied by town. lots and
streets in 1762.
Sampson Mathews was the father in-law of the late venerable
Samuel Clark, of Staunton, and of Mr. Alexander Nelson,
whose descendants are quite numerous George Mathews has
already been mentioned, and will often appear again.
Colonel John Lewis, the pioneer, was a member of the Green-
brier Company, and acquired landed possessions in the region
named. We have seen that he and his son, Andrew, were pros-
pecting in that region in 175 1. The Indian wars checked the
proceedings of the Company, and retarded the settlement of the
country, but a few families moved there and made two settle-
ments, holding on in spite of the dangers to which they were
exposed.
Colonel Lewis died February 1, 1762, having attained the age
of eighty-four years. His will, executed November 28, 1761,
and admitted to record November 18, 1762, expressed the
writer's pious hopes. He was buried on the farm where he
lived, two miles east of Staunton. The executors were the tes-
tator's three sons, Thomas, Andrew, and William. Charles is
named in the will, but no mention is made of Samuel. In
person Colonel John Lewis is described as having been tall and
muscular, and he is said to have been the best backwoodsman
of his day. He was born in the reign of Charles II, and lived
through the reigns of James II, William and Mary, Queen Anne,
George I, George II, and during two years of the reign of
George III.
The proceedings of the vestry, in 1762, furnish to us several
curious items. Samuel Craige was allowed £6, 23. 6d. ''for
keeping a Dutchman;" and another item was allowed on ac-
count of " goods for the Dutchman," An order was entered
in November, 1762, authorizing the purchase of one hundred
acres of land, within ten miles from Staunton, on which to erect
110 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
a poorhouse. The buildings were to have wooden chimneys,
and to cost not more than ^30 — $100. In 1763, the building
was postponed for a year, and the work was not resumed till
November, 1764.
In 1762, Hugh Green preferred a bill against the parish for
keeping Mary Leeper, a pauper, and for her funeral expenses.
Among the items of the latter were three gallons of liquor, 9s ;
a bushel -of flour for cakes, 3s.; and three and a half pounds of
sugar, 2s. 1 id.
In the same year an account of the widow Young against the
parish was recorded in the Vestry Book as follows: " To laying-
in, and charges with the attendance of two children ; also half
pound of pepper, and half pound of allspice, and three quarts
and one pint liquor. I likewise acted as granny for Elianor
Dunn — £2." Among the items of another account was one
" for three pints of wine for sacrament — 3s. gd.
Dr. William Fleming was practising his profession in the
parish in 1762, living in the part of the county which is now
Botetourt. For professional services to paupers the parish was
indebted to him £15, us.22
The parish church at Staunton was finished early in 1763, and
was accepted by the vestry June 25th. Two members of the
vestry — Sampson Mathews and John Poage — voted against
receiving the building, they " supposing the brick in the church
to be insufficient."
Canada was conquered by the English in 1759, but peace
between Great Britain and France was not formally concluded
till 1763. The savage allies of the French, however, having
acquired a taste for blood, continued the war on the English
settlements until the latter part of 1764. Cornstalk, the cele-
22 Dr. Fleming was a native of Scotland. As has been seen, he was
surgeon of the Sandy Creek expedition in 1756. It is said that he
settled in Botetourt in 1760, and when that county was organized, in
i769-'7o, he was one of the first justices of the peace. In 1774 he
was colonel of the Botetourt regiment at the battle of Point Pleasant-
He was long a member of the Virginia Assembly, and in 1781 was a
member of the Council, during which year he for awhile acted as
Governor. His wife was a daughter of Israel Christian, and one of
his daughters was the wife of the Rev. Dr. Baxter. He removed to
Kentucky, and a county in that State was called for him.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. Ill
brated Shawnee warrior, appears in history for the first time in
1763. Nothing is known of his youth.
Mrs. Dennis, who was captured by the Indians, in 1761, on
the upper James river (now Botetourt county), made her escape,
as stated, in 1763. She left the Chilicothe towns in June of that
year, under pretext of gathering herbs for medicinal purposes.
When her flight was suspected, she was pursued and fired at by
the Indians, but managed to conceal herself in the hollow limb
of a fallen tree. Crossing the Ohio river on a log, and subsist-
ing on ropts, herbs, and wild fruit, she arrived, nearly exhausted
with fatigue and hunger, on the Greenbrier river. There, after
giving up all hope of surviving, she was found by Thomas
Athol and others, and taken to the settlement at Archibald Clen-
denin's, called the Levels. Remaining at this place for a time
to recuperate, she was then taken on horseback to Fort Young
[Covington], from whence she was conducted home to her
relations.
We have two independent accounts of the immediately succeed-
ing occurrences — one by Withers, and the other by Colonel John
Stuart, of Greenbrier, in his " Memoir of the Indian Wars." We
shall mainly follow the latter.
A few days after Mrs. Dennis had gone from Clendenin's, a
party of about sixty Indians, headed by Cornstalk, came to the
settlement on Muddy creek, one of the only two white settle-
ments in Greenbrier. It is supposed that these Indians were in
pursuit of Mrs. Dennis. They professed to be friendly, and
were treated hospitably by the white people, who imagined that
the war was over. Small parties of them were entertained at
the various cabins, until, to the astonishment of the unprepared
settlers, the savages rose on them and tomahawked all except a
few women and children, whom they reserved as prisoners.
From Muddy creek the Indians passed over into the Levels,
where some families were collected at Clendenin's — numbering
between fifty and one hundred persons, men, women and chil-
dren. There, says Colonel Stuart, they were entertained, as at
Muddy creek, in the most hospitable manner. " Clendenin
having just arrived from a hunt, with three fat elks, they were
plentifully feasted. In the meantime, an old woman with a sore
leg, was showing her distress to an Indian and inquiring if he
could administer to her relief; he said he thought he could, and
112
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
drawing his tomahawk instantly killed her and all the men almost
that were in the house.
" Conrad Yolkorn only escaped, by being some distance from
the house, where the outcries of the women and children alarmed
him. He fled to Jackson's river and alarmed the people, who
were unwilling to believe him, until the approach of the Indians
convinced them. All fled before them ; and they pursued on to
Carr's creek [now Rockbridge county], where many families were
killed and taken by them.
"At Clendenin's a scene of much cruelty was performed ; and
a negro woman, who was endeavoring to escape, killed her own
child lest she might be discovered by its cries.
" Mrs. Clendenin did not fail to abuse the Indians, calling
them cowards, &c. , although the tomahawk was drawn over her
head with threats of instant death, and the scalp of her husband
lashed about her jaws.
" The prisoners were all taken over to Muddy creek, and a
party of Indians detained them there till the return of the
others from Carr's creek, when the whole were taken off to-
gether. On the day they started from the foot of Keeney's
Knob, going over the mountain, Mrs. Clendenin gave her infant
to a prisoner woman to carry, as the prisoners were in the cen-
tre of the line with the Indians in front and rear, and she es-
caped into a thicket and concealed herself. The cries of the
child soon made the Indians inquire for the mother, and one
of them said he would bring the cow to the calf." Taking the
child by the heels he beat its brains out against a tree and
throwing it in the path the savages and horses trampled
over it. " She told me," says Colonel Stuart, "she returned
that night in the dark to her own house, a distance of more than
ten miles, and covered her husband's corpse with rails which lay
in the yard where he was killed in endeavoring to escape over the
fence with one of his children in his arms." Mrs. Clendenin
seems to have been partially crazed from the beginning of the
massacre. That night, after giving what burial she could to her
husband's body, she was seized with mortal terror, thinking she
saw a murderer standing over her. Upon recovering her reason,
she resumed her flight, and reached the settlements in safety.
Colonel Stuart states that the Indians continued the war till
1764, making incursions within a few miles of Staunton.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 113
Thus the last vestiges of white settlements in the Greenbrier
country were exterminated. The number of whites living there
is believed to have been at least a hundred. From 1763 to
1769 the country was uninhabited. In the latter year John
Stuart, whose narrative we have just quoted, and a few other
young men, made the first permanent settlement there.
Withers makes no mention of either of the massacres of
Kerr's creek. Stuart merely alludes to the first, in 1763, writ-
ing the name, however, "Carr's" instead of "Kerr's." For
the only detailed account of these tragedies we are indebted to
the Rev. Samuel Brown, of Bath county, who collected the inci-
dents from descendants of the sufferers many years ago.
The settlement on Kerr's creek, says Mr. Brown, was made
by white people soon after the grant of land to Borden in 1736.
The families located there, consisting of Cunninghams, McKees,
Hamiltons, Gilmores, Logans, Irvins, and others, thought them-
selves safe from the dangers of more exposed parts of the
country. ^;y^
The Indians who exterminated the Greenbrier settlements are
described by Colonel Stuart as following Conrad Yolkom to
Jackson's river, and there Mr. Brown's narrative takes them up.
He says, some knowledge of .their approach had been obtained,
and t^ey were met by a company of men under command of
Captain Moffett, at or near the mouth of Falling Spring valley,
in the present county of Alleghany. The whites fell into an
ambush, were taken by surprise, and some of them slain.
Among the slain was James Sitlington, a recent immigrant from
Ireland. After this, the Indians went some miles down Jackson's
river, and came up the valley of the Cowpasture, to the residence
of a blacksmith named Daugherty. He and his wife and two
children barely made their escape to the mountain, while their
house and shop were burned. Daugherty removed to the
South, and rose to considerable distinction, being many years
afterwards mentioned by General Jackson, in one of his reports,
as the " venerable General Daugherty."
From Daugherty' s, the Indians passed up the Cowpasture to
a point near the site of Old Millborough. There they divided
their company, the larger party returning westward, and the
smaller moving towards the settlement on Kerr's creek.
Let us, like Mr. Brown, first follow the larger band of Indians
/,
114 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
on their retreat. After leaving Millborough, they killed a man
whom they met in the narrows, at the Blowing Cave, and whose
body fell into the river. They crossed the Warm Spring moun-
tain and camped at the head of Back creek. In the meanwhile,
a company of men hastily raised, under command of Captain
Christian, was in pursuit of this band of savages, and came upon
them at the place last mentioned. The assault was made by the
whites prematurely ; but, nevertheless, the Indians were routed,
a number of them killed, and nearly all of their equipage was
taken. Among the spoils, was the scalp of James Sitlington,
which was recognized by the flowing locks of red hair. Captain
John Dickinson, of Windy Cove, and John Young, who lived
near the church since known as Hebron, were with Captain
Christian, and also, it is said, some of the young Lewises of Au-
gusta. Thomas Young, brother of John, was slain in the fight.
His body was buried on the field, but his scalp, torn from his
head by the Indian who killed him, was brought home and
buried in the Glebe grave yard.
The Indians who escaped from Christian and his men were
again encountered by a company of white men coming up the
south branch of the Potomac. More of them were killed, and
the remainder driven into the fastnesses of Cheat mountain.
The smaller band of Indians made their descent upon Kerr's
creek, on the 17th of July. Their number was twenty-seven,
Robert Irvin having counted them from a bluff near the road
at the head of the creek. Some weeks before, two boys, named
Telford, reported that when returning from school they had
seen a naked man near their path. This report was not much
thought of till the massacre, when it was supposed that the
man seen by the boys was an Indian spy sent out to reconnoitre.
Leaving the site of old Millborough, the savages passed over
Mill mountain at a low place still called the " Indian Trail."
Coming on the waters of Bratton's Run, they crossed the North
mountain, where it is now crossed by the road leading from
Lexington to the Rockbridge Alum Springs, and where there is
a large heap of stones, supposed to have been piled up by
Indians. From this point they had a full view of the peaceful
valley of Kerr's creek. Hastening down the mountain, they
began the work of indiscriminate slaughter. Coming first to the
house of Charles Daugherty, he and his whole family were mur-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 115
dered. They next came to the house of Jacob Cunningham,
who was from home, but his wife was killed, and his daughter,
about ten years of age, scalped and left for dead. She revived,
was carried off as a prisoner in the second invasion, was re-
deemed, and lived for forty years afterwards, but finally died
from the effects of the scalping. The Indians then proceeded
to the house of Thomas Gilmore, and he and his wife were
killed, the other members of the family escaping at that time.
The house of Robert Hamilton came next. This family con-
sisted of ten persons, and one-half of them were slain. By this
time the alarm had spread through the neighborhood, and the
inhabitants were flying in every direction. For some reason
the main body of the Indians went no further. Perhaps they
were sated with blood and plunder; most probably they feared
to remain longer with so small a band. A single Indian pur-
sued John McKee and his wife as they were flying from their
house. By the entreaty of his wife, McKee did not wait for her,
and she was overtaken and killed. He escaped. His six chil-
dren had been sent to the house of a friend on Timber Ridge,
on account of some uneasiness, caused probably by the report
about the naked man.
The Indians hastened their departure, loaded with scalps and
booty, and unincumbered by prisoners. As far as known they
joined the party left at Muddy creek, in Greenbrier, without
being assailed on the way.
"From one cause," says Mr. Brown, " the lives of some were
saved no doubt. A number had gone that day to Timber Ridge
church, where services were conducted by the Rev. John Brown.
During the intermission between the morning and evening ser-
mons some alarm was given, but such reports were frequently
started without foundation, and therefore not much attention was
paid to this. The people went into the church for the second
sermon, when a messenger arrived with the sad tidings from
Kerr's creek. All was immediately confusion and dismay.
The congregation was dismissed, and fled in every direction it
was thought would afford them safety.' '
An account of the second and more disastrous raid upon
Kerr's creek, about a year after the first, remains to be given.
The lamentable occurrence just related spread alarm throughout
the county. Some persons residing in Staunton fled across the
116 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Blue Ridge. Measures of defence were, however, immediately
adopted. At the August court, Andrew Lewis qualified as lieu-
tenant of the county, or commander-in-chief of the county
militia ; William Preston qualified as colonel, and the following
persons as captains : Walter Cunningham, Alexander McClana-
han, William Crow and John Bowyer. John McClanahan,
Michael Bowyer and David Long qualified as lieutenants, and
James Ward as ensign.
A fragment of a letter, which was probably written by Colonel
William Preston to his brother-in-law, the Rev. John Brown,
and preserved by Colonel John Mason Brown, of Kentucky,
throws some light upon the state of the times. It is dated
"Greenfield, 27th July, 1763." The writer says :
" Our situation at present is very different from what it was
when we had the pleasure of your company in this countrv. All
Roanoke river and the waters of Mississippia are depopulated,
except Captain English with a few families on the New river,
who have built a fort, among whom are Mr. Thompson and his
family. They intend to make a stand till some assistance be sent
them. Seventy-five of the Bedford militia went out in order to
pursue the enemy, but I hear the officers and part of the men
are gone home, and the rest gone to Reed creek to help in
James Davies and two or three families there that dare not ven-
ture to travel.
" I have built a little fort in which are eighty-seven persons,
twenty of whom bear arms. We are in a pretty good posture of
defence, and with the aid of God are determined to make a stand.
In five or six other places in this part of the county they have
fallen into the same method and with the same resolution. How
long we may keep them is uncertain. No enemy have appeared
here as yet. Their guns are. frequently heard and their footing
observed, which makes us believe they will pay us a visit. My
two sisters and their families are here and all in good health.
We bear our misfortunes so far with * * * * ancj are m
great hopes of being relieved. I have a thousand things * *
* * Captain Christian can't wait * * * I give you joy."23
The asterisks indicate parts of the letter torn out.
We have quoted Colonel John Stuart, of Greenbrier, and a
23 For a copy of this letter we are indebted to Major Jed. Hotchkiss.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 117
brief notice of him and his connections is appropriate here.
Among the partisans of the house of Stuart in 1745, was a John
Paul, who was killed at the siege of Dalrymple castle. He left
a widow, niece of Colonel John Lewis's wife, and three children —
John, who became a Roman Catholic priest and died in Mary-
land; Audley, who was active and prominent in the Indian wars
in West Virginia, and Polly, who married George Mathews, of
Staunton. When Governor Dinwiddie came to Virginia in 1752
he was accompanied by his intimate friend, John Stuart, the
elder, who had previously, it is presumed, married the widow of
John Paul. His children were John Stuart, known first as Cap-
tain and afterwards as Colonel Stuart, of Greenbrier, and Betsy,
wife of Colonel Richard Woods, of Albemarle. John Stuart,
the younger, married the second daughter of Thomas Lewis,
the surveyor, and was the father of two sons — Lewis Stuart, of
Greenbrier, and Charles A. Stuart, who for some years lived in
Augusta, but spent most of his life in Greenbrier, where he
died.
William Preston was the only son of John Preston, and was born
in Ireland in 1730. For some years he acted as clerk of the vestry of
Augusta parish. During the Indian wars he became quite prominent as
captain of a company of rangers, and many of the letters of Governor
Dinwiddie in that stirring time were addressed to him. When the town
of Staunton was incorporated in 1761, he was one of the board of trus-
tees. In the same year he married Susanna Smith, of Hanover county.
He represented Augusta in the House of Burgesses in i768-'9, and was
probably a member from Botetourt in 1774. Upon the formation of
Botetourt in 1769, he removed to that section, and was one of the first
justices of that county. At the first court he qualified also as county
surveyor, coroner, escheator and colonel of militia. His residence
was at a place called Greenfield, near Amsterdam Fincastle county
was formed in 1772, and Colonel Preston became its first surveyor. In
1773, he acquired the Draper's Meadows estate, removed his family
there in 1774, and changed the name to Smithfield. He intended to ac-
company Colonel William Christian in his march to the Ohio, in the fall
of 1774, but was detained at home by his wife's condition. The child
born to him at that time was James Preston, who became Governor of
Virginia, father-in-law of the first Governor Floyd and grandfather of
the second. In 1780, Colonel Preston was engaged with Colonel Arthur
Campbell and Colonel Christian in their respective expeditions against
the Cherokees. The Legislature of North Carolina included him with
118 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Colonel Campbell in a vote of thanks for their services in protecting the
frontier. Throughout the war of the Revolution he was actively em-
ployed, holding important command in Southwest Virginia, and his
official papers show that he was a man of more than ordinary culture.
He died at Smithfield in 1783, leaving eleven children, of whom five
were sons. One of his sons, General Francis Preston, was the father of
William C. Preston, of South Carolina. His descendants are very
numerous, and many of them have been highly distinguished.
CHAPTER VI.
INDIAN WARS, ETC. FEOM 1764 TO 1775-
We now rapidly approach the end of Indian troubles in
Augusta county. As white population advanced, the savages
receded, and the people of Augusta, as it now is, were de-
livered from danger and alarm. Indeed, none of the massacres,
of which we have given an account, occurred within the present
limits of the county ; but the scenes of disaster being, at the
various times mentioned, parts of the county, the incidents could
not be omitted in our history. We presume no reader wrill think
we have devoted too much space to the history of these times.
The events related were of thrilling interest. The narrative
shows what toil and suffering our ancestors endured to obtain
homes for themselves, and to transmit a goodly heritage to us.
As we now sit under our vine and fig tree, with none to molest
or make us afraid, let us devoutly thank God for present peace
and safety.
In October, 1764, says Withers, ^Border Warfare, pages
72, 73,] about fifty Delaware and Mingo warriors ascended the
Great Sandy and came over on New river, where they sepa-
rated— one party going towards the Roanoke and Catawba (a
small stream in Botetourt county), and the other in the direc-
tion of Jackson's river, in Alleghany. They were discovered
by three white men, who were trapping on New river— Swope,
Pack and Pitman — who hastened to give warning, but the
Indians were ahead of them, and their effort was in vain. The
savages who came to Jackson's river passed down Dunlop's
creek, and crossed the former stream above Fort Young. They
proceeded down that river to William Carpenter's, where there
120 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
was a stockade fort in charge of a Mr. Brown. Meeting Car-
penter near his house they killed him, and coming to the house
captured a young Carpenter and two Browns, small children,
and one woman. The other people belonging to the place were
at work some distance off, and therefore escaped. Despoiling
the house, the savages retreated precipitately by way of the
Greenbrier and Kanawha rivers.
The report of the gun when Carpenter was killed, was heard
by those who were away at work, and Brown carried the alarm
to Fort Young. The weakness of the garrison at this fort
caused the men there to send the intelligence to Fort Dinwid-
die,24 where Captain Audley Paul commanded. Captain Paul
immediately began a pursuit with twenty of his men. On
Indian creek they met Pitman, who had been running all the
day and night before to warn the garrison at Fort Young. He
joined in the pursuit, but it proved unavailing. This party of
Indians effected their escape.
As Captain Paul and his men were returning they encoun-
tered the other party of Indians, who had been to Catawba, and
committed some murders and depredations there. The savages
were discovered about midnight, encamped on the north bank of
New river, opposite an island at the mouth of Indian creek.
Excepting some few who were watching three prisoners, recently
taken on Catawba, they were lying around a fire, wrapped in
skins and blankets. Paul's men, not knowing there were cap-
tives among the Indians, fired into the midst of them, killing
three, and wounding several others, one of whom drowned him-
self to preserve his scalp. The remaining Indians fled down the
river and escaped.
The three white captives were rescued on this occasion, and
taken to Fort Dinwiddie. Among them was Mrs. Catherine
Gunn, an English lady, whose husband and two children had
been killed two days before, on the Catawba. The Indians lost
all their guns, blankets and plunder.
2*Fort Dinwiddie was on Jackson's river, five miles west of the
Warm Springs. It was called also Warwick's fort and Byrd's fort.
Washington visited it in the fall of 1755, coming from "Fort Cumber-
land, on a tour of inspection. There was no road between the two
points, but the trail he is said to have pursued is still pointed out.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 121
Young Carpenter, one of the prisoners captured on Jackson's
river, came home some fifteen years afterwards, and became
Doctor Carpenter, of Nicholas county. The younger Brown was
brought home in 1769, and was afterwards Colonel Samuel
Brown, of Greenbrier. The elder Brown remained with the In-
dians, took an Indian wife, and died in Michigan in 1815. It is
said that he took a conspicuous part in the war of 181 2-14.
We pause here to give the sequel of the above story, as related
by the late Colonel John G. Gamble, premising that Colonel
Gamble's mother was a sister of Colonel Samuel Brown's wife.
Colonel Gamble says : " The last time I visited Colonel Brown
I met there Colonel Brown's aged mother, a Mrs. Dickinson, a
second time a widow. She was a very sensible and interesting
old lady, and at that time could think and speak only of her long
lost first-born, who had been to see her some time before my visit.
" Colonel Brown's father had formerly lived in what is now
Bath county, then a frontier settlement. In one of the inroads
made by the Indians, they pounced upon a school-house near
Mr. Brown's residence, killed the teacher, captured the chil-
dren, and among them Colonel Brown's elder brother, then a
little white-headed chap, and carried him off; and for more
than fifty years afterwards he was not heard of. The child
fell to the lot of an Indian who lived on Lake Huron, and
thither he was taken. Some time afterwards a French trader,
who had married and lived among the Indians, bought the
boy, adopted him, and taught him to read. The lad, grown
up, married a squaw and became a chief. He had remem-
bered and retained his name of 'Brown,' and the circum-
stances of his capture were such as not to be obliterated from
his memory. Fifty years afterwards, upon a meeting of the
Indians and whites for the purpose of making a treaty, he met
with a man who knew his family, and assured him that his mother
was still living. The old chief at once determined to visit her,
and, attended by a son and daughter and some of his warriors,
came to his brother's, in Greenbrier, and remained some months
with his family. What a meeting between the aged mother and
her long lost son !
11 Every effort was made to induce him to remain, but of course
unavailing ; for no Indian chief was ever prevailed upon to ex-
change his mode of life for a residence among the whites.
122 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
" His son and daughter were described to me as being fine
specimens of their race, and the daughter as possessing uncom-
mon beauty. Much persuasion was used to retain her ; but the
girl was in love, and was to be made the wife of a young chief on
her return home. How could they expect her to remain ?
"At the death of their father Brown, the law of primogeniture
was in force in Virginia, and the old chief was the legal owner of
all the paternal property, which was in fact nearly all that Colonel
Brown possessed. The old chief was made acquainted with his
rights, and before his departure conveyed to his brother all his
title in the property."
It will be observed that Colonel Gamble makes no allusion to
the taking off and return of the younger Brown. Moreover, the
interval of fifty )7ears between the capture and return of the older
brother is inconsistent with the dates given by others. Without
attempting to reconcile discrepancies, we resume our narrative.
Withers is silent in regard to an Indian raid upon Kerr's
creek, in 1764, or at any time. He refers, as we have seen, to
an assault upon the settlement on Catawba, in Botetourt, in
October, 1764, but this, if he is correct, was by Delawares and
Mingoes. The Rev. Samuel Brown states that the second
Kerr's creek massacre was perpetrated by Shawnees, and in
regard to this there can be no doubt, as the prisoners carried
off, some of whom returned, would know to what tribe the
Indians belonged. In his published narrative, Mr. Brown
mentions October 10, 1765, as the date of the inroad; but he
is now satisfied that it occurred at least a year earlier, proba-
bly in the fall of 1764.
The people on Kerr's creek had repaired the losses they sus-
tained in 1763, as far as possible. For some time, says Mr.
Brown, there had been vague reports of Indians on the warpath,
but little or no uneasiness was excited. At length, however, the
savages came, but more cautiously than before. They crossed
the North mountain and camped at a spring in a secluded place,
where they remained a day or two. Some one discovered their
moccasin tracks in a corn-field, and then, from the top of a hill,
saw them in their camp. Their number is supposed to have
been from forty to fifty.
The alarm being given, the people, to the number of about a
hundred, of both sexes and all ages, assembled at the house of
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 123
Jonathan Cunningham, at the " Big Spring." They were pack-
ing their horses in haste, to leave for Timber Ridge, when the
savages fell upon them. A Mrs. Dale, who was hidden a short
distance off, witnessed the awful tragedy. The terror-stricken
whites ran in every direction, trying to hide; and the Indians,
each singling out his prey, pursued them round and round
through the weeds, with yells. The white men had but few
arms, and in the circumstances resistance was vain. The wife of
Thomas Gilmore, standing with her three children over the
body of her husband, fought with desperation the Indian who
rushed up to scalp him. She and her son, John, and two daugh-
ters, were made prisoners. The bloody work did not cease until
all who could be found were killed or taken prisoners.
Very soon the Indians prepared to leave, and gathered their
prisoners in a group. Among the latter were Cunninghams,
Hamiltons, and Gilmores. An entire family of Daughertys,
five Hamiltons, and three Gilmores were slain. In the two
incursions, from sixty to eighty white people were killed,
and in the second, from twenty-five to thirty were carried
into captivity, some of whom never returned.
Late in the evening the Indians, with their captives, reached
their first encampment near the scene of the massacre. Among
the booty found at the " Big Spring" was a supply of whiskey.
This was carried to the encampment, and that night was spent
by the savages in a drunken frolic, which was continued until
the afternoon of the next day. The prisoners hoped all night
that a company would be raised and come to their relief, as the
Indians could easily have been routed during their drunken
revels. But there was a general panic all over the country, and
those who might have gone in pursuit were hiding in the moun-
tains and hollows. Some had fled as far as the Blue Ridge. The
captives related that the Indians took other prisoners as they
returned to Ohio. These, Mr. Brown thinks, were taken on the
Cowpasture river, as it is known, he says, that some were cap-
tured there about that time. Withers, however, as already
related, attributes the captures on the Cowpasture, in Octo-
ber, 1764, to another band of Indians.
During the march westward the savages dashed out against a
tree the brains of a sick and fretful infant and threw the body
over the shoulders of a young girl, who was put to death
124 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the next day. On another day an infant was sacrificed, by
having- a sharpened pole thrust through its body, which was
elevated in the air, and all the prisoners made to pass under it.
After crossing the Ohio, the Indians, elated with their success,
demanded that the captives should sing for their entertainment,
and it is said that Mrs. Gilmore struck up, with plaintive voice,
the 137th Psalm of Rouse's version, then in use in all the
churches —
'' On Babel's stream we sat and wept."
The Indians then separated into several parties, dividing the
prisoners amongst themselves ; Mrs. Gilmore and her son, John,
fell to one party and her two daughters to another. The last
she ever heard of the latter was their cries as they were torn
from her. No intelligence was ever received in regard to their
fate. After some time, the mother and son were also parted,
she being sold to French traders and the boy retained by the
Shawnees. Finally he was redeemed and brought back by
Jacob Warwick to Jackson's river, where he remained till his
mother's return, when they were united at the old homestead.
A number of other captives were eventually found and
brought back by their friends, among them Mary Hamilton,
who had a child in her arms when the attack was made at the
spring. She hid the child in the weeds and found its bones
there when she returned.
With this painful narrative we close our account of Indian
massacres in Augusta county.
In the meanwhile a general war between the whites and
Indians was raging. Colonel Bouquet defeated the latter, Au-
gust 2, 1764, at Bushy Run, in western Pennsylvania. Soon
afterward, however, the British government made various efforts
to establish friendly relations with the Indians. Colonel Bou-
quet, commanding at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg), issued a pro-
clamation forbidding any British subject from settling or hunting
west of the Alleghany mountains without written permission;
and in the fall of 1764, proceeded with a body of troops to the
Muskingum, in Ohio, then in Augusta county. On November
9, he concluded a treaty of peace with the Delawares and Shaw-
nees, and received from them two hundred and six white pri-
soners. Of these, ninety were Virginians, thirty-two men and fifty-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 125
eight women and children. Some of the captives, who had been
carried off while young, had learned to love their savage asso-
ciates and, refusing to come voluntarily, were brought away by
force.
Mrs. Renix, who was captured on Jackson's river, in 1761,
was not restored to her home till the year 1767. In pursuance
of the terms of Bouquet's treaty, she was brought to Staunton
in the year last mentioned. Her daughter died on the Miami;
two of her sons, William and Robert, returned with her; her son
Joshua, remained with the Indians and became a chief of the
Miamis.
A corps of Virginia volunteers accompanied Bouquet's expe-
dition, and was assigned the places of honor on the march, a
portion of them forming the advance guard and the remainder
bringing up the rear. A part, if not all, of this corps were Au-
gusta men. Charles Lewis and Alexander McClanahan were
captains of companies, and John McClanahan was one of the
lieutenants. As late as 1779, John McClanahan being then dead,
his infant son was allowed two thousand acres of bounty land
for his father's services in the expedition.
The County Court of Augusta did not meet in October, 1764.
At April court, 1765, a vast number of military claims were
ordered to be certified — for provisions furnished to the militia,
for horses pressed into service, etc. William Christian, William
McKamy and others presented claims "for ranging," and An-
drew Cowan " for enlisting men to garrison Fort Nelson." The
orders are curt and unsatisfactory, giving no clue as to when
and where the services were performed.
Almost every neighborhood in the county has traditions in
regard to Indian inroads, but all are vague and uncertain as
to dates and circumstances. It is related that at one time the
Indians came into the Churchville neighborhood, and carried
off a boy named McNeer, who lived on Middle river, at the
mouth of Jennings's branch. This boy was taken to Georgia,
it is said, and lived and died with the Indians, visiting, how-
ever, his relations in Augusta repeatedly. A man named Clen-
denin, who lived near Shutterlee's mill, was shot in the shoulder
by an Indian lurking in the tall weeds on the bank of the river,
at some time now unknown. The Anderson farm, near Shut-
terlee's, is known as the " Burnt Cabin place," from the fact that
126 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
a cabin which stood there was burnt by the Indians. It is said
also that, in 1763, the Indians captured and carried off one of
the Trimbles from near the site of Churchville, seven miles
northwest of Staunton. "
The papers in a law suit, tried in the County Court of Au-
gusta, in 1766, give some facts in regard to an Indian invasion
of 1764, which do not appear elsewhere. It seems that in
March, 1764, a party of Indians came into the upper part of
the county, now Botetourt or Montgomery, and rifled the house
of David Cloyd, carrying off upwards of ,£200 in gold and silver.
They were pursued by a party of the militia, and one of them
was killed on John's creek, at a distance of thirty miles or more
from Cloyd' s house. The dead Indian was found in possession
of .£137, 18s. A dispute arose among the militia as to whether
the money belonged to them or to Cloyd, and until the question
should be settled, the coin was deposited in the hands of James
Montgomery. It was distributed by Montgomery to the militia,
many of whom, however, returned their portions to Cloyd, to
the amount of ^106, 17s. 2d. Cloyd thereupon paid to each
of the men who returned the money, the sum of thirty shillings
($5), the reward he had previously offered, and sued Mont-
gomery for the remainder — ^31, iod. The suit was decided
November 27, 1766, in favor of Cloyd, but an appeal was taken
to the General Court, and we do not know the result. Gabriel
Jones was attorney for Cloyd, and Peter Hogg for Montgomery.
It is interesting to see the names of the coins then in circu-
lation. The sum of £137, 19s. 8}4d. was made up as follows:
"13 Double Loons, 36 Pistoles, 1 Half Double Loon, 4
Guineas, 4 Loodores, 16 Round Pistoles, 3 Half Pistoles, 2
Half Johannas, 9 Dollars, and some small silver."
The pistole was a Spanish coin, worth $3.60; the doubloon
was also Spanish, and worth $7.20; the guinea was English,
and worth $4.66; the louis-d'or, called loodore, was French,
worth $4.44; and the Johannas, called joe, was Portuguese,
worth $8.
The story of Selim, " the converted Algerine," falls in here ;
at least, it may be related here as well as elsewhere. It belongs
in great part to Augusta county, and is too interesting to be
omitted. For the earlier part of the narrative we are indebted
to the Rev. David Rice, a Presbyterian minister who removed
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 127
from Virginia to Kentucky before the present century. Bishop
Meade collected the latter part, and preserved the whole in his
work called "Old Churches," &c.
About the close of the war between France and England,
called in Virginia " Braddock's War" (probably 1763 or '4), a
man named Samuel Givens, an inhabitant of Augusta county,
went into the backwoods of the settlement to hunt. He took
with him several horses to bring home his meat and skins. As
he was one day ranging the woods in search of game, he saw in
the top of a fallen tree an animal, which he supposed to be some
kind of wild beast. He was about to shoot it, but discovered in
time that it was a human being. Going up, he found a man in
a pitiable condition — emaciated, evidently famishing, entirely
naked except a few rags tied round his feet, and his body almost
covered with scabs. The man could not speak English, and
Givens knew no other language. He, however, supplied the
forlorn creature with food, and when he had acquired sufficient
strength, after several days, mounted him on one of his horses
and took him to Captain Dickinson's, near the Windy Cove.
There he was entertained for some months, during which the
stranger acquired sufficient knowledge of English to communi-
cate with the hospitable people into whose hands he had fallen.
He stated that his name was Selim, a native of Algiers, in
Africa, and the son of a wealthy man ; that he had been educated
in Constantinople, and while returning to Algiers the ship he was
aboard of was captured by a Spanish man-of war. Spain was
then in alliance with France, and the Spanish ship falling in with
a French vessel, Selim was transferred to the latter and taken to
New Orleans. After some time he was sent up the Mississippi
and Ohio rivers to the Shawnee towns, and left a prisoner with
the Indians. A white woman captured on the frontiers of Vir-
ginia, was held as a prisoner by the Indians at the same time,
and from her Selim learned by signs that she came from the east.
He was sufficiently acquainted with geography to know that the
English had settlements on the eastern shore of the continent,
and inferred that the woman came from one of them. He there-
upon resolved to escape, and constantly keeping to the rising sun
finally reached the border settlement of Augusta county, in the
plight mentioned.
On a court day, Captain Dickinson brought Selim with him
128 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
to Staunton, where he attracted much attention. Among the
throng of people was the Rev. John Craig, who immediately
riveted the attention of the Algerine. The latter afterwards
explained that in a dream a person like Mr. Craig had appeared
to him as a teacher or guide, able to impart valuable instruction.
He expressed a desire to accompany Mr. Craig to his home, and
was kindly taken there. The minister of course sought to im-
part to the Mohammedan stranger the truths of the Christian
religion, and his efforts were aided by Selim's knowledge of the
Greek language, being thus able to read the New Testament in
the original tongue. He soon professed conversion, and Mr.
Craig, being satisfied of his intelligence and sincerity, publicly
baptized him in the old stone church. He was afterwards seized
with a desire to return to his native land, and his new friends
could not dissuade him from it. Mr. Craig therefore raised a
sum of money for him, and giving him a letter to the Hon.
Robert Carter, of Westmoreland county, then living in Wil-
liamsburg, sent him on his way. Mr. Carter did all that was
asked of him, furnishing more money to Selim, and securing for
him passage to England.
Sometime after this Selim returned to Virginia in a state of
insanity. In lucid intervals he stated that he had found his way
home, but had been rejected and driven off by his father when
he learned that the son had abjured Mohammedanism and be-
come a Christian. He came again to Captain Dickinson's, and
from thence wandered to the Warm Springs, where he met a
young clergyman named Templeton, who put a Greek Testa-
ment in his hands, which he read with great delight. From
the Warm Springs he went to Mr. Carter's residence in West
moreland. He awakened the sympathy of all who knew him.
Governor Page, while a member of Congress at Philadelphia,
took him to that city, and had his likeness taken by the artist
Peale. From Philadelphia he went home with a South Carolina
gentleman. He was also once, or oftener, in Prince Edward
county, where he learned to sing Watts's hymns. For a time
he was confined in the Lunatic Asylum at Williamsburg, but he
finally died in a private house, where and at what time are not
mentioned.
From 1764, for about ten years, no war or rumor of war dis-
turbed the inhabitants of Augusta. They appear to have pur-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 129
sued the even tenor of their way in comparative security. On
court days Staunton was doubtless crowded with people. Liti-
gation was brisk ; the number of causes tried in the county
court exceeded anything known in modern times. Hunting or
trapping wolves was one of the most important industries.
Every year the court granted certificates for hundreds of wolf
heads, and for more or less winter-rotted hemp, for which also
the law offered a bounty.
The last hostile inroad by Indians into the Valley occurred,
it is said, in 1766.25 We mention it because it was the last,
although it did not occur in Augusta. A party of eight Indians
and a white man crossed Powell's Fort mountain to the south
fork of the Shenandoah river, now Page county. They killed
the Rev. John Roads, a Menonist minister, his wife and three
sons. A daughter, named Elizabeth, caught up an infant sister
and escaped by hiding first in a barn and then in a field of
hemp. Two boys and two girls were taken off as prisoners, but
one of the boys and both girls were killed while crossing Powell's
Fort. The other boy returned home after three years. The
place where one of the lads was killed while endeavoring to
escape is still called Bloody Ford.
At a court martial he Id by the militia officers of the county,
April n, 1766, Lieutenant Michael Bowyer was fined for ap-
pearing at the general muster on the 10th without a sword.
From the proceedings of the vestry of Augusta parish, and
also from Heyiing's Statutes at Large, it appears that in 1752 an
act was passed by the Assembly at Williamsburg on the petition
of Mr. Jones, the rector, increasing his salary from ^50 to ^100.
This act was repealed by proclamation of the king in 1762, and
the rector's salary stood as before, at ^50 a year. But until
1765 payment had been made at the rate of ^100, and the ves-
try then refusing to pay more than the ^50, Mr. Jones threatened
to bring suit. At the meeting of October 21, 1765, it was
ordered that Sampson Mathews " get of Mr. Gabriel Jones a
25 We give the date as stated by Kercheval, but feel quite sure that it
is not correct. Bouquet concluded a treaty with the Indians in Novem-
ber, 1764, and it is not probable that the massacre mentioned was per-
petrated nearly two years afterwards during a time of peace. Most
likely it occurred in August, 1764.
9
130 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
fair state of the case," to be laid " before Mr. Attorney and Mr.
[Benjamin] Waller and get their opinion thereon." The "Mr.
Attorney" referred to was Peyton Randolph, Attorney-General
of the colony. Mr. Waller was a distinguished lawyer of Williams-
burg. The opinion of Messrs. Randolph and Waller was laid
before the vestry by Mr. Mathews, November 22, 1766, and it was
ordered that each be paid £2 therefor. They advised that Mr.
Jones's salary was only ^50, and there the matter rested.
The trustees to purchase land for a poor-house, reported in
November, 1766, that they had purchased a hundred acres on
the waters of Christian's creek, from Sampson and George
Mathews, for £^0. A year later Daniel Perse and his wife
were appointed keepers of the poor-house, on a salary of ^35.
In November, 1767, a minute was entered in the vestry book,
that all the members then present had subscribed a declaration
" to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline of the Church
of England." At a subsequent meeting, several members
entered their protest against the signing of the proceedings by
Israel Christian and (Mr.) John Buchanan, they having refused
to sign the declaration.
On laying the parish levy, November 21, 1769, the Rev. Mr.
Jones was allowed, by agreement, a salary of ^150. At the same
meeting William Bowyer was elected a vestryman in place of
Colonel John Buchanan, deceased, Thomas Madison was chosen
in place of Captain Israel Christian, and Captain Peter Hogg in
place of Major Robert Breckenridge, "the said Breckenridge
and Christian having refused subscribing to the doctrines and
discipline of the Church of England."
On the 22d of November, 1769, it was entered of record by
the vestry, that the Rev. John Jones, being incapacitated by age
and infirmity, consented " to accept of fifty pounds and per-
quisites in full of his salary for ensuing year, and to allow the
residue levied for him by agreement to hire a curate to officiate
in his stead."
No other meeting of vestry was held till November 22, 177 1.
This fact is not explained in the vestry book, but we find from
an act of Assembly, published in Hening (Vol. VIII, page 438),
why it was. This act, passed at the session which began in No-
vember, 1769, declares that a majority of the vestry of Augusta
parish, being dissenters from the Church of England, the vestry
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 131
is dissolved, and that an election of vestrymen be held on the
20th of September, 1770, the freeholders elected being required,
before serving, to take and subscribe in court the oaths prescribed
by law, to take and subscribe the oath of abjuration, to repeat
and subscribe the test, and also to subscribe the declaration to
be conformable, &c. Oaths and declarations were never so piled
up, till immediately after the late war, the Federal Government
waked up to the immense efficiency of such things. But surely
one would think there was ample time, after the passage of the
act referred to, and before the 20th of September, for the sheriff
of Augusta to give the required notice and hold the election or-
dered. The sheriff, however, did not think so, and probably the
people were not unwilling to try the experiment of getting along
without any vestry and parish levies. So it was for two years
there was no meeting, because there were no vestrymen author-
ized to meet, and all parish officers and creditors, including Mr.
Jones, the rector, had to do without their pay. This state of
affairs was reported to the Assembly, and in July, 1771, another
act was passed to correct the matter. Some apology for the fail-
ure of the election in 1769 was necessary, and therefore the act
recites that, " owing to the remote situation" of Augusta county,
the sheriff did not have notice of the act of 1769 in time to hold
the election. He was, however, ordered to proceed, on the 1st
of October, 1771, to have twelve freeholders duly elected as
vestrymen, who were peremptorily required to swear and sub-
scribe as directed by the former act This election was duly held,
and Augusta parish being again equipped with a full complement
of public officers, taxes were levied, and the rector, sexton, &c,
received their salaries as before.
The first division of the territory of Augusta county was made
in 1769, when an act was passed creating the county of Bote1-
tourt. The new county embraced a part of the present county
of Rockbridge — the North river, near Lexington, being the
boundary line between Augusta and Botetourt — and also part of
Alleghany and Bath, and all of Greenbrier, Monroe, &c.
The first County Court of Botetourt was held February 13,
1770, the justices commissioned being Andrew Lewis, Robert
Breckenridge, William Preston, Israel Christian, James Trimble,
John Bowyer, Benjamin Hawkins, William Fleming, John Max-
well and George Skillern. The five justices first named were
]32 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
on the bench and constituted the court. John May having been
appointed clerk by the proper authority at Williamsburg, was
duly qualified. In like manner, Richard Woods was appointed
and qualified as sheriff. James McDowell and James McGavock
qualified as under sheriffs. The following attorneys were ad-
mitted to practice in the court: Edmund Winston, John Aylett,
Luke Bowyer and Thomas Madison. William Preston qualified
as county surveyor, coroner, escheator and colonel of militia,
Robert Breckenridge as lieutenant-colonel, and Andrew Lewis
also as coroner. On the third day of the term, additional justices
were recommended to the Governor for appointment, viz: Wil-
liam Ingles, John Howard, Philip Love, James Robertson, Wil-
liam Christian, William Herbert, John Montgomery, Stephen
Trigg, Robert Dodge, Walter Crockett, James McGavock,
Francis Smith, Andrew Woods, William Matthews, John Bow-
man, William McKee and Anthony Bledsoe.
William Preston, Israel Christian and Robert Breckenridge
removed to the " upper country" sometime after 1761. In that
year they resided at Staunton, and were members of the first
board of trustees appointed for that town.
The county of Botetourt was named in honor of Norborne
Berkeley, Lord Botetourt, who was Governor of Virginia in
1768. Israel Christian made a present of forty acres of land to
the justices for the use of the county, and the town of Fincastle
was built thereon. This town was established by law in 1772,
and called after Lord Botetourt's county seat in England.26
The new vestry of Augusta parish met November 22, 177 1 ,
— . «
26 In 1772, Botetourt was reduced by the formation of Fincastle
county, which embraced all southwest Virginia and also Kentucky.
Fincastle, however, existed for only a few years. In 1776, its terri-
tory was divided into the three counties of Montgomery, Washington
and Kentucky. During its short existence, its county seat was at
Fort Chiswell, now in Wythe county. This fort was built in 1758 by
the colonial government, and named for Colonel John Chiswell, who
owned and worked the New River lead mines. Chiswell died in the
jail of Cumberland county, while awaiting trial for murder, having
killed his antagonist in a personal encounter. The property subse-
quently fell into the hands of Moses Austin, father of Stephen F.
Austin, famous in Texan history.— [Hale's Trans- Alleghany Pio-
neers.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 133
and ordered that the collector for 1769 pay to Mr. Jones
one hundred pounds "which was then levied for a curate, as
none such has been employed."
In March, 1772, it was " ordered that Mr. William Bowyer
employ a curate for this parish to supply the curacy of the
same as directed by the present rector." From subsequent
proceedings, it appears that the Rev. Adam Smith was the
curate employed for a few months. In 1783 he was the rector
of Botetourt parish.
In November, 1772, Thomas Mathews was allowed £2 as
sexton for one year. A reader " at the Dutch meeting near
Picket mountain" was allowed ^5, and the "clerk of the
church, if one, he got " £6.
In August, 1773, the Rev. Adam Smith, late curate, was
allowed ^41, 13s. 4d. for officiating five months. William
Bowyer, who had previously objected to paying Mr. Jones
anything, on the ground that he was incapacitated, now ob-
jected to the deduction from Mr. Smith's pay as ungenerous.
Michael Bowyer suggested that Mr. Smith might make up
the lost time.
At the meeting, November 9, 1773, the Rev. John Jones
agreed to receive the Rev. Alexander Balmaine as curate and
to pay him at the rate of ^100 a year, directing his attorney,
Robert McClanahan, to pay the same out of his salary. The
vestry ratified this arrangement November 18th, but ordered
that the collector make payment of the ^100 directly to Mr.
Balmaine.
Mr. Jones appeared no more at meetings of the vestry. He
had evidently become imbecile, and his business affairs were
transacted by his attorney-in-fact, Robert McClanahan. But
we imagine that his young and talented curate created quite
a sensation in the parish on his appearance here.
Mr. Balmaine, says Bishop Meade, was born near Edin-
burgh, Scotland, in 1740, and educated at St. Andrew's with
a view to the Presbyterian ministry. He and his brother, a
lawyer, at an early day espoused the cause of the American
colonies and, in consequence, found it necessary to leave Scot-
land. They went to London, and there became acquainted
with Arthur Lee, agent of Virginia, who recommended Mr.
Balmaine as a private tutor to Richard Henry Lee. While
134 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
waiting in London he took orders in the Church of England,
and after arriving in Virginia, became curate to Mr. Jones.
During his service in this capacity he paid several visits to
the Episcopalians at Pittsburg, which was regarded as within
his parish. At the beginning of the Revolutionary war, he
entered the army as chaplain, and at the close became rector
of Frederick parish, residing at Winchester for thirty years,
till his death.
At the meeting of vestry, November 18, 1773, it was deter-
mined to build a chapel in the neighborhood of Cook's creek,
now Rockingham. In November, 1774, we find those sturdy
Scotch-Irishmen, Alexander St. Clair and John Hays, elected
members of the vestry, and, more surprising still, John Lyle
and John Grattan were elected church-wardens.
On the 18th of December, 1773, a number of the inhabitants
of Boston, disguised as Indians, boarded the English tea ships
in the harbor, broke open the chests, and emptied the contents
into the sea. A boy from Virginia participated in that famous
adventure. Christian Bumgardner, who lived in what is now
Shenandoah county, was then in Boston with his wagon and
team, accompanied by his son, Jacob. The youth was drawn
into the scheme, and helped to throw the tea overboard.
During the war of the Revolution, Mr. Bumgardner removed
to Augusta, and settled on the farm near Bethel church, where
some of his descendants now reside. Jacob Bumgardner was
a Revolutionary soldier, and lived to a venerable age. He was
the father of Messrs. Lewis and James Bumgardner.
The Rev. John Craig27 died on the 21st of April, 1774. He
had retired from Tinkling Spring ten years before, and that
congregation had no pastor for about twelve years. They
extended an invitation to the Rev. James Waddell, then living
in Lancaster county, but he declined it. Mr. Craig was suc-
ceeded at Augusta church, but not till 1780, by the Rev. Wil
liam Wilson, a native of Pennsylvania, but reared in that part
of Augusta county now Rockbridge. He officiated at the stone
church till 1814, when, owing to his infirmities, he retired, but
27 Mr. Craig had four children, a son named George, who removed
to Kanawha, and three daughters. From one of his daughters the
Hamiltons of Tinkling Spring are descended.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 135
his life was protracted till 1835. Mr. Wilson was considered an
admirable classical scholar and an attractive preacher. Upon
recovering from an illness at one time, he had wholly forgotten
his native language, but his knowledge of Latin and Greek
remained. Gradually he recovered his English.
But the happy days of peace did not last. In the early part
of 1774 the Indians assumed an attitude of hostility towards the
whites. The whole race was alarmed at the attempts of white
men to occupy Kentucky. They were, moreover, not without
provocation, on account of the ruthless conduct of encroaching
settlers and hunters. Single murders, on both sides, were com-
mitted on the Ohio frontier; and finally, in the month of April,
the family of Logan, a noted Indian chief, was slaughtered in
cold blood, not far below Wheeling, by a party of whites. A
general war immediately began, and Logan led one of the first
of the marauding parties against the settlers on the Mononga-
hela. Logan was so called after James Logan, the secretary of
Pennsylvania. His Indian name is unpronounceable. He was
the son of a celebrated Cayuga chief, who dwelt on the Susque-
hanna. Until the unprovoked slaughter of his family he was
friendly with the whites. Then he became a fiend incarnate,
carrying fire and death through the frontier settlements. He is
described as an Indian of extraordinary capacity.
Colonel Angus McDonald, at the head of a small force, ad-
vanced from Wheeling into the Indian country, but returned
without accomplishing any important result. The Indians con-
tinued hostile, and proceeded to form extensive alliances amongst
themselves.
The government at Williamsburg then took steps to protect
the western frontier. Lord Dunmore, the Governor, ordered
Andrew Lewis, then a brigadier-general, and residing in Bote-
tourt, to raise a force of eleven or twelve hundred men and march
to the Ohio ; while he at the head of a similar force raised in the
lower valley, should move to Fort Pitt, and thence to meet Lewis
at Point Pleasant.
Eight companies raised in Augusta county formed a regiment
of four hundred men, commanded by Colonel Charles Lewis.
His captains were George Mathews, Alexander McClanahan,
John Dickinson, John Lewis (son of Colonel William Lewis),
Benjamin Harrison (of the Rockingham family), William Paul,
136 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Joseph Haynes, and Samuel Wilson. Colonel William Fleming,
of Botetourt, commanded a regiment of about the same number
of men, and one of his captains was Robert McClanahan, a native
of Augusta, and brother of Alexander. Robert McClanahan's
wife was the eldest daughter of Thomas Lewis, the surveyor.
She afterwards married a Mr. Bowyer.
The Augusta companies rendezvoused in Staunton the latter
part of August. Sampson Mathews's ordinary seems to have
been headquarters. Here, no doubt, grog was freely dispensed
for several days, but tradition states only one fact in connection
with the gathering. It is said that the heights of the men of
Captain George Mathews's company were marked on the bar-
room walls, nearly all the men being over six feet two inches in
their stockings, and not one under six feet.
Of the departure from Staunton and march to Camp Union
(Lewisburg) we have no account. At the latter place General
Lewis assembled his command about the 4th of September.
On September nth, the command began the march to the
Ohio. Captain Matthew Arbuckle, of Greenbrier, acted as guide.
There was no track of any kind, and kw white men had ever
gone down the Kanawha valley. Of course wagons could not
be employed, and provisions were transported on pack-horses.
Many cattle also were driven along to supply food for the army.
In nineteen days the command advanced from Camp Union to
Point Pleasant, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, averag-
ing eight and a half miles a day.
Here we must repeat a story of the supernatural, as related by
Governor Gilmer, without, however, vouching for its truth :
"About mid-day on the 10th of October, 1774," says Governor
Gilmer, "in the town of Staunton, a little girl, the daughter of
John and Agatha Frogge, and grand-daughter of Thomas and
Jane Lewis, was sleeping near her mother, when suddenly she
waked, screaming that the Indians were killing her father. She
was quieted by her mother, and again went to sleep. She again
waked, screaming that the Indians were killing her father. She
was again quieted and went to sleep, and was waked up by the
same horrid vision, and continued screaming beyond being
hushed. The child's mother was very much alarmed at the first
dream. But when the same horrid sight was seen the third time,
her Irish imagination, quickened by inherited superstition, pre-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 137
sented to her the spectacle of her husband scalped by the Indians.
Her cries drew together her neighbors, who, upon being informed
of what had happened, joined their lamentations to her's, until
all Staunton was in a state of commotion.
" It so happened that the great battle of the Point between the
western Indians and the Virginians was fought on the very day
when all Staunton was thus agitated. And what was still more
wonderful, John Frogge, the father of the child who saw in her
dream the Indians killing her father, was actually killed by the
Indians on that day." It is said that Captain Frogge was a sutler,
but took a gun and fought with the rest. He was gaudily
dressed in bright colors, and his hat was adorned with ribbons
and feathers.
Of this extraordinary occurrence there is no tradition in
Staunton. We may add that Mrs. Frogge's second husband was
Captain John Stuart, afterwards Colonel Stuart.
Early Monday morning, October 10, the Virginians were
' suddenly attacked by a large body of Indians led by Corn-
stalk and Logan. The battle raged all day, and was one of
the most noted conflicts that ever occurred between Indians
and white men. Seventy-five of the whites, including Colo-
nels Lewis and Field, and Captain Robert McClanahan,28 were
killed, and one hundred and forty were wounded. The loss
of the Indians is unknown, but they were signally defeated.
Sundry articles captured from the Indians were sold at auc-
tion after the battle, and brought ^74, 4s. 6d.
After burying the dead and providing for the wounded. Gen-
eral Lewis proceeded to join Governor Dunmore, in order to
penetrate the Indian country in pursuance of the original scheme,
but an express met him with orders from the Governor to re-
turn to the mouth of the Big Kanawha. The integrity of the
Governor was suspected. The Revolutionary troubles having
begun, it was believed that Dunmore was seeking to win the
Indians to the side of Great Britain against the Colonies. The
men of Lewis's command refused to obey the Governor's order,
and continued to advance till he met them and made such
28 Captain McClanahan left two sons, Robert and John, who went to
Kentucky. Robert, however, was back in Augusta in 1808.
138 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
representations as to the prospect of peace as induced them
to retire.
Dunmore went into -Ohio, and halted his command eight
miles from the Indian town of Chilicothe, calling the place
Camp Charlotte. Eight chiefs, with Cornstalk at their head,
came to Dunmore' s camp, and in the course of a few days a
treaty of peace was' concluded. Interpreters were sent to
Logan to request his attendance, but he refused to come,
saying "he was a warrior, not a counsellor." His speech,
which, it is said, the interpreters delivered on their return,
is regarded as a fine specimen of untutored eloquence :
"I appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered
Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat; if ever he
came cold and naked, and he clothed him not? During the
course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle
in his cabin, an advocate of peace. Such was my love for
the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed and
said, ' Logan is the friend of white men.' I have even thought
to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man.
Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked,
murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my
women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in
the veins of any living creature. This called on me for re-
venge. I have sought it ; I have killed many ; I have fully
glutted my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at the beams
of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy
of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to
save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
Mr. Jefferson, it is said, found this speech at Governor Dun-
more's, in Williamsburg, and afterwards published it in his
Notes on Virginia. The genuineness of the speech has been
questioned, but it is generally believed to be authentic. The
charge against Cresap, however, who was captain in the division
of the army under Dunmore, appears to have been unfounded.
Logan did not name him in the speech, or message, which he
sent to Dunmore.
Of Cornstalk it is said: " If in the battle of Point Pleasant he
displayed bravery and generalship, in the negotiation at Camp
Charlotte he exhibited the skill of a statesman, joined to powers
of oratory rarely, if ever, surpassed."
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 139
The news of the battle of Point Pleasant could not well have
reached Staunton until about the 24th of October. The anxiety
of the people at home, while waiting the result of the expedition,
may be imagined.
There is no record or tradition in regard to it, but the County
Court records indicate the state of feeling. The October term of
the court began on the 18th, but no business was transacted,
except the qualification of several new justices of the peace.
The court met again on the 19th, but only to adjourn to the next
term. The whole community was too anxiously awaiting intel-
ligence from the west to attend to ordinary affairs.
When November court came round the surviving heroes of
Point Pleasant had returned to their homes. One of them, An-
drew Moore, appeared in court on November 15, and qualified
to practice law. Alexander McClanahan sat as a magistrate on
the County Court bench August 22, and then hurried with his
company to Camp Union; he was on the bench again on No-
vember 16, soon after his return.
By January court, 1775, the men who were in the expedition
had gotten up their accounts against the government for pecu-
niary compensation. Many were for "diets of militia;" some
for "sundries for the militia ;" others for "driving pack horses."
William Sharp and others presented claims for services as spies.
John Hays demanded pay for himself and others as " pack-horse
masters." William Hamilton had a bill for riding express, and
William McCune another as " cow herd."
Colonel Charles Lewis executed his will August 10, 1774, on
the eve of his departure for Point Pleasant, and the instrument
was admitted to record January 17, 1775. The testator seems
to have been a man of considerable wealth. Four children sur-
vived him — John, Andrew, Elizabeth and Margaret, and one was
born after his death. His wife was Sarah Murray, a half sister
of Colonel Cameron, of Bath county.
We anticipate the course of events to relate briefly the fate of
Cornstalk. A fort had been established at Point Pleasant, and
in 1777 was garrisoned by a small force. The Indians having
recently shown an unfriendly disposition, a larger force was
ordered there, with a view to an advance into the Indian coun-
try, to overawe the savages. Colonel Skillern, of Botetourt,
commanded several companies raised in Augusta and Botetourt,
140 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and with him arrived a company of Greenbrier men. Captains
Stuart and Arbuckle, of Greenbrier, were also present. Corn-
stalk, and another chief called Redhawk, came to the fort pro-
fessedly to give warning that the Shawnees intended to take part
with the British against Virginia, and were detained as hostages.
Elinipsico, the son of Cornstalk, afterwards arrived to inquire
about his father. This being the state of things at the fort, two
young men, named Gilmore and Hamilton, from Kerr's creek,
belonging to a company commanded by Captain John Hall,
went across the Kanawha to hunt. On their return, as they
approached the river, some Indians hid in the weeds fired upon
them. Gilmore was killed and scalped, but Hamilton was
rescued by some of his comrades. They brought the bloody
body of Gilmore across the river, and no doubt instantly thought
of the terrible inroads upon Kerr's creek, led by Cornstalk, it
was believed, years before. The cry arose, " Let us kill the
Indians in the fort !" Hall's men, with the captain at their head,
rushed in, and, notwithstanding the intervention of Stuart and
Arbuckle, accomplished their purpose.
The Breckenridges were driven by persecution from Ayrshire,
Scotland, to the north of Ireland, during the reign of Charles II. In
1728 Alexander Breckenridge came to America, and after residing a
few years in Pennsylvania, removed to Augusta county, and settled on
a farm near the site of Staunton. As we have seen, he was one of the
commissioners of Tinkling Spring congregation, August 11, 1741. He
died in 1747, and his name does not appear again in our Annals.
The children of Alexander Breckenridge were a daughter, Sarah,
wife of Robert McClanahan, and two sons, Adam and Robert. There
was also a George Breckenridge living in the county in 1749, but
whether he was a brother or son of Alexander is not known. The only
mention of him we have found is the fact that he conveyed 245 acres of
Beverley Manor land to Robert Breckenridge, May 16, 1749.
When Robert McClanahan was appointed high sheriff of the county,
in 1749, his brother-in-law, Adam Breckenridge, qualified as deputy.
The latter soon afterwards (in 1750, it is said) left the county and disap-
peared from history. It is thought likely, however, that he has descend-
ants in Kentucky.
Robert Breckenridge remained in the county, living on a farm adja-
cent to Staunton, and became prominent during the Indian wars. He
incurred the hostility of Governor Dinwiddie, and was roundly berated
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 141
by that irate letter-writer, for which we do not think the worse of him
The town of Staunton being incorporated in 1761, Major Breckenridge
was named in the act as one of the trustees, in association with his
brother-in-law, William Preston, his nephew, Alexander McClanahan,
and others. Some time thereafter he removed to the " upper country,"
and when Botetourt was constituted, in I'jS^-yo, he was one of the first
justices of the peace and lieutenant colonel of the militia of that county.
He died in Botetourt in 1772.
The sons of Colonel Breckenridge by his first marriage were Robert
and Alexander. Both these sons were officers in the Revolutionary
army, and both removed to Kentucky soon after the war. Robert, Jr.,
was a member of the Kentucky Convention and Legislature, and the
first Speaker of the House of Delegates. He died, an old and wealthy
man, in Louisville some time after 1830. Major Alexander Breckenridge
died comparatively young. Among his children was James D. Brecken-
ridge, who represented the Louisville district in Congress about the
year 1836.
Colonel Robert Breckenridge's second wife was Lettice Preston,
daughter of John Preston, of Staunton, and her children were four sons,
William, John, James and Preston, and a daughter, Jane, wife of Samuel
Meredith.
William Breckenridge, son of Robert, married in Augusta, but spent
most of his life in Kentucky. He was the father of the late John Boys
Breckenridge, of Staunton.
John Breckenridge, the next son of Colonel Robert, was born on
his father's farm, at Staunton, December 2, 1760, and removed with
the family to Botetourt in 1769, or thereabouts. He was educated at
William and Mary College, and while a student, before he was twenty-
one years of age, was elected by the people of Botetourt a member
of the State Legislature. Marrying Miss Cabell, of Buckingham
county, he settled in Albemarle, on James river, and rapidly attained
distinction as a lawyer. He was elected to Congress by the voters of
Albemarle district, but declined the position. In 1793 he removed to
Kentucky, and during the administration of President Jefferson was
Attorney-General of the United States. He died in 1806, only forty-
six years of age. One of his sons was Cabell Breckenridge, a dis-
tinguished lawyer, who died young, leaving a son, General John C.
Breckenridge, late Vice-President of the United States. The other
sons of John were the celebrated divines, Rev. Drs. John, Robert J. and
William L. Breckenridge, the second of whom was the father of the Hon.
William C. P; Breckenridge, now (1886) a member of the United States
House of Representatives.
James Breckenridge, third son of Colonel Robert, spent his life in
Virginia. He was long known as General Breckenridge, of Bote-
tourt, and was distinguished as a lawyer and member of Congress.
Among his children were Messrs. Cary and James Breckenridge, of
142 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Botetourt, Mrs. Edward Watts, of Roanoke, Mrs. Henry M. Bowyer, of
Botetourt, and Mrs. Robert Gamble, of Florida.
Preston Breckenridge, the fourth son of Colonel Robert, married a
Miss Trigg, and died in middle life, leaving daughters, but no son.
Israel Christian was a merchant, and lived first at Staunton, and
afterwards in the part of Augusta now Botetourt county. He was a
representative of Augusta in the House of Burgesses in i759-'6i. One
of his daughters married Colonel William Fleming, of Botetourt; one,
Caleb Wallace, first a Presbyterian minister in Virginia, and after-
wards a judge in Kentucky; another married William Bowyer, of
Botetourt; and a fourth, Colonel Stephen Trigg, of Kentucky. Three
counties in Kentucky were named in honor of his son, and two of
his sons-in-law, respectively — Christian, Fleming and Trigg. He was
the founder of the towns of Fincastle and Christiansburg.
William Christian, son of the former, was born in Augusta in
1743. He was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1774 (proba-
bly from Botetourt), and leaving Williamsburg he raised a company
and hastened to join General Andrew Lewis, but failed to overtake
him till the night after the battle of Point Pleasant. In 1775 he was
chosen Lieutenant-Colonel of the first Virginia regiment, of which
Patrick Henry was colonel In 1776, however, he became colonel of
the first battalion of Virginia militia, and commander of an expedition
against the Cherokee Indians. The troops under his command con-
sisted of two battalions from Virginia and one from North Carolina,
which, with other men employed, composed an army of one thou-
sand six hundred to one thousand eight hundred men. The campaign
lasted about three months. Not one man was killed, and no one died.
The Indians fled at the approach of the army, but many of their towns
were destroyed and their fields wasted. On the return of the army to
the settlements, Fort Henry was built at Long Island, in the Holston,
near the present Virginia State line, and supplies were taken to it from
Rockbridge and Augusta counties. The fort was then supposed to be
in Virginia.
In 1780 he commanded another expedition against the Cherokees.
In 1781 he was appointed by General Green at the head of a com-
mission to conclude a treaty with the Indians, his Virginia associates
being Arthur Campbell, William Preston and Joseph Martin. In 1785
he removed to Kentucky, and settled near Louisville. The year fol-
lowing he and others pursued a party of marauding Indians across
the. Ohio river, and overtook two of them near the spot where JefFer-
sonville, Indiana, now is. There he was shot and killed by one of the
Indians, both of whom were instantly killed by Christian's companions.
His body was carried home, and the inscription on his tombstone states
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 143
that he was killed April 9, 1786, aged 43. His wife was a sister of
Patrick Henry. Colonel Bullett, of Kentucky, was his son-in-law. His
only son died while a youth. — [ Grigs by' s Sketches.']
Andrew Moore was born, in 1752, at a place called Cannicello,
then in Augusta, now in Rockbridge. In early life he made a voy-
age to the West Indies, and was cast away on a desert island, where
for three weeks he and his companions lived on a species of lizard.
He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. In 1776 he
entered the army as lieutenant of a company of which John Hays
was captain. Nineteen men enlisted under him at a log rolling as
soon as he received his commission. Nearly his whole military life
was spent in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York He with his
company, as a part of Morgan's corps, participated in the battle at
Saratoga, which resulted in Burgoyne's surrender. After a service of
three years, and attaining the rank of captain, he resigned and re-
turned home. He was a member of the Legislature from Rockbridge
when it met in Staunton, in 1781, and continued to serve in that body
till 1789. In 1788, he was a member of the State Convention which
ratified the Constitution of the United States. Upon retiring from the
Legislature he was elected a member of Congress by the Rockbridge
District, and held the position during the entire administration of
Washington. He was a member of the Legislature again from 1798
to 1800, and was again elected to the lower house of Congress in
1803. He was then elected United States Senator, and served till
1809. In 1810, he was appointed by President Jefferson United States
Marshal for the State of Virginia, which office he held till his death,
in 1821. At an early date he was made brigadier-general of militia,
and in 1809 major-general. He was the father of the late Samuel
McD. and David E. Moore, of Lexington. — [Grigsby's Sketches^]
When the Western District of Virginia was projected in 1801, Mr.
Jefferson consulted Judge Stuart of Staunton as to the appointment
of a Marshal. He wrote, April 25, 1801, that Andrew and John Alex-
ander and John Caruthers, all of Rockbridge, had been recommended
to him by different persons. Mr. Caruthers was appointed, but de-
clined. On the 5th of August, 1801, Mr. Jefferson wrote to Judge
Stuart, informing him of Mr. Caruthers's refusal of the office, and say-
ing: "I have now proposed it to Colonel Andrew Moore, with but
little hope, however, of his acceptance." The Western District was,
however, not established at that time, and Colonel Moore was appointed
Marshal for the whole State in 1810.
CHAPTER VII.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION, ETC., FROM 1774 TO 1783.
While the strife between the colonies and mother country-
was brewing in 1774 the port of Boston was closed by the
British, and the people of that city, mainly dependent upon
commerce for subsistence, were reduced to a state of desti-
tution and suffering. The sympathy of the country was aroused,
and contributions for their relief were made in various places.
The remote county of Augusta sent her quota the very autumn
her sons fought the Indians at Point Pleasant. Says the his-
torian, Bancroft : " When the sheaves had been harvested and
the corn threshed and ground in a country as yet poorly
provided with barns or mills, the backwoodsmen of Augusta
county, without any pass through the mountains that could be
called a road, noiselessly and modestly delivered at Frederick
one hundred and thirty-seven barrels of flour as their remit-
tance to the poor of Boston." (Volume VII, page 74.) What
a task the transportation was, may be inferred from the fact that
nearly fifty years afterwards Bockett's stages took three days
to make the trip from Staunton to Winchester.
Again, in 1777, the people of Augusta sent supplies to the
destitute. From some cause unknown to us there was a scar-
city of provisions in Washington county, southwest Virginia,
and the records of that county show that Augusta contributed
flour for the use of "the distressed inhabitants." [See Howe,
page 501.]
But our Annals are designed to exhibit the contentions of
men, rather than the charities of life. We come now to a curious
episode in the history of the county. Lord Dunmore, the last
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 145
royal Governor of Virginia, and his Lieutenant, Connoly, figure
therein somewhat as comic actors, it seems to us, although at
the time the business was considered serious enough.
Virginia claimed, by virtue of her charter, all the territory
between certain parallels of latitude, which included a part of
western Pennsylvania about Pittsburg. Fort Pitt was aban-
doned as a military post in 1773, but the country was rapidly
occupied by English settlers.
In January, 1774, Dr. John Connoly, a citizen of Virginia,
but previously of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, appeared at
Pittsburg and posted a notice of his appointment by Gover-
nor Dunmore as " Captain-Commandant of militia of Pittsburg
and its dependencies," etc., etc.
Governor Penn, of Pennsylvania, wrote to Dunmore, demand-
ing an explanation. At the same time he wrote to the Penn-
sylvania authorities at Pittsburg urging them to maintain the
rights of that province, and ordering the arrest of Connoly.
The "Captain-Commandant" was accordingly arrested and
committed to jail, but he prevailed with the sheriff to give
him leave of absence for a few days, and instead of returning
to prison came to Virginia.
On March 15, 1774, Connoly presented himself before the court
at Staunton, and qualified as a justice of the peace for Augusta
county, and commandant at Pittsburg.
Dunmore replied to Penn on March 3d, insisting upon the
rights of Virginia, and demanding reparation for the insult to
Connoly. The least that would be accepted was the dismissal of
Arthur St. Clair, the clerk who " had the audacity to commit a
magistrate acting in discharge of his duty." Governor Penn re-
plied, and so the controversy continued.
Connoly returned to Pittsburg and gathered around him a
body of armed men, a portion of the people claiming to be Vir-
ginians. He opened correspondence with the Pennsylvania
magistrates, which proving unsatisfactory, he arrested three of
them — Smith, Mackey and McFarland — and sent them to Staun-
ton for trial. Upon arriving here they gave security and were
discharged to find their way home.
The President of the Pennsylvania court informed Governor
Penn of the arrest of his associates. He stated that Connoly,
having at Staunton qualified as a justice of the peace for Augusta
10
146 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
county, "in which it is pretended that the country about Pitts-
burg is included," was constantly surrounded by an armed body
of about one hundred and eighty militia, and obstructed every
process emanating from the court.
Connoly reoccupied Fort Pitt, changing the name to Fort
Dunmore.
The following order appears among the proceedings of the
County Court of Augusta, under date of January 19, 1775 :
" His majesty's writ of adjournment being produced and read,
it is ordered that this court be adjourned to the first Tuesday in
next month, and then to be held at Fort Dunmore, in this county,
agreeable to the said writ of adjournment."
The court was held at Fort Dunmore, under Captain Connoly's
auspices, and several persons were arraigned before it for ob-
structing the authority of Virginia, as we learn from a Pennsyl-
vania historian. — [Creigk's History of Washington Co?mtyy Penn-
sylvania.^ The record of proceedings is not on file at Staunton.
The court could not sit in Staunton at the usual time in March,
being on an excursion to Pennsylvania ; but we next find on the
order book the following: "His majesty's writ of adjournment
from Fort Dunmore to the courthouse in the town of Sjtaunton,
being read, the court was accordingly held the 25th day of
March, 1775."
A deed from six Indian chiefs, representatives of the united
tribes of Mohawks, Oneidas, etc., to George Croghan, for two
hundred thousand acres of land on the Ohio river, executed No-
vember 4, 1768, was proved before the court of Augusta county
at Pittsburg, September 25, 1775 — the land lying in the county
It was further proved before the court at Staunton, August 19,
1777, and ordered to be recorded. — [See Deed Book No. 22,
page 1.] The consideration for which the Indians sold these
lands embraced blankets, stockings, calico, vermillion, ribbons,
knives, gunpowder, lead, gun-flints, needles, and jews-harps.
The deed was also recorded in Philadelphia.
At length the Pennsylvanians kidnapped Captain Connoly
and took him to Philadelphia, and thereupon the Virginians
seized three of the rival justices and sent them to Wheeling as
hostages.
By this time the war of the Revolution was approaching.
The people of the disputed territory were alike patriotic, but
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 147
the distinction between Virginians and Pennsylvanians was still
maintained. Each party held meetings separate from the other,
and denounced the encroachments of the British government.
Captain Connoly, being discharged from custody, joined Lord
Dunmore on board a British ship in Chesapeake Bay. He was
at Portsmouth, Virginia, August 9, 1775, on which day he wrote
to Colonel John Gibson to dissuade him from joining the
patriot side. He then undertook a journey from the Chesa-
peake to Pittsburg, in company with a Doctor Smith, and in
November, 1775, was arrested in Fredericktown, Maryland, for
being engaged in treasonable projects. He was detained in jail,
at Philadelphia, till April 2, 1777.
Finally, in 1779, each of the States appointed commissioners,
and through their agency the dispute was quieted in 1780. The
boundary was not definitely fixed, however, till 1785, when
Mason and Dixon's line was established.
It is generally believed that Dunmore fomented the contro-
versy about the boundary line, in order to embroil the people of
the two provinces between themselves, and that Connoly was
his willing agent. Connoly joined Dunmore at Fort Pitt, in the
fall of 1774, and accompanied him in his march into the Indian
country. In the summer of 1775, it is said, he was appointed
colonel, with authority to raise a regiment of white men on the
frontiers hostile to the cause of the colonies, and to enlist the
Indians on the side of Great Britain. His arrest at Frederick-
town defeated the attempt. After his release he joined the
British army, and was with Cornwallis when he surrendered at
Yorktown. By grant from Dunmore, he acquired a large landed
interest on the Ohio river, where Louisville, Kentucky, now
stands, John Campbell and Joseph Simon having an interest in
the grant, and his share of the property was confiscated by act
of the Legislature of Virginia, the territory then being a part of
this State. The last we have heard of him was in 1788, when
he came from Canada to Louisville, for the purpose professedly
of making a business arrangement with Mr. Campbell, but the
popular prejudice against him was such that he could not re-
main, and leaving the United States nothing further is known of
him. — [See Border Warfare, page 134, and various acts in
Hening, passed in 1780, 1783 and 1784, " for establishing the
town of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson," &c, &c]
148 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
In order not to break the connection we have anticipated the
course of events, and return now to the early part of the year
1775-
The first patriotic meeting of the people of Augusta county,
of which we have any account, was held in Staunton, February
22, 1775. The proceedings were reported as follows :
" After due notice given to the freeholders of the county of
Augusta to meet in Staunton, for the purpose of electing dele-
gates to represent them in Colony Convention at the town of
Richmond, on the 20th of March, 1775, the freeholders of said
county thought proper to refer the choice of their delegates to
the judgment of the committee, who, thus authorized by the
general voice of the people, met at the courthouse on the 22d of
February, and unanimously chose Mr. Thomas Lewis and Captain
Samuel McDowell to represent them in the ensuing Convention.
" Instructions were then ordered to be drawn up by the Rev.
Alexander Balmaine, Mr. Sampson Mathews, Captain Alexander
McClanahan, Mr. Michael Bowyer, Mr. William Lewis, and
Captain George Mathews, or any three of them, and delivered
to the delegates thus chosen, which are as follows : ' To Mr.
Thomas Lewis and Captain Samuel McDowell. — The committee
of Augusta county, pursuant to the trust reposed in them by the
freeholders of the same, have chosen you to represent them in
Colony Convention, proposed to be held in Richmond on the
20th of March instant. They desire that you may consider the
people of Augusta county as impressed with just sentiments of
loyalty and allegiance to his Majesty King George, whose title
to the imperial crown of Great Britain rests on no other founda-
tion than the liberty, and whose glory is inseparable from the
happiness, of all his subjects. We have also respect for the
parent State, which respect is founded on religion, on law, and
on the genuine principles of the constitution. On these princi-
ples do we earnestly desire to see harmony and a good under-
standing restored between Great Britain and America.
" ' Many of us and our forefathers left our native land and ex-
plored this once-savage wilderness to enjoy the free exercise of
the rights of conscience and of human nature. These rights we
are fully resolved, with our lives and fortunes, inviolably to pre-
serve; nor will we surrender such inestimable blessings, the pur-
chase of toil and danger, to any Ministry, to any Parliament, or
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 149
any body of men upon earth, by whom we are not represented,
and in whose decisions, therefore, we have no voice.
" ' We desire you to tender, in the most respectful terms, our
grateful acknowledgements to the late worthy delegates of this
colony for their wise, spirited, and patriotic exertions in the
General Congress, and to assure them that we will uniformly
and religiously adhere to their resolutions providently and
graciously formed for their country's good.
" ' Fully convinced that the safety and happiness of America
depend, next to the blessing of Almighty God, on the unan-
imity and wisdom of her people, we doubt not you will, on
your parts, comply with the recommendations of the late Con-
tinental Congress, by appointing delegates from this colony to
meet in Philadelphia on the ioth of May, next, unless Ameri-
can grievances be redressed before that. And so we are de-
termined to maintain unimpaired that liberty which is the gift
of heaven to the subjects of Britain's empire, and will most cor-
dially join our countrymen in such measures as may be deemed
wise and necessary to secure and perpetuate the ancient, just,
and legal rights of this colony and all British America.
" ' Placing our ultimate trust in the Supreme Disposer of every
event, without whose gracious interposition the wisest schemes
may fail of success, we desire you to move the Convention that
some day, which may appear to them most convenient, be set
apart for imploring the blessing of Almighty God on such plans
as human wisdom and integrity may think necessary to adopt
for preserving America happy, virtuous, and free.' "
In obedience to these instructions, the following letter was
addressed by Messrs. Lewis and McDowell to the members of
Congress :
" To the Hon. Peyton Randolph , Esq. , President, Richard Henry
Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland,
Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Randolph, Esqrs., Dele-
gates from this colony to the General Congress :
" Gentlemen, — We have it in command from the freeholders
of Augusta county, by their committee, held on the 22d Febru-
ary, to present you with the grateful acknowledgment of thanks
for the prudent, virtuous, and noble exertions of the faculties
150 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
with which heaven has endowed you in the cause of liberty,
and of everything that man ought to hold sacred at the late
General Congress — a conduct so nobly interesting that it must
command the applause, not only from this, but succeeding
ages. May that sacred flame, that has illuminated your minds
and influenced your conduct in projecting and concurring in so
many salutary determinations for the preservation of American
liberty, ever continue to direct your conduct to the latest period
of your lives ! May the bright example be fairly transcribed on
the hearts and reduced into practice by every Virginian, by
every American! May our hearts be open to receive and our
arms strong to defend that liberty and freedom, the gift of heaven,
now being banished from its latest retreat in Europe ! Here let
it be hospitably entertained in every breast ; here let it take deep
root and flourish in everlasting bloom, that under its benign in-
fluence the virtuously free may enjoy secure repose and stand
forth the scourge and terror of tyranny and tyrants of every
order and denomination, till time shall be no more.
" Be pleased, gentlemen, to accept of their grateful sense of
your important services, and of their ardent prayers for the best
interests of this once happy country. And vouchsafe, gentle
men, to accept of the same from your most humble servants."
The reply of the members of Congress was as follows :
" To Thomas Lewis and Samuel McDowell, Esqrs. :
" Gentlemen, — Be pleased to transmit to the respectable
freeholders of Augusta county our sincere thanks for their affec-
tionate address approving our conduct in the late Continental
Congress. It gives us the greatest pleasure to find that our
honest endeavors to serve our country on this arduous and im-
portant occasion have met their approbation — a reward fully
adequate to our warmest wishes — and the assurances from the
brave and spirited people of Augusta, that their hearts and
hands shall be devoted to the support of the measures adopted,
or hereafter to be taken, by the Congress for the preservation
of American liberty, give us the highest satisfaction, and must
afford pleasure to every friend of the just rights of mankind.
We cannot conclude without acknowledgments to you, gentle-
men, for the polite manner in which you have communicated to
us the sentiments of your worthy constituents, and are their and
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 151
your obedient humble servants." — [Signed by all the members
of Congress from Virginia.]
The former colonial system having disappeared, all the func-
tions of government were assumed and exercised by the Conven-
tion, in which Messrs. Lewis and McDowell sat as delegates from
Augusta. The executive authority was entrusted to a committee
of safety, consisting of eleven members — Pendleton, Mason and
others — appointed by the Convention. To provide local govern-
ments until public affairs could be settled, the Convention passed
an ordinance in July, 1775, requiring the qualified voters of each
county to elect a county committee, to act as a sort of executive
authority in the county for carrying into effect the measures of
the Continental Congress and the Colonial Convention. — \_Hen-
ing, Volume VIII, page 57.]
Silas Hart, an old justice of the peace, whose residence was
within the present county of Rockingham, was chairman of the
Augusta county committee. On October 3d this committee met
at Staunton, and, pursuant to summons, Alexander Miller ap-
peared before them to answer charges. Miller was an Irish
Presbyterian preacher, who had been deposed from the ministry,
and was accused of having denounced as rebellion, etc., the
popular opposition to the measures of the British Government.
He was solemnly tried and pronounced guilty. His punishment
anticipated the recent policy in Ireland called "boycotting."
The committee subjected the offender to no restraint, and advised
no violence toward him. They only recommended that "the
good people of this county and colony have no further dealings
or intercourse with said Miller until he convinces his countrymen
of having repented for his past folly." — [American Archives, Vol.
Ill, page 939.]
The Annals of the county during the war of the Revolution
are quite meager. This Valley was remote from the scenes of
combat, and only once was there an alarm of invasion. The
domestic life of the people and the business of the court were
generally undisturbed during the war. Public business was trans-
acted and writs were issued in the name of the Commonwealth
of Virginia, instead of the king of Great Britain, and there was
little other change. The abolition of the religious establishment
in the course of time marked the most important departure from
the old order of things. So far from danger was this region
152 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
considered, that the Continental Congress, by resolution of Sep-
tember 8, 1776, advised the Executive Council of Pennsylvania
to send disaffected Quakers arrested in Philadelphia, to Staunton
for safe-keeping. A number of Quakers, a druggist, and a
dancing-master were soon afterwards brought to Winchester and
detained there eight or nine months ; but we have no account of
any persons of the same class having been in Staunton. Several
hundred Hessians, captured at Trenton, were, however, detained
here for a considerable time, and there is a tradition that some
of these were employed by Peter Hanger to build the older part
of the dwelling still standing on Spring Farm, adjacent to the
city water-works.29
How invaluable would be a diary written, even crudely, by a
resident of the county during the war, telling about the raising
of troops, the departure of individuals and companies for the
army, the rumors which agitated the community, and the simple
events of common life! But nothing of the kind exists. We
have, however, some extracts from the diary of a young Presby-
terian minister who made two visits to the county in 1775.
There is not much in them, and no reference whatever to public
events; but the mere mention of a few people living in the
county at that time is somewhat interesting. The minister
referred to was the Rev. John McMillan, of Western Pennsyl-
vania, afterwards the Rev. Dr. McMillan, the founder of Jefferson
College; and a portion of his diary is found in a book called
"Old Redstone" (Presbytery), by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Smith.
Young McMillan came from Pennsylvania, on his second visit,
in November, 1775. He says:
"Monday. — Passed through Stephensburgh, Stoverstown, and
Millerstown — crossed Shenandoah, and after travelling forty-
eight miles, we came to a Dutchman's, where we tarried all
night.
" Tuesday. — We rode this day thirty-five miles — crossed the
North river, and lodged at Widow Watson's,
29 The Hessian fly, from which the farmers of the country suffered so
severely for many years, is commonly believed to have been imported
by the Hessian troops in their straw bedding, and hence the name. It
appeared on Long Island during the Revolutionary war, and quite num-
erously in Virginia in 1796. It was, however, prevalent in the American
Colonies long prior to the period of the Revolution.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 153
" Wednesday. — About noon, came to Staunton; where, it be-
ing court time, I met with a number of my old acquaintances,
who professed great joy to see me. I stayed in town till towards
evening, and then rode to John Trimble's. This day I travelled
about twenty-two miles.
" Thursday. — Continued at Mr. Trimble's.
" Friday.— -Went to John Moffett's.
[John MofTett was buried in the North Mountain grave-yard.
His grave is marked by a sandstone, but all the inscription, ex-
cept the name, has worn out.]
" Saturday. — Returned to Mr. Trimble's; and, in the evening,
Benjamin Brown brought me a pair of shoes, for which I paid
him 8s. (Very cheap shoes.)
"Sabbath (the fourth in November.) — Preached at the North
Mountain, and lodged with Matthew Thompson.
"Monday. — This day I rode in company with John Thompson
about sixteen miles to see my uncle on Back creek ; found them
all well.
"Tuesday. — This morning proving very stormy, we thought it
most convenient to return again to the settlements, and, accord-
ingly, I took leave of my relations, and though it snowed exces-
sively, we set to the road, and in the evening came again to
Matthew Thompson's.
(< Wednesday \ — Went to Hugh Torbet's ; from thence to
Alexander Mitchell's, where I tarried all night.
" Thursday. — Came to Joseph Blair's.
" Friday (ist. December.) — Rode to John Moffett's in the
evening. Got a tooth pulled by Wendal Bright. Tarried here
until Sabbath.
" Sabbath (the first in December.) — Preached at the stone
meeting-house, and in the evening rode in to Staunton in com-
pany with Mrs. Reed. Lodged at Mr. Reed's.
/^[Mrs. Reed afterwards, while a widow, became the second
wife of Colonel George Mathews, from whom she was divorced.
She lived to extreme old age in the low frame house which form-
erly stood on the south side of Beverley street, between Augusta
and Water streets. A few persons still living remember her.
She was generally called "Aunt Reed."]
"Monday. — I left town. Called at Mr. Trimble's and lodged
with Mr. MofTett.
154 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
" Wed?iesday. — This day I moved my camp to William Mc-
Pheeters's.
" Thursday and Friday. — Continued at the same place, spend-
ing- my time chiefly in study."
On New Year's day, 1776, he preached at Peter Hanger's to >
a large assembly, and next day set out down the Valley.
The Rev. James Waddell came to Augusta from Lancaster
county about the year 1776, and bought the Springhill farm on
South River, originally owned by Colonel James Patton. The
deed of James and William Thompson, Patton's son-in-law and
grandson, describes the tract as 1,308 acres, and states the price
as ^1,000 ($3,333/^)- Dr. Waddell resided at Springhill, and
preached at Tinkling Spring and occasionally in Staunton, while
he remained in the county. One of the subscription papers cir-
culated in Tinkling Spring congregation, for raising the pastor's
salary, has escaped destruction, and is interesting as showing in
some degree the state of the times. The subscribers promised
to pay the Rev. James Waddell " the sum of one hundred
pounds, current and lawful money of Virginia, for the whole of
his labours for one year ; " payment to be made " in clean mer-
chantable wheat at three shillings (fifty cents) per bushel, or in
corn or rye of like quality at two shillings per bushel, or in
other commodities he may want at said rates." James Bell, Sr.,
promised to pay ^3, os. gd. (about $10), the largest subscription
on the list. Other subscribers were John Ramsey, Thomas Turk,
John Ramsey, Jr. , William Black, William Guthrie, John Col-
lins, John Caldwell, Benjamin Stuart, Robert Thompson, A.
Thompson, Thomas Stuart, and Walter Davis. The subscrip-
tion for 1783 was ^40 in cash for half the minister's time, the
other half to be bestowed in Staunton. — [Footers Sketches, First
Series, page 376.]
In the early part of 1776, the county committee of Augusta
adopted a memorial to the Convention, of which we have no ac-
count except in the journal of that body. The purport of the
paper, presented to the Convention on the 10th of May, is thus
awkwardly stated in the journal : "A representation from the
committee of the county of Augusta was presented to the Con-
vention and read, setting forth the present unhappy situation of
the country, and from the ministerial measures of revenge now
pursuing, representing the necessity of making the confederacy
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 155
of the united colonies the most perfect, independent and lasting,
and of framing an equal, free and liberal government, that may
bear the test of all future ages." This is said to be the first
expression of the policy of establishing an independent State
government and permanent confederation of States, which the
parliamentary journals of America contain. It is curious, how-
ever, to observe how carefully "the representation" throws the
blame of the measures complained of upon the British ministers,
still seeking apparently to avoid censuring the king. The feel-
ing of loyalty to the sovereign was hard to give up.
In October, 1776, the " several companies of militia and free-
holders of Augusta " forwarded to the representatives of the
county in the Legislature their " sentiments" on the subject of
religious liberty. They demanded that " all religious denomi-
nations within the Dominion be forthwith put in full possession of
equal liberty, without preference or pre-eminence," &c. The
paper was signed by John Magill, James Allen, George Moffett,
Alexander St. Clair, John Poage, John Davis, Alexander Long,
William McPheeters, Elijah McClanahan, Alexander Thompson,
Archibald Alexander, Robert Wilson, James Walker, Charles
Campbell, Walter Cunningham, and others. — [American Ar-
chives, Fifth Series, Volume II, page 815.]
It is impossible to obtain any list or particular account of
troops furnished by Augusta county during the Revolutionary
war, and the names of only a few comparatively of the soldiers
have escaped oblivion. As a general fact, we know that most of
the younger men of the county were in the military service.
One of them, William McCutchen, of Bethel neighborhood,
who survived to a good old age, served three "tours" in the
army. The first and longest was in New Jersey, when he was so
young that the recruiting officer doubted about admitting him
into the ranks. The second term of service was on the invasion
of Virginia by Cornwallis, and the third was at Yorktown.
Dismissed to return home from the Jerseys, after his time of ser-
vice had expired, he received his wages in Continental money.
"Soon after leaving camp, a landlord, supposed not favorable to
the cause, refused him and his companion a meal of victuals for
less than five dollars apiece in paper currency. The next land-
lord demanded two-and-a-half dollars. They determined to
travel as far as possible in a day, and to eat but one meal. In
156 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
all the places along the road where they called for refreshments
they were asked, 'Can you pay for it?' and 'In what can
you pay for it?' In Winchester, where they purchased their
last meal, the landlord took but half price of them, as they were
soldiers — the first time any allowance was made in their favor —
and charged only a dollar and a half. A week's wages would
not pay their expenses, traveling on foot, a single day." —
[Footers Sketches, Second Series, page 2c6.] The paper cur-
rency depreciated so greatly that it was finally called in, and
funded at the rate of one for a thousand. — [Hening's introduc-
tion to Volume II.]
The regular army was recruited by bounties, by volunteers,
and by drafts from the militia. For the assistance of North and
South Carolina, as well as to repel the invasion of Virginia, the
whole body of the militia might be called out, as provided by
act of the Legislature.
The general officers were appointed by the Continental Con
gress ; and early in the war Andrew Lewis was appointed a
brigadier-general. It is said that Washington recommended
Andrew Lewis for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Con-
tinental armies. He commanded at Williamsburg early in 1776,
and in July drove Dunmore from Gwynn's Island. It seems
there was no opportunity for the display of the military talent
universally attributed to him. He died during the war, in 178 1.30
From various ordinances of Convention and acts of Assembly,
printed in Ifemng's Statutes at Large, we learn how the State
raised her quota of troops, and incidentally what troops, or com-
panies, Augusta furnished. We, therefore, give a synopsis of
the ordinances and acts referred to.
The Convention, which managed affairs in Virginia from the
time the old system of government disappeared till the adoption
of the first Constitution of the State, in 1776, passed an ordi-
nance July 17, 1775, for raising two regiments of regulars and
for organizing the militia. The first regiment was to consist of
30 General Lewis's wife was a Miss Givens, of Augusta. His sons
were John, Samuel, Thomas, Andrew and William. John was captain
of a Botetourt company at the battle of Point Pleasant. Samuel was a
lieutenant-colonel in 1781. The death of General Lewis occurred at
Colonel Buford's, eastern base of the Blue Ridge. He was buried on his
estate called "Dropmore," near Salem, Roanoke county.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 157
544 rank and file, with a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, 8
captains, 16 lieutenants, and 8 ensigns ; and the second of 476
rank and file, with seven companies and corresponding officers.
The field officers were appointed by the Convention — Patrick
Henry to command the first regiment, and Colonel Woodford
the second. The companies were to consist of 68 men each, to
be enlisted in districts, and to serve one year. The companies
raised in the district composed of Augusta, &c, to be "expert
riflemen." The company officers were appointed by the mem-
bers of the Convention from the district.
The whole State was divided into military districts, and the
militia were ordered to be embodied as minute-men. The coun-
ties of Buckingham, Amherst, Albemarle and Augusta constituted
one district. Each district was to raise a battalion of 500 men,
rank and file, from the age of 16 to that of 50, to be divided into
ten companies of 50 men each. The officers were to be ap-
pointed by committees, selected by the various county commit-
tees. The battalion was required to be kept in training at some
convenient place for twelve days, twice a year ; and the several
companies to be mustered four days in each month, except De-
cember, January and February, in their respective counties.
Every man so enlisted was required to " furnish himself with
a good rifle, if to be had, otherwise with a tomahawk, common
firelock bayonet, pouch, or cartouch box, and three charges of
powder and ball." Upon affidavit that the minute-man was not
able to furnish his arms, &c, they were to be supplied at public
expense. The officers were required to equip themselves, and
officers and men were liable to a fine for failure in this respect.
In December, 1775, the Convention passed another ordinance
for raising additional troops. It provided for augmenting the
two regiments already raised, by the addition of two companies
to the first, and three to the second; and also for raising six addi-
tional regiments, of ten companies each, and sixty-eight men to
a company. One of the new regiments was to be made up of
Germans and others, as the county committee of Augusta, West
Augusta, Frederick, &c, should judge expedient. Captains and
other company officers were to be appointed by the committees
of the counties in which companies were raised, respectively.
Two captains, two first and two second lieutenants, &c, were
assigned to Augusta, and it was expected that their companies
158 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
would be raised in the county The men were to be enlisted for
two years from April 10, 1776.
Arms, &c. , for the new companies were to be furnished by the
public; but until muskets could be procured, the men were to
bring the best guns they had — riflemen to bring rifles and toma-
hawks. For smooth-bore guns and for rifles and tomahawks,
private property, rent would be allowed at the rate of 20s. a year.
Each soldier was allowed, out of his pay, "a hunting shirt, pair
of leggins, and binding for his hat" (!) Pay of colonels, 17s. 6d.
per day ; captains, 6s. and privates, is. 4d.
The same ordinance provided for raising a Ninth regiment of
seven companies, sixty-eight men to a company, for the protec-
tion of Accomac and Northampton counties. It was evidently
contemplated that the Ninth regiment should be recruited in the
counties named. By a subsequent ordinance, the Ninth was aug-
mented by the addition of three companies, so as to make it
equal with other regiments.
The same ordinance, of December, 1775, also provided that
the committee of Augusta county should appoint officers to com-
mand a company of fifty men, to be stationed at the mouth of
the Little Kanawha.
The State Constitution was adopted by the Convention June
29, 1776. The counties of " East Augusta and Dunmore " con-
stituted a district for the election of a State senator. The name
Dunmore was afterwards changed to " Shenando." West Au-
gusta constituted another senatorial district.
The Legislature elected under the State Constitution met for
the first time October 7, 1776, and soon thereafter passed an act
for raising six additional battalions " on the continental establish-
ment," and assigning two captains, &c, to Augusta.
Other acts for recruiting the army will be mentioned as we
proceed.
Thus we find that a number of company officers were assigned
to Augusta, with the expectation, of course, that the men should
be enlisted in the county. The companies were no doubt raised,
yet there is no record or tradition in regard to their assembling
and marching off, nor even of the names of most of the officers.
Our local archives furnish little information on the subject, and
we have applied in vain at Richmond and Washington for the
names of officers.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 159
The act of the first Legislature after the adoption of the Con-
stitution, referred to above, prescribed that the militia officers of
each county, assembled in court-martial, should elect the com-
pany officers assigned to their county. The court-martial of
Augusta militia met at the courthouse, December 3, 1776, to dis-
charge that duty. Present, Colonels Abraham Smith and Alex-
ander Thompson, and Captains David Bell, John Stevenson,
James Ewing, Daniel Smith, Peachy Gilmer, John Young, David
Laird, George Moffelt, Alexander Robertson, William Ander-
son, and others.
The court proceeded to choose by ballot officers " to raise two
companies of regulars according to act of assembly," and the
following were chosen : First company — John Syme, Captain ;
Charles Cameron, First Lieutenant ; William Christian, Second
Lieutenant ; and James Hamilton, Ensign. Second company —
David Laird (a member of the court-martial), Captain ; Andrew
Anderson, First Lieutenant ; William Smith, Second Lieuten-
ant ; and Michael Troutt, Ensign. The Lieutenant Anderson
mentioned was no doubt the person known after the war as
Colonel Anderson, who often represented the county in the
House of Delegates.
At a court-martial held February 1, 1777, it was reported that
Captain Syme had recruited twenty-eight men, Lieutenant Cam-
eron, twenty, Lieutenant Christian, twelve, and Ensign Ham-
ilton, ten, making seventy rank and file. There was no report
from Captain Laird and Lieutenant Anderson, but it was believed
they had nearly completed their respective numbers. Lieutenant
Smith had enlisted seventeen men and Ensign Evans, ten. The
last named appears to have been substituted for Ensign Troutt.
Governor Gilmer tells us that John, Andrew, and Thomas
Lewis, sons of Thomas Lewis were officers in the Revolutionary
army. He also mentions a Captain Hughes and a Captain Mc-
Elhany, of the Continental army, both of whom married daugh-
ters of Thomas Lewis, and also Layton Yancey, another officer,
who married another daughter. John Lewis, son of William,
commanded a company at the battle of Monmouth. Robert
Gamble, of Augusta, says Governor Gilmer, was an officer in
the army very early in the war, and continued to serve to its
close. He was always with the main army, and under the imme-
diate command of Washington.
160 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY,
These and others whose names have not reached us were no
doubt the officers of the various companies raised in the
county. We shall- have occasion hereafter to speak of Mof-
fett, Tate, Doak, Stuart, Fulton, and others who served as offi-
cers in the field when the militia was called out at different times.
Robert Doak, then a young man, was ensign of Captain Tate's
company at the battle of Guilford.
But Augusta furnished at the outset at least two officers of
higher rank than captain. Alexander McClanahan was ap-
pointed by the Convention, in 1775, Lieutenant-Colonel of the
Seventh regiment, of which William Dangerfield was Colonel,
and William Nelson, Major. Colonel McClanahan was at the
battle of Great Bridge, near Norfolk, December 9, 1775, in
which every British grenadier was killed, without loss to the
Virginians. He served under General Andrew Lewis, at Wil-
liamsburg, in 1776, and was commissioned Colonel of the Seventh
October 7, 1776. At that time General Woodford's brigade
was composed of the Third, Seventh, Eleventh, and Fifteenth
Virginia regiments.31
George Mathews was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the
Ninth regiment, of which Thomas Fleming was Colonel, andM.
Donavon, Major. This regiment was at first stationed on the
Eastern Shore of Virginia, for the protection of Accomac and
Northampton counties, but was afterwards a part of the main
army under Washington. The date of his commission as Colonel
is February 10, 1777. He commanded the regiment at the
battle of Germantown, in which he and all his men were captured
by the British.
Colonel McClanahan appears to have retired from the army
before the close of the war, but in a "list of general and field
officers of the late army of the United States who continued in
service to the end of the war," George Mathews appears as the
fourteenth name in the list of colonels.
By the erection of Botetourt county, in 1769, and the legal
recognition of the district of West Augusta, in 1776, the county
of Augusta was shorn of much the larger part of her original
31 Colonel McClanahan 's children were two daughters, Mrs. Abney
and Mrs. Austin, and a son, John, who died unmarried. His wife
was a Miss Shelton, a sister of Patrick Henry's first wife.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 161
territory. She was thus reduced to her present territory, with
parts of the present counties of Rockbridge, Bath and Alleghany,
and all of Rockingham, Highland and Pendleton.
The district of West Augusta appears to have been evolved,
rather than created by law. Its existence was first recognized
by the Legislature during the session which began October 7,
1776, when an act was passed " for ascertaining the boundary
between the county of Augusta and the district of West Au-
gusta." The boundary of the district is thus described : " Be-
ginning on the Alleghany mountain, between the heads of Po-
towmack, Cheat and Green Brier rivers, thence along the ridge
of mountains which divides the waters of Cheat river from those
of Green Brier and that branch of the Monongahela river, called
Tyger's valley river, to the Monongahela river; thence up the
said river and the west fork thereof to Bingerman's creek, on the
north side of the said west fork; thence up the said creek to the
head thereof; thence in a direct course to the head of Middle
Island creek, a branch of the Ohio ; and thence to the Ohio,
including all the waters of the said creek in the aforesaid district
of West Augusta ; all that territory lying to the northward of
the aforesaid, and to the westward of the States of Pennsylvania
and Maryland, shall be decreed, and is hereby declared, to be
within the district of West Augusta."
The act proceeded to divide the district into the three counties
of Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia. The greater part of
Yohogania fell within the territory of Pennsylvania, when the
boundary line between that State and Virginia was established ;
and the residue was, by act of 1785, added to Ohio county, and
Yohogania became extinct.
We may state that the rhetorical declaration about West Au-
gusta, attributed to Washington, at a dark day during the war,
is sheer fiction. What Washington said, in the simplest terms,
was, that if driven to extremity, he would retreat to Augusta
county, in Virginia, and there make a stand.
The State undertook to provide a navy, but the trouble was to
obtain linen cloth for sails. Therefore, an act passed by the
Legislature during its first session "in regard to the Virginia
fleet," appointed Sampson Mathews and Alexander St. Clair, of
Staunton, trustees, " to erect at public expense and superintend
a manufactory at such place as they shall think proper, for the
11
162 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
making of sail duck," at a cost not exceeding one thousand
pounds. We can imagine the reasons which induced the selec-
tion of this region for .the purpose mentioned. Staunton was
regarded as a place not likely to be invaded by the enemy; much
flax was then and afterwards raised in the county; and there
were many natives of the north of Ireland living here, who were
skilled in weaving linen cloth. England having no rival indus-
try, for a long time imposed no restriction upon the manufacture
of flax and hemp in Ireland. The people of Ulster took advan-
tage of their opportunity, and finally supplied sails for the whole
British navy. The manufacture extended to England, however,
and the Irish trade was thereupon crippled by a duty on sail
cloth. This led to another flight of Ulster people to America a
few years before the outbreak of the Revolution. We have
found no other reference to the manufacture of sail cloth in this
region.
The Legislature of 1776 passed an act repealing all acts of the
British Parliament which made criminal the maintenance of any
religious opinions, forbearing to attend church, or the exercise of
any mode of worship. The act also exempted Dissenters from
all levies, taxes, and impositions for the support of the "Estab-
lished Church" — still so-called. But all Dissenters, as well as
others, were required to contribute to the salaries of ministers
and other parish dues, up to January 1, 1777. The vestries were
to continue their care of the poor. Glebes, churches and chapels
were to be kept for the use of the " Established Church," but all
acts providing salaries for ministers were suspended.
At the meeting of the vestry of Augusta parish, in February,
1777, Mr. Jones, the rector, appeared by Robert McClanahan,
his attorney. He was allowed ^200 for the year 1776, and to
February 1, 1777; but Mr. Balrriaine, late curate, was to receive
out of the said sum the balance due to him — ^103, 10s. iod.
It was ordered that the collector pay to Robert McClanahan the
remainder of the ^200, he entering into bond to keep and main-
tain Mr. Jones, and save the parish any expense on his account
for three years. Very likely, before the three years expired, the
aged rector had departed this life. We hear no more of him.
The Glebe was turned over to the vestry to make what they could
of it. William Bowyer and Alexander St. Clair were elected
church wardens.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 168
At the beginning of the war, when the State first called for
troops, the young and ardent men no doubt rushed into the army,
and there was no difficulty in filling up the ranks. The officers
were eager for military distinction, and others, not anticipating a
protracted war, were anxious to participate in the frolic. As
months and years rolled by, and the war still continued, the popu-
lar enthusiasm evidently cooled down. It was one thing to
march out and shoot at the British and return home " covered
with glory," and a different thing entirely to be kept from home
indefinitely, marching about or lolling in camp, exposed to the
weather, badly clad, and nearly all the time without sufficient
food. Many men who had courage and patriotism to serve a
campaign, hesitated about voluntarily taking upon themselves
the sufferings mentioned. But the casualties of war depleted
the regiments in the field, and recruits were demanded. Volun-
teers in sufficient number were not forthcoming, and drafting was
resorted to.
The Legislature passed an act in May, 1777, " for completing
the quota of troops to be raised in this Commonwealth for the
Continental army." Any two militiamen procuring a recruit for
three years, or the war, were exempted from draft and muster.
To complete the six additional battalions already mentioned,
drafting was ordered to be made on the 10th of August, unless
the number of men required had previously enlisted.
At the session of the Legislature, which began in October,
1777, another act was passed " for recruiting the Virginia regi-
ments on the Continental establishment, and for raising additional
troops." It provided that Colonel George Gibson's battalion
should continue in the Continental service in place of the Ninth
Virginia regiment, which was -captured at Germantown. It also
provided for the speedy recruiting of the Virginia regiments in
service, Augusta to furnish ninety-seven men by drafting, if a
sufficient number of volunteers did not come forward. The
drafting was to be made at the courthouse of each county on the
second Monday in February, 1778, and only unmarried men were
liable to be called out. Foote relates that a company of volun-
teers was made up at this time in Rockbridge, of which the Rev.
William Graham was elected captain, but which was not called
into service. We are informed, however, that the statement is
tot entirely correct.
164 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
The counties of Rockingham and Rockbridge were estab-
lished by act of assembly passed at the session which began in
October, 1777, the former being taken from Augusta, and the
latter from Augusta and Botetourt. From that time till further
reduced, Augusta consisted of her present territory, the county
of Highland, and part of Bath.
The first session of the County Court of Rockbridge was held
April 7, 1778, at the house of Samuel Wallace, the justices pre-
siding being John Bowyer, Samuel McDowell, Charles Camp-
bell, Samuel Lyle and Alexander Stuart. Other justices com-
missioned were Archibald Alexander, Andrew Reid, John Trim
ble and John Gilmore. Andrew Reid being appointed clerk,
was sworn in. A commission from Governor Patrick Henry,
appointing Archibald Alexander sheriff of the county during
pleasure, was produced, and the sheriff executed bond and took
the oath of office. Other county officers who qualified were
Samuel McDowell, colonel; John Gilmore, Sen, lieutenant-colonel;
Alexander Stuart, major ; John Bowyer, lieutenant ; and James
McDowell, county surveyor. The surveyor was still appointed
by the president and masters of William and Mary College.
The court sat April 18 and May 5, 1778, for the examination
of Captain James Hall and Hugh Galbraith, " upon a charge of
suspicion " of being guilty of the killing of Cornstalk and two
other Indians in November, 1777, and they denying their guilt,
and no one appearing against them, they were acquitted. On
both occasions the sheriff made proclamation at the door of the
courthouse for all persons who could give evidence in behalf of
the commonwealth against the accused to come forward and
testify, but of course no witness volunteered.
On the 14th of May the court sat for the trial of Mary Walker,
wife of John Walker, who stood charged " with speaking words
maintaining the power and authority of the King and Parlia-
ment of Great Britain over the United States of America." A
jury was impanneled, consisting of Henry McClung, William
Ramsey, John and Samuel Caruthers, Hugh Barkley, William
Paxton, and others, and after due trial the accused was pro-
nounced guilty of the charge preferred. Thereupon it was con-
sidered by the court " that she be committed to close gaol four
days, and that the commonwealth recover against her fifteen
pounds, ten shillings as damages," &c.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 165
No attorneys appear to have qualified to practice in Rock-
bridge County Court till August term, 1778, when Harry Innis
and Andrew Moore were admitted to practice. At April court,
1782, Archibald Stuart was recommended to the Governor as
"deputy attorney for the State."
The town of Lexington was legalized and named before it
existed, or had a local habitation. The act of assembly, which
established Rockbridge county, provided that "at the place,
which shall be appointed for holding courts in the said county
of Rockbridge, there shall be laid off a town to be called Lexing-
ton, thirteen hundred feet in length and nine hundred in width."
The act further provided for the condemnation of the land (only
about twenty- seven acres), and payment for it out of the county
levy. One acre was to be reserved for county buildings, and
the residue sold by the justices.
Rockbridge was so called from the celebrated Natural Bridge,
in the southeast part of the county, and Lexington after the
town in Massachusetts, where the first battle of the Revolution
occurred.
It is presumed that Rockingham county was named in honor
of the Marquis of Rockingham, Prime Minister of Great Britain
in i765~'6. During his administration the Stamp Act was re-
pealed by Parliament, which caused great rejoicing in America,
and the Minister received more credit for the repeal than he
perhaps deserved.
The County Court of Rockingham held its first session April
27, 1778, at the house of Daniel Smith, which was two miles
north of the site of Harrisonburg. The justices commissioned
were Silas Hart, Daniel Smith, Abraham Smith, John Grattan,
Josiah Davison, George Boswell, Thomas Hewitt, John Thomas,
William Nalle, Robert Davis, Henry Ewing, William McDowell,
Anthony Ryder, John Fitzwaters, and Isaac Hinckle.
Silas Hart was the first sheriff; Peter Hogg, the first clerk of
the court, called in the proceedings "clerk of the peace of the
county;" and Thomas Lewis, the first county surveyor. The
following military officers were nominated by the court to the
Governor and Council for appointment : Abraham Smith,
County-Lieutenant; Daniel Smith, Colonel; Benjamin Harri-
son, Lieutenant-Colonel ; John Skidmore, Major. For some
unexplained reason the last-named person was not appointed
r.
166 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Major by the executive, but the office was conferred upon Wil-
liam Nalle. John Grattan, John Thomas, and Daniel Smith,
were appointed coroners*. At May court, 1778, Gabriel Jones
was appointed deputy-attorney for the commonwealth, with a
salary of ^40 a year.
We now take leave of Thomas Lewis, Gabriel Jones, Silas
Hart, Peter Hogg, John Grattan, the Smiths, and others, as
citizens of Augusta.
Thomas Harrison, of Rockingham, laid off fifty acres of his
land in lots and streets, and the Legislature, in 1780, confirmed
what he had done by establishing the town of Harrisonburg,
without appointing trustees, as was usual.
We resume our narrative of events during the Revolution.
Still more soldiers in the field were needed. Therefore, the
Legislature, in May, 1778, passed an act " for raising volunteers
to join the Grand Army." A bounty of $30, and a complete
suit of regimentals, were promised to every soldier volunteering
before August 1st to serve till January 1, 1779. To Augusta was
assigned a captain, lieutenant and ensign ; the captain to enlist
twenty-four men; the lieutenant, sixteen, and the ensign, ten,
making a company of fifty.
The vestry of Augusta parish held a meeting May 21, 1778,
but transacted no business except in regard to the poor. Dr.
John Jackson was then practicing medicine in the parish.
The court-martial of the county sat for a number of days in
succession in October, 1778, Colonel Sampson Mathews presid-
ing. George Moffett was then a colonel also, and a member of
the court. ^y
On October 21, sundry persons were reported to the court
"as delinquents for not going out when drafted, August 25,
1777," and at other times.
The next day John Bratton, a soldier of Captain Thompson's
company, was tried " for deserting from the detachment of
militia of this county commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Bowyer,
on their march to Fort Pitt to join General McEntosh," but was
acquitted, and on account of bodily infirmity, exempted from
military duty.
On the 23d of October, " William McCutchen, of Captain
Samuel McCutchen' s company, returned for not appearing at
the place of rendezvous, 15th September, 1778, to join the said
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 167
company on the expedition commanded by General McEntosh,
and for opposing Lieutenant James Buchanan and his guard by
force of arms," was duly tried. It was ordered that the accused
be fined twenty shillings and imprisoned twenty days.
The following day, it appearing that Sergeant John Barrett, of
Captain Laird's company, Tenth Virginia regiment, had hired
Campbell McCawly as a substitute, and that Colonel John Green,
of the Tenth, had refused to receive the latter ; Barrett and Mc-
Cawly being brought before the court, and Captain Laird testify-
ing that McCawly had " used some deceit ' ' to induce Colonel
Green to reject him, it was ordered that Barrett having " sore
legs," and McCawly being fit for service, the latter should return
to camp and be accepted in place of the former.
At the same term the court ordered that arms be furnished to
various captains for members of their companies too poor to
supply themselves.
In October, 1778, the Legislature passed an act for recruiting
the Virginia regiments, requiring each county, except Illinois, to
furnish the one twenty-fifth man of its militia by May 1, 1779, to
serve for three years, or during the war. An act of May, 1779,
reciting that the former act had not " produced the end pro-
posed," ordered that the "one twenty-fifth man of the militia"
be drafted for eighteen months.
By another act passed at the same session, a part of Augusta
county was added to Monongalia.
At a court-martial, held April 15, 1779, Lieutenant-Colonel
William Bowyer was fined ^10 for not attending the court.
On the 17th John Woods, of Captain Simpson's company,
" returned at the last court for deserting from his command when
he was a substitute for Robert Wallace, who was drafted in Cap-
tain Bell's company, on the head of Greenbrier, about the last of
September," was fined £\, and ordered to be imprisoned thirty
days.
The storming of Stony Point occurred July 15-16, 1779.
This famous incident of the war has a place here, because a com-
pany of Augusta soldiers participated in it. General Wayne
commanded, on the Hudson river, New York, a brigade of four
regiments, one of which was from Virginia. The field officers
of this regiment were Colonel Febiger, Lieutenant- Colonel
168 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Fleury, and Major Posey.32 One of the companies of the Vir-
ginia regiment was commanded by Captain Robert Gamble, of
Augusta.
Stony Point is a hill which projects into the Hudson, a few
miles below West Point. The Americans had occupied and par-
tially fortified it, but retired before an overwhelming force of the
enemy. The hill was then strongly fortified by the British, and
garrisoned by about 600 men.
During the summer of 1779, Washington planned the capture
of the place, and entrusted the execution of the scheme to Mad
Anthony Wayne. Twelve hundred chosen men, led by Wayne,
marched in single file over mountains -and through morasses,
starting after dark the evening of July 15. They depended on
the bayonet alone, and not a gun was fired by them. The
assault was made before daylight, on the 16th. The Americans
were divided into two columns, for simultaneous attack on oppo-
site sides of the works. One hundred and fifty volunteers, led
by Lieutenant Colonel Fleury, seconded by Major Posey, formed
the van-guard of the right, and one' hundred under Major Stew-
art, the van-guard of the left. In advance of each was a forlorn
hope of twenty men, one led by Lieutenant Knox, and the other
by Lieutenant Gibbon of the Virginia regiment. It was the des-
perate duty of these men to remove the abatis and other obstruc-
tions. Of the party led by Gibbon, seventeen were killed or
wounded. The Americans were close upon the works before
they were discovered. The British pickets then opened fire,
and aroused the garrison. The assailants rushed forward, heed-
less of musketry and grape-shot, using the bayonet with deadly
effect. According to the account given by Irving, in his Life of
Washington^ Colonel Fleury was the first to enter the fort and
strike the British flag, and Major Posey sprang to the ramparts
32 Colonel Christian Febiger was a native of Sweden. He went with
Arnold to Quebec, and was conspicuous at Stony Point and Yorktown.
After the war, from 1789 till his death in 1796, he was treasurer of Penn-
sylvania. Chevalier and Viscount Louis de Fleury, Lieutenant-Colonel*
was a Frenchman, and a Marshal of France at the time of his death.
He received the thanks of Congress and a silver medal for his conduct
at Stony Point. Major Thomas Posey was subsequently known as Gen-
eral Posey, of Spotsylvania county, Virginia.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 169
and shouted, " The fort is our own." They were instantly joined
by Major Stewart. General Wayne, who led the right column,
was wounded in the head, but insisted upon being carried into
the fort, to die there; but soon recovered. The loss of the
Americans was fifteen killed, and eighty-three wounded. Of the
British, sixty-three were slain, and five hundred and fifty-three
were taken prisoners.
General Charles Lee declared the storming of Stony Point the
most brilliant achievement he was acquainted with in history.
The part in the affair which Captain Gamble is said to have acted
is related in a biographical sketch at the end of this chapter.
To Dr. Cary B. Gamble, of Baltimore, we are indebted for a
list of the men led by Captain Gamble at Stony Point, who were,
it seems, detailed from the Seventh and Eighth Virginia regi-
ments. The paper is headed : " A return of the men of Captain
Gamble's company when Stony Point was taken from the
enemy, 15th July, 1779," and is certified at the end by "Robert
Gamble, captain, Colonel Fibeger's Regiment" The names of
the officers and men are as follows :
Robert Gamble, captain ; David Williams, lieutenant; James
Flauherty, sergeant-major ; William Spencer, George Goimes
and Richard Piles, sergeants ; Randolph Death (sic), Samuel
Glen and Jesse Page, corporals; John Farrell, drummer.
The privates from the Seventh regiment were : Joshua Hay-
craft, Mathias Martin, Alexander Dresdal, John Malvin, Peter
Sheridan, Joseph Fox, Daniel Burcher, Thomas Roberts, Sylves-
ter Hurly, William Gibbs, William Hinds, Daniel Rich, Aaron
Redmond, Thomas Miller, William Campbell, Moses Plain,
Peter Barret, Alexander Strickling and Charles Steward.
From the Eighth regiment : George Ward, John Bray, James
Ball, Henry Denny, Henry Normand, Jacob Roads, William Mc-
Collum, Henry Denny (two of this name), John Trotter, George
Sell, Michael Moore, James L. Masters, Richard Barlow, Stephen
Smythers, John Bland, Marshall Burton, Peter Warren, John
O'Harroh, Patrick Lyons, William Steward and John Hanson.
The captured property was sold or appraised, and the pro-
ceeds, or valuation, distributed to the officers and men, the share
of Captain Gamble's company being $4,751^.
A fragment of the order book of Captain Gamble's company,
while serving under Wayne on the Hudson, subsequent to the
170 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
storming of Stony Point, has been preserved and has come into
our hands.33 Much of it is illegible, the writing having faded
out, and some of the sheets are mutilated. It was probably kept
by the orderly sergeant of the company, who was an indifferent
penman and worse scholar. How he made so many mistakes
in merely copying orders, &c, is a mystery. But such as it is,
it gives us a rare view of camp life during the Revolution, and
we offer no apology for the extracts we shall make.
The first legible order — the date of which has disappeared, but
it was some day in August, 1779 — is as follows : " Colonels Meggs
and Butler, and Majors Hull and Murphy, will attend at head-
quarters this afternoon, at five o'clock, to receive their divide^/
of money arising from the sale of the plunder taken in storming
Stony Point July 15th, '79."
At a court-martial held August 24th, whereof Colonel Putnam
was president, Lieutenant Smith, of Putnam's regiment, was tried
upon the charge of taking several articles of plunder from a sol-
dier "the night of the storm of Stony Point," and acquitted.
Lieutenant Manyard, of the Massachusetts regiment, was tried
by court-martial, August 30, on charges preferred by Lieutenant-
Colonel Fleury of disobedience to orders, want of respect to a
field officer, and hindering him from visiting the night-guard.
Manyard was the officer on duty, and detained Fleury a prisoner
all night. The court found him guilty, and sentenced him to be
privately reprimanded by the General. Thereupon, Manyard
preferred charges against Fleury of ungentlemanly behavior, and
abusing him when on duty. A majority of the court thought
Fleury guilty, but in view of the provocation he had received,
and the punishment of his arrest, the case was dismissed.
The General next issued an order, expressing his dissatisfac-
tion at the wrangling amongst the officers, and the frequent
arrests " in a corps that has acquired so much glory, as to be-
come not only the admiration but the envy of many," and ex-
horting the officers to cultivate harmony amongst themselves.
A regimental order, of September 1, sets forth that "the
drummers and fifers, instead of improving themselves since they
have been on this detachment, have grone a great deal wors"
and directs that Philip Goaf, fifer in the First battalion, and Wil-
33 Through the kindness of William H. Gamble, Esq.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 171
liam Armstead, drummer of the Second, take out the drums and
fifes of the regiment every afternoon, Sundays and rainy days
excepted, to practice from 4 to 6 o'clock.
Captain Gamble was officer of the day, September 2d.
John Bowling and John Malvin were tried for disobedience to
orders, absence from roll-call, and drunkenness, found guilty, and
sentenced to receive fifty lashes each, but, in consideration of
the former good character of the men, the colonel remitted the
penalty. Thomas Roberts was sentenced to receive fifty lashes
for absence from roll-call, and one hundred for stealing. The
colonel thought one hundred enough for both offences, but
ordered that they be " well laid on." James Black, a soldier of
Captain Montgomery's company, Virginia regiment, was sen-
tenced to receive fifty lashes on his bare back for stealing a ham
of bacon, Major Posey commanding approving the sentence,
and ordering it "to be put in execution at Retreat beating."
Alas ! alas ! the heroes of Stony Point ! — the patriots of the
Revolution !
By a general court-martial, held September 5, William Mal-
lock, of Captain Talbert's company, Colonel Butler's regiment,
was convicted of several offences, including " attempting to go
to the enemy," and sentenced to suffer death. General Wayne
approved the sentence, and ordered Mallock to be shot to death at
6 o'clock the same evening, "the whole of the troops to assem-
ble at that hour on the grand parade and attend the execution."
On the 1 2th of September the General ordered that the men
should be kept in camp, as a movement might be made at any
moment. A standing order, which was often repeated, required
the men to keep on hand two days' rations ready cooked.
Captain Gamble was officer of the day again on the 14th of
September.
The following appears under date of September 18, written by
Captain Gamble himself in a beautiful hand : " William Askins*
of my company, is appointed a Corporal, and is to be obeyed
and respected as such." Signed : " R. Gamble, Captain First
regiment light infantry."
Captain Gamble was president of a regimental court-martial,
held September 19th. Little else appears to have been done,
except to hold courts for the trial of officers as well as private
soldiers.
172 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
On the 24th of September, the command being near Fort
Montgomery, a ship, one or two galleys, and some boats ap-
peared in view, and the General ordered that every officer and
soldier should hold himself ready for action "in case any attempt
should be made by the enemy, which is rather more wished than
expected."
By a general order of September 29th the men are rebuked
for their unsoldier-like appearance, and to remove any pretext
for it the quartermasters are instructed to "call on Mr. Thomas,
each for four pounds of sewing-thread and four hundred needles
and immediately distribute them among the companies of their
respective regiments.' '
A regimental order, on September 30, directed that return be
made of the barefooted men "in a column by themselves."
The Colonel further expressed his astonishment and sorrow that
the men, " instead of taking a pride in keeping themselves clean
and neat, are daily decreasing in this very necessary point, ap
pearing on the parade durty and slovenly, with their caps laped
and sloughed about their ears."
Captain Gamble did not trust the company's scribe to record
his own orders, but entered them himself. In one dated Kakey-
atte, 13th October, 1779, he gives directions in regard to the pay,
&c, of three washer- women, who drew rations in his com-
pany.
A general order in October calls upon the officers to exert
themselves in detecting marauders, reminding them that the army
was raised to protect, and not to oppress the inhabitants.
Another general order, also in October, exhorted the men to
furbish up their qrms and clothing, as the corps would probably
very soon " parade through towns and cities, from which they
have been long excluded," and all eyes would be upon them.
On the 22d of October General Wayne expressed his concern
that the Virginians were the only troops in the light infantry
that had not " procured hair for their caps." u The colonel of
the Virginia regiment thereupon repeated his order on the sub-
ject. He directed that no officer should mount guard or go on
the grand parade without a cap, and " if he has not one of his
Probably instead of plumes.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 173
own he will kind a ?iuff to borrow." So the copyist enters it in
the company order book.
Next appears a company order dated October 24, in the hand-
writing of Captain Gamble. The Captain expressed his pleasure
at learning from Ensign Phillips that notwithstanding the sol-
diers had drawn " two days' rum " the day before, not one of
the company was drunk on the parade. The commissary, he
said, would soon have liquor to issue, exclusive of what the State
of Virginia had begun to supply, and as it would be most proper
to draw several days at once "on account of the distance," Cap-
tain Gamble was fearful that soldiers " accustomed to get
drunk " would fall victims to the vice. He declared his deter-
mination to suppress a practice destructive of good order and
military discipline. The men who should be caught " disguised
with liquor either on or off duty," should have their rum stopped
for two weeks. For a second offence the punishment should be
whatever a court-martial might inflict without favor to any indi-
vidual.
A general order of November 5 says: " Some late intelligence
renders it necessary for the corps to be prepared to seek or meet
the enemy." Every man was to be in readiness to act. The
commissary was ordered to send wagons immediately to bring
the rum and other supplies from the landing. At the next gen-
eral parade a gill of rum would be issued to each man.
Cold weather had come on by November 7, and a regimental
order of that date, signed by Colonel Christian Febiger, directs
about chimneys to the tents, and requires the officers to prevent
the men from destroying the fences or any thing belonging to
the inhabitants. A general order instructs the commissary to
"engage all the roots and vegetables he can procure for the use
of the troops, for which he will give beef in barter."
On the last page of the fragment Captain Gamble is mentioned
as "regimental officer." He was then only about twenty-five
years of age.
In October, 1779, an act of the Legislature was passed repeal-
ing all acts providing salaries for ministers. Such acts had only
been previously suspended from time to time.
At a county court-martial, October 27, 1779, Colonel Moffett
presiding, Lieutenant James Bell, accused by his captain, Alex-
ander Simpson, of disobedience, " in refusing to impress a horse
174 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
to carry provisions for the use of the militia ordered out on duty
in this county," was tried and found guilty. It was ordered that
he be reprimanded, " which was immediately done by the presi-
dent in presence of the court."
At the same session of the court, Ensign James Steele reported
the desertion of sundry men from their station on the west fork
of Monongahela, they being substitutes for Augusta militiamen.
Many other substitutes were returned on the same day by Ensign
Robert Christian for deserting from his command at Buchanan
fort. Some of the alleged deserters were acquitted, and others
convicted and sentenced to serve six months longer than their
original time.
By act of May, 1780, the vestries in Augusta and several other
counties were dissolved ; and the election of five freeholders as
overseers of the poor in each county was provided for. The
vestry of Augusta parish held their last meeting on the 16th of
May, 1780, but only entered some orders in regard to the poor.
Soldiers, however, were still needed. Therefore an act passed
by the Legislature in May, 1780, provided that the several coun-
ties (except the county of Illinois and the territory in dispute
between Virginia and Pennsylvania) furnish one fifteenth man of
the militia, to serve in the Continental army till December 31,
1 78 1. Staunton was appointed a rendezvous.
The last act on the subject during the war, passed at the ses-
sion which began October 16, 1780, called for 3,000 men, and
fixed the quota of Augusta as 80, Rockbridge 38, and Rocking-
ham 49, to be drafted for eighteen months, if not furnished by
volunteering.
At the same session an act was passed for supplying the army
with clothes, provisions and wagons. Augusta was required to
furnish forty-six suits of clothes, Rockbridge seventeen, and
Rockingham nineteen.
By the court-martial which sat at the courthouse, October 24,
1780, six captains were fined ^10 each for not returning rolls of
their respective companies. Zachariah Johnston, a member of
the court* was one of the delinquents, and forthwith paid his
fine.
On the following day, John Massey was brought before the
court on suspicion of being a deserter from " the detachment of
militia ordered on duty from this county to the southward, under
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 175
the command of Captain Tate and Captain Buchanan." The
court was of opinion that Massey's return home was not culpa-
ble under the circumstances; and he, acknowledging that he was
a deserter from the British army, and would rather serve to the
westward, was allowed to exchange places with James Buchanan,
the latter to go south and Massey west.
From the proceedings of the Legislature in 1781, we learn that
there had been some trouble in Augusta in reference to a draft;
but the date, cause and extent of it are not stated. Probably
the men called for were furnished without drafting.
The court provided for the families of soldiers out of the
county levy. At November court, 1779, Mary Waugh and Mary
Lendon, soldiers' wives, were allowed, the one forty and the
other sixty pounds ($133.33^ and $200) for the ensuing year.
The people were evidently almost unanimous in support of the
American cause. We have heard of only two disloyal men in
the county during the war. At a term of the court in 1781,
William Ward and Lewis Baker were found guilty of treason in
levying war against the commonwealth, and sent on for trial.
The court on that occasion was composed of Elijah McClana-
han, Alexander St. Clair, Alexander McClanahan, Thomas
Adams and James Trimble.
In October, 1780, by act of the Legislature, all ministers of the
gospel were authorized to celebrate the rites of matrimony on
and after January 1, 1781; but Dissenting ministers, not exceed-
ing four of each sect in any one county, were to be specially
licensed by the County Courts. Ministers of the "Established
Church," were authorized ex officio to perform the service.
Notwithstanding a large majority of the people had become
Dissenters long before this, the Legislature, elected by free-
holders, clung to the establishment, and it was not till October,
1784, that all ministers were put upon an equal footing in re-
spect to the matter referred to.
By act of the Legislature, in October, 1780, the Court of
Greenbrier county was empowered to have a wagon road opened
from their courthouse to the Warm Springs, or to the mouth of
the Cowpasture river, the costs to be paid by the property-
holders of Greenbrier, in money or " clean merchantable hemp."
This act was suspended in 1781, but re-enacted in October, 1782.
The last act authorized the justices of Greenbrier " to clear a
176 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
wagon road from the Warm Springs in Augusta to the Savanna."
We presume the road was cleared soon afterwards. Previously,
merchandise and baggage were transported from the east in
wagons, to or near the Warm Springs, and from thence west on
pack-horses, while the wagons returned loaded with venison,
hams, &c.
Mention has been made of the Rev. Archibald Scott as the
first pastor of Bethel congregation. Foote gives the following
account of the origin of Bethel. The year succeeding Mr.
Scott's settlement as pastor of North Mountain and Brown's
meeting-house — that is, in 1779—" as he was riding through
the neighborhood he came unexpectedly upon a company of
men putting up a large log building. Upon inquiry, he found
it was designed as a meeting-house. The people worshiping
at the old North Mountain meeting house, had been talking
about a new church building and a new position, but nothing had
been decided upon by the congregation. Fearing lest evil might
spring from this sudden movement of one part of the congre-
gation, the young pastor says : ' Are you not too fast, my
boys?' ' No,' said Colonel Doak, 'we will end the dispute by
putting up the church.' The church building was completed, and
called Bethel, and the dispute was heard of no more." Mr.
Scott lived six miles from Staunton, about where Arbor Hill now
is. He died in 1799, and was buried in Hebron graveyard.35
A member of Mr. Scott's flock was Mrs. Margaret Humph-
reys, who lived to an advanced age, near Greenville. " Her
graphic descriptions," says Foote, " were full of interest, and
conveyed the liveliest impression of the times when the Valley
was a frontier settlement. Where now may be seen the beauti-
ful farms and substantial houses in Bethel, her active memory
recalled the log cabins, the linsey-wolsey, the short gowns, the
hunting shirts, the moccasins, the pack-horses, the simple living,
the shoes and stockings for winter and uncommon occasions,
the deer and the rifle, the fields of flax and the spinning wheel,
and the wool and looms, and, with them, the strict attention to
religious concerns, the catechising of children, the regular going
to church, the reading of the Bible, and keeping Sabbath from
the beginning to the end, the singing of hymns and sacred songs,
35
His descendants are Scotts, Sprouls, McPheeterses, &c.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 177
all blended, presenting a beautiful picture of enterprise, economy
and religion in laying the foundation of society." 36
From an order of the County Court, of February 18, 1780, we
learn that Sampson Sawyer's negro woman, Violet, was sentenced
to be hung on the 4th of March for burning her master's dwell-
ing house. What is curious, however, in connection with the
matter is, that it was ordered also that after the body was cut
down, the head should be severed and stuck upon a pole at a
cross-road. 37
Governor Gilmer gives a picture of the times during the war
in an anecdote which he relates, and which we cannot omit.
We have mentioned John Grattan as one of the church war-
dens of Augusta parish in 1774. He was, says Governor Gilmer,
a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian of the old Covernanter's faith and
practice, noted for his love of David's Psalms in long metre, and
his long prayers at family worship. He settled on North river
(now in Rockingham county), and built the first good flour mill
in the Valley. He was also a merchant, supplying a wide extent
of country with foreign goods. Little coin circulated here, and
trade was generally managed by barter. The goods bought
were paid for in cattle, ginseng, pinkroot, and bear and deer
skins. These articles were disposed of in Philadelphia, and this
part of the business was usually transacted by Mrs. Grattan. She
went to Philadelphia on horseback, sold the cattle, &c, and
bought new goods for her husband's store. She was very ex-
pert, and generally very successful ; but on one occasion she
suffered a woful defeat. Being in Philadelphia, during the war,
on a trading expedition, she was offered Continental paper money
for her cattle, at the rate of two dollars for one of coin. When
she left home the depreciation was not near so great. So she
took the paper, and set off home with it, exulting in her financial
36 The Rev. Dr. William McPheeters, a native of Augusta, educated
in Staunton and at Liberty Hall, was pastor of Bethel from 1805 till
1810, when he accepted a call to Raleigh, North Carolina.
37 This custom seems to have been general in Virginia, at this, or an
earlier period. The ghastly memorials thus set up were doubtless to
inspire a wholesome dread in the minds of the negro slaves. They
impressed themselves in many instances as local topographical desig-
nations. Witness : Negro-foot precinct, in Hanover county, and Negro-
head, Negro-foot and Negro-quarter, in Amelia county.
12
178 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
shrewdness. Each day's travel lowered her anticipations of
profit, until, when she reached home, three dollars in scrip were
worth only one in specie.-38
Until some time after the Revolution, the merchants in the
State were, with few exceptions, Scotch or Scotch-Irish.
The prices paid for labor, &c. , in Staunton, in 1780, show the
great depreciation of the currency at that time. The County
Court allowed Jacob Peck ^80 " for making- a new door to the
prison," and ^287, 10s. " for building a bridge across the creek
below Staunton." Alexander St. Clair was allowed ^97, 10s.
"for one pair of dog-irons for the courthouse," and ^30 ($100)
were paid for the use of a wagon one day.
During the war, officers were sometimes transferred from one
regiment to another. This was doubtless owing to the fact, that
by the casualties of war regiments were often broken up, and
new combinations were necessary. In a " list of officers on the
establishment of eight regiments," found among the papers of
Colonel Robert Gamble, furnished to us by Dr. Cary B. Gamble,
of Baltimore, a grand-son of Colonel Gamble, we discover some
familiar names. The date is not given, but we learn, incident-
ally, that it was after the battle of King's Mountain, which oc-
curred on the 7th of October, 1780. It was therefore probably
during the winter of i78o-'8i. Thomas Posey is entered as
major of the First regiment, and as "rendezvousing at Staun-
ton." Christian Febiger is entered as colonel of the Second
regiment, and commanding at Philadelphia. Robert Porterfield
was a captain, and William Eskridge a lieutenant in the Second,
and both were prisoners in " Charlestown." George Mathews,
previously colonel of the Ninth, is here entered as colonel of the
38 One of Mr. and Mrs. John Grattan's daughters became the wife of
Colonel Robert Gamble; another, the wife of Samuel Miller, son of
Henry Miller, who founded the iron- works on Mossy creek in 1774; and
a third married Colonel Samuel Brown, of Greenbrier, who, as we have
seen, was carried off by the Indians when he was a boy, in 1764. Their
youngest child was Major Robert Grattan, for some years a merchant in
Staunton, of the firm of Gamble & Grattan, and afterwards, for many
years, famous for his hospitality to travelers by Bockett's stage coaches,
while passing his residence on North river, in Rockingham. He com-
manded a company of cavalry against the whiskey insurgents in Penn-
sylvania. An older son of John Grattan was an officer in one of the
Virginia regiments during the Revolution, and died in service in Georgia.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 179
Third, and a " prisoner on parole." Robert Breckenridge was
a lieutenant in the Fifth, but a prisoner in " Charlestown."
Andrew Lewis was a lieutenant in the Seventh, and at Fort Pitt.
James Wood was colonel of the Eighth, Robert Gamble a captain,
and John McDowell and Henry Bowyer lieutenants of the same
regiment. Captains Andrew Wallace and Thomas Bowyer, of
the Eighth, are entered as having been killed at King's Moun-
tain.
The battle of the Cowpens, in South Carolina, was fought
January 17, 1781. Part of Morgan's command consisted of
Virginia riflemen. Captains James Tate and George Moffett, of
Augusta, were in the battle, and probably commanded com-
panies from the county. Captain Tate certainly did. The vic-
tory was one of the most remarkable of the war. Only twelve
of the Americans were killed, and sixty wounded. Of the
enemy, ten commissioned officers were killed, and more than a
hundred rank and file ; two hundred were wounded ; twenty-
nine officers and more than five hundred privates were taken
prisoners, besides seventy wagons. The prisoners were turned
over to the Virginia troops, whose time of service had just ex-
pired, to be conducted to a place of safety.
The result of this battle excited Cornwallis, the British com-
mander in the South, to more vigorous efforts. He pressed
forward into North Carolina, eager to come to battle with Gen-
eral Greene. The trial soon took place at Guilford.
While the Virginia troops were retiring with their prisoners,
a call was made upon our Valley for reinforcements for Greene's
army, and soon after their return home Captain Moffett and Cap-
tain Tate, each at the head of a company of Augusta militia,
were on the way to the South again. A company from Rock-
bridge also went. Colonel Samuel McDowell commanded the
battalion.
When the Augusta companies were about to start from Mid-
way, the latter part of February, the Rev. James Waddell, of
Tinkling Spring, delivered a parting address to the men. Many
of them never returned. Captain Tate and a large number of
private soldiers were killed at Guilford on March 15. Some who
came back carried on their persons ever afterwards the marks of
British sabres. Archibald Stuart, afterwards the judge, was
a commissary, but fought in the ranks at Guilford. His father,
180 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Major Alexander Stuart, who commanded the Augusta and
Rockbridge battalion (Colonel McDowell being disabled by sick-
ness), was captured. " His captors," it is said, ''plundered him
and left him standing in his cocked hat, shirt and shoes." 39 He
was detained for some time on board a British ship In the re-
treat, Samuel Steele, who died in his old age near Waynesboro,
shot a British dragoon who followed him, but two others assailed
him and he was forced to succumb. He refused, however, to
give up his gun, which he afterwards succeeded in reloading,
and then put his captors to flight. David Steele, of Midway,
was cut down in the retreat and left for dead. He revived, and
came home and lived to old age. Foote states that the scar of a
deep wound over one of his eyes painfully disfigured him. Sev-
eral persons who often saw the old soldier have informed us that
his face was not disfigured at all. His skull was cleft by a sabre
and to the end of his days he wore a silver plate over the spot.
Colonel Fuiton, who was at Guilford, and afterwards for many
years represented Augusta in the Legislature, is said to have been
disfigured as Steele is described to have been. One of the Wil-
sons, of Bethel, was probably the last survivor of Guilford in
this region. The Rockbridge troops started from Lexington,
February 26, and the survivors reached home again on March
23, following.40
The scene of the battle, old Guilford Courthouse, is six or
seven miles northwest of Greensboro', the present county seat.
39 His sword, a somewhat uncouth weapon, presumably of local manu-
facture, was some years ago presented by his grand-son, Hon. Alex-
ander H. H. Stuart, to the Virginia Historical Society, of which the latter
is president. The sword is without scabbard, that having been lost
during the late war between the States, in hiding the weapon from
Federal invaders.
40 Among the Revolutionary soldiers from Augusta, who died within
the last fifty years, are the following: James Robertson, December 25,
1835, in the eighty-fifth year of his age ; John Tate, August 6th, 1836;
Samuel Steele, June 8, 1837 ; Major Samuel Bell, May 15, 1838 ; Lewis
Shuey, January 22, 1839; Robert Harnsberger, February 7, 1840; Smith
Thompson, May 12, 1840; Peter Lohr, September 21, 1841 ; Samuel
Gardner, January n, 1842; Francis Gardner, July 26, 1842; John Bell,
Si'., October 17,1842; Claudius Buster, November 20,1843; Captain
Robert Thompson, January 23, 1847 ; William McCutchen, June 29, 1848.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 181
No relic or memorial of the battle remains on the spot, and even
the graves of the slain have been obliterated.
After Cornwallis entered Virginia, a party of Tories raised the
British standard on Lost river, then in Hampshire, now Hardy-
county. John Claypole, a Scotchman, and John Brake, a Ger-
man, were the leaders, and drew over to their side a majority of
the people in the neighborhood. Their object appeared to be
to organize and march in a body to join Cornwallis upon his ap-
proaching the Valley. The militia of Shenandoah, Frederick
and Berkeley were called out to suppress the insurrection, and a
body of four hundred men was speedily equipped and mounted.
General Daniel Morgan, of Frederick, being out of service and
at home, was called to the command, and advanced with the
troops into the disaffected region. Claypole was arrested, but
released on bail, and Brake was punished by the army living at
free quarters for a day or two on his cattle pens and distillery.
No collision occurred, but one man was killed by a drunken at-
tendant of General Morgan, and another, while running away,
was shot in the leg. The militia were out only eight or ten
days. The Tories soon became ashamed of their conduct, and
several of their young men volunteered and went to aid in the
capture of Cornwallis. — [Kercheval, page 199.]
In June, 1781, the first and only alarm of the war occurred in
Augusta county. The members of the Legislature were driven
from Charlottesville on the 4th, by the approach of Tarleton, a
dashing commander of dragoons, and met in Staunton on the
7th, in the old parish church. But on the following Sunday, the
10th, as stated, a session was held to enter an adjournment to the
Warm Springs. This proceeding was caused by a report that
Tarleton was pursuing across the Blue Ridge. Some of the
members of assembly took the road toward Lexington, and
others went to the northwest part of the county. Patrick Henry
was one of the latter, and such seemed to be the emergency that,
according to tradition, he left Staunton wearing only one boot.
The cause of the alarm and stampede has been variously re-
ported. The late Judge Francis T. Brooke, then a young lieu-
tenant of the Continental army, gives one version of the matter
in a memoir he left behind him. He was in Albemarle, in com-
mand of a detachment, and was ordered by his captain, Bohan-
non, if he could not join the Baron Steuben, to proceed to
182 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Staunton, and thence to join the corps to which he belonged in
the army of La Fayette. He says : " The next day I crossed
the ridge about six miles' to the south of Rockfish Gap. When
I got to where Waynesboro' is, I found a large force of eight
hundred men, or one thousand riflemen, under the command of
General McDowell. He stopped me, saying he had orders to
stop all troops to defend the gap. I replied that I belonged to
the Continental army and had orders to go to Staunton, and said
to the men, 'Move on,' and he let me pass. At that time I sup-
pose a regimental coat had never been seen on that side of the
mountain — nothing but hunting-shirts. I marched with drums
beating and colors flying, and some one seeing the troops, carried
the news to Staunton that Tarleton had crossed the mountain,
and the Legislature then sitting there ran off again ; but learning
the mistake, rallied and returned the next day. In the morning
I entered the town. There, for a few days, I heard Patrick
Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George Nicholas, and my neighbor,
Mann Page, of Mansfield."
Judge Brooke's narrative proceeds: "When I arrived at
Staunton, Colonel Davis, whom I found there, insisted on re-
taining me in that service, but Captain Fleming Gaines, who
belonged to Harrison's regiment of artillery, ordered me to join
my corps as speedily as I could in the army of the Marquis, and
furnished me with his horses and servant to do so. In a few days
I left Staunton, and took the road, by what is now called Port
Republic, to cross the ridge at Swift Run Gap. A curious inci-
dent occurred : one of the horses was taken lame, and I stopped
at a smith's shop to have his shoes repaired; the people were
all Dutch, and spoke no English, and seeing me in regimentals,
they took me for a British officer, and detained me for a time as
their prisoner, until one of them came who understood English,
and I showed him my commission, and he let me pass." — [From
a communication by Major J. M. McCue, in the Staunton Spec-
tator^
Yet there was good reason for anticipating an inroad by
Tarleton. The first rumor of it seems to have arisen on Satur-
day, but on Sunday the report was apparently confirmed. On
Saturday, Mr. Scott was hearing a class in the catechism at
Bethel, which he dismissed to spread the alarm. On Sunday,
the people of Tinkling Spring congregation were assembled as
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 183
usual for worship, when a strange man, arrested in the vicinity,
was brought to the church. This man was one of four who had
been captured, but the others had escaped. He was dressed
partly in the uniform of a British soldier, and was supposed to
be a spy sent forward by Tarleton. The excitement at the
church may be imagined. The pastor addressed the congrega-
tion, urging the men to obtain arms and hasten to Rockfish Gap.
But what should be done with the prisoner ? A guard of several
men could not be spared, and a young man named Long, who
had carried his trusty rifle to church, volunteered to bring the
stranger to Staunton and lodge him in jail. By command of
Long, the prisoner marched on before and moved obedient to
orders till they arrived at Christian's creek. There, Long wished
to take off his moccasins, but the spy persisted in coming on,
wading the stream in his jack-boots. Long repeatedly warned
him to stop, and finally shot him down. After a few days he
died, confessing that he was a British soldier, and had been sent
in advance by Tarleton. These facts were related to the writer
by the late Joseph Long, who was a son of the young man who
shot the spy.
The alarm having arisen, riders traversed the county to notify
the people. From Lexington to the Peeked Mountain, now
Massanutten, the people were aroused. The men hastened to
Rockfish Gap, while the women and children hid their silver
spoons and other portable articles of value. Two venerable men,
who were children in 1781, many years ago related to the writer
their recollections of the time. One of these remembered that
his father came home from Tinkling Spring church and took down
his gun, to the boy's great astonishment, as it was the Sabbath
day ; the other told of his anxiety to bury his only treasure, a
little bar of lead. The wife of Colonel William Lewis is said to
have dispatched her younger sons, mere boys, to the mountain —
the older sons being with the Northern army — with the injunc-
tion to do their duty, or return no more.
By Monday morning the mountain at Rockfish Gap was lined
with men. Some, who could not procure guns, provided piles
of stones to hurl at the invaders. The force under General Mc-
Dowell, encountered by Lieutenant Brooke, was doubtless com-
posed of the hasty levies referred to.
On the day the alarm first arose, the Rev. William Graham,
184 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of Lexington, was coming to Staunton. He heard the exciting
report before he arrived here, and immediately returned home
to call out the militia. 'With a company of men he went on the
next day to Rockfish Gap. Finding that Tarleton did not come,
part of the militia, accompanied by Mr. Graham, went in quest
of the enemy, and joined La Fayette below Charlottesville.
During a short stay with the army, Mr. Graham had evening
prayers in the company to which he belonged. The services
were not well attended, except on one occasion, when a battle
was anticipated, then the men generally assembled, and appeared
to listen with much attention. — [Foote, First Series, page 454.]
At some period during the war, an accusation was preferred
by Thomas Hughes against Zachariah Johnston, one of the dele-
gates from Augusta, of instigating opposition in the county to
the act of assembly for raising troops. While the Legislature
sat at Staunton, June 14, Mr. Henry reported that Mr. Johnston
had uniformly recommended obedience to the law, and that the
accusation was groundless.
On June 23, the assembly adjourned at Staunton, to meet in
Richmond in October following.
At a court-martial held August 23, 1781, one man convicted of
deserting from Captain McCutchen's company, while under com-
mand of Brigadier-General Campbell, was sentenced to serve an
additional six months. Another was tried for not going with the
twenty days' men ordered out under command of Lieutenant-
Colonel Bowyer, and acquitted. The court was kept busy during
this year trying men for desertion and other offences. An of-
fence charged against some of the accused, was "failing to
appear at the rendezvous when ordered under command of
Lieutenant- Colonel Samuel Lewis, August 8, 1781."
On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington,
at Yorktown, and the war of the Revolution ended, although
peace was not formally concluded till 1783.
As a part of the history of the county, we mention that the
Presbytery of Hanover, about the year 1773, determined to
establish "Augusta Academy," and it was at first proposed to
locate the institution at Staunton. At a meeting of Presbytery,
in April, 1775, persons were appointed to solicit subscriptions in
behalf of the academy, among whom were William McPheeters
and John Trimble, at North Mountain; Thomas Stuart and Wal-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 185
ter Davis, at Tinkling Spring; Sampson Mathews at Staunton;
and George Mathews, George Moffett and James Allen, in Au-
gusta congregation.
In May, 1776, the Presbytery determined to locate the school
on Timber Ridge, " as there was no one in Staunton to take the
management, and it was uncertain whether there ever would be."
At the same time the Rev. William Graham was elected rector,
and a young man named John Montgomery his assistant. Mr.
Graham was born in Pennsylvania, in 1746, and was educated at
Princeton College. Mr. Montgomery was born in Augusta, and
graduated at Princeton in 1775. He spent the last years of his
life as pastor of Rocky Spring church, in Augusta. Trustees
were also appointed: Rev. John Brown, Rev. James Waddell,
Thomas and Andrew Lewis, William Preston, Sampson Ma-
thews, Samuel McDowell, George Moffett, and others.
In 1779, the school was removed to Lexington, and called
" Liberty Hall." An act of incorporation by the Legislature was
obtained in 1782, and the institution has now become "Washing-
ton and Lee University."
The subject of religious liberty occupied the attention of the
people of Virginia as soon as the Revolutionary war arose. At
a meeting of the Legislature, in October, 1779, all laws provid-
ing salaries for ministers were repealed, and it was generally
understood that no denomination should be favored in that res-
pect; but the scheme of a " general assessment," for the benefit
of ministers of all sects, was proposed and advocated by Patrick
Henry and others.
In April, 1780, Hanover Presbytery met at Tinkling Spring,
and held a session on the 28th at the house of Mr. Waddell. A
memorial, praying the Legislature to abstain from interference
with the government of the church, was prepared, and Messrs.
Waddell and Graham were appointed to request Colonel Mc-
Dowell and Captain Johnston, the delegates from Augusta, to
present the memorial to the assembly. Another memorial on
the subject was adopted at Bethel, May 19, 1784, and still another
in October, 1784. A convention of Presbyterians was held at
Bethel, August 10, 1785, and a final memorial, drawn by Mr.
Graham, was adopted on the 13th. The Legislature met Octo-
ber 17, 1785, and on December 17, Mr. Jefferson's bill "for estab-
lishing religious freedom " became a law.
186 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Early in 1782 the Marquis de Chastellux, a French officer,
traveled extensively in Virginia, and subsequently published an
account of his trip. In April he visited the Natural Bridge,
crossing the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap On the eastern side
of the mountain he was joined by an Augusta man on horseback
who appeared " much at his ease," and who entertained him
with an account of the battle of the Cowpens, in which he had
participated. His description of the battle agreed with General
Morgan's official report of it. One incident of the battle he did
not know of, but it was related by Morgan himself. The old
hero was accustomed to say in his latter days that people thought
he never was afraid, but he was often miserably afraid. After
arranging his troops at the Cowpens, he said, as he saw the glit-
tering array of the British army coming on, he trembled for the
result. Retiring to the rear he poured out a prayer to God and
then returned to the lines and cheered his men for the fight.
The French officer pronounced the battle of the Cowpens the
most extraordinary event of the war.
The Marquis and his party forded South river, where Waynes-
boro now is, and put up for the night at a little inn kept by a Mrs.
Teaze, of which Mr. Jefferson had told him. He says the inn
was one of the worst in all America. A solitary tin vessel was
the only wash-bowl for the family, servants, and guests. The
travelers did not pass through Staunton, but hurried on to a
better inn than Mrs. Teaze's, promised them near the site of
Greenville. They were doomed to disappointment, as the land-
lord, Mr. Smith, had neither food for the men nor forage for
the horses. The war just closed had impoverished the country
to that extent. Mr. Smith encouraged the party, however, to
expect supplies at a mill further on The miller, who also kept
a public house, was a handsome young man of about twenty -five
years of age, and had a handsome wife. He was found to be
physically disabled, and upon inquiry explained that he was still
suffering from fifteen or sixteen wounds received at the battle of
Guilford. This was David Steele, of Midway. His wife brought
the piece of skull clipped from his head by a British sabre to
exhibit. The most serious injuries were received after he was
taken prisoner by the enemy. Mr. Steele kept no spirits, and
his guests fared upon cakes baked upon the cinders, and butter
and milk.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 18/
The Marquis spent a night at a Mr. Grigsby's, near the Natu-
ral Bridge, and says : " The other guests were a healthy, good-
humored young man of eight and twenty, who set out from
Philadelphia with a pretty wife of twenty, and a little child in her
arms, to settle five hundred miles beyond the mountains in a
country lately inhabited bordering on the Ohio, called the
country of Kentucky. His whole retinue was a horse, which
carried his wife and child. We were astonished at the easy
manner with which he proceeded on his expedition." And
the natural charms of the young wife, says the Marquis, " were
embellished by the serenity of her mind." — [Travels in North
America, pages 234, &c]
We conclude this chapter with a synopsis of what seems now
a curious act of the Legislature, passed in 1783. The act author-
ized the payment of one half of taxes in tobacco, hemp, flour and
deer skins. Warehouses were established at Staunton, Win-
chester and the stone-house in Botetourt; and at those places flour
was to be received at the rate of fourteen shillings per hundred
pounds, with an allowance of two shillings and six pence for
casks and inspection. At the same place, and also Louisville
(Kentucky), deer skins were to be taken at the price of one shil-
ling and eight pence per pound for gray skins, and two shillings
for red and blue skins.
The Gamble Family. — About the year 1735, Robert Gamble left
Londonderry, Ireland, his native place, and with other emigrants from
the same section settled in Augusta county. The name Gamble had
been prominently connected with the history of Londonderry, and one
of the family died, or was killed, there during the famous siege in 1689.
Robert Gamble was a married man when he came to America, and
brought with him a son named James, who was born in 1729. He had
another son named Joseph, who was probably the ancestor of the Gam-
bles of Ohio and Missouri.
On the 6th of March, 1746, Robert Poage conveyed to Robert Gamble
306 acres of land, in consideration of ^15. This tract lies about a mile
northeast of the village of Springhill, and is the farm lately owned by
Theophilus Gamble, and now by the heirs of R. B. Hamrick, deceased.
I James Gamble inherited his father's farm, and reared his family there.
His children were two sons, Robert and John, and three daughters, Mrs.
Agnes Davis, Mrs. Elizabeth Moffett and Mrs. Esther Bell. Mrs. Bell
188 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
left no children. Mrs. Moffett's descendants — Moffetts, Tates and
others — are numerous. /
Robert Gamble, the younger, was born on his father's farm, Septem-
ber 3, 1754. He received an unusually good education for the time, at
Liberty Hall Academy. When he had just attained his majority, and
begun the business of a merchant, the troubles with Great Britain cul-
minated in war. At the first call to arms he was made first lieutenant
of the first company raised in the county. He soon became captain of
the company, but as promotion in the Continental time was slow, he ap
pears to have remained in that position for some years.
Captain Gamble was in active service during the entire war, and par-
ticipated in many battles at the north, including the battles of Princeton
and Monmouth. As we have seen, he served under General Wayne on
the Hudson, in 1779. It is said that he led one of the assailing parties
at the storming of Stony Point. He with his men mounted the wall in
the immediate vicinity of a cannon, and seeing the match about to be
applied, barely had time to lower his head and order his men to fall flat
before the gun was discharged. He was, however, permanently deaf-
ened by the concussion. His company immediately moved on, and
were the first to enter the fort. Being busily engaged in securing
prisoners, the British flag was overlooked, until Lieutenant-Colonel
Fleury observed it and pulled it down. At this stage the Pennsylvania
troops entered the fort.
General Wayne's report of the affair was unsatisfactory, and upon
learning all the facts he wrote another, giving the Virginians the credit
to which they were entitled. At that time there was much jealousy
between the troops from different colonies, and before the revised re-
port was published General Washington made a personal appeal to the
Virginians to let the matter drop for the good of the cause. Such an
appeal from such a source was irresistible, and the error was allowed
to remain.
During the latter part of the war, Captain Gamble served under Gen-
eral Greene, in the South, and for a short time acted on the staff of
Baron De Kalb. He was taken prisoner in South Carolina, and confined
on a British vessel in Charleston harbor. He afterwards frequently
complained of the treatment he received while a prisoner, his food con-
sisting exclusively of rice. For many years before his death he was
styled colonel, but he appears not to have attained that rank in the army,
during the war, having been allotted pension lands for service as a
captain only.
Colonel Gamble's wife was Catharine Grattan, daughter of Mr. John
Grattan, who lived on North river, near the present village of Mount
Crawford. On the 17th of May, 1780, James Gamble, and Agnes, his
wife, conveyed to their son, Robert, a tract of four hundred and twenty-
seven acres, adjoining the homestead of three hundred and six acres.
Colonel Gamble made his home in the country on the farm thus
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 189
acquired by him, and there his children were born, in a house still
standing. Not long after the war, however, he embarked in mercantile
business in Staunton, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Robert
Grattan. The store of Gamble & Grattan was at the northeast corner
of Main and Augusta streets, in a low frame house then standing, and
subsequently occupied during many years by the post-office. Colonel
Gamble's town residence was the frame house on the west side of Au-
gusta street, about midway between Main and Frederick streets. On
the 17th of April, 1787, he was a member of a court-martial held in
Staunton, as lieutenant-colonel of Augusta militia. In 1792, or early
in 1793, he removed to Richmond, where he became a prosperous
business man and influential citizen. His residence in Richmond was
on the eminence called for him, Gamble's Hill, and his business was
conducted in a large building at the coiner of Main and Fourteenth
streets. His sons, Colonels John G. and Robert Gamble, were his part-
ners. Both the sons were officers in the war of 1812, and both removed
to Florida in 1827, where they were prosperous and influential. One of
Colonel Gamble's daughters was the wife of the celebrated William
Wirt, and the other, of Judge William H. Cabell, who was Governor of
Virginia in i8o6-'8, afterwards a judge of the general court, and, finally,
president of the court of appeals till his death, in 1849. After leaving
Staunton, Colonel Gamble sold his Augusta farm, October 15, 1793, to
his brother, John, who transmitted it to his son, William.
Colonel Gamble was in the habit of riding on horseback every morn-
ing from his residence to his counting-room. On the 12th of April, 1810,
as he was thus on his way, reading a newspaper, some buffalo skins
were thrown from the upper window of a warehouse he was passing,
his horse took fright, started, and threw him, which produced concus-
sion of the brain, and terminated his life in a few hours. Mr. Wirt said
of him, in a letter to a friend : " He was a faithful soldier of the Revolu-
tion, a sincere and zealous Christian, one of the best of fathers, and
honestest of men." His house in Richmond was the seat of an elegant
hospitality, and within its walls were frequent gatherings of the veterans
of the Revolution and others, including Generals Washington and Knox,
and Chief-Justice Marshall. But he did not forget the friends of his
early days and native county, and by them and their posterity his
name and memory have always been revered and cherished.
John Gamble, Colonel Robert Gamble's brother, was also a soldier
during the Revolution, but where or in what capacity he served is not
known. He was called Captain Gamble, and in 1794 was captain of an
Augusta militia company. His wife was Rebecca McPheeters, a sister
of the Rev. Dr. McPheeters, and his children were James (a minister),
William, Philander, Robert, Theophilus, Mrs. Ramsey and Mrs. Irvin.
He died in 1831, on the farm where he was born. By his will, he left
five hundred acres of land to his daughter, Rebecca, and grand-
daughter, Mary J. Ramsey. This land is described as " lying in the dis-
190 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
trict set apart for the officers and soldiers of the Continental line, on
the waters of Little Muddy creek, in Logan county, Kentucky — granted
to said Gamble the 15th of September, 1795."
George Mathews was a son of John Mathews, who emigrated from
Ireland and settled in Augusta county about the year 1737. He was
born in 1739 and, therefore, was a mere youth when he was engaged in
the Indian foray of 1761, as related on page 107. In 1762 he and his
elder brother, Sampson, were merchants in Staunton. His first wife,
according to one account, was a Miss Paul, sister of Audley Paul ; accord-
ing to another, a Miss Woods, of Albemarle. He was captain of one of
the Augusta companies at Point Pleasant in 1774, and in 1775 was ap-
pointed lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Virginia regiment. This regi-
ment, though raised for the protection of Accomac and Northampton
counties, was soon ordered to join the main army under Washington.
Mathews therefore participated, in command of the regiment, in the
battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and his conduct gained him
great credit. At Germantown he and his whole regiment were cap-
tured by the enemy. He was confined in a prison ship in New York
harbor, and not exchanged till late in the war. Then he was ordered to
the south and joined the army under General Greene, as commander of
the Third Virginia regiment. While serving in the south he purchased
a tract of land in Georgia to which he removed in 1784.
Colonel Mathews was elected Governor of Georgia in 1786, and again
in 1794, and between those dates was the first representative of Georgia
in the United States Congress after the adoption of the Federal Consti-
tution. During his second term as Governor, a scheme, known after-
wards as the " Yazoo fraud," for disposing of the public lands of Georgia,
was consummated. These lands embraced the present States of Ala-
bama and Mississippi. The Governor, though he had opposed all such
schemes, was induced to sign the bill passed by the Legislature. No
sooner did the measure become a law than a popular clamor arose.
All who had aided the scheme were accused of fraud and corruption.
Stout as the Governor was, he was driven from Georgia by the storm
and took refuge in Florida. It is not believed, however, that he was
justly chargeable with any wrong. He died in Augusta, Georgia, Sep-
tember 30, 1812, while on his way to Washington city, and was buried
in St. Paul's churchyard, of that city. Howe states that Mathews
county, in Virginia, formed in 1790, was called for him, but others say
it was called for Colonel Thomas Mathews, who was Speaker of the
House of Delegates for many years.
He is described as a short, thick man, standing very erect, and carry-
ing his head thrown back. His features were bluff, his hair light red
and his complexion florid. He admitted no superior but Washington.
John Adams, when President, nominated Mathews for Governor of
Mississippi territory, but afterwards recalled the nomination. This
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 191
greatly enraged the Governor. He hastened to Philadelphia on horse-
back, dismounted at the- President's door and stalked in, wearing his
old army sword at his thigh and his three-cornered cocked hat on his
head. He proceeded to administer a rebuke to the President, but
being like Mr. Adams a hot Federalist, means were found to appease
his wrath, and he returned home pacified. In 1812 he took exception
to some act of President Madison, and was on his way to rebuke him, or
to administer personal chastisement, it is said, when he died r s stated. '
His children were four sons and three daughters. One of his sons
was an eminent judge in Louisiana. One of the daughters was the first
wife of Andrew Barry, of Staunton (whose second wife was a daughter
of Rev. John McCue). Another daughter was the wife of General
Samuel Blackburn, and the third was Mrs. Telfair, whose son, Dr. Isaac
Telfair, lived in Staunton many years ago.
After the death of his first wife, Governor Mathews married Mrs.
Margaret Reed, of Staunton. They were, however, divorced for some
cause, and she resumed her former name.
Samuel McDowell was a son of John McDowell, who was killed
by Indians near the forks of James river, in 1742, as related on page 31.
He was born in 1733. In 1773 ne was a member of the House of Bur-
gesses, and in i775~'6 he and Thomas Lewis represented Augusta in
the State Convention. At the close of the Revolutionary war he re-
moved to Kentucky, and died there in 1817, aged eighty-four. His
wife's maiden name was Mary McClung.
George Moffett was the son of John and Mary Christian Moffett.
He had three brothers — Robert, John and William — and a sister, Mrs.
Estell, the mother of the late Captain John M. Estell, of Long Glade,
Augusta, and Judge Benjamin Estell, of Southwest Virginia. There is
a reliable tradition that Mrs. Estell was once carried off by Indians, and
was rescued by her brother George ; but when and where cannot be
ascertained. Colonel Moffett's wife was a sister of Colonel Samuel
McDowell. He lived on the Middle River farm owned for many years
past by the Dunlap family, called Mount Pleasant, and built the stone
dwelling house still on the place. He was not only prominent during
the Indian wars and the Revolution, but was so also in civil affairs,
having been a justice of the peace, an elder in the Presbyterian church,
and one of the first trustees of Washington College, Lexington. He is
said to have been a man of commanding presence, and eminently
religious. He died in 181 1, aged seventy-six years, and was buried in
Augusta church graveyard. His children were John, James McD.,
Samuel, William, Mrs. General McDowell, of Kentucky, Mrs. Dr. Mc-
Dowell, of North Carolina, Mrs. Kirk, of Kentucky, and Mrs. James
Cochran, of Augusta county. James McDowell Moffett was the father
of the late Mrs. John McCue, and Mrs. Cochran was the mother of
Messrs. John, George M., and James A. Cochran.
192 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
James Tate, killed at Guilford, was one of four brothers who came
with their parents from Pennsylvania to Augusta early in the eigh-
teenth century. He lived in the neighborhood of the present village
of Greenville, and left a widow and child who removed to the West.
His son, John, died in Missouri, at an advanced age, about 1866 or
1868. A grand-son of this John is the Rev. John C. Tate of Kentucky.
John Tate, brother of James, also lived near Greenville. He repre-
sented the county in the House of Delegates at one time, and is said
to have voted against the famous resolutions of i798-'9. His sons
went to the west at an early day; his daughters married, respectively,
the Rev. John D. Ewing, Jacob Van Lear, Samuel Finley and John
Moffett. William Tate, third brother of James, was at the battles
of Point Pleasant, Brandywine, and probably others. He removed to
Southwest Virginia, and became a general of militia. His descen-
dants are numerous. Robert Tate, the youngest brother of James,
had three sons and six daughters, and from them the Tates and others I
of Augusta are descended.
The village of Greenville was doubtless so called by some of the
Augusta soldiers who had served under General Nathaniel Greene in
the South.
Archibald Stuart, a native of Ireland, having been engaged in some
disturbance in his native country, fled to America, leaving his family
behind. After living in Pennsylvania for some time, he was relieved
by a general amnesty, and sending for his family came with them to
Augusta in 1738. His wife was Janet Brown, a sister of the Rev. John
Brown, of New Providence. He died in 1759. His sons were Benja-
min, Thomas and Alexander. The last named — the Major Stuart of
the Revolution — was born in Pennsylvania, in 1735. He lived first on
South river, about nine miles from Staunton, but spent the latter years
of his life in Rockbridge. He was the father of Judge Archibald Stuart(
of Staunton, and Judge Alexander Stuart, of Missouri, the grand-father
of General J. E B. Stuart.
Rev. Samuel Doak, D. D., was born in Augusta county, in August,
1749. He graduated at Princeton in 1775, and was licensed as a preacher
by Hanover Presbytery, October 31, 1777. His wife was Hester Mont-
gomery, sister of the Rev. John Montgomery. After preaching for some
time in Washington county, Virginia, he removed to East Tennessee,
then a part of North Carolina, where, with other settlers, he had now
and then to take arms against the Indians. He founded Washington
College, Tennessee, and was distinguished as a preacher and teacher.
His death occurred December 12, 1830.
The Rev. John Poage Campbell was born in Augusta, 1767, and
when about fourteen years of age removed with his father to Kentucky.
He subsequently studied with the Rev. Archibald Scott, in his native
i
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 193
county, and graduated at Hampden Sidney College in 1790. Having
been licensed to preach in 1792, he was for a time associated with the
Rev. William Graham as pastor of Lexington and other congregations.
In 1795 he removed to Kentucky, and on the 4th of November, 1814, died
near Chilicothe, Ohio. Dr. Dwight, of Yale College, pronounced Mr.
Campbell "a remarkably accomplished scholar and divine."
Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D. D., was (according to Sprague 's Annals
of the American Pulpit) born in Augusta county, August 27, 1772. His
father removing to East Tennessee, the son was placed under the in-
struction of the Rev. Dr. Doak. He was licensed as a preacher by Ab-
ingdon Presbytery in 1792 or 1795 (it is uncertain which). With his
Bible, hymn book, knapsack and rifle, he plunged into the wilderness
of Tennessee, and made his first preaching station at a fort built for the
protection of the frontier. He soon attracted attention as an unusually
eloquent preacher. He also engaged in teaching at various places.
From 1827 to 1830 he was president of Centre College, Kentucky. In
1833 he removed to Illinois, and established a theological seminary at
Carlinsville, which bore his name. He died at Carlinsville August 23,
1838. He was a nephew of General Samuel Blackburn.
The Rev. Dr. George A. Baxter, D. D., was born in 1771, in Rocking-
ham, then Augusta. His parents were natives of Ireland, and, on coming
to the Valley, settled near Mossy creek. He was educated at Liberty
Hall, of which he became rector in 1798. Afterwards, for many years,
he was president of Washington College and pastor of Lexington and
New Monmouth congregations. During the last ten years of his life he
was a professor in Union Theological Seminary, Prince Edward county.
He was an able and eloquent preacher, but never appeared as an author.
His wife was a daughter of Colonel William Fleming, of Botetourt. Dr.
Baxter's death occurred April 24, 1841. His son, Sidney S. Baxter, was
long Attorney-General of Virginia previous to 1850.
Until Rockbridge county was established, North river was the boun-
dary between Augusta and Botetourt. In April, 1772, a child was
born seven miles east of the site of Lexington, but on the north side
of the stream mentioned, and therefore in Augusta, who became highly
distinguished and widely known— Archibald Alexander. He was
a son of William Alexander, who was a son of Archibald (or Ersbel,
as he was called,) a captain in the Sandy Creek expedition, and first
high sheriff of Rockbridge. In his personal recollections, Dr. Alex-
ander mentions as an instance of the privations of the Revolutionary
war, that his school teacher found it difficult to procure a knife to
make and mend the quill pens of his pupils. The teacher to whom
he was indebted for his first acquaintance with Latin, was a young
Irishman named John Reardon, an " indentured servant," or convict
banished to America for crime, and purchased for a term of years,
I 13
194
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
in Philadelphia, by his pupil's father. Reardon enlisted as a soldier
in Captain Wallace's company, and was desperately wounded in a
battle in North Carolina; but survived, and returned to school-teach-
ing on Timber Ridge. Young Alexander was further educated at
Liberty Hall, under the Rev. William Graham. When not yet twenty
years of age, he was licensed as a preacher by Lexington Presbytery,
October i, 1791, at Winchester. He states that among the hearers
of his first sermon after he was licensed, was General Daniel Morgan.
Returning to Lexington late in 1791, he stopped in Staunton. ''The
town," he says, "contained no place of worship but an Episcopal
church, which was without a minister. It was proposed that I should
preach in the little Episcopal church; to which I consented with some
trepidation ; but when I entered the house in the evening it was
crowded, and all the gentry of the town were out, including Judge
Archibald Stuart," [not then Judge,] " who had known me from a
child." In course of time Dr. Alexander became President of Hamp-
den Sidney College. From that position he was transferred to Phila-
delphia, as pastor of a church in that city; and after a few years was
appointed a professor in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New
Jersey, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in 185 1.
He was a voluminous author. His wife was a daughter of the Rev.
Dr. James Waddell.
CHAPTER VIII.
FROM THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION TO THE YEAR I8CO.
Before the Revolutionary war many German people found their
way to the new world, and several of our Valley counties were
largely settled by them. They were, for the most part, Luthe-
rans and Tunkers, or German Baptists, and have transmitted
their religious faith, with their steady habits, to their posterity.
They brought their German Bibles with them, and for several
generations the language of the fatherland was used by them in
their households. Indeed, many of the older people never
learned to read or speak English. Before the close of the Revo-
lution a considerable part of the best lands in Augusta county
was occupied by people of this race.
Peter and George Hanger, the ancestors of the numerous
family of that name, settled in Augusta in 1750, it is said, having
been born in Germany, but coming here from Pennsylvania.
The former lived at Spring Farm, near Staunton, and died there
in 1 801. In 1780 he was appointed a justice of the peace, but
declined to qualify. One of his sons, of the same name, lived
at the place on the Winchester road, since called Willow Spout,
but formerly widely known as " Hanger's," during the days of
Bockett's stages, Knoxville teams and militia musters.
The most numerous family in the county, and possibly in the
country, is that known as Koiner, Coiner, and Coyner. Michael
Koiner came to America, from Germany, between 1740 and 1745,
and settled in Pennsylvania. He had ten sons and three daugh-
ters. Two of his sons — George Adam and Casper — came to
Augusta county, and in 1787 were followed by their father, who
196 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
proceeded to purchase farms. His other sons — Martin, Philip,
Frederick and George Michael- -also came to Augusta, and set-
tled and died here. The three eldest sons were soldiers in the
Revolutionary war. The ancestor died in 1796, and was buried
in Trinity churchyard, near South river. — [Peyton's History of
Augusta County.~]
Before the Revolutionary war arose, the descendants of the
early Scotch Irish settlers of Augusta began to scatter abroad.
Some of the Lewises, Breckenridges and McClanahans went to
Botetourt county. Andiew Lewis and Robert McClanahan, Jr.,
were living in Botetourt before the battle of Point Pleasant.
Thomas Lewis,41 living near Port Republic, became a citizen of
Rockingham after that county was organized. William Lewis42
removed to the Sweet Springs about the year 1790. Some of
the family located in Bath county. Soon after the Revolution,
several of the Breckenridges went to Kentucky, and from one of
them descended the distinguished men of that name. Imme-
diately after the war, in 1783, the Rev. Dr. Waddell, of Tinkling
Spring, who came to Augusta from Lancaster county in 1776,
removed to the neighborhood of Gordonsville, where he died in
1803. He sold the Springhill place, for which he had paid
^1,000, in two parcels — one of 840 acres to Mr. James Powell
Cocke for ^1,050 ; and the remainder, or the greater part of it,
called " Round Meadow," to Samuel Hunter for ^1,200. To
show the gradual enhancement in the price of land, we mention
further that Mr. Cocke sold his 840 acres, Springhill proper,
in 1793, to John Swisher, of Rockingham, for ^1,600; and
Swisher's heirs sold it in 1812 to John Coalter for ^4,110. Thus
the prices of the tract were in dollars, in 1783-5, $3,500; in
1793. $5,333-33/^ ; and in 1812, $13,700.
Just before he removed from the county, Dr. Waddell was
invited to preach one-half his time to the Presbyterians in Staun-
ton, and it is curious to observe that the call on behalf of the
41 Thomas Lewis died in "1790. His sons were Andrew, Thomas, Charles
and William B.
42 William Lewis died in 1812. His sons were John, a captain at Point
Pleasant and an officer during the Revolution ; Thomas, an officer in
Wayne's army; and William I , who was a member of Congress from
the Campbell District in i8i5-'i7. — [Peyton's History.']
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 197
town people was signed by Alexander St. Clair and William
Bowyer, the last church-wardens of Augusta parish, of whom
we have any account.
An anecdote in relation to Dr. Waddell, which has come down
to us, gives some idea of the state of the times. During his
residence here coffee was very little used in the county, but hav-
ing been accustomed to it in lower Virginia, he continued to use
it after he came to the Valley. Some of his flock were scanda-
lized at his indulgence in such a luxury, and felt called upon to
administer a rebuke. They, however, to strengthen their cause,
made out of the matter a case of flagrant Sabbath-breaking.
Therefore the minister was charged with the offence of having
hot coffee on Sunday morning as well as other days ! He met
the accusation calmly, and asked, "What do you have for
breakfast?" They replied, " Mush and milk." "-But," he
asked further, "is the mush hot or cold?" " Hot, of course,"
they replied. " Well," said he, "You have cold mush on Sun-
day, and I will have cold coffee."
Dr. Waddell was succeeded at Tinkling Spring by the Rev.
John McCue, who, while living in the county, preached more or
less statedly in Staunton for some years. There was, however,
no regular Presbyterian church organization in Staunton till
1804. The early Presbyterian settlers were generally engaged
in farming and grazing, and sought rural shades in which to
worship, turning away, apparently, from towns and villages.
Hence, throughout the Valley, their country churches antedate
those in the towns.
Colonel Robert Porterfield, a native of Pennsylvania, but living
in Jefferson or Berkeley county when the Revolutionary war
arose, settled here, on South river, near Waynesborough, at the
close of the war. He attained the rank of captain in the Conti-
nental army, and was afterward made colonel and general of
Virginia militia. Revolutionary soldiers, not exempt by age or
physical infirmity from military duty, were enrolled in the militia
at the close of the war. General Porterfield was a member of
Captain Thomas Turk's company, and by a court-martial held
November 25, 1787, was fined for failing to muster.
Archibald Stuart, a native of Augusta, but reared in Rock-
bridge county, located in Staunton, in 1785, to practice law.
While a very young man he was elected by the people of Bote-
198 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
tourt to represent them in the State Legislature, residence of
delegates in the county not being required at that time.
Jacob Peck, long an enterprising citizen, was living here in
1780, having come from Pennsylvania.
The first meeting of Free Masons in Staunton was ''under
dispensation/' March 31, 1785. Staunton Lodge was chartered
by the Grand Lodge of Virginia, at Richmond, October 28, 1786,
''the charter names" being . Alexander Long, William Cham-
bers, and John Paris.
Jacob Swoope and John Boys came to Staunton from Phila-
delphia, in 1789, and embarked in mercantile business. Both of
them married here, but the wife of the latter dying in a short
time, he returned to Philadelphia, where he died in 1798. Mr.
Swoope remained in Staunton, and acquired wealth and promi-
nence.
Some time between 1785 and 1790, several persons came to
Staunton from different places, all of whom were prominent and
influential in their day, and some of whom reared large families.
We refer to John Wayt (the senior of that name), Joseph
Cowan, Andrew Barry, Peter Heiskell, Michael Garber, Law-
rence Tremper, and a school teacher named Clarke. Mr. Wayt
came from Orange county. He was a merchant, a magistrate,
and high sheriff, several times a member of the Legislature, and
long active in all affairs concerning church and state. He died
in 1831, leaving no child. Mr. Cowan and Mr. Barry were na-
tives of Ireland, and leading merchants ; Mr. Garber came from
Pennsylvania, and Mr. Heiskell from Frederick county. Law-
rence Tremper was born in New York and married there. Dur-
ing the war he was a lieutenant in the Continental army. He
was by trade a leather-breeches maker. During the administra-
tion of Washington he was appointed postmaster at Staunton,
and held the office continuously till his death in 1841. He also
retailed drugs, patent medicines, and candy. Mr. Clarke, the
school teacher, came from Pennsylvania, like so many others-
He left four sons, Samuel, John, William, and Thomas, who long
resided in the county, and the first of whom, in a quiet way,
filled a large space in the community for many years.
Three brothers came to Staunton from Nelson county, prob-
ably about the year 1790, Chesley, Jacob, and William Kinney.
The first named was clerk of several of the courts which sat
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 199
here, and the father of five sons and a daughter. Jacob Kinney
was a lawyer. His only child was a daughter, the wife of the
late Erasmus Stribling, and mother of Dr. F. T. Stribling and
others. William Kinney, Sr. , was a bachelor, and pursued no
regular business during the latter years of his life, but he was
noted for genial traits which made him a welcome guest in many
homes.
An act of assembly, passed November 6, 1787, added twenty-
five acres of land belonging to Alexander St. Clair to the town
of Staunton. This addition has always been known as New-
town. Other land, belonging to Judge Stuart, in the northeast
part of the town, was added in 181 1.
The earliest returns of commissioners of the revenue for
Augusta county, found in our local archives, are for the year
1787. Parts of Bath and Pendleton counties were then included
in Augusta. The commissioners of the revenue were James
Ramsey, Joseph Bell, and Charles Cameron. Alexander Mc-
Clanahan was clerk of the County Court. The number of horses
and mules in the county was 7,747 ; cattle, 15,692 ; ordinaries, 5,
kept by John Bosang, Windle Grove, Peter Heiskell, James
McGonigle, and Thomas Smith ; practicing physicians, 4, Drs.
William Grove, Alexander Humphreys, Alexander Long, and
Hugh Richie. It seems that lawyers were not taxed, as none
were assessed. The number of gigs was two, owned by John
Ermitage and Robert Richardson. There were no four-wheeled
riding- carriages in the county.
Pendleton county was formed from Augusta, Rockingham,
and Hardy in 1788.
In the State Convention of 1788, which ratified the Constitu-
tion of the United States, Augusta was represented by Zachariah
Johnston and Archibald Stuart.
Zachariah Johnston was born in Augusta about the year 1743,
near the present village of Fishersville. He is described as a
man of a religious temper, of great simplicity of manners, and
utterly void of hypocrisy. As we have seen, he was a member
of the House of Delegates during the Revolution. He was also
a member in 1785, and warmly supported the act for establishing
religious freedom. While that act was pending, he is said to
have delivered an effective speech in favor of it, declaring that
he would leave his own church if it should become a State
/
200 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
church. Near the close of the convention of 1788, he delivered
quite a long speech in favor of the adoption of the Constitution
of the United States, which may be found in the volume of Vir-
ginia Debates, page 460. We copy one paragraph. Mr. John-
ston said:
11 It is my lot to be among the poor people. The most that I
can claim, or flatter myself with, is to be of the middle rank.
I wish no more, for I am- content. But I shall give my opinion
unbiased and uninfluenced — without erudition or eloquence, but
with firmness and candor. And in so doing I will satisfy my
conscience. If this Constitution be bad, it will bear equally as
hard on me as on any member of society. It will bear hard on
my children, who are as dear to me as any man's children can
be to him. Having their happiness at heart, the vote I shall
give in its favor, can only be imputed to a conviction of its utility
and propriety."
Mr. Johnston removed to Rockbridge in 1793, and died there
in 1800.43
*3His children were: 1. James, who was born in 1763, and had a
large family, among them Thomas, Zachariah, Polly, Mrs. Turk, &c,
&c. 2. Dr. John, of Roanoke county, born in 1764, whose wife
was a sister of the late James Bell of Augusta. He left five sons
and three daughters. 3. William, born in 1766. 4. Elizabeth, born in
1768, wife of Robert McChesney. She had seven children, among them
Zachariah J., Adam, James (killed by a lunatic,) Ann, wife of Colonel
Isaiah McBride; Mary, wife of Matthew White of Lexington; Eve
line, wife of George Moffett ; and Betsy, wife of Daniel Brown. 5.
Zachariah, born in 1770, and lived near Brownsburg. His descen-
dants are Blakeys, Grays and Cultons. 6. Thomas, born in 1772.
He had eight children, one of whom was the mother of Dr. Z. J. Walker
of Rockbridge. Others of his descendants are Lewises, Armentrouts,
&c 7. Ann, born in 1774, wife of Joseph White, a merchant of
Brownsburg, and brother of Robert and Matthew White. She had
seven children, of whom William White of Lexington is the only sur
vivor. One of her daughters married the Rev. Thomas Caldwell.
8. George, born in 1777, and drowned while young in Jackson's river.
9. Alexander, born in 1779. Had one son and two daughters. One
of the latter married Thomas Wilson, and the other a Mr. McClung.
10. Margaret, born in 1781, wife of Captain Robert White of Lexing-
ton. She had nine children, of whom George, Robert, Joseph and Mrs.
McDowell survive. 11. Jane, born in 1783, and married James Sharpe
of Tennessee.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 201
Until the year 1789, the County Court was the only court of
record which sat in Staunton. As stated heretofore, it had an
extensive jurisdiction in law arid chancery. The higher law tri-
bunal, called the General Court, composed of gentlemen " learned
in the law," sat in Richmond.
In 1777, a High Court of Chancery was constituted, consisting
4 of three judges — George Wythe Edmund Pendleton and John
Blair ; but by a subsequent act the number of judges was re-
* duced to one. From that time for twenty years George Wythe
was the sole chancellor in the State.
In 1789 the Legislature passed an act establishing district
courts of law. The counties were arranged in districts, in each
of which two judges of the General Court were required to hold
terms. Augusta, Rockbridge, Rockingham and Pendleton con
stituted a district, and the court sat in Staunton. Judges Mercer
and Parker held the first court here. Judges Tyler, Carrington,
Tucker (the elder) and others also sat here at different times.
The first clerk of the district court at Staunton was James Lyle.
He was succeeded, in 1793, by John Coalter, afterwards judge;
he by Micajah Coalter, and he by Chesley Kinney.
Kercheval, in his History of the Valley, states that after the
French Revolution broke out, in 1789, breadstufTs of every kind
suddenly became enoi mously high. For several years afterwards
it was no uncommon thing for the farmer of the Valley to sell
his crop of wheat from one to two, and sometimes two and a half
dollars per bushel, and his flour from ten to fourteen dollars per
barrel in our seaport towns.
In the latter part of the century the Presbyterian churches of
the Valley were disturbed by dissensions in regard to psalmody.
The version of the Psalms by Rouse44 had been universally used,
and when the smoother version by Dr. Isaac Watts was intro-
duced, there was strenuous opposition to it on the part of many
people. It is related that, in 1789 or 1790, the Rev. William
Graham, a somewhat imprudent man, precipitated a controversy
u Sir Francis Rouse was, in 1653, speaker of the British Parliament^
called the Little Parliament, which he was instrumental in dissolving,
and turning over the government to Cromwell. He was also a mem-
ber of Cromwell's first Parliament in 1654, and one of the new Lords
created by the Protector in 1658.
202 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
on the subject in New Providence congregation. Rouse's ver-
sion had been used there as elsewhere, but Mr. Graham, while
assisting the pastor at a communion service, without conferring
with any one, introduced Watts' s psalms and hymns. Some of
the older members left the church immediately, and a schism
occurred. The seceders repaired to Old Providence church,
in Augusta, and reopened that place of worship, which had been
abandoned for some time. Rouse continued to be used for
twenty years longer at Tinkling Spring and other churches, but
was gradually superseded by Watts. — \_Ruff?ier' s History of
Washington College^
The first Lutheran church in Augusta, was built in 1780, on
South river, near Waynesborough, and called Trinity. The
next was Mount Tabor, near Middlebrook, built in 1785. Nine
others have been built during the present century, most of them
since 1840.
The Tunker (German Baptist) church was first organized in
the county about the year 1790. The German Reformed church
in the county also dates back to the last century, but the place
and exact date of the organization cannot be ascertained.
The first Methodist Episcopal church building in the county
was erected, probably in 1797, in Staunton, on the site of the
present church, although Staunton circuit does not appear on
the minutes of the Conference before 1806.
Bath county was formed from Augusta, Botetourt and Green-
brier, in 1 791, by which act Augusta was reduced to her present
dimensions, about thirty-three miles long and twenty-nine miles
wide. At its formation, and for more than fifty years after-
wards, Bath embraced about one-half the present county of
Highland.
The first County Court of Bath was held May 10, 1791, in the
house of Mrs. Margaret Lewis, at the Warm Springs. The
first justices were Sampson Mathews, Jr., Samuel Vance, John
Wilson, Charles Cameron, John Bollar, John Dean, James Poage,
William Poage, John Kinkead, George Poage, Jacob Warwick,
John White. John Peebles, John Lewis, Samuel Shrewsberry, and
John Oliver. John Dickinson and Alexander Crawford were ap-
pointed, but declined. Charles Cameron was the first clerk, and
Sampson Mathews the first sheriff. William Poage was recom-
mended for appointment to the office of surveyor. The follow-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 203
ing persons were recommended as justices to rill vacancies :
James Stephenson, George Messingbird, John Brown, James
Robinson, William Crawford and Robert Sitlington. On the
same day Archibald Stuart was " recommended to the attorney-
general as a proper person to execute the office of deputy-attor-
ney for this county." No lawyers qualified till the June term,
1791, and then John Coalter and James Reid were admitted as
attorneys. At August term, 1791, the first entry is as follows :
" Ordered that the court adjourn to some trees down the lane
near the highway." Upon meeting under the trees, Archibald
Stuart and William H. Cavendish qualified as attorneys.
The Staunton Academy, a high school for boys, was incorpo-
rated by act of the Legislature, December 4, 1792. The first
trustees were the Rev. John McCue, Rev. William Wilson, Rev.
Archibald Scott, Gabriel Jones, Alexander St. Clair, Sampson
Mathews, Sr., Archibald Stuart, Robert Gamble, William Bow-
yer, Alexander Humphreys, David Stephenson, Robert Porter-
field, James Powell Cocke, Alexander Nelson, John Steel, James
Lyle, Robert Grattan, William Lewis, and John Tate.
At a meeting of the trustees of the academy, held May 23,
1793, Dr. Humphreys was appointed president of the board.
The Rev. Charles O'Neal was elected principal, and the tuition
fees were fixed as follows : for the learned languages or mathe-
matics, one guinea the quarter; writing, arithmetic, and rudi-
ments of English, 10 shillings ; teaching English grammatically,
In November, 1795, William Sterret offered himself as teacher
of Latin and Greek, and the Rev. John McCue, John Coalter,
Dr. Humphreys, and Archibald Stuart, were appointed a com-
mittee to examine him. The Rev. Hugh White, however, was
" authorized to teach," August 27, 1796. Next, in i8ooand 1801,
James Clarke and John McCausland taught in separate rooms
under the auspices of the trustees. As yet no building had been
erected for the academy, and rooms were provided by the trus-
tees in the town.
An act of the Legislature was passed December 22, 1792,
which, among other things, organized the militia regiments of
Augusta, Rockingham, and Shenandoah as the Seventh bri-
gade
A post-office was first established at Staunton in 1793. Previ-
204 ' ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
ous to that date all letters received here were brought by trav-
elers. As described of the " mail facilities " of east Tennessee
in 1796, every horseman hdd in his saddle-bags, or portmanteau*
a wallet, in which he carried letters. This was carefully opened
and examined at the several places where the traveler lodged,
and the letters delivered or forwarded as the case required. The
inhabitants cheerfully performed the duty of forwarding letters
thus brought into their possession. An endorsement " on the
public service," secured the transmission of a letter by a volunteer
express with the utmost fidelity.
The first postmaster at Staunton was Robert Douthat, whose
accounts with the government began March 20, 1793. He was
succeeded by William Chambers, who held the office from Janu-
ary 1, 1795, till October 1, 1796. At the latter date, Vincent
Tapp became the postmaster, and he was succeeded July 1, 1798,
by Lawrence Tremper. Mr. Tremper was postmaster nearly
forty-three years. He died in January, 1841, and Norborne C.
Brooks was appointed in his place, February 4, 1841. In 1789
the number of post-offices in the whole United States was only
seventy-five.45
Archibald Stuart, of Staunton, was elected a judge of the gen-
eral court in 1799, and for some years presided, with an associate,
in the district courts. At the time of his election he was a mem-
ber of the Legislature.
The tide of Indian warfare had rolled back from Augusta
county as white settlers located in the west, but it did not cease
on the frontier till 1794. In August of that year, General An-
thony Wayne, at the head of a considerable force, encountered
and routed a large body of Indians at the rapids of the great
Maumee river in Ohio. General Wayne had been distinguished
during the Revolutionary war, but his last achievement made
him a popular hero. He escaped becoming President of the
United States by dying in 1796. He, however, had the honor
of giving his name to divers and sundry places. Waynesbo-
rough, in Augusta county, which was founded about that time,
was called for him. The Wayne Tavern, in Staunton, was
another of his namesakes. This tavern, which stood at the
45 In 1800 the number was 903, and in 1884, 50,017, of which 45 were
in Augusta county.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. .205
northwest corner of Beverley and New streets, invited travelers
to take shelter there by its old-fashioned swinging sign, on
which a native artist exhausted his skill in trying to paint a like-
ness of " Mad Anthony." The Washington Tavern stood on
the present site of the Virginia Hotel, and displayed on its sign
a portrait of the Father of his Country.
John Wise, a soldier under Wayne at the Maumee, settled in
Staunton before the close of the century. He was originally a
printer, and at one time published a newspaper here.
While General Wayne was on his expedition against the In-
dians, the Whiskey Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania culmi-
nated. Not being able to transport their grain to market, the
people of that region, as many others then and since, converted
the products of their farms into whiskey. A horse could not
transport more than four bushels of grain, but it could carry the
product of twenty four bushels in the shape of "high wines."
By means of this article the people obtained the other necessaries
of life. Whiskey was then considered indispensable. Every-
body used it more or less, and, as was remarked, "a man could
not be born, married, or buried without it." Congress, however,
passed an act laying a duty on distilled spirits, and the people of
Western Pennsylvania rose in rebellion against the tax as unjust
and oppressive. Politicians of the Republican party throughout
the country sympathized to some extent with the insurgents,
while Federalists supported the government A military force
of 14,000 men was raised, and under command of General Henry
Lee, Governor of Virginia, marched into the disturbed district.
These troops were from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and
Virginia. There was no fighting, however, and most of the
soldiers returned home in a short time.
A company of cavalry, or mounted infantry, from this section,
composed a part of Lee's army. It was commanded by Robert
Grattan, then a merchant of Staunton, afterwards Major Grattan,
of Rockingham. In all probability Grattan' s company were the
soldiers referred to in the following anecdote related by the Rev.
Dr. Ruffner in his History of Washington College. Alluding to
the Rev. William Graham, founder of that institution, Dr. Ruffner
says :
"Another illustration of Mr. Graham's bold and independent
spirit was a scene which occurred at Harrisonburg at a meeting
206 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of the Synod of Virginia, in the year 1794, when a company of
soldiers arrived there on their way to put down the whiskey in-
surgents of Pennsylvania. The Rev. Moses Hoge, warm with pa-
triotic zeal, moved that the Synod should adopt an address to the
people, inculcating obedience to the laws. Mr. Graham opposed
all Synodical action on the subject, and boldly avowed that the
' whiskey boys,' as they were usually called, were not rebels, but
a suffering people, whose grievances ought to be redressed. Other
members also opposed the motion, either because they sympa-
thized with the ' whiskey boys' — whiskey being at that time a
chief staple of the Valley, and the tax upon its manufacture was
felt as a grievance. The address was carried by a small majority.
The soldiers were exasperated against Mr. Graham and his party,
and threatened violence against him, insomuch that he found it
expedient to retire privately from the scene of tumult."
Captain Grattan's company performed another service, on the
occasion of the captain's return to Staunton after his marriage,
which is worth mentioning. Colonel John G. Gamble, in his un-
published account of the Grattan family, says : "I accompanied
his troop of cavalry, which went out some eight or ten miles to
meet their captain and escort his young bride to town."
The court-martial of the Thirty-second regiment of militia was
held in Staunton, December 12, 1794. Lieutenant-Colonel An-
drew Anderson presided, and Robert Doak was present as a
captain. Smith Thompson was elected provost marshal. Joseph
Bell, of Captain Turk's company, " charged with not performing
his tour of duty against the insurgents when called upon," ap-
peared and was acquitted. For the offence mentioned, however,
John Armstrong was fined $36, and Benjamin Grove, $15. Other
militiamen were tried on the same charge, some being acquitted
and others convicted and fined.
Mr. Jefferson, while residing at Monticello, previous to his
election to the presidency, turned his attention, among his
various projects, to the manufacture of nails, and wished to
establish an agency in Staunton. In June, 1795, he wrote to
Archibald Stuart, his former pupil and personal and political
friend, inclosing some "nail cards," which he wished put into
the hands of a substantial and punctual merchant. He sug-
gested a Mr. Stuart, Mr. St. Clair, or Gamble & Grattan. The
next year, in January, he wrote again on the same subject. The
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 207
nail business was not prospering, evidently ; but we are gratified
to find that even at that early day Staunton was considered a
better market, at least for nails, than Warren or Warminster. In
February following, the price of nails had gone up in Philadel-
phia, and the "Sage of Monticello" was encouraged. He
advised his Staunton correspondent to embark in the manufac-
ture of potash, and assured him there were " millions in it."
The tradesmanlike way he wrote about " penny brads," and the
profits of potash, remind one of Dr. Johnson playing the busi-
ness man at the sale of Thrale's brewery. From a letter, writ-
ten at Philadelphia, June 8, 1798, Mr Jefferson being vice-presi-
dent, it seems that John McDowell was then the agent at Staun-
ton. Mr. Jefferson was anxious for a remittance, as for six
months he had been advancing money for nail rods. McDowell
threw up the agency in 1799, and by that time it appears the
"nailery " was near its end.
Before the close of the century some attempts were made to
establish factories in the county. In 1790 an act was passed by
the Legislature authorizing Alexander St. Clair, William Cham-
bers, John Boys, Robert Grattan, Robert Gamble, and others, to
raise by lottery three hundred pounds, to be applied by them in
erecting a paper mill near Staunton, "for the use of Gideon
Morgan and Peter Burkhart." And, in 1791, another act au-
thorized trustees to raise four thousand dollars by lottery for re-
pairing and completing Smith Tandy's "bleaching mill" near
Staunton.
In the year 1796 Staunton was visited by Isaac Weld, an Eng-
lish traveler, whose book of Travels through the States of North
America, etc., was published in London in 1799. In his pages
we find some description of Staunton and the surrounding coun-
try at the date of the visit. He says: "As I passed along it"
(the road traversing the Valley) " I met with great numbers of
people from Kentucky46 and the new State of Tennessee, going
46 From the date of the first settlement of Kentucky, till near the
close of the century, the most frequented route of travel from the north-
eastern States to Kentucky was called the '^Wilderness road," which
traversed the Valley of Virginia, passing through Staunton, Fincastle,
and Cumberland Gap. A northern route was also traveled to some
extent, but it was exceedingly dangerous on account of the hostility of
the Indians on the north bank of the Ohio river. In 1790 Mr. Charles
208 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
towards Philadelphia and Baltimore, and with many others going
in a contrary direction, 'to explore,' as they call it, that is, to
search for lands conveniently situated for new settlements in the
western country. These people all travel on horseback, with
pistols or swords, and a large blanket folded up under their sad-
dles, which last they use for sleeping in when obliged to pass
the night in the woods * * * Thirty miles further on"
(from Lexington) "stands Staunton. This town carries on a
considerable trade with the back country, and contains nearly
two hundred dwellings, mostly built of stone, together with a
church. This was the first place on the entire road from Lynch-
burg, one hundred and fifty miles distant, and which I was about
ten days in traveling, where I was able to get a bit of fresh meat,
excepting indeed on passing the Blue Mountains, where they
brought me some venison that had been just killed. I went on
fifty miles further from Staunton before I got any again. *
" In every part of America a European is surprised at finding
so many men with military titles, * * * but nowhere, I
believe, is there such a superfluity of these military personages
as in the town of Staunton ; there is hardly a decent person in
it, excepting lawyers and medical men, but what is a colonel, a
major, or a captain. * * * In Staunton there are two or
three corps " (volunteer military companies), " one of cavalry,
the other of artillery. These are formed chiefly of men who
find a certain degree of amusement in exercising as soldiers, and
who are also induced to associate by the vanity of appearing in
regimentals."
Weld relates that when he was in Staunton a party of Creek
Indians arrived there on their way to Philadelphia, then the seat
Johnston started with Mr. John May, of Petersburg, on a business trip
to Kentucky. They went through the wilderness from Lewisburg to
the Kanawha, and about where Charleston now stands embarked with
others in a flat boat to go down the Kanawha and Ohio rivers. When
near the mouth of the Sciota the party was decoyed to the northern
shore and assailed by Indians. Mr. May and a woman were killed, and
the others captured. After several months young Johnston was re-
deemed by British traders at Detroit, and returned home. He was the
father of Frederick Johnston, Esq , long clerk of the courts of Roanoke
county, and grandfather of the Rev. Lewis B. Johnston, pastor of Hebron
church, Augusta county.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 209
of the United States Government. The next morning half of
the Indians set off without the others, who did not follow till
some hours afterwards. When the latter started, several of the
townspeople on horseback escorted them part of the way.
After proceeding along the road for some miles they all at once
turned off into the woods, though there was no path. The peo-
ple who accompanied them, surprised at the movement, informed
them that they were quitting the road to Philadelphia and would
miss their companions who had gone on before. The Indians
persisted, however, asserting that they knew the way and the
route taken by the others. Curiosity led some of the horsemen
to go on, and to their surprise the first party of Indians was
overtaken in the thickest part of the wood. Moreover, the route
taken, as well as could be ascertained, was on an air-line to
Philadelphia. This anecdote is quoted, in a note to Campbell's
Gertrude of Wyoming, as an instance of Indian sagacity.
Rochefoucault, the French philanthropist, visited Staunton in
1797. He does not give a flattering picture of the place, but as
a faithful annalist we reproduce it, protesting, however, that
Staunton and its people are very different now-a-days. He says
there were eight inns here, fifteen to eighteen stores, and about
eight hundred inhabitants. Two market days were kept weekly,
but badly furnished with provisions. Fresh meat sold at six-
pence per pound (eight cents), flour at eleven dollars per barrel.
A newspaper was published twice a week (?). The inhabitants,
like the generality of Virginians, were fond of gambling and bet-
ting. The traveler witnessed here two miserable horse races.
Manners were much like those of Richmond, nor were the peo-
ple " actuated by a superior desire to discharge the debts which
they contracted." During his stay at the inn he "saw great
numbers of travelers pass by, merchants or sellers of land, going
to Greenbrier and Carolina, or persons on their way to the me-
dicinal springs." The goods sold by the storekeepers were
brought from Baltimore or Philadelphia.
Rochefoucault states that at the time of his visit a Presbyterian
church was going up in Staunton. He is clearly mistaken as to
the denomination, as the Presbyterians had no building till
twenty years afterwards, and it was no doubt the first house of
worship erected by the Methodists that attracted his attention.
At the time the French traveler was in Staunton, Bob Bailey,
14
210 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the noted gambler, made his headquarters here. He was an ele-
gant gentleman, very insinuating, and very likely sought the
acquaintance of the stranger. A few years afterwards he was in
the hands of the district court upon the charge of " exhibiting
faro," but fled to escape the penalty of the law.
The Rev. James Waddell was born in July, 1739, either in County
Down, Ireland, or on the long passage across the Atlantic. His father
was Thomas Waddell, who, it is believed, was a son of William Wad-
dell, one of the prisoners captured at Bothwell Bridge, in 1679, as men-
tioned in a previous note. Thomas Waddell settled in Eastern Penn-
sylvania, near the Delaware State line. His youngest son, James, had
his left hand nearly severed from the wrist during his early boyhood,
by an axe wielded by an older brother, who was cutting into a hollow
tree in pursuit of a hare ; and although the hand, upon being bandaged,
adhered to the arm, it was permanently disabled. He was educated at
the school of the Rev. Dr. Finley, at Nottingham, Pennsylvania, then
one of the most celebrated schools in the colonies, and finally became
an assistant teacher. Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, was one of
his pupils. When nineteen or twenty years old, in 1758 or 1759, young
Waddell was proceeding on horseback to South Carolina, to engage in
teaching, but on arriving in Hanover county he was prevailed upon by
the Rev. Samuel Davies to remain in Virginia. His first employment
was as a teacher with the Rev. John Todd, of Louisa county, with
whom he also studied theology. While he was teaching in Louisa it is
said that several of the young Lewises, of Augusta, were amongst his
pupils. He was licensed as a preacher by Hanover Presbytery in 1761,
and after preaching at various places, including Hat creek, in Campbell,
he settled in Lancaster county, where there was a considerable congre-
gation of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. His preaching soon attracted
much attention. An aged man named Irvin, son of the first white set-
tler in Campbell, many years ago wrote a history of Hat Creek church.
After speaking of several other ministers who had preached at Hat
Creek, the writer, alluding to Mr. Waddell, says : " And an eloquent one
he was. It was said forty years back [probably about 1800] that of all
the preachers who had preached at Hat creek, none was so much of an
orator as Mr. Waddell." Colonel James Gordon, of Lancaster, kept a
diary which, in part, has been preserved, and in it alludes to the sensa-
tion in that county caused by the young preacher. In Lancaster Mr.
Waddell married a daughter of Colonel Gordon. Soon after the break-
ing out of the Revolutionary war, his health being impaired by the
climate of the lower country, he purchased and removed to the Spring-
hill estate, in Augusta. While living in Augusta he preached regularly
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 211
at Tinkling Spring, and occasionally in Staunton. He took an active
part during and after the war in the movement in favor of religious
liberty, and is said to have written one of the memorials of Hanover
Presbytery to the Legislature on that subject. After the war he removed
to an estate near the present town of Gordonsville, and there he spent
the last twenty years of his life. During this period he was totally
blind from cataract for several years, but partially recovered his sight
after undergoing a surgical operation. He continued to preach while
blind, chiefly in a log meeting-house he had built on his own land. He
also often preached by invitation in the former parish churches of the
establishment. Bishop Meade quotes from the parish records his formal
invitations to fill such pulpits. Carlisle College, Pennsylvania, conferred
on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. His death occurred in Sep-
tember, 1805. He was buried on his plantation, and, by his direction,
his remains were borne to the grave by his colored male slaves. Before
his death he destroyed all his manuscripts, except a few fragments. His
powers of oratory were testified to, not only by Mr. Wirt, but by Gov-
ernor Barbour, Judge Stuart, the Rev. Dr. Baxter, the Rev. Dr. Alexan-
der, and many others. The ornate style of Mr. Wirt's account of the
" Blind Preacher " has caused many people to regard the piece as a
fiction, and the person himself as almost a myth. Some of the details
are certainly fictitious. It is said that Dr. Waddell never appeared in
public in the costume described by Wirt. He is described also as a very
old man, whereas he was only sixty-four, although his blindness and
palsy probably caused him to appear older. Wirt represents himself
as a stranger who had never heard of the preacher till he encountered
him in the rustic meeting-house. They were well acquainted, however,
years before the letters of the British Spy were published ; and instead
of no one in Richmond knowing of the preacher, he was well known
by many people there. Other liberties were taken by Mr. Wirt, but to
his dying day he declared that he had given a truthful account of Dr.
WaddelFs eloquence.
The children of Dr. Waddell who survived him were, James G., born
in Lancaster ; Mrs. Elizabeth Calhoun, Mrs. Janetta Alexander, and Ann
H., born in Augusta; and Addison (M. D.), Sally and Lyttelton, born in
Louisa, near Gordonsville.
CHAPTER IX.
FROM l800 TO l8l2.
Before the year 1800 Staunton was thronged every summer
and fall with people going to and returning from " The Springs."
The Warm and Sweet Springs were then much frequented by
invalids and pleasure seekers.
Dr. William Boys, long a prominent physician in Staunton,
and the first physician of the Western Lunatic Asylum, came
here from Philadelphia about the beginning of the present cen-
tury, having received his professional education in Edinburgh,
Scotland. He was a cousin of John Boys, heretofore mentioned,
and their wives were sisters, daughters of Alexander St. Clair.47
From the books of the commissioners of the revenue for the
year .1800 we obtain some interesting facts. The number of tith-
ables in the county, including Staunton, was 3,236. The number
of horses was 6,088. The cattle were not listed. Four-wheeled
riding carriages were taxed, but gigs were not ; and the number
of the former in the county was exactly two, viz.: Thomas Mar-
tin's "stage," and Archibald Stuart's "chariot." The total tax
was $i,557-78-
47 Another daughter of Alexander St. Clair was the wife of Captain
Robert Williamson, a sea captain in the mercantile service, and by birth
a Scotchman. Captain Williamson spent most of his life on the ocean,
voyaging to and from China, Archangel, and other foreign countries.
His family resided in Philadelphia till the war of 1812 banished trading
vessels from the sea. He then removed to Staunton and engaged in
merchandising, in partnership, at different times, with Mr. Cowan and
Captain John C. Sowers. He is described as a man of vigorous mind,
exemplary character, and ardently religious. His death occurred in 1823 .
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 213
Twenty-five merchants doing business in the county, paid
license tax the same year, and among them appear the still
familiar names of John McDowell, Jacob Swoope, Andrew Barry,
John Wayt, Joseph Cowan, Alexander St. Clair, Peter Hanger,
and others.
Joseph Cowan was a conspicuous citizen of the county for
many years, although he never held any public office, except
that of treasurer of the Western Lunatic Asylum. He was a
native of the north of Ireland, and possessed all the character-
istics of his race in a prominent degree. There was no bank in
Staunton during his time, and he acted as banker for many citi-
zens of the county. His store was a favorite place of resort for
elderly men. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and
very rigid in his observance of the Sabbath day.
Dr. Alexander Humphreys, who died in Staunton, in 1802, and
whose family afterwards removed to Kentucky, seems to have
been the solitary practicing physician in the county in 1800.
Still the lawyers were exempt from license tax. Surely there
were lawyers here at the time. General Samuel Blackburn was
living here, and was at the zenith of his fame as an advocate.
He afterwards removed to his estate, called the Wilderness, in
Bath county, where he spent the latter years of his life.
Another citizen of the county, in 1800, must not be omitted.
The Rev. John Glendy, D. D., was born in Londonderry, Ireland,
June 24, 1755, and educated at the University of Glasgow. For
several years he was pastor of a Presbyterian church at London-
derry. When the rebellion of 1798 occurred, his course was ob-
noxious to the government, and an order was issued for his arrest.
After concealing himself in various places, he gave himself up for
trial. He always declared that he had taken no active part in the
rebellion, but, nevertheless, he was convicted, and sentenced to
perpetual banishment. He and his wife were compelled to embark
for America in an old vessel, which, in distress, put in at Nor-
folk. This was in 1799. Mr. Glendy preached at Norfolk, and
attracted much attention by his oratory. The climate of lower
Virginia proved unfavorable to Mrs. Glendy' s health, and by
advice of a physician he came to Staunton. Here he was em-
ployed by the Presbyterians of the town and of Bethel congre-
gation to minister to them temporarily. On the 22d of Febru-
ary, 1800, he delivered in Staunton a eulogy of Washington,
214 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of which two editions were printed. By invitation of President
Jefferson, he visited Washington city, and there delivered an
address in the capital, which excited much admiration. Soon
afterwards he became pastor of a church in Baltimore. He was
chosen chaplain to the lower house of Congress in 1806, and to
the Senate in 1815. About the year 1822, the University of
Maryland conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
His style of oratory is said to have indicated his common nation-
ality with Curran and Philips. His popular address and talents,
in connection with the important places he occupied, and the
tact of his being an exile from his native land, gave him easy
access to the highest classes of society. He died October 4, 1832.
In the year 1802, another change was made in the judiciary
system of the State. Four chancery districts were then consti-
tuted, and John Brown was elected by the Legislature "judge of
the court of chancery for the upper district." At the time of
his election, Judge Brown resided in Hardy county, but he im-
mediately removed to Staunton, where he was required to hold
terms of his court. He sat also in Lewisburg and Wytheville.
The first chancery court was held in Staunton, July i, 1802.
Henry J. Peyton was the first clerk of this court, and William
S. Eskridge was the second and last. William Kinney, Sr., was
its " sergeant-at-arms." Among the lawyers who qualified to
practice in the court, on the day it opened, were Edmund Ran-
dolph, James Breckenridge, Daniel Sheffey, Chapman Johnson
and Edward Graham. Of these, only Mr. Johnson resided in
Staunton. Mr. Sheffey lived at that time in Wythe, and did not
remove to Staunton till some twenty years afterwards.
Judge Brown died in 1826. His successor was Judge Allen
Taylor, of Botetourt, who presided in the court till 1831, when
another change was made in the judiciary system.
In connection with the foregoing, we may state here that, in
1809, circuit courts of law, instead of district courts, were estab-
lished by act of assembly. The counties of the State were
arranged in circuits, and one of the judges of the general court
was required to hold terms in every county. Judge Stuart then
became sole judge of the circuit of which Augusta was a part.
Chesley Kinney, by appointment of the judge, was clerk of the
circuit court of law for Augusta county, till 1828, when his son,
Nicholas C. Kinney, was appointed.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 215
The system of two distinct courts, one of law and the other of
chancery, continued till the year 1831.
From the year 1800 to the year i860, emigration and immi-
gration were the order of the day in Augusta county. The sons
of farmers and others, descendants of early settlers, were enticed
away by the low prices of rich lands in the west — Kentucky,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Often whole families sold
out their lands here, and left in search of new homes near the
frontier of civilization; and sometimes several families, neighbors
and friends, went together to form a congenial settlement else-
where. The emigrants packed in wagons their provisions,
clothing, bedding, and such cherished articles as they could not
leave behind, and spent weeks on the road, camping out at
night. The descendants of Augusta people in the States just
named, must number many thousands. Some forty years ago,
a citizen of Augusta was visiting relations in central Illinois,
when two other citizens of the county arrived on horseback.
The latter stated that after crossing the Ohio river, they had
spent every night at the house of an Augusta man.
The places of the emigrants were taken by immigrants from
Pennsylvania and the lower valley, generally people of German
descent — the most thrifty of farmers — and thus the county suf-
fered no loss in population.
For some years Mississippi was the Eldorado which attracted
young men who desired to embark in business — lawyers, doctors
and clerks; many of these, however, drifted back to their old
homes. Our farming and grazing population were never much
inclined towards the cotton growing States and territories.
In the fall of 1803 the people of Staunton and Augusta county
were thrown into a hubbub of excitement in regard to a noto-
rious character called Bob Bailey. A brief sketch of this
man will be read with interest, and is not out of place
here. He was born, according to his own account, in Culpeper
county, in 1773. His father having been killed at the battle of
the Cowpens, and his mother being poor, he was thrown upon
his own resources at an early age. But he was industrious and
enterprising, and got along remarkably well, with very little edu-
cation, however. In 1791, when he was eighteen years old, he
was employed as overseer by Major John Hays, of Hays' creek,
Rockbridge. He was sent to Staunton for Dr. Humphreys,
216 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and the conversation, during his ride back with the doctor, de
termined him to come to Staunton, possibly to study medicine.
To Staunton he came, and attending a 22d of February ball had
the Widow Bosang as a partner in the dance. As we have seen,
John Bosang was one of the five ordinary keepers in Staunton
in 1787. His tavern was on the northwest corner of Main and
Lewis streets, near the Methodist church, where a brick dwelling
house now stands. After his death his widow, who appears to
have been a matron of good repute, continued the business at
the old stand. In an evil hour for her she encountered the hand-
some young stranger, was captivated, and after a short courtship
agreed to marry him, he being about nineteen years of age, and
she twenty-eight or thirty. For a time the youthful husband
devoted himself to tavern-keeping and prospered. He then
concluded to become a merchant also, and went to Philadelphia
with a lot of horses to barter for goods. There he was intro-
duced to the gaming-table, was fascinated, and soon became an
adept at card-playing. For about twenty years he pursued that
nefarious business.
While he was living in Staunton, or claiming a residence here,
the fall term of the district court, 1802, came on. The court
opened on the 1st day of September, Judges St. George Tucker
and Joseph Jones presiding. John Coalter, afterwards judge,
was clerk of the court. Philip Grymes resigned the office of
prosecuting attorney on an early day of the term, and Hugh
Nelson was appointed in his place. Chapman Johnson, who had
just settled in Staunton, qualified to practice as an attorney. A
grand jury was impanneled, and among the members were
Alexander Nelson, James Cochran, Robert Doak, Andrew An-
derson, Henry McClung, and James Moffett. On the next day
the jury brought in a presentment charging that Robert Bailey,
at the house of William Chambers, in Staunton (the Wayne
Tavern"), " was the keeper and exhibitor of a certain unlawful
gaming table called Pharaoh, or Pharaoh Bank."/ The case hav-
ing been continued at April term, 1803, came on for trial in
September of that year. General Blackburn appeared as coun-
sel for the accused, who kept out of sight in another county.
On the 3d of September the petit jury, John Poage, foreman,
brought in a verdict of guilty. General Blackburn moved an
arrest of judgment, and the court took time to consider.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 217
Finally, on the 6th, the motion was overruled, and judgment
was rendered that Robert Bailey be deemed and treated as a
vagrant ; that he be delivered by the sheriff to the overseers of
the poor, to be by them hired out for three months for the best
wages that could be procured, for the use of the poor ; and that
he give security in the penalty of five hundred dollars for his
good behavior for three years. A capias for the arrest of Bailey
was awarded, returnable on the first day of the next term.
Bailey was astounded when, at his hiding-place in Bath county,
he heard the news from Staunton. What a punishment for a
gentleman ! He says he almost became a lunatic. He did not
come forward to be hired out for the use of the poor, and evi-
dently there was no particular desire to capture and detain him
for three months in the community. Having, when flush of
money, purchased a farm in Botetourt, his family removed there,
and for a time he claimed a residence in that county. Wishing
to obtain a writ of error he sought to employ Philip Grymes to
appear for him in the court of appeals. In a letter to that gen-
tleman, he charged that Judge Tucker had offered to compro-
mise the prosecution against him in consideration of a hundred
guineas. Mr. Grymes communicated the accusation to the
judge, and he brought it to the attention of the Legislature, with
a view to an investigation of his official conduct. Thus the charge
became public, and all Augusta county was aroused. , Many citi-
zens sent down written testimonials as to the respective repu-
tations of Judge Tucker and Bailey — General Blackburn, Judge
Stuart, Alexander St. Clair, John Wayt, Sr., General Porterfield.
Chesley and Jacob Kinney, Jacob Swoope, John McDowell, Jo-
seph Bell, Sr., Judge Brown and others. Bailey, on the other
hand, in person or by his friends, got up counter testimonials
signed by two or three hundred respectable citizens — Major
Joseph Bell, Jr., Captain Samuel Steele, William Moffett, Jacob
Lease, Peter Hanger, John Tate, William Gilkeson, Lawrence
Tremper, &c, &c. / He showed also that he was captain of the
taunton Light Infantry Blues, " the finest uniformed company
west of the Blue Ridge," and that having been a candidate for
the House of Delegates in April, 1803, he was voted for by two
hundred and fifty-nine freeholders out of five hundred and sixty-
four who voted. Many people evidently rather liked the man —
his utterly reprobate character had not then been fully devel-
218 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
oped. He was free-handed with his money, and profuse in acts
of kindness, and a large number of his acquaintances could not re-
fuse to certify that as tavern-keeper, merchant, and private citizen
he was just and fair in his dealings. They all admitted, however,
that he was fond of gaming. Bailey published a pamphlet, in
which he retorted upon his assailants, saying many hard things
about some of them. Of some, such as General Blackburn
and Mr. St. Clair, the worst he could say was that they had
accepted his hospitality and received him as their guest. Judge
Stuart and Judge Brown he affected to brush aside with supreme
contempt. Daniel ShefTey, a member of the Legislature from
Wythe at the time, was scouted as "a little cobbler." A com-
mittee of the Legislature investigated the matter, and Judge
Tucker was exonerated, of course.
Bailey gained what was no doubt highly valued by him — in-
creased notoriety. He entered now fully upon his career as
a "sportsman " — a gambler he says he never was. A gambler
cheats and he always played fair. He was a frequenter of vari-
ous Virginia summer resorts, especially the Sweet Springs, and
extended his operations to Richmond, Washington, Baltimore,
Philadelphia, Charleston, and New Orleans. He claimed to have
visited London and Paris on the same business, but his contem-
poraries believed he had never been in Europe. At times he
rolled in wealth, and moved about with such splendid equipage
as to attract general attention. He was then munificent in his
benefactions. At other times he was penniless, and depended
upon his boon companions for another start in the world. He
offered himself as a candidate for Congress in the Botetourt
district, and, if he tells the truth, came within three votes of
being elected. Although a most amiable man in his own estima-
tion, he was often involved in broils. While living in Staun-
ton he had a fight with Adam Bickle, Sr., and another with
Jacob Peck. At the Sweet Springs he fought a duel and
wounded his antagonist, but confesses that he was very much
frightened. In Washington city he had a street fight with Col-
onel Isaac Coles, of Albemarle, President Jefferson's private
secretary, Coles having ordered him out of the President's man-
sion at a levee. His fortunes waned when he was still in the
prime of life. He had abandoned his family many years before,
and at the age of forty-eight he wrote his Life and Advert-
I
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 219
tures in a cabin, the best abode he could then command.
From a mutilated copy of this book we have taken most of his
history as here related. It is as candid as the Confessions of
Rousseau, giving many details too unchaste for these pages. He
warns young men, with apparent sincerity, against ever 'playing
cards. His life, as related by himself, is another proof of the
Bible declaration that " the way of the transgressor is hard."
About the year 1818, Bailey was traveling about the country
soliciting subscribers for his proposed publication, and came to
Staunton, the first time for fifteen years. He ventured into the
courthouse, and Judge Stuart, who was on the bench, recognized
him and ordered his arrest on account of the affair of 1803. He
hurried away, going to the tavern of the widow Mitchell, on the
old Winchester road, and she aided him to escape by way of
Rockfish Gap, while the sheriff was in search of him down the
Valley. He remarks in his book that he did not obtain many
subscribers in Augusta.
Between the years 1800 and 181 2, the county received impor-
tant accessions of professional and business men from abroad.
Most of these located in Staunton, and became part and parcel
of the county. John C. Sowers, the merchant, Briscoe G. Bald-
win, Erasmus Stribling, and the Eskridge brothers came from
Frederick county, or thereabouts. Chapman Johnson came
from Louisa county, and the Waddells from the same section.
John H. Peyton, the lawyer, and John Randolph, the Middlebrook
merchant, came from Stafford county. James A. Frazier, a native
of Ireland, was employed as a store boy at Jennings' Gap by
Robert McDowell, who afterwards failed in business. Young
Frazier held the position, and in the course of time built up an
extensive business and one of the largest fortunes ever accumu-
lated in the county. During the earlier part of his career, Au-
gusta merchants dealt almost exclusively in Philadelphia. They
generally made the trip to market, or "below," as the phrase
went, twice a year, on horseback, two or more traveling together,
carrying Mexican dollars in their saddle-bags.
For several years during the first decade of the present cen-
tury, Jacob D. Dietrick published a newspaper in Staunton called
the Stau?iion Eagle. We know of no complete file of this paper
in existence, but several isolated numbers have fallen into our
hands. It is almost provoking to find in them so little of local
220 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
interest. There is hardly ever a line of editorial, and no attempt
whatever to report the county and town news. We, however,
extract an item here and there from advertisements, communica-
tions, or marriage and death announcements. The wars of
Napoleon were then in full blast, and the troubles between the
United States and Great Britain, which led to the war of 1812,
were brewing ; and these matters of course occupied much space
in the columns ; but the editor had no idea of condensing a long
article, and two or three dreary documents often occupied all the
space devoted to news. The editor was classic and mythological
in his taste, and the " make up" of the paper was fanciful and
unique. He announced marriages under the head of " Hall of Hy-
men," and deaths under that of "Repository of Death." The
poetry column was styled " Temple of the Muses," and the joke
column "Temple of Hilarity." A wide circulation was sought
for the paper, and a long list of agents was published, in nearly
all the Valley counties in Virginia, and in the States of Pennsyl-
vania, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South
Carolina. Oh, for a file of the Eagle or the Republican Farmer,
got up in the style of our present Staunton newspapers ! But
we will not be ungrateful, and thanking Mr. Dietrick for the few
small favors he has granted us, we regret that more of his issues,
such as they were, have not come to our hands.
We learn from an advertisement in the Eagle that in October,
1807, James Miller had a paper mill near Staunton. Lots in the
town of New York (Albemarle county) were advertised for sale.
Advertisements in the German language appeared in the paper.
Miss Smith advertised her " Young Ladies' Academy," at Lex-
ington— board for five months, $50; tuition, $10. In one issue,
under the head "Hall of Hymen," appeared the marriage, by
the Rev. Mr. Calhoon, of Mr. Abraham Smith to Miss Juliet
Lyle, and of Lieutenant G. W. Sevier, of Tennessee, to Miss
Catharine Chambers. In October, 1807, a friend of the editor,
"traveling through this place," favored him "with a copy of the
official return of members of the General Assembly for Wash-
ington county, Maryland." But not a word of county news in the
issue.
In January, 1808, Mr. Dietrick began to issue a paper in Ger-
man. In March, the same year, the town authorities were
elected, viz: Chapman Johnson, mayor; John McDowell, re-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 221
corder; and Jacob Lease, John C. Sowers, John D. Greiner, and
Michael Garber, aldermen. John Coalter,48 then a Staunton law-
yer, afterwards judge of the court of appeals, published a com-
munication advocating the election of Mr. Johnson to the House
of Delegates, and answeiing the objection that he was an attor-
ney. Madison and Monroe were then rival candidates for the
presidency of the United States. The Republican politicians of
the county were divided, and each faction had a committee of
correspondence. The Madison committee were John Coalter,
Chapman Johnson, and General John Brown, the chancellor.
The Monroe committee consisted of Chesley Kinney, James
Cochran, David Parry, Micajah Coalter, and a fifth whose
name has been torn out of the newspaper.
The Eagle was Republican in politics, and supported the ad-
ministration of Mr. Jefferson, as far as a newspaper so edited
could support any side. It, however, did not. survive long in the
soil and climate of "Old Federal Augusta."
William G. Lyford started another newspaper, the Republican
Farmer, in 1808, but soon sold out to Isaac Collett. In his first
issue, Collett announced that he was " decidedly a Federal char-
acter." His paper was edited on the same plan as the Eagle,
but survived, in his hands, for twelve or thirteen years.
Jacob Swoope, of Staunton, was the member of Congress from
the Augusta district in the years 1809-1811. Party spirit ran
high in those days. Mr. Swoope was leader of the Federalists,
48 While a young lawyer, living at Staunton, Judge Coalter resided
at the place then called Elm Grove, on Lewis's creek, half a mile
east of town. His circumstances were so poor, that he had to return
home every day in time to cut wood for family use; and not being
able to keep or hire a horse, he walked to his courts, carrying his
clothes and papers in a bag on his shoulders. Afterwards, when a
distinguished judge of the court of appeals, he was in the habit of
referring to this period as the happiest of his life. His last residence
was a handsome seat, called Chatham, on the Rappahannock riven
opposite Fredericksburg. He was born a little north of New Provi-
dence church, now in Rockbridge county. His first wife was a
daughter of Judge St. George Tucker, sister of Judge Henry St. G.
Tucker, and half-sister of John Randolph, of Roanoke. His last wife,
who long survived him, was Miss Jones, of Spotsylvania.
222 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and Judge Stuart of the Republicans. Both parties had balls in
Staunton, to which their adherents in the county were invited,
with their wives and children. Each had also street processions,
headed by its chief. Mr. Swoope's competitor, when he was
elected, was Daniel Smith, then a young lawyer in Rockingham.
Swoope could speak German, while Smith could not, and the
German people of the district generally voted for the former.
Mr. Swoope declined a re-election, and Generel Samuel Black-
burn, then of Bath, was announced as the Federalist candidate.
William McCoy, of Pendleton, came forward as the Republican
candidate. The election was held on April court day, 1811. At
that time, and for long afterwards, elections were not held as
now, on the same day, throughout the State, or even district,
but the people of each county voted at their April court. Au-
gusta, Bath and Hardy, gave majorities for Blackburn, but Pen-
dleton and Rockingham, the other two counties of the district,
carried the day for McCoy, who was elected by a majority of one
hundred and thirty-five votes. At the same time Chapman John-
son was elected to represent Augusta in the State Senate, and A.
Fulton and A. Anderson were elected delegates. The whole vote
cast in Augusta at the election was seven hundred and eighty-
five, the right of suffrage being restricted to freeholders.
William McCoy held the seat in Congress till 1833. Daniel
Sheffey represented the Wythe district in the House of Re-
presentatives from 1809 to 1817, and afterwards removed to
Staunton. In due time he presented himself as the Federalist
candidate against McCoy, but in vain. On election day in Pen-
dleton, he was there to confront his adversary at home, but on
his return reported that "it was nothing but Hiner, Greiner
and McCoy," the first two being candidates for the Legisla-
ture.
Although the trustees of the Staunton Academy were incor-
porated in 1792, their school-house seems not to have been com-
pleted till about 1810. Judge Stuart gave the lot. A part of
the funds employed was raised by general subscription in the
county, and a part was donated by the State out of proceeds of
sale of glebe lands. The Masonic fraternity also had an interest
in the building, occupying an upper room as their hall. In the
year last named, the principals of the academy were James G.
.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 223
Waddell and Bartholomew Fuller. The former taught the clas-
sics, and the latter mathematics.
For nearly seventy years — until the building was turned over
to the trustees of public free schools — a succession of teachers
had charge of the academy. In 1833, Lyttleton Waddell and
William D. Cooke became joint principals. The latter continued
for a short time only, but the former conducted the school for
more than twenty years. During most of that time, the institu-
tion was highly prosperous, attracting many pupils from abroad.
Colonel Robert Porterfield was elected brigadier-general of
State troops in 1810, and appointed Mr. John H. Peyton his
chief of staff.
The population of the county in 1810 was 14,338; Staunton,
1,225; Waynesborough, 250; Greenville, 162; and Middlebrook,
66. The number of slaves in the county was 2,880.
The Fourth of July was celebrated with much enthusiasm
during the earlier years of the century. In 1810 William Clarke
delivered the annual oration. From the Republican Farmer we
extract the following account of the celebration in 1811 : " The
day was announced by one discharge from the artillery of Cap-
tain McCue's company at daybreak, and seventeen at sunrise.
About 12 o'clock the artillery company and Captain Poage's
troop of cavalry paraded the streets of Staunton, and marched
to Mr. Peter Heiskell's spring, about a mile from town, when,
after hearing a short address suitable to the occasion, delivered
by Briscoe G. Baldwin, a soldier of the artillery company, they
dined on an excellent barbecue." Then follows the toasts. In
the evening the military returned to town, and performed " seve-
ral interesting evolutions." "Seventeen discharges from the
cannon," continues the Farmer ; "closed the celebration of the
day. The citizens, who did not belong to the military com-
panies, enjoyed a barbecue feast at Mr. John McDowell's spring.
At night a large and respectable company formed a dancing
party at Mrs. Chambers's tavern. It was observed by a polite
and intelligent stranger that he had never seen such a collection
of beautiful ladies."
The Farmer of August 16, 181 1, announced that the mail
stage would leave Winchester every Friday at 7 A. M., and arrive
at Staunton on Sunday at 4 P. M. ; and leave Staunton every
224 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Monday at 4 A. M., and arrive at Winchester on Tuesday by
10 P. M.
In the Farmer of September 6, 1811, we find an advertisement
by General Porterfield in regard to the training of officers, and
regimental musters of the various regiments of his brigade.
James Brown was the brigade inspector.
Henry Miller, the founder of Miller's Iron Works, having
died, his administrators, Samuel Miller and John M. Estell, ad-
vertised for sale, September 6, 181 1, the furnace and forge, with
eight thousand acres of land, " supposed to be the most valuable
property of the kind in Virginia."
" A matter of common concern," was advertised in September,
181 1. Robert Porterfield, William Boys, John Coalter, Erasmus
Stribling and John Brown, managers, invited subscriptions to the
stock of a company to construct a road from Rockfish Gap to
Scott's landing, on James river. The capital of the company
was $60,000, shares $25 each, dividends anticipated fifteen per
cent! This scheme came to naught. Many years before, the
justices of Augusta and Rockbridge counties were authorized by
act of assembly to appropriate money for repairing the road
over the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap.
George Alford advertised his " Universal Spelling-Book" in
1811.
The market prices at Richmond were as follows : October 10,
181 1, wheat $1.09, superfine flour $7.50, bacon 12^ cents, whis-
key 54 cents ; October 24th, wheat $1.50, flour $8.25, whiskey
44 cents.
The Republican Farmer of November 8, 181 1, contained an
editorial ! It advocated the "Augusta Society for the Promotion
of Agriculture."
The first number of the paper issued by Collett, published an
extract from a speech by Daniel Sheffey, then a member of Con-
gress from the Wytheville district, in opposition to the threat-
ened war with Great Britain. But the war came on, notwith-
standing. The militia of Rockbridge were full of patriotism and
military ardor. One whole regiment of twelve hundred men,
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James McDowell, convened
at Lexington, November 14, 181 1, and offered their services to
the president of the United States.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. .225
Alexander Nelson was born in Ireland, January 14, 1749. He
came to America when a boy of probably ten years of age, and lived
first in Philadelphia, where he was patronized by the celebrated Robert
Morris, the financier of the Revolution. From Philadelphia he came to
Richmond, and there engaged extensively in merchandising. It is not
known at what date he came to Augusta. Here his business was that
of a farmer, owning and living on a large plantation on Lewis's creek,
six miles from Staunton. From the frequent mention of him in the
county archives, it is evident that he was a prominent and influential
citizen. He died January 2, 1834. His wife was a daughter of Samp-
son Mathews, of Staunton. Their children were : Dr. Thomas Nelson,
of Richmond ; John M. Nelson, of Ohio ; James Nelson, long one of the
commissioners of the revenue for the county ; Alexander Franklin
Nelson, a highly respectable farmer; Lockhart Nelson, who died in
Paris while a medical student there ; Mrs. Mary Ann Bell, wife of Joseph
Bell ; and Mrs. Elizabeth Montgomery, wife of John Montgomery.
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CHAPTER X.
FROM THE YEAR l8l2 TO THE YEAR 1833.
A majority of the voters of Augusta county no doubt sympa-
thized with Daniel Sheffey and other statesmen of the same
school in their opposition to the measures which brought on the
war of 1812 ; but when the war arose, no unpatriotic spirit was
exhibited in the county. General Porterfield, Colonel Doak,
and other officers, although staunch Federalists, exerted them-
selves to the utmost to prepare the Augusta militia for the field.
The war, however, did not approach our borders, and very few
of our people actually participated in the conflict. Nicholas C.
Kinney and George Eskridge, young lieutenants in the regular
army, served for a time on the northern frontier.
We quote from the files of the Republican Farmer, as far as
we have them :
William Patrick, one of the overseers of the poor of Augusta
county, published a card, stating that the glebe land was sold in
1802 for £800; that the money had been -loaned out, and in
January, 1812, amounted to £1,200, and asking the people of the
county to decide what use should be made of the money, whether
for the poor or the Staunton Academy.
As we learn from published military notices, in March, 181 2,
Christopher Morris was captain of the Staunton Light Infantry
Blues, Moses McCue of the Staunton Artillery, and Briscoe G.
Baldwin of the Staunton Infantry Company. We hear no more
of Captain Morris and his company. John C. Sowers was first
lieutenant of the Staunton Artillery, and soon became the cap-
tain. This company, and Captain Baldwin's, will appear again.
<(A gentleman, direct from Washington city," informed the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 227
editor, in April, 1812, that an embargo had been laid for ninety
days. This important news was received at that day, no doubt,
" in advance of the mails."
Lieutenant Allison, of the Fifth United States infantry, recruit-
ing in Staunton, advertised a reward of $10 for the apprehension
of a deserter.
On April court day, 1812, Colonel Andrew Anderson and Col-
onel Robert Doak were elected to represent Augusta in the
House of Delegates. Claudius Buster, another Federalist, was
also a candidate, as was Captain William Abney, a Democrat, or
Republican. Anderson received 535 votes, and Abney 299,
which probably shows the relative strength of the two political
parties in the county.
On the 19th of April, 181 2, the Republican Farmer published
Governor Barbour's general orders, calling for Virginia's quota
of troops, twelve thousand men, to be organized and ready to
march at a moment's warning. The Seventh brigade of militia
was required to furnish seven hundred and thirty-five men. Five
companies already organized, however — two in Augusta, two in
Rockingham, and one in Shenandoah — of fifty men each, were
credited to the quota called for from the brigade, leaving four
hundred and eighty-five infantry of the line to be raised. The
Augusta companies referred to were : Captain Steele's rifle com-
pany, and Captain McCue's artillery. Captain Steele was a
nephew of the Revolutionary soldier of the same name, hereto-
fore mentioned.
Major McCue's (as the Captain was then and afterwards
called), stable was burnt, in May, 181 2, and the editor was
aroused to write a few lines about it, showing that he could
write if he only chose to do so. See what he said: " It is to be
hoped that the avenging spirit of unerring Justice, will yet drag
from his covert the fiend-like incendiary, and immolate him upon
the altar of violated rights."
Fortification and gunnery were taught at this time at the
Staunton Academy.
General Porterfield issued brigade orders, May 20, 181 2, for
raising the quota of the Seventh brigade. The Thirty-second
regiment was required to furnish ninety men, with two captains,
one lieutenant, and one ensign; and the Ninety third, ninety-four
men, with one captain, two lieutenants, and two ensigns. Major
228 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
William Bell, commanding the Thirty-second, ordered a regimen-
tal muster at Hanger's on the 2d of June. If the editor of the
Farmer ever knew what took place at that muster, he kept it a
profound secret. His readers could never learn from his col-
umns.
All this while war had not been declared. But on the 25th of
June, 1812, the Farmer published, in large type, the act of Con-
gress, passed on the T 8th, declaring that war existed between the
United States and Great Britain.
During the month of June an effort was made to establish a
military school at Staunton, but it did not succeed. Captain
George Turner, however, taught military tactics here.
The Fourth of July was celebrated at Staunton by a salute in
the morning from the field pieces of the artillery, commanded by
Lieutenant Sowers, and a dinner at McDowell's spring; and at
Greenville by a parade of Captain Abney's and Captain Doak's
infantry companies, and Captain Dold's cavalry, and a barbecue
on Thomas Jackson's land.
The recruiting officers of the United States army seem to have
had a hard time of it. In July, Captain Page, of the Twelfth
infantry, advertised a reward of $10 cash for the arrest of two
deserters from the station in Pendleton county; and in Au-
gust, Lieutenant Camp, also of the Twelfth infantry, advertised
a reward of $40 for the arrest of four men who deserted between
Lexington and Brownsburg, while on the march from Abingdon
to Winchester. Captain Henry, of the Twelfth, advertised other
deserters in September.
On the 21st of September, 1812, a State convention of the
Federal party was held in Staunton, " for the purpose of recom-
mending to the freeholders of Virginia twenty-five fit and suit-
able characters to serve as electors at the approaching election
of president of the United States." The Convention continued
in session three days. Only sixteen counties, however, were re-
presented. No doubt the Federalists of Augusta enjoyed the
implicit confidence of their political brethren throughout the
State, and the latter did not think it necessary to attend here in
any large number. Robert Porterfield and Jacob Swoope were
the delegates from Augusta. The former was made president of
the convention, and the latter headed the electoral ticket. Rufus
King, of New York, was nominated for president, and William
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 229
R. Davie, of North Carolina, for vice-president. A State cen-
tral committee was appointed, consisting of General Porterfield,
Jacob Swoope. Dr. William Boys, Samuel Clarke, and Charles
A. Stuart.
The presidential election took place November 2d, and the
vote of Augusta stood : Federal, 396 ; Democratic, 244. The
editor bemoaned that about four hundred voters stayed away
from the polls.
On the 13th of November, the celebrated Petersburg Volun-
teers arrived in Staunton, being received near town and escorted
by some local military under Captain Turner. On the next day
the company partook of a barbecue prepared for the occasion,
and on Sunday, the 15th, resumed their march to the north-
west. The company consisted of one hundred and seventeen
young men. They remained in service one year, and highly dis-
tinguished themselves at the, battle of Fort Meigs on the 5th of
May, 1813.
In March, 1813, the central committee appointed by the
" Friends of Peace, Commerce, and no Foreign Alliance,"
nominated General Blackburn for Congress, and he accepted,
but William McCoy was elected as before and afterwards. The
committee consisted of Dr. Boys, Alexander Nelson, Moses Mc-
Cue, and Samuel Clarke.
Colonel Robert Doak, who had commanded the Ninety-third
regiment of militia for some years, and had recently been active in
raising troops, expecting to go with them to the field, resigned his
commission in March, 1813, the brigade commander having desig-
nated a junior colonel (Koontz) to command the force detached
for service. No doubt the fact that Colonel Koontz was a
younger man, led to his appointment by General Porterfield,
instead of Colonel Doak. But the veteran of the Revolutionary
war was unconscious of approaching age and infirmity, and, pant-
ing for renown on new fields, felt offended at the act of the general.
An issue of the Republican Farmer in April, 18 13, announced
that Captain Samuel Steele's company of riflemen had been
ordered to Richmond immediately. This was the first company
called from the county.
And here we are constrained to take leave of editor Collett,
for while he continued to publish his paper for some ten years,
we have not been able to find a single copy of later date than
230 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the above. During the subsequent years, the series of essays
written mainly by Dr. Speece, and republished afterwards in a
volume called The Mountaineer, appeared in the columns of the
Farmer.
Some time after the war began, barracks were established on
the place now known as McAleer's, two miles east of Staunton,
on the Waynesborough road. For many years this place was
called the " Old Barracks," and it is still so called by some of
our older people. Here the various companies raised in the
county, and perhaps others, rendezvoused, and were drilled when
called into service, and before being ordered off.
We have no account of the departure of any of the companies,
and only such limited information as the muster and pay-rolls
afford.
The first company called into service from the county was
Captain Samuel Steele's infantry or riflemen, from the Ninety-
third militia regiment. The subordinate officers were : Lieu-
tenant, John Humphrey ; Ensign, Jacob Bumgardner ; Ser-
geants, James Boyd, William King, Edward Mulhollen and
Jacob Hatton. Including corporals, the rank and file consisted
of fifty-six men. Among the privates, the only familiar name is
that of Jacob Vanlear.
The company was in the service of the United States at Camp
Holly, under the command first of Major William Armistead,
and afterwards of Colonel John H. Cocke, from March 28th to
August 21st, 1813. Camp Holly was ten miles below Richmond,
on the north of the Chickahominy, between that river and the
Seven Pines.
The next call upon the county took four companies — Captains
Baldwin, Baskin and Stuart, and Lieutenant Todd. These com-
panies were in service from July 6 to September 28, 18 13. Bas-
kin's and Todd's companies were, however, broken up August
16, and most of the men enrolled in other companies. The pay-
rolls state that they were at the "Flying Camp," commanded
by Colonel James McDowell (of Rockbridge). The name " Fly-
ing Camp," which looks like a misnomer, implies that the com-
mand was on the wing ; and we know only that it hovered some-
where in lower Virginia. Many years afterwards, when some
allusion was made in a public debate to General Baldwin's mili-
tary services, he replied that his company had made assaults on
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 231
oyster beds, but no enemy, from which it appears they were on
tide-water. The officers of these companies were :
i. Captain, Briscoe G. Baldwin (afterwards General, and
finally Judge Baldwin); Lieutenant, Joseph Houston; Ensign,
Mustoe Chambers; and Sergeants, Alexander Douglas, Henry
H. Crump, Edward Fulton and Thomas Harris. Among the
privates, were John Guy, George Imboden, Henry McCadden,
Joseph Peck, Bailey Shumate, James Mills and John Young.
The number of men, including corporals, was seventy-one.
They were enrolled at home in the Thirty-second and Ninety-
third militia regiments.
2. Captain, John C. Baskin ; Lieutenant, William Brown;
and Sergeants, Ralph A. Loftus, John Yorkshire and James
Black. The number of men, including corporals and drummer,
was twenty, and they belonged at home to the Thirty-second
regiment of militia.
3. Captain, Archibald Stuart (afterwards Major Stuart) ;
Lieutenant, William Brown (transferred from Baskin's company);
Ensigns, John Steele and Frederick Golladay ; and Sergeants,
William Brooks, James Russell, John Yorkshire (transferred
from Baskin's company), William Ashford and John Shannon.
The men were drawn from the Ninety-third regiment, and the
number of rank and file was seventy-one, including corporals.
4. Lieutenant, James Todd ; and Sergeants, William Lacoste,
William H. Younger and Daniel McCutcheson. Including cor-
porals, the rank and file numbered seventy two, and they were
from the Ninety-third regiment. Why so large a company did
not have a full complement of officers is not explained. A note
on the company pay-roll says : " Most of these names appear
on other pay-rolls of the ' Flying Camp.' "
Other companies at the " Flying Camp," and under command
of Colonel McDowell, were as follows : From Frederick, two
companies; Botetourt, four; Shenandoah, one; Rockbridge, four;
Rockingham, four; Cumberland, one, and Bath, one.
The Staunton Artillery was the next company from the county
called into service. The officers of this company were :
Captain, John C. Sowers ; Lieutenants, William Young and
Benjamin Brady; and Sergeants, Robert W. Carr, Thomas
Sperry, James Coalter, John Temple and Alexander Shields ;
Musicians, Samuel Cupps, David Hiller, William Miller and
232 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Henry Snyder. Including corporals and musicians, the company
consisted of fifty -four rank and file. Among the privates were
Adam Bickle, James Bickle, John L. Cowardin, Peter Kurtz,
Abraham Laywell, John Merritt, John A. North, Joseph Points,
Eli Parrant, Alexander Paris, Daniel Trayer, Joseph Trout and
Anthony Weiford. They were in service, at or about Norfolk,
from January 4th to April 13, 1814, being attached to a bat-
talion of United States artillery. The men belonged to the
Thirty-second regiment of militia.
Next four companies were called out from the county at the
same time, viz : Link's, Givens's and Lange's infantry, and Dold's
cavalry. We give such particulars as we have been able to
obtain :
1. Captain, John Link ; Lieutenants, Jacob Burger and David
Ross ; Ensign,, Peter Hughes ; Sergeants, John Bush, Joseph
Butler, William Johnson, Michael Coiner, Christopher Balsley
and William Trotter. The number of men, including corporals,
was seventy-six, and among them were Dalhouses, Fishers,
McCunes, Patterson and Turk. They served from August 29th
to December 28, 18 14, as a part of the " Second Corps D' Elite,
commanded by Colonel Moses Green, at Camp Charles City
Courthouse."
2. Captain, Alexander R. Givens ; Lieutenants, Samuel
Crawford and Jonathan Eagle ; Ensigns, Philip Coyner and
Jacob Coyner ; Sergeants (at different times), L. G. Bell, David
E. Orr, Charles Dickerson, Alexander L. Saunders, John Greg-
ory, James Coursey, David Miller and Abraham Eversole. The
number of privates on the roll is one hundred and sixteen ; but
many of the men obtained substitutes, and the names of prin-
cipals and substitutes being, kept on the roll, the list was swelled
accordingly. Several deserters from the company are reported,
but no one now known in the county. Among the privates
were Charles Batis, Hatch Clark, Samuel Cline (who never joined
the company and obtained a substitute), Conrad Doom, Henry
Imboden, Franklin McCue, John McCue, James Patterson, Lyt-
telton Waddell and Ephraim Woodward.
The company served under Lieutenant Colonel James Mc-
Dowell, from August 30, to 30, 1814. The scruple of the
Treasury Department at Washington, from which we obtained
the muster-roll, or of a clerk who copied the roll, prevents our
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 233
stating at what date the company was discharged, or where it
was stationed. We are quite sure, however, that the time of
service was from August 30 to November 30, as Lange's com-
pany, which went in with Givens's, was discharged at the latter
date. Both companies were no doubt discharged in Maryland,
as Lange's was. It will be observed that the commander of the
regiment or battalion to which the company was attached is here
styled Lieutenant Colonel McDowell, while in 1813 he was styled
Colonel.
It is related that when the company was organized, Captain
George C. Robertson (afterwards well known as Colonel Robert-
son, of the Thirty-second regiment) was designated to command
it. But Captain Givens (afterwards Colonel) having returned
home after a temporary absence, claimed his right to command as
senior captain, and accordingly went with the men to the field.
Colonel Givens, as many persons still living remember, was
very soldier-like in his appearance and bearing. But while noted
for his kindliness to the poor, he had a masterful spirit, and was
not likely to fill a subordinate position anywhere with comfort to
himself or those above him in office. Tradition says he was
under arrest all the time in camp upon the charge of insubordi-
nation, and therefore the muster-roll has it: "company of infan-
try," &c, " commanded by Lieutenant Samuel Crawford."
3. Captain, Abraham Lange ; Lieutenants, Jacob Bear and
Thomas Ruddle; Ensigns, James Gardner and John A. Douglass;
Sergeants, Samuel Patton and Gilbert Ray. The number of
privates on the roll is one hundred and twenty-four, including
principals and substitutes. Among the privates were, James
Guthrie, David Gilkeson, William C. McCamey, John McDowell,
Andrew Thompson, Thomas Thompson, William Thompson,
John Thompson, John Tate, John Christian, George Wilson, and
Thomas Young. The company served as a part of the Fifth
Virginia regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James
McDowell, from September 1 to November 30, 18 14; and was
mustered out "at Camp Cross-roads, near Ellicot's Mills,"
Maryland, by Major John Alexander, of Rockbridge.
4. Captain, Jesse Dold (cavalry); Lieutenants, Matthew Link,
Robert Brown and Jacob Clingenpeel ; Sword-master, J. F.
Whitcomb ; Sergeants, Jacob Beard, Andrew Grove, John Tate ;
and Robert Guy. The company was in service at Norfolk from
234 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
September ist to November 12th, 1814. It numbered ninety-
three men, including all officers, and the men when at home be-
longed to the Ninety-third regiment of militia. William Mc-
Comb, of Barterbrook, who was a member of Captain Dold's
company, died July 21, 1886, aged ninety-two years. He was
the last survivor in Augusta of the soldiers of the war of 181 2.
As far as we can learn, no other company from the county was
in the service of the United States during the war, although other
companies were organized. Chapman Johnson, highly distin-
guished at the bar, went to Richmond at the head of a company
at some period of the war, but not being needed at the time they
were not mustered in. The late John Cochran, of Charlottesville,
then a youth living in Staunton, was a member of Mr. Johnson's
company.
We cannot learn the character and extent of the services of
General Porterfield and his staff during the war. Mr. John Howe
Peyton, the eminent lawyer, was General Porterfield's aid-de-
camp, and his services were recognized by the Government — a
warrant for eighty acres of public land having been issued in
1852, after his death, to his minor children.
Captain Henry McClung, long a citizen of Staunton, but a
resident in Rockbridge during the war, commanded a company
of artillery from that county, which was in service at Norfolk.
None of the Augusta soldiers were called upon to face the
enemy. Therefore we have no account to give of killed and
wounded. But they faced a more insidious danger. In the low-
lands of Virginia many of them fell victims to deadly disease.
We have sought in vain for a letter from some soldier to his
family at home, relating his experience in the army. Nothing of
the kind from an Augusta man can be found. But we are not
without some light on the subject. William Wirt, in command
of an artillery company, was stationed, in September, 1814, at
Warrenigh church, on York river. He was famous as a letter-
writer, as well as in other respects, and many of his letters were
preserved and have been published. In several, written in camp,
he gives descriptions of military life at the time, and from them
we take a few extracts.
Writing, September 9, 1814, Wirt says : "Your most season-
able supply, under convoy of our man Randal, came in last even-
ing. The starving Israelites were not more gladdened by the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 235
arrival of quails and manna than we were by the salutation of
Randal. The fish would have been a superb treat had there
been such an article as a potato in this poverty-stricken land.
And yet the parish, according to the old inscriptions, is called
1 Blissland.' The church was built in 1709."
On September 12, he wrote: "Your kindness and thoughtful-
ness have filled my camp with luxury. I fear we shall have no
opportunity to become memorable for anything but our good
living — for I begin to believe that the enemy will not attempt
Richmond. They are said to have gone up the bay on some
enterprise. If they are hardy enough to make an attempt on
Baltimore, there is no knowing what they may not attempt. We
are training twice a day, which doesn't well agree with our poor
horses. We have a bad camping-ground — on a flat which ex-
tends two miles to the river — the water is not good, and the men
are sickly."
The companies of Captains Givens and Lange were, probably,
at the date of the above letter, on the upper Potomac, or in
Maryland, for the defence of Baltimore.
On the 19th of September, Wirt wrote: "Our volunteers are
becoming disorderly for want of an enemy to cope with. Quar-
rels, arrests, courts-martial, are beginning to abound. I have
had several reprimands to pronounce at the head of my com-
pany, in compliance with the sentence of the courts. To one of
these, James, our man, held the candle — it being dark at the
time — and when I finished and turned around, the black rascal
was in a broad grin of delight. I was near laughing myself at
so unexpected a spectacle. My men are all anxious to return
home — constant applications for furloughs, in which Colonel
Randolph indulges them liberally. At present I have not more
than men enough to man two guns. One of my sergeants de-
serted this morning; another will be put under arrest presently.
So much grumbling about rations — about the want of clothes —
about their wives — their business, debts, sick children, &c, &c."
Again, on September 26. Wirt wrote: "Still at Warrenigh,
and less probability of an enemy than ever. We are doing noth-
ing but drilling, firing national salutes for recent victories, listen-
ing to the everlasting and growing discontents of the men, and
trying their quarrels before courts- martial I have endeavored
to give satisfaction to my company, so far as I could, compatibly
236 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
with discipline. My success, I fear, has been limited. In addi-
tion to their rations, which have been very good and abundant,
I have distributed to the sick, with a liberal hand, the comforts
which your kindness had supplied. The company is well pro-
vided with tents and cooking utensils, yet they murmur inces-
santly. Such are volunteer militia when taken from their homes
and put on camp duty. One source of their inquietude is, that
they thought they were coming down merely for a fight, and
then to return. Being kept on the ground after the expectation
of a battle has vanished, and not knowing how long they are to
remain — looking every day for their discharge — they are endur-
ing the pain of hope deferred, and manifest their disquiet in
every form."
Our last extract is from Wirt's last letter in camp, dated Sep-
tember 28: "The Blues at Montpelier are suffering much from
sickness. Murphy, your brother John" [Gamble] "and his friend
Blair are all down. The other companies are almost unoffi-
cered — the men very sickly. I strongly suspect that if we are
kept much longer hovering over these marshes, our soldiers will
fall like the grass that now covers them. We hope to be ordered
in a few days to Richmond. It is believed on every hand that
the British, with their mutinous and deserting troops, will not at-
tempt a march on Richmond through the many defiles, swamps,
thickets and forests that line the road, where, besides the abun-
dant opportunities for desertion, nature has formed so many
covers for our riflemen and infantry."
"This little piece of history," says Wirt's biographer, "is a
faithful transcript of some of the most characteristic incidents of
militia warfare in nearly all the service of the war of 181 2."
\_Kennedy s Memoir of William Wirt, Vol. I, pages 335-6-7
and 8.]
The privations during the war of 181 2 were similar to those
experienced in the late war. The mothers of our community
were wont to tell how the price of common calico went up to a
dollar a yard, and how at their tea-parties they had no tea and
no cake, because sugar could not be obtained.
Peace was proclaimed by the president of the United States
on the 18th of February, 1815, and was received with universal
joy. People of all parties united in bonfires, illuminations, and
every manifestation of delight. The victory at New Orleans on
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 237
the 8th of January was some compensation for the disasters of
the early period of the war, and gave a feeling of triumph at its
close. Dr. John K. Moore, afterwards for many years a citizen
of the county, was present at that battle, but he then resided in
Tennessee.
For many years there were two relics of the war left at Staun-
ton. Captain Sowers's field pieces — six pounders — remained
here until long after the gun-carriages had rotted away, but the
town boys managed to load and discharge them every Fourth of
July and Christmas day. It was not uncommon to find, just
when the guns were required for action, that the enemy, in the
shape of some mischievous urchin, had driven nails into the
touch holes. The spikes were withdrawn, however, whatever
the labor might be, just as the pieces were shifted from Garber's
Hill to Green Hill, whenever the occasion made a change of po-
sition necessary. At length an extremely particular governor
came into office, and by his order the guns were seized and taken
to the State arsenal at Lexington. Many old Staunton boys
must remember our feelings of bereavement and indignation at
the ruthless act. But there was no help for it. Staunton was left
defenceless, as far as artillery was concerned, and from that day
there has been here hardly any observance of the Fourth of July.
By the year 1815, many of the elements of wealth in the
county had increased very considerably, compared with 1800.
Some of the statistics of that time strike us now as rather curi-
ous. In the year 1802 property in the town of Staunton was
separately assessed for taxation for the first time, but the follow-
ing figures of 1 815 embrace the town as well as the two country
revenue districts. The number of horses was 7,544; cattle,
17,987 ; ice-houses, 10 ; carpets over $20 in value, 19 ; cut-glass
decanters, 102; pianos, 17; Venetian blinds, 23; two-wheeled
riding carriages, 50 ; and four-wheeled riding carriages, 13.
There were five four-wheeled riding carriages in the first revenue
district of the county, and the aristocratic owners of these vehi-
cles were William Black, Sr. , Rev. William Calhoon, Mrs.
Nancy Kinney, James McNutt, and Edward Valentine. In the
next year John McDowell appears as the owner of a " phaeton."
The owners of carriages and chairs (gigs) in the second district,
the same year (1816), were Joseph Bell, Sr., Joseph Bell, Jr.,
Andrew Barry, Charles Dickenson, James A. Frazier, David
238 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Golladay, John Harman, Peter Hanger, John Lawrence, James
Marshall, and Rev. John McCue.
The number of merchants in Staunton in 1815 was thirteen,
and the number of ordinaries, five.
The lawyers at the same time were Briscoe G. Baldwin,
James Crawford, Samuel Clarke, William Clarke, Chapman
Johnson, William Kinney, Jr., John H. Peyton, and Lyttleton
Waddell. The town doctors were William Boys, Thomas
Clarke, Edmund Edrington, William King, George C. Mcin-
tosh, and Addison Waddell. The country doctors who paid
license tax were James Allen and James Wilson.
We anticipate our narrative so far as to give some of the sta-
tistics of 1883, for the sake of comparison with the foregoing.
The following figures embrace the whole county, including Staun-
ton : In the year 1883, the number of horses, mules, etc.,
was 8,688; cattle, 19,359 ; carriages of all descriptions, wagons,
and carts, 4,432, and the value of pianos, organs, etc., as assessed
for taxation, was $41,359. The first cost of the musical instru-
ments was probably $80,000 to $90,000.
For some time after the war the country enjoyed " flush
times." Property of all kinds was readily salable at high prices,
and every interest seemed to prosper. Political animosities were
allayed. It was the " era of good feeling," when, it was said,
"all were Federalists and all Republicans." A fall in prices and
depression in trade came in due time.
In 1816 quite an imposing convention met in Staunton. The
object was to devise measures for obtaining a State convention
to amend the Constitution. Every county was entitled to two
delegates, but only thirty-five were represented in the Staunton
convention. It was called, doubtless, in the manner of the po-
litical conventions of the present day, but appeared to regard
itself as clothed with higher authority than such bodies now
assume. Among the members were William F. Gordon, of Al-
bemarle ; General Porterfield and Chapman Johnson, of Au-
gusta; General Blackburn, of Bath; James Breckenridge and
Allen Taylor, of Botetourt; James Marshall, of Brooke ; Wil-
liam H. Fitzhugh, of Fairfax ; Henry St. G. Tucker, of Fred-
erick; James Pindall, of Harrison; William C. Rives, of Nelson;
George Tucker, of Pittsylvania, &c, &c.
General Breckenridge was elected president and Erasmus
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 239
Stribling secretary, John Clarke was appointed door-keeper, and
Henry Cease and Michael Forbes assistants.
The convention met Monday, August 19th, and sat from day
to day for a week, not adjourning finally till Saturday, the 24th.
Its proceedings were conducted with all the formalities of a legally
constituted assembly. The contingent expenses were defrayed
by the people of Staunton.
The particular matter complained of at that time was the basis
of representation in the Legislature. A memorial was adopted
by a vote of 61 to 7 in favor of a State convention to amend the
Constitution. The memorial stated that the country west of the
Blue Ridge, containing a white population of 212,036, had only
four senators, while the district on tide-water, containing a white
population of only 162,717, had thirteen senators.
A protest against the action of the convention, presented by
Mr. Johnson and signed by six of the minority, was ordered to
be spread upon the journal. The minority objected to the action
of the convention only because it proposed to open the way for
a general revision of the Constitution, while they wished an
amendment only in respect to the basis of representation. Gen •
eral Blackburn was one of the minority, but did not sign the pro-
test. The contest between "white basis" and "mixed basis"
(counting negroes as well as whites) was not settled till 1850.
From 1816 to i824~'5, nothing of interest occurred in the his-
tory of the county. Farmers delved, lawyers and doctors pur-
sued their professions, mechanics toiled, and the ministers of
religion were faithful to their calling.
In the year 1818, the Rev. John McCue, who had filled a large
space in the county, was thrown from his horse and killed one
Sabbath morning, while on his way to Tinkling Spring church.
Dr. Ruffner, in his History of Washington College, alluding
to Mr. McCue, says: " He was a good man. When he chose —
which was not often — he could tell comic stories in a manner irre-
sistibly ludicrous." 49
49 Mr. McCue's sons were James A., John, and Franklin, long promi-
nent citizens of Augusta; Dr. William McCue, of Lexington, and Cyrus,
a lawyer, who died young. His daughters were Mrs. Mathews, Mrs.
Porterfield, Mrs. Barry, Mrs. McDowell and Mrs. Miller. Major Moses
McCue was a brother of the minister, and father of Moses H. McCue,
the first sheriff under the Constitution of 1850.
240 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
In or about the same year (1818) the Presbyterians of Staunton
erected their first church building. The Methodists had long
before had a church of their own. The Episcopalians, about
181 1, re-occupied the old parish church, but had no regular rector
till 1820, when the Rev. Dr. Stephens located here. For some
fourteen or fifteen years the parish church was occupied by Epis-
copalians and Presbyterians on alternate Sundays.
During the time alluded to above, and for long afterward, the
Presbyterian congregations of the county were served by a num-
ber of able and venerable ministers, such as are seldom found in
close proximity. We can do little more than name some of them.
The Rev. William Calhoon came to the county in 1805, and
till 1823 was pastor of the united congregations of Staunton and
Hebron. Afterward, for many years, he was pastor of Hebron
alone.
The Rev. Conrad Speece, D. D., a native of Campbell county,
was pastor of Augusta church from 18 13 to 1836. He cultivated
general literature and wrote on a variety of subjects. He was
eminent as a preacher, a public-spirited citizen, and no mean
poet. The hymn beginning, " Blest Jesus, when thy cross I
view," found in most church collections, was written by him.50
The Rev. John Hendren, D. D., pastor of Mossy Creek and
Union churches, was born in Ireland, but reared and educated in
Lexington. He conducted a classical school at his residence in
this county for many years, of wide-spread reputation, at which
many prominent men were educated.
50 The first school Conrad Speece attended when a boy was the New
London Academy. At first he could not understand the Latin gram-
mar, complaining to his teacher (Mr. Edward Graham) that he could
never learn "that thing." Soon, however, he showed great aptness at
acquiring knowledge. From New London he went to Lexington, and
graduated there in 1796. After acting as tutor at Lexington for a year
and a half, he studied theology, and was licensed as a preacher by Han-
over Presbytery. In the course of time Princeton College conferred upon
him the degree of D. D. He chewed tobacco excessively, even sleeping
with a quid in his mouth. His figure was tall, heavy and ungraceful,
and his clothes, always much too large for his burly frame, hung loosely
on him. His voice was loud, deep and unmusical. He was very socia-
ble, and full of droll humor and curious phrases. While a most able
and interesting speaker, he did not excel as a prose writer. He never
married.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 241
The Rev. Francis McFarland, D. D., pastor of Bethel church,
was also a native of Ireland, reared and educated in Western
Pennsylvania.
The Rev. James C. Wilson, D. D., pastor of Tinkling Spring
and Waynesborough, was a native of Rockbridge county.
All the ministers named were buried in the fields of their labor.
Other denominations had ministers who were men of mark and
influence, but none of them remained here long enough to be-
come identified with the county.
The Rev. John A. Van Lear, a native of the county, was for
some years pastor of Mossy Creek church, and a cotemporary
of several of the ministers just named.
In 1823 Kenton Harper, a young printer from Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania, bought the establishment of Isaac Collett, and
converted the Republican Farmer into the Staunto?i Spectator^
which he continued to publish until 1849. Some time before the
arrival of Harper, Thomas J. Michie settled here to practice law,
and in the course of time became widely known.
On March 8, 1824, the Legislature passed an act chartering
the "Staunton and James River Turnpike Company," with a
capital of $200,000, for the construction of a turnpike from Staun-
ton to Scottsville, in Albemarle. The company was formed, and
the road was made in due time. This was the first graded road
in the county, and was doubtless a valuable improvement. Pre-
viously, Augusta farmers wagoned their produce to Richmond,
the trip requiring at least two weeks. Now Scottsville became
the market town, and for a large part of every year the road lead-
ing to it was lined with Augusta wagons. The trip was short-
ened, and time was therefore saved; but the labor was hardly
less than before. The road, especially in Albemarle, was often
impassable, being cut into deep ruts by the wagons after every
rain; and sometimes being through its whole extent a "Slough
of Despond." The broken parts of wagons scattered along
the route were like the debris of a battlefield. Over this road,
or not at all, the Augusta farmer transported his flour, etc.,
to market. In order to concentrate the product, and aid trans-
portation, much grain was sent to market in the shape of whis-
key. The " Temperance Reformation " had not then arisen, and
there was a distillery on nearly every large farm in the county.
The wagons used for transporting produce to market have
16
242 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
almost gone out of fashion, at least in this section of country, and
a brief description of them is appropriate here. The " running
gear" was very strong and heavy. The body was shaped some-
what like a boat, higher at the bow and stern than "mid-ship,"
and was spanned by hickory bows for supporting the covering
of coarse canvas. An "end-gate" at the stern could betaken
off for loading and unloading. The feed-trough was swung at
the stern, and when in use was supported on the tongue by a
simple arrangement. Every wagon was drawn by not less than
four horses, and often six were employed, the horses being
arranged two abreast. There was hardly any limit to the capa-
city of the wagon- body, and the loading was regulated by the
strength of the horses and the condition of the roads. With
good roads four horses were required to draw " forty hundred"
pounds, including forage for the trip, and six horses "sixty hun-
dred" pounds. The usual load for four horses was about sixteen
barrels of flour (three thousand four hundred and twenty-four
pounds). A train of these wagons, from five to twenty in aline,
creeping along a public road, the white canvas covers conspicu-
ous at a distance, was always an interesting spectacle. The
teamsters made themselves as jolly as possible around their camp-
fires at night, and on the road many of them betrayed much
pride in their horses and equipments. The sight of one of the
Kellers of Augusta, driving his team through the streets of Rich-
mond, as most of our farmers did, suggested to St. Leger Carter,
a member of the Legislature, his lines called " The Mountain
Wagoner." The first stanza is as follows :
I've often thought if I were asked
Whose lot I envied most,
Which one I thought mostly lightly tasked
Of man's unnumbered host;
I'd say I'd be a mountain boy,
And drive a noble team — Wo hoy !
Wo hoy ! I'd cry, and lightly fly
Into my saddle seat;
My rein I'd slack, my whip I'd crack,
What music is so sweet?
But the life of the wagoner was not without its temptations, as
well as hardships. The undue use of liquor often caused trouble.
Dr. Speece was accustomed to say that some men who were
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 243
staid- church -members at home, left their religion on the Blue
Ridge when they went east with their produce.
In the year 1825, January 22d, the Legislature passed an act
establishing the Western Lunatic Asylum. Five commissioners
were appointed to select the site, General B. G. Baldwin being
one of them, and after considering other places, the asylum was
finally located at Staunton. The act provided for only four
acres of land, and restricted the expenditure for land and build-
ings to $10,000. A further appropriation was made in 1827. As
stated heretofore, the first physician was Dr. William Boys; but
during his term of service the appropriations were small, and the
asylum was kept on a very moderate scale. Afterward the Legis-
lature became more liberal, and during the incumbency of Dr.
F. T. Stribling51 as superintendent, the institution was greatly
enlarged and improved.
One improvement generally leads to another ; and the Scotts-
ville turnpike having been made, the people thought it desirable
to extend the road westward. Accordingly, in 1827, an act of
the Legislature was procured authorizing a company to raise
$50,000 by lottery to construct a road from Staunton " to the
State road between the waters of the James and Kanawha rivers.''
L. L. Stevenson and James Points were the agents of the com-
pany for conducting the lottery. Such schemes are now wisely
prohibited by law, but the country had not then waked up to the
evils attending them. Some years earlier a lottery was an-
nounced in Staunton, to be superintended by two Presbyterian
elders, who, before they died, considered the lottery a deadly
sin. The road was made only from Staunton to Buffalo Gap,
and those ten miles afterward became a part of the Staunton and
Parkersburg turnpike.
On October 5, 1829, a convention of delegates to revise the
State Constitution, assembled in Richmond. The delegates were
elected by districts, and those from the district including Au-
gusta were Chapman Johnson, Briscoe G. Baldwin, Samuel McD.
Moore and William McCoy. Mr. Johnson had then removed to
Richmond, but during his life he was identified with Augusta
51 Dr. Francis T. Stribling was born in Staunton, January 20, 1810. As
Superintendent of the Western Lunatic Asylum for many years, he
became widely known and highly distinguished. He died July 23, 1874.
244 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
county. The convention adjourned January 15, 1830, and the
new Constitution was afterward ratified by the vote of the people.
The right of suffrage was extended to housekeepers and heads
of families who had duly paid their taxes, but the number of
voters was not thereby greatly increased.
The Constitution of 1 829-' 30, made another change in the
judiciary system of the State. The district courts of chancery
were abolished, and law and chancery jurisdiction were vested in
the same judge. The first session of the " Circuit Superior Court
of law and chancery for Augusta county" was held May 20,
1831, Judge Lucas P. Thompson, of Amherst county, presiding.
John H. Peyton was appointed prosecuting attorney (which office
he had previously held), and Nicholas C. Kinney clerk. Samuel
Clarke and Thomas J. Michie were appointed commissioners in
chancery. Judge Thompson removed to Staunton some ten
years after his elevation to the bench, and spent the remainder of
his life here.
The Harrisonburg and Warm Springs Turnpike Company
was chartered by the Legislature January 29, 1830. This road
passes through the northwest part of Augusta, and the charter
provided that it should pass through Jennings's Gap and by
Miller's iron works. By some means, however, Jennings's Gap
was left out of the line of improvement.
The subjects which chiefly interested the people of Augusta in
1 831, were the proposed Valley railroad and the abolition of
slavery.
The agitation in regard to the railroad was kept up for several
years, and, in 1836, was vigorously renewed, but the scheme
came to naught.
The people of the county seem to have been ripe, in i83i-'32,
for the gradual abolition of slavery John McCue, one of the
delegates from Augusta, presented a memorial to the Legislature
in December, 1831, signed by two hundred and fifteen ladies,
praying for emancipation. Similar petitions, numerously signed,
were gotten up in the county. In presenting the memorial of
the ladies, Mr. McCue delivered a vigorous speech in opposition
to slavery. The contrary sentiment prevailed in the State; but
at the next election, April court-day, 1832, John McCue was
returned to the Legislature from Augusta. His colleague was
Thomas Jefferson Stuart.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 245
The institution of slavery never had a strong hold upon the
people of Augusta. The Scotch-Irish race had no love for it,
and the German people were generally averse to it. Most
farmers cultivated their own lands with the assistance of their
sons. In 1840, out of a total population of 19,628, the number
of slaves in the county was 4,135. In i860, the last census year
before emancipation, the number of negroes, slave and free, was
6,202, while the total population was 27,749. The institution, as
it existed in the county, was as mild and beneficent as possible.
The slaves seemed contented and happy. Many privileges were
granted to them here which were denied to those of the same
class elsewhere. Every farmer who owned slaves had a head-
man, who was next to his master in authority on the plantation.
He wagoned the produce to market, sold it, and received the
money, acting generally as confidential agent. The holidays
and pastimes of the slaves were numerous and hilarious. A
corn-shucking at night was an occasion to be enjoyed by partici-
pants and spectators alike. Scores of hands attended from far
and near, and a large crop of corn was usually shucked in a few
hours. The work was enlivened by songs, and at the close
there was a bountiful supper.
Early in 1832 politics were very lively in Augusta. The fol-
lowers of Henry Clay took steps to bring him forward as a can-
didate for the presidency. Among the active Clay men in the
county were Judge Stuart and his sons, General Porterfield,
Samuel Clarke, General Baldwin, the Kinneys, Waddells, Bells,
Eskridges, Crawfords, McCues, Guys, Pattersons, Cochrans,
Sowers, Michie, Harnsberger, and others. The supporters of
General Jackson, though less numerous, were equally active.
Among them were some who afterwards became Whigs, such as
Mr. Peyton, W. W. Donaghe, Colonel Robertson, and Captain
Sterrett. But some of those who proved life-long adherents to
the Democratic party were then on hand in behalf of Old Hick-
ory. A few of them were Michael Garber, John Randolph,
William A. Abney, L. L. Stevenson, Lewis Harman, James
Points, the Baylors and the Heiskells. Dr. Speece was a Jackson
man, as far as he meddled in politics, and some of the other
party sought to weaken his influence by attributing his partiality
to the fact that Jackson was a Presbyterian. The Jackson men
held a meeting February 8, 1832, and passed resolutions de-
246 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
nouncing Clay and Calhoun for voting in the Senate to reject the
nomination of Van Buren as minister to England " as a most
disgraceful attempt to overthrow a patriotic rival."
General Jackson's route from the Hermitage to Washington
was through Augusta, but he is said to have avoided Staunton
because of the popular opposition to him here.
Colonel Robert Doak, a soldier of the Revolution, long a
delegate in the Legislature from Augusta, a justice of the peace
and high sheriff of the county, and elder in Bethel church, died
March 12, 1832.
A political convention met in Staunton July 15, 1832, which
was regarded as very imposing and influential. It was largely
attended, by young men especially, from every part of the State.
Charles James Faulkner, of Berkeley county, presided. The
members called themselves "National Republicans." Resolu-
tions offered by Lyttelton Waddell, of Augusta, recommending
Mr. Clay for the presidency, were adopted.
Samuel Miller, of Augusta, was on the electoral ticket nomi-
nated by the convention. Smith Thompson was door-keeper of
the convention, with George D. Lancaster, David Brown, Wil-
liam Carroll and Jacob Carroll as assistants.
General Jackson, then president, lodged at Waynesborough
Friday night, July 27th, on his way to Tennessee. As usual, he
avoided Staunton. His custom was to arrange his trips so as to
spend a Sunday at Lexington. He always attended church, and
was particular to sit in the pew of James McDowell, afterwards
the governor.
Mr. Clay, on his way to Kentucky, arrived in Staunton Sun-
day evening, July 29th, and, remaining till noon on Monday, was
called upon by many citizens. At the presidential election in
November he was defeated, General Jackson being elected a
second time.
The venerable Judge Stuart died in 1832. When quite a
young man, he was elected Professor of Mathematics in William
and Mary College, but declined the position. He was one
of three commissioners appointed by the Legislature to run
the dividing line between Virginia and Kentucky. From 1808
to 1828, inclusive, on six occasions, he acted as presidential elec-
tor. As a judge, he maintained much of the ancient etiquette in
the court-room. At the beginning of his judicial service, it was
ANNALS OF. AUGUSTA COUNTY. 247
customary for the high sheriff, carrying a drawn sword, to escort
the judges from their lodgings to the courthouse at the opening of
each term. Judge Stuart never entirely laid aside the dress worn
by gentlemen in the early days of the Republic. His hair was
usually combed back from his forehead, and ended in a queue,
and till a short time before his death he wore breeches that
buckled at the knee, and fair-top boots- His children were four
sons — Thomas Jefferson, Archibald P., Gerard B., and Alexander
H. H. Stuart.
Samuel Blackburn was born about the year 1758, and, it is pre-
sumed, somewhere in the bounds of Augusta county; possibly, how-
ever, in the lower Valley. His parents probably removed to the
Holston region, near the Tennessee line, at an early day. He was
educated at Lexington, and in 1785, some years after he left Liberty
Hall, the degree of A. B. was conferred upon him by that institu-
tion, along with Moses Hoge, John McCue, William Wilson and
others. He served more or less as a soldier in the Revolutionary
war, and was at the battle of Guilford Courthouse. At the close
of the war he became the principal teacher of an academy in Wash-
ington, Georgia. While thus employed, he prepared himself for the
practice of the law. In August, 1785, he married the oldest daugh-
ter of Governor Mathews. During Governor Mathews's second
term, in 1795, General Blackburn was a member of the Georgia
Legislature. He voted against the famous "Yazoo Act," but was
accused of otherwise promoting its passage, and was therefore bit-
terly assailed in the. popular clamor which arose. It is not believed
that there was any just ground for the assault upon his integrity; but he
quitted Georgia in disgust, and removed to Staunton. While residing
here, he lived in the house on the west side of New street, north of
Frederick, and opposite the Augusta Female Seminary. Some years
afterwards he removed to a farm in Bath county, called the Wilderness.
He was several times a candidate for Congress in the Augusta and Bath
district, but never elected. He, however, repeatedly represented Bath
in the Virginia Legislature. He was the author of the anti-duelling law
of the State, said to be the first law of the kind passed in the country.
General Blackburn was one of the most successful orators and crimi-
nal lawyers of his time in Virginia. Governor Gilmer says of him:
"His fine voice, expressive features, noble person, perfect self posses-
sion, keen wit and forcible language, directed by a well-cultivated and
powerful intellect, made him one of the most eloquent men of his time.
He was a Federalist in politics. His strong abusive denunciations of
the Republicans, when he was a member of the Virginia Legislature,
made him long remembered by the parties of the State."
248 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Many anecdotes in regard to him are still current. The late William
H. Terrill, of Bath, related that when he settled in that county Judge
Stuart was on the bench of the Superior Court, and General Blackburn
was at the bar. The judge presided with much more formality and
ceremony than are observed at the present day. Term after term, the
grand jury, after being instructed by the court, retired, but speedily
returned with the report that they had no presentments to make.
This became almost a matter of course, and a part of the performance
consisted in General Blackburn, with a most devout manner and voice,
exclaiming aloud: >( Thank God, we live in so well-ordered a commu-
nity ! " One night, however, the judge was kept awake by the card-
playing members of the bar assembled in an adjoining chamber, and
when the jury came in the next day with their usual report, he admin-
istered to them a stern rebuke for their failure to present the gamblers.
The general's thanksgiving was, of course, a sarcasm upon the jury.
Judge Stuart and General Blackburn were antipodes in politics.
Both were men of strong convictions and ardent feelings, and very
likely some degree of mutual dislike grew up between them. But not
long before Judge Stuart's death, General Blackburn paid him a visit,
and was cordially received They were both visibly affected by the in-
terview, and the general, in his emotion, forgot his hat and went out
bareheaded.
Governor Gilmer states that on one occasion he met General Black-
burn at Rockingham court, and heard him defend with great power a
criminal eighty years old, who had, when in the county poor-house,
killed another inmate of about the same age in a fight about a cucum-
ber, the only witness being a man ninety years old. He says i " The
trial of such a criminal for such an offence, proved by such a witness,
and advocated by such a lawyer, made a strong impression upon my
memory."
General Blackburn, by his will, liberated his slaves, about forty in
number, on condition that- they would emigrate to Liberia, and they
were taken to that country at the expense of his estate. He also left
five hundred dollars to the Staunton Bible Society. He said in his will :
" I die, as I trust, a Christian, believing as I must in the doctrine of the
atonement by the death, the suffering and mediation of the Lord
Jesus Christ, as delivered to us in the gospel by his evangelists and
apostles, into whose hands I wish with humble confidence to commit
my soul and body with all their vast concerns till it shall please Him to
reanimate them in a new and I trust highly improved mode of exist-
ence." He goes on to declare himself a Presbyterian, but to express
the utmost charity for all professed Christians. He died March 2, 1835,
his mind and physical powers having been impaired for some years pre-
viously. His widow survived him about five years, and died in Staun-
ton. He had no posterity, and an adopted son, George M. Barry, died
before attaining manhood. His nephew, Samuel Blackburn, Jr., lived
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 249
with him for many years. Another nephew was the eminent preacher,
Gideon Blackburn, D. D., of Tennessee, who was greatly admired by
his uncle. General Blackburn's handwriting was so illegible that his
correspondents sometimes repaired to him with his letters to learn their
contents, and he could not always read them himself. He obtained his
title from service in the militia.
Every town has amongst its population one or more odd people, who
are well known by all the other inhabitants, and, like gnarled shrub-
bery in a park, though not attractive to look upon singly, often enhance
the general picturesquenessof the place. During the decade from 1830
to 1840, Staunton had several persons of the sort referred to. Law-
rence Tremper, the postmaster, was one of the eccentric men of the
time. He was long a childless widower, and for many years there was
no one with him in his dwelling except his colored servant, a mulatto
named Remus, and the wife of the latter. He was generally surly and un-
accommodating, at least the children who went on errands to the pOst-
office thought so ; and only now and then he relaxed into a smile, or
gave expression to a good-humored remark. Nobody ever thought of
complaining of him to the department. He had been appointed in the
administration of Washington— that gave a sort of sanctity to his right
of possession — and the post-office was conceded to him as his private
property, to do as he pleased with it. Remus was his prominent as-
sistant in the office as well as in all domestic affairs. Strange to say,
Mr. Tremper seemed to feel no pride in the fact that he had been a
Revolutionary soldier. He never took partin Fourth of July celebrations,
and was unknown in street processions, except of the Masonic fra-
ternity.
Another old man, a bachelor, taller and stouter than Mr. Tremper,
was known as James Berry Hill, although his name originally was James
Berryhill. He was born in Rockbridge while it was a part of Augusta,
but spent most of his life in Staunton as the keeper of a retail liquor shop
on Main street, a door or two west of Augusta street. At the north-
west corner of those streets was a deep well with a pump in it, which
supplied many families with water. Mr. Hill constituted himself the
Cerberus of the pump, and many times a day did he order off servants
•and children who tarried at the corner to play or gossip.
Michael Puffenbarger lived on the west side of New street, about mid-
way between Frederick and Main, and had an open well in his back
yard. He was a patron of Hill's shop, or some similar establishment,
and very often was overcome by his potations. On one of these occa-
sions he fell into his well. The news flew through town, and in a short
250 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
time nearly the whole population assembled in the yard. With much
trouble the half-drowned man was brought to the surface, dripping wet
but somewhat sobered. Seeing the crowd of people on his premises
he fell into a rage, and declared that things had come to a pretty pass
when a man could not fall into his own well without stirring up a mob.
Smith Thompson was by birth a Scotchman, and in his vigorous man-
hood a barber by trade. During the Revolution he was a soldier in the
American army, but where he served and for how long we have been
unable to ascertain. Unlike Mr. Tremper, however, he was fond of
"shouldering his crutch," &c, &c. After he became too feeble to
walk in procession, nothing pleased him better than to be drawn about
the town in a carriage on the Fourth of July. Having been reared in
the goodly town of Glasgow, he, of course, knew all the people of the
place, and is said to have claimed a particular acquaintance with Bailie
Nicol Jarvie, of Rob Roy fame.
In our catalogue of notable people we must not omit to mention a
certain female resident of Staunton. An Irishman and his wife, named
McCausland, but called Macaslin, lived here for many years, and con-
ducted a school for small children. After the husband's death his wife
continued the school, and of her only the writer had any personal
knowledge. She lived in an old wooden house on the southeast corner
of New and Courthouse streets, opposite the Washington tavern.
There, for long years, she " ruled her little school," teaching only spel-
ling and reading, if, indeed, she taught anything- The lower apartment
of the house served her for kitchen, parlor, chamber and school- room.
In the loft she kept stored away many articles of old-fashioned jewelry,
and wearing apparel of divers fabrics. Well does the writer remember
toddling after her up the stairway, to be indulged, as a reward of merit,
with the sight of her "gold-and-green " silk gown. Her official baton
was a short stick, having leather thongs tacked to one end, called "cat-
o'-nine-tails." Every urchin stood in wholesome dread of this imple-
ment, but Mrs. Macaslin was not unmerciful in the use of it. She was
lamed for life by the act of one of her pupils, who pitched an axe at her
while she was attempting to chastise him. For at least fifty years she
flourished in Staunton, during which time nearly every boy and girl
reared here passed through her hands. Such teachers as she, have
passed away. We ne'er shall look upon her like again.
Another character, known by everybody, was Pea Johnny, or Johnny
Pea, so called, because he first came to Staunton to sell blackeye-peas.
He was a half-witted white man, who had a home in the country, twenty
miles off, but spent most of his time in Staunton. Now and then he did
a little field-work for small pay, but generally subsisted on charity.
When sober he was inoffensive, and had free access to every kitchen in
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 251
the town. Many cold winter nights he presented himself at the doors
of citizens and begged to be taken in. Often he entered without per-
mission, and ladies were sometimes aroused from sleep at night by his
efforts to rekindle the fire in their chambers. But Johnny was too fond
of a dram, and sometimes became intoxicated. Then the boys teased
him, and he'became dangerous, throwing stones, and defending himself
with the utmost vigor.
The chief tormentor of Johnny Pea was a poor waif, a strapping
young negro woman called Crazy Nance, who, however, was probably a
born idiot. She was claimed by nobody, could not be induced to do any
work, nor to remain at the poor-house, and roamed at large according
to her own fancy, except when confined in jail. Where she was born, or
properly belonged, we have never ascertained. She was generally harm-
less, but sometimes became mischievous, and being very stout, the per-
son she picked a quarrel with was liable to suffer serious injury. Johnny
Pea and she occasionally came in conflict, and engaged in pitched bat-
tles in the public streets. These two unfortunates long ago passed away.
CHAPTER XI.
FROM 1833 TO 1844.
Let us now endeavor to take a view of Staunton, and to some
extent of the county, in 1833, or we may say from 1823 to 1843,
for as far as we can ascertain, the condition of things during- that
period remained substantially unchanged.
Whatever the people of Staunton may think of it at this time, in
1833 tne town was very shabby and unattractive, in respect to its
streets and buildings, public and private. Very few of the side-
walks were paved, and pedestrians floundered in the mire at
almost every step. The sidewalks of some of the streets had
been railed off, to protect people on foot from vehicles and cat-
tle, but most of the rails had fallen off, so that only a remnant
remained, with here and there a post. The town authorities dis-
couraged the planting of trees, and therefore the aspect of the
town was bare and bleak. The courthouse stood in the yard
still used for that purpose. It was an unsightly stone structure,
nearly square, and two stories high. The entrances were on the
north and south sides. The lower story was occupied exclu-
sively as a court room. The ceiling and upper floor were sup-
ported by wooden columns, which were ornamented with iron
clamps, in which the hands of criminals were confined, in order
to be branded as rogues, etc. The upper story of the court-
house was divided into jury rooms.
The County Court clerk' s office was a long one-story brick build-
ing near the southwest corner of the lot, and south of the court-
house. On the north side of the lot adjoining the alley and
Augusta street, was a brick house of two stories, where the
clerks' offices of the Chancery and Circuit Courts were accommo-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 253
dated. This house was entered through a two-storied porch on
its south side, fronting the courthouse.
The county jail occupied the site of the present prison, and was
as plain and unsightly as the courthouse. The town market-
house was a large shed with roof supported by posts, and no
side walls, on the corner of the jail lot next Augusta street. In
the rear of the market-house stood the whipping-post and pil-
lory.
Augusta street terminated a short distance south of the creek.
The top of " Gospel Hill " was the eastern terminus of Beverley
street, and the main Winchester road entered town over that hill,
Coalter street being an extension of the road.
The people of Staunton obtained water for drinking and cook-
ing from a half dozen public wells, and the labor of carrying
water to distant points no doubt retarded the growth of the
town. There were few houses on the hills.
There were three churches. The old parish church had dis-
appeared and a small new Episcopal church had taken its place.
The other churches were the Methodist and Presbyterian, and all
three were without ornamentation.
A new house was seldom built, and an old one quite as seldom
repaired.
The taverns were the Beli, the Eagle, the Wayne and the
Washington. The widow Mitchell kept a country inn half a
mile from town, on the Winchester road.
It will be observed that there were no "hotels" in those days,
at least in this part of the country ; but all houses of public en-
tertainment were called taverns, as at an earlier day they were
styled ordinaries. One prominent piece of tavern furniture has
entirely disappeared. Whatever else was wanting in the equip-
ment of the house, every tavern in town had a large bell
suspended in some convenient place, which was used to summon
guests to their meals. The bells were rung twice before each
meal — first, to notify guests to get ready ; and, secondly, after an
interval of twenty or thirty minutes, to come to the table. Thus,
morning, noon and evening there was a great clatter in the town.
These bells, as well as the courthouse bell, were also rung to
give the alarm when a fire occurred. As early as 1797 Staunton
could boast of possessing a Chinese gong. In that year, Judge
Stuart, not yet having been promoted to the bench, received a
254 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
gong as a present from Mr. Jefferson, at that time vice-president
of the United States ; and for many years afterwards it often
reverberated through the town at dinner time, to summon Judge
Stuart's "hands" from the fields. A town clock was procured
and placed in the tower of the newly-built Lutheran church, in
the year 1851 or '2. Previously, the tavern bells served a gen-
erally useful purpose by indicating to the people the hours three
times a day.
The Wayne tavern is always associated in the writer's mind
with Indians. Before the removal of the southern Indians west
of the Mississippi, Staunton was on the direct route from their
country to Washington, and Cherokees, Chickasaws and Choc-
taws frequently passed through town on their way to visit the
" Great Father."
Another familiar sight in Staunton, in 1833, was the " Knox-
ville teams." At that time the merchants of East Tennessee
transported their goods from Baltimore in wagons, and every
spring and fall many lumbering wains passed through town,
traversing the county, going and coming. The horses were gen-
erally decorated with bells. After the extension of the James
River canal to Lynchburg, Knoxville teams were seen in Staun-
ton no more. The United States mails for southwestern Virginia
and east Tennessee were brought through Staunton in stage
coaches. The mail bags were changed here from one set of
coaches to another, and many of the bags daily thrown off at our
post-office were labelled "Abingdon," where there was a dis-
tributing office. The Staunton boys of that era had an idea that
Abingdon was a place of immense importance.
About the year 1833 there was a great tide of emigration from
eastern Virginia and North. Carolina to Ohio. Forlorn looking
people, with horses and carts to correspond, and a train of flax-
headed children, frequently came along, and when asked where
they were going, never failed to reply: "To the Ohio." But
while the east was thus peopling the west, Ohio, and especially
Kentucky, sent annually to the eastern markets immense droves
of hogs. Every fall, drove after drove came through Staunton,
till it seemed there must be a surfeit of swine's flesh east of the
Blue Ridge. At the same time, little carts drawn by little horses
brought over sweet potatoes from Nelson county and oysters
from Fredericksburg.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 255
Staunton was also a great thoroughfare for travelers going to
and returning from the Virginia springs. During the " springs
season," the town was alive with stage coaches, besides the pri-
vate carriages in which many wealthy people traveled. Some of
the latter and all of the former were drawn by four horses, and
occasionally there was quite a display of liveried servants. The
western line of coaches extended from Staunton to Guyandotte,
on the Ohio river, and afforded the only mode of public convey-
ance for travelers from nearly all parts of Virginia and portions
of other States, to the Mississippi valley. Bawcett (pronounced
Bocket) long the proprietor of the Winchester line, had retired
from business in 1833. He was succeeded in turn by Belden,
Porter, Boyd, Farish, Ficklin, Harman, Trotter and others. But
at last the railroads drove the stage coaches from the field.
The Fourth of July was often celebrated with great zest, espe-
cially when General Porterfield could be induced to come up to
town and take part. At other times the people had to put up
with Smith Thompson, the Scotch barber, one of the few surviv-
ing soldiers of the Revolution in Staunton, who was helped into
a carriage and drawn about the streets. An old negro man
named Tom Evans, who had been a body servant of Major Wil-
lis, of Orange, at Yorktown, dressed up occasionally in a suit
of Continental uniform, which he had carefully preserved, to
the great delight of the small boys. Old Gabriel, too, who was
at Yorktown, as well as at Braddock's defeat, was generally on
hand to tell of his exploits.
The district court of the United States sat in Staunton twice
a year, and brought many strangers to town every May and Oc-
tober. Sometimes there were exciting trials of mail robbers and
forgers of United States coin. The judges remembered by the
writer were, Caldwell, of Wheeling; Pennybacker, of Harrison-
burg; and Brockenbrough, of Lexington. James Points, of
Staunton, was the United States marshal.
The courthouse was generally thronged with people, not only
on the first day of each monthly County Court, but during
nearly the whole of every term of the Circuit Court. The county
levy was laid annually by the County Court at June term, the 4th
Monday in the month, and it was the duty of all the justices to
be present. Generally, from thirty to forty attended. They
overflowed "the bench," and many had to sit in places usually
256 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
occupied by jurors and others. On these occasions the court
presented the appearance of a legislative body, and the proceed-
ings were often enlivened by animated debates. James Bell,
Esq., for many years the senior justice, nearly always presided
at June court
Every now and then a case of general interest arose in the
Circuit Court, such as the Patrick will case, or a criminal trial like
that of Naaman Roberts for forgery ; and the whole population
became enlisted on one side or the other. The speeches of John-
son, ShefTey, Peyton, Baldwin, and other lawyers, were talked
about all over the county and at every fireside.
The meeting-house, the school-house, and the courthouse,
have always been the great educational institutions in Augusta.
A large proportion of the people of Augusta have always been
noted churchgoers. Men, women and children have been in the
habit of flocking to their various country churches in large num-
bers. Many of them went with a devout spirit to worship; others,
we must confess, attended from force of habit ; some, to tell and
hear the news ; and some, to show off their fine clothes or fine
horses. During the period of which we are now speaking, the
roads generally were ungraded and rugged, and there were
comparatively few family carriages in the county. Buggies,
now so common, were almost unknown. People of both sexes
and all ages came to town and went to church on horseback.
Young girls cantered along the highways on spirited steeds, and
their beaux, on even more fiery chargers, escorted them home,
and remained for dinner or supper. Sedate matrons went about
in like manner, on well-broken horses, however, and it was not
uncommon to see one thus mounted carrying an infant in her
arms, and with an older child sitting behind her on the same
horse.
For many years there were only two militia regiments in the
county — the Thirty-second and the Ninety-third. The former
mustered annually at Hanger's, and the latter at the Cross
Keys, a tavern not far from Greenville. A third regiment, the
One-Hundred-and-Sixtieth, was afterward formed, and then the
Thirty-second mustered at New Hope, the Ninety-third at Mid-
dlebrook, and the One-Hundred- and-Sixtieth at Springhill.
The officers of the various regiments met in Staunton during
the month of May, and were drilled for three days preceding the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 257
regimental musters by Major George Eskridge, the brigade in-
spector.
The militia officers did not pay much attention to their cos-
tume. The colonels and majors and some of the captains, wore,
when on parade, coats of ancient pattern, not later certainly than
the war of 1812— dark blue cloth, long swallow tails, and brass
buttons, with epaulets. When, therefore, the Staunton Light
Infantry appeared in the field, every private in uniform and carry-
ing a musket, an admiring crowd followed the company wherever
it marched. After a time some variety was demanded by the
popular taste, and Captain Hemphill's rifle company was there-
upon organized. The privates of this company wore hunting
shirts and carried the regular old-fashioned rifles. Captain
Robert S. Brooke's rifle company arose and flourished for some
years, long after Hemphill's was disbanded. Every militia com-
pany was required to muster twice a year, and also to attend the
regimental musters. The late John B. Watts was for some time
captain of the Staunton militia, and a few persons still survive to
tell how gallantly he handled his men, and with what skill he put
them through "the boa-constrictor movement."
The volunteer companies mustered on one Saturday in every
month. They also paraded on the 4th of July, the 22d of Feb-
ruary, and on other occasions when their services were required.
At one time, by invitation of a military company in Lexington,
the Staunton Light Infantry marched to that town and the Natu-
ral Bridge on a visit. A year or two afterwards the Lexington
company returned the visit, and went, accompanied by the Staun-
ton troops, to Weyer's Cave. On their return to Staunton, all
the way-worn veterans were feasted by the ladies at a supper in
the courthouse yard.
Henry Snyder, a painter by trade, was the chief drummer in
the county for many years. When a boy he was one of Captain
Sowers's musicians in the war of 1812. His assistant was Wil-
liam Suthards, a gunsmith, and the principal fifer was George
Orebaugh, a farmer of the Long Glade neighborhood.
In the course of time there was a great improvement in the
costume of the militia officers of the county. J. Marshall McCue,
a very young man and full of military ardor, was appointed ad-
jutant of the Thirty-second regiment, before the One-Hundred-
and-Sixtieth was formed, and came out in a complete uniform of
17
258 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the modern style, including a cocked hat and plume and red
sash. The example was contagious, and in a short time all the
officers of high rank were similarly costumed. Still, most of the
captains and lieutenants wore their every-day clothing on parade,
which caused them to appear less warlike and decidedly less at-
tractive to the little boys.
The town of Staunton was, of course, a good deal enlivened
by the celebrations, stage coaches, courts, musters, etc., which
we have mentioned During the dreary winter months of 183 1-3,
it was kept awake by General Baldwin's law classes. This school
was attended by some sprightly youths, who sometimes gave
employment to the solitary police officer of the town. Dr. Wad-
dell instructed the classes in medical jurisprudence. In his ad-
vertisement of the second session, beginning December 1, 1832,
General Baldwin said: "The department of Medical Jurispru-
dence will again be conducted by Dr. A. Waddell, a gentleman
of eminence in his profession, whose instructive and entertaining
lectures were received with entire approbation by his class at the
last session."
Although Staunton was apparently so unprosperous about the
year 1833, many branches of industry were prosecuted here then,
which have greatly declined, or are entirely unknown at the
present day. The labor and cost of transportation, required the
manufacture at home of many articles now obtained from the
great factories abroad. It was so, no doubt, in most inland
towns. But in 1833 Samson Eagon and Henry Stofer, in Staun-
ton, and James B. Trimble, at his place, called " Bustleburg,"
supplied the countryside with wagons ; David Gilkeson manu-
factured cabinet furniture and sold it widely ; Jacob and Peter
Kurtz were the great manufacturers of chairs, spinning-wheels,
etc. ; Staunton supported three hatters' shops ; Pitman made
earthen crocks and other articles of that kind; and Williams had
a rope- walk in Newtown, where he spun all sorts of cordage.
Armistead Mosby, John Kennedy and Absalom Brooks supplied,
not only the home demand, but a portion of eastern Virginia,
with saddlery, leather and tinware, making frequent trips to the
south of James river, in wagons, to sell or barter the products of
their shops. Tailoring was also an important industry in Staun-
ton before the introduction of ready-made clothing, and several
establishments employed many journeymen and apprentices.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 259
Some branches of household manufactures flourished in the
county. Big and little spinning-wheels — the former for wool and
the latter for flax — were found in almost every country dwelling.
Nearly every farm had its loom-house or loom-room. All the
clothing for servants, and the common every-day wear of most
of the white people, was manufactured at home. The wool was
generally prepared at carding machines, but spun and dyed and
woven at home, and the cloth was sent to a fulling mill to re-
ceive the last finishing stroke. The cutting out and sewing were
done at the family hearth. Stout, heavy jeans was made for the
men, and a lighter article of linsey for the women. Both had
cotton warps. The knitting of socks and stockings of yarn and
cotton was universal. Every female practiced the art. For sum-
mer wear by females, striped cotton cloth was woven. All-wool
blankets and flannels were made in large quantities, and of supe-
rior quality. Much flax was raised in the county, and the little
spinning-wheel produced the thread for sewing and weaving
linen. Stout "tow-linen" was woven for negro men's shirts,
and quantities of toweling and sheeting were also manufactured.
Many a thrifty housewife still takes pride in exhibiting the
blankets, sheets and towels which her mother or grandmother
made and transmitted to her.
Some account of the fashionable costumes of the people, and
also of the current money, in i830-'33 and thereabouts, may
interest a portion of our readers, although neither costume nor
currency was peculiar to Augusta county.
In regard to costume, the cocked hats, short breeches, and
knee and shoe buckles, formerly worn by gentlemen, had disap-
peared. A few aged men continued to wear long hair gathered
in a queue at the back of their heads, and tied with black rib-
bons. But most men and youths wore their hair cropped. Their
heads were covered with tall black hats, at first of genuine fur,
and quite costly, and afterwards of cheaper silk. Coarse wool
hats were extensively worn by laboring people. The faces of the
men were clean shaven, except those of members of the Dunk-
ard church. Now and then a young man, who aspired " to look
like a bandit," braved public sentiment by turning out his mus-
tache, but he was viewed askant by staid people, and hardly
tolerated in society. The necks of middle-aged and old men
were enveloped in white cravats. Others wore black silk cravats,
260 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
or tall and stiff " stocks." Shirt bosoms were often adorned
with ruffles. Dress coats were always of dark blue broadcloth,
with high collars, swallow tails, and brass buttons. Frock coats
were never worn except as surtouts. Vests, or " waistcoats," as
they were generally called, were made of black velvet or satin.
Pantaloons were of any kind of cloth the wearer had a fancy for,
but always of a lighter shade than the coat, and in summer time
generally of nankeen. Men who rode horseback, as nearly
all did, more or less, wore leggings in winter time, or when the
roads were muddy; and as they often walked about the streets
thus equipped, city people visiting here sometimes enquired why
so many men had their legs in bandages !
The bonnets of the ladies were large and towering, of what-
ever material made, and the lace collars were ample in size. The
dresses, or "frocks," probably contained less materials than those
now worn, and less work and trimming were expended upon
them. The dresses were low-necked, and capes or collars were
always worn, at least on the street and at church. No lady
appeared in public except in prunella or morocco slippers and
silk stockings. Upon one feature of female costume much
thought and attention were bestowed, and that was the sleeves.
These were what was called "mutton-legged," small at the
wrist, but swelling largely to the shoulder, the larger the better.
To make them stand out fully and exhibit all their proportions —
a foot and a half to two feet in diameter — they were, in cold
weather, stuffed with feathers. In summer time stiff milinet took
the place of feathers. Bustles and hooped -skirts, which came in
afterwards, never attracted as much attention as the mutton-
legged sleeves. This fashion went out in Paris and New York
long before the fact was known in Staunton. Finally, however,
a lady from abroad, wearing closely fitting sleeves, appeared in
our streets. She was stared at as a curiosity, and really looked
very odd; but, nevertheless, the big sleeves speedily disappeared.
Until the decimal silver currency of the United States was
issued, the small change current here, as elsewhere in the
country, consisted of Spanish or Mexican dollars and other
smaller pieces. By the year 1833, the pound, Virginia currency,
had fallen into disuse, but lesser sums of money continued to
be stated in shillings and pence. We had no five and ten cent
pieces, nor quarters, so called, but a Spanish coin called " four-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 261
pence ha' penny," another called "nine pence," and a third
called "eighteen pence," or " one-and-six," that is, one shilling
and six pence. Merchants marked their goods, and people
counted money in dollars, shillings and pence. The nomencla-
tures and values were as follows: four pence, &c, 6% cents;
nine pence, 12^ cents; a shilling, 16^3 cents; eighteen pence,
25 cents; two-and-three-pence, 373^ cents; three shillings, 50
cents; three-and-nine pence, 623/2 cents; four-and-six-pence, 75
cents; five-and-three-pence, 873/2 cents; six shillings, $1; seven-
and-six-pence, $1.25; nine shillings, $1.50; fifteen shillings, $2.5o.52
Cord wood was then unknown in Staunton, and the universal
price of a four-horse wagon load of long wood was nine shillings.
Nobody said a dollar and a half, as now-a-days, but nine shill-
ings ; and a quarter, or twenty-five cents piece, was always called
eighteen pence. "Fifteen shilling lawyers," were those whose
fees rarely exceeded $2.50.
Many things now deemed essential to comfortable living were
unknown in 1830 — cooking stoves, lucifer matches, gum over-
shoes, and a hundred others. Reapers and mowers, movable
threshing machines, grain drills, buggy rakes, gleaners, sewing
machines, breech-loading guns, revolvers, and percussion caps
had not been invented. Every gun had a flint lock, and mer-
chants kept flints for sale along with powder and shot. The
52 In note 9, on page 29, we have alluded to the currency of Virginia
as differing from that of Great Britain. Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes on
Virginia, Query XXI, says : " How it has happened that in this as well
as other American States the nominal value of coin was made to differ
from what it was in the country we had left, and to differ among our-
selves, too, I am not able to say with certainty." He says, however, the
first symptom of the depreciation of Virginia paper-money" was that
of silver dollars selling at six shillings, which had before been worth
but five shillings and ninepence." The trouble about the currency arose
as early as 1631. In 1645 the House of Burgesses established " the
Spanish piece of eight " ($1) at six shillings, as the standard of their
currency. In 1680 they sent an address to the King, in consequence of
which, by proclamation, in 1683, he fixed the value of " pieces of eight "
at six shillings. Other regulations were made in 1710, 1714, 1727 and 1762.
Thus the Spanish dollar, the standard of Virginia currency, being
made to consist of six shillings; each shilling, the one-sixth of a dollar,
being 16% cents; and twenty shillings, here as in England, making one
pound, the Virginia pound got to be $3.33^.
262 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
barns on some large farms, prior to 1840, had stationary ma-
chines for threshing, but most of the grain was beaten out with
flails, or trodden out by horses. The only fertilizer imported
was plaster of pan's, which was used extensively by farmers.
About 1835, a silversmith named Paine, living at Waynes-
borough, manufactured small brass rifled-pistols, which were
thought to be very superior to any other weapon of the kind.
" Paine' s pistols" were highly valued and much sought after.
Among the prominent citizens of Staunton, during the period
of which we are speaking, was Dr. Alexis Martin. Dr. Martin
was a native of France, and spoke very broken English. He
claimed to have been a surgeon in the French army during the
reign of Napoleon. In person, he was somewhat under the me-
dium stature, rather stout, and of a florid complexion. He lived
in a queer old frame house, which stood on the lot opposite the
Augusta street African Methodist church premises. There he
built an extensive bath house and cottages for the patients who
for some years flocked to him. Miss Myra Clark, afterwards
Mrs. General Gaines, was one of his patients. His chief reme-
dies were " vapor sulphur baths " and a liquid called " Le Roy."
He seldom appeared in public on foot, but often hurried through
the streets on his black horse, " Cuffee," a natural pacer, so that
the children of the town regarded him as a sort of centaur.
Opinions differed materially as to Dr. Martin's merits. Many
intelligent people considered him an eminent physician, while
others thought him a mere pretender. The native physicians
unanimously entertained the latter opinion. Dr. Martin's judg-
ment of his three town rivals is said to have been, that the first
was a physician, the second a gentleman, the third neither phy-
sician nor gentleman. He spent the latter days of his life at the
Blue Sulphur Springs.
In 1835 the old courthouse of Augusta, and other buildings in
the yard, were taken down, and the present courthouse and
clerk's offices were erected. The present jail was not built till
some years afterward.
In the same year occurred a famous contest for a seat in Con-
gress, between Samuel McD. Moore, of Rockbridge, and Rob-
ert Craig, of Roanoke. The polls were kept open in Augusta
for three days, and the county gave Moore a large majority, but
Craig was elected.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 263
Earl)' in 1836 the commissioners appointed by act of assem-
bly to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of the "Staun-
ton and Potomac Railroad Company," met in Staunton and
appointed agents throughout the county. Much interest was
kept up in regard to the scheme until late in the year, when it
was superseded by the excitement of the presidential election.
At August court, Mr. Alexander H. H. Stuart addressed the
people on the subject, and at that time fifty-eight persons had
subscribed $65,000.
James Brownlee, about one hundred and six years of age, died
in the neighborhood of Tinkling Spring, March 18, 1836. He
was a native of Scotland, born in 1730, and came to this county
early in the Revolutionary war.
In 1836 war was raging between the United States and the
Creek Indians ; and by act of Congress the President was au-
thorized to accept the services of ten thousand volunteers. An
attempt was made to raise a company in Augusta. A meeting
was held at Greenville, June 11, to promote the object, which was
called to order by James Bumgardner. Captain Robert Lynch
presided, and Captain Harper and Doctor Austin made speeches.
But a sufficient number of volunteers could not be obtained.
A State Convention of the opponents of Martin Van Buren
was held in Staunton on the 4th of July. Colonel James Craw-
ford, of Augusta, was president of the body, which nominated
General Harrison for president of the United States and John
Tyler for vice-president.
The Fourth of July this year was celebrated, as the Staunton
Spectator expressed it, " with more than usual pomp, festivity,
and glee." The citizens assembled at the Presbyterian church,
where " the Declaration of Independence was read by Chesley
Kinney, Esq., prefaced by some beautiful and appropriate re-
fnarks, and an oration pronounced by William Frazier, Esq.,
which has elicited universal commendation for its classic style
and elegance." In the afternoon, a procession formed on Main
street and proceeded to a spring near town where a dinner was
provided. The dinner was spread on tables under a long arbor
constructed for the purpose, in what was then known as "Bushy
Field," northeast of town, near, if not on, the road now leading
from the old Winchester road to the macadamized turnpike.
Mr. Peyton presided at the dinner, assisted by General Baldwin,
264 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
David W. Patteson, William Kinney, and Colonel George C.
Robertson. The members of the Harrison Convention, the
Staunton Light Infantry, and "the orators of the day" were
invited guests. Many toasts were offered and drank. At night
there was a ball at the Wayne tavern.
One incident of the celebration was not mentioned by the
Spectator in its voluminous and glowing account of the proceed-
ings. At that time Fannin's massacre in Texas had recently
occurred, and it was feared that John S. Brooks, a native of
Staunton, was one of the victims. He had gone to Texas a year
or two before, and was in the Texan army. Being well known
and highly esteemed here, much solicitude was felt in the com-
munity in regard to his fate.
Another native of Staunton had also been absent for many
months, but where he was few if any persons knew. This was
Elijah Calvert, a tailor by trade, commonly called " Lige." We*
mention his name with no unkindly feeling. On the contrary,
we cherish for him a sort of gratitude for the amusement he
afforded for many years to everybody in town. He was an in-
corrigible wag, full of practical jokes, good-natured, and willing
to be laughed at if other people found enjoyment thereby. He
had been a member of the Staunton Light Infantry, and was
therefore a soldier. His appearance and bearing were eminently
military. Anticipating the celebration of the Fourth in Staun-
ton, he arranged it so as to return from his tramp and make his
advent here on that day. Accordingly, just at the close of the din-
ner in Bushy Field, he presented himself to the admiring throng.
He wore a slouched hat, not common in this region at that
time, but associated with our ideas of wild frontier life, and that
had evidently gone through the wars. He had on also a military
coat, which might have been the uniform of a major-general.
This latter, as well as the hat, was worn with the most delightful
negligence, as if the wearer were accustomed to it, but rather
tired of the costume. His countenance was extremely solemn,
and his manner in the highest degree dignified. His face plainly
said : " I have recently passed through too many scenes of car-
nage to indulge in the least hilarity." He said little, but left
much to be inferred. Immediately the information spread
through the crowd that Lige Calvert had just returned from
Texas, where, of course, he was the hero of a hundred desperate
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 265
battles. He was plied with questions about John Brooks, but
evaded them as far as he could. The captain and men of the
Light Infantry gathered around him, eager to do honor to their
former comrade, and planning how he should be introduced to
the crowd. Lige, however, could not stand much ceremony — at
any rate, he knew better than any one else how to do the thing ;
so, breaking away from the self-constituted committee of ar-
rangements, he went forward on his own responsibility. Starting
at one end of the arbor, he proceeded to the other, waving his
hat over his head and saluting the crowd with inimitable grace
and dignity. The finest gentleman present, however trained in
courts and camps, could not have exhibited himself half so well.
During his progress from the head to the foot of the arbor, the
war-worn veteran was greeted with shouts of applause. In a
few days — before the next Spectator was issued — it leaked out
that the hero had been quietly working at his trade in various
towns, and had not been near Texas.
The Spectator of August it, published a full and authentic
account of Fannin's massacre. John Brooks, who was aid to
Colonel Fannin, with the rank of Captain, being unable to walk,
was taken out by the Mexicans in a blanket and shot in cold
blood.
Three or four years afterwards, the Fourth of July was cele-
brated in a different manner. There was a grand procession of
Sunday-school children and others, and addresses were delivered
in the Methodist church by Messrs. Lyttelton Waddell, Thomas
J. Michie and Chesley Kinney.
In September, 1836, General Harrison was in Staunton, on his
way to visit his early home below Richmond. He was invited
to partake of a public dinner here, but declined. Many of his
political friends dined with him, however, at the Washington
tavern. At the election, the vote of Augusta stood, for Harrison,
801; Van Buren, 302; Hugh L. White, 20. There were only
six voting places in the county — Staunton, Waynesborough,
Middlebrook, Mount Solon, Mount Sidney and the Pastures.
Robert Craig was re elected to Congress in 1837, and at the
same time Alexander H. H. Stuart and William Kinney were
elected to represent Augusta in the House of Delegates. David
W. Patteson represented the county in the State Senate.
In March, 1838, the Valley Turnpike Company was chartered,
266 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
to construct a macadamized road from Staunton to Winchester.
The capital stock was three hundred thousand dollars, of which
the State subscribed three-fifths. The remainder was promptly
subscribed by the people immediately interested, and the work
was vigorously prosecuted. Early in the same year the Staun-
ton and Parkersburg turnpike was located, and the road was
made, in course of time, at State expense. These great im-
provements gave a considerable impetus to Staunton.
During the night of October 4, 1838, an extensive conflagra-
tion occurred in Staunton. The Wayne tavern, then unoccu-
pied, five other houses, three shops and six stables were
consumed. The tavern stable had been rented and supplied
with forage for the horses belonging to the members of the Pres-
byterian Synod of Virginia, then meeting in Staunton, and seven-
teen of these horses perished in the flames.
On November 1, 1838, the hundredth anniversary of the or-
ganization of the county, was celebrated. The Staunton Light
Infantry, Captain Harper, and Captain S. D. Coiner's troop of
cavalry, paraded in town, and salutes were fired morning and
evening from the old field pieces. There was also a dinner at
the Washington tavern, Mr. Peyton presiding.
The subject of supplying the town of Staunton with water, by
means of iron pipes leading from a spring in the country, was
introduced in the town council as early as 1833, but nothing was
accomplished till 1839. The Legislature in that year passed an
act for supplying the Western Lunatic Asylum with water, and
the town united with the asylum in bringing water from Kinney's
Spring. The county contributed one thousand dollars to the
cost. The quantity of water furnished, however, proving inade-
quate to supply both town and asylum, the former, in 1848,
piped the " Buttermilk Spring." Dwellings soon sprang up on
the hills surrounding the town. The contract for the present
extensive city water works was awarded July 27, 1875.
In July, 1839, Cyrus H. McCormick gave the first exhibition
of his reaper in the county on the farm of Joseph Smith. The
machine was advertised to cut one and a-half to two acres an
hour and required two men and two horses to work it. The
price was fifty dollars.
The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind was
opened in Staunton the latter part of 1839 in rented quarters.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 267
The corner-stone of the building, erected by the State, was laid
with much ceremony, July 9, 1840. James McDowell, of Lex-
ington, a member of the board of visitors, delivered an oration,
and there was a dinner at the Eagle tavern.
During the summer and fall of 1840, politics were the absorb-
ing topic throughout the country. The supporters of General
Harrison, the Whig candidate, organized "Tippecanoe Clubs,"
built log cabins, and drank hard cider, to help on the cause.
The people of Augusta were thoroughly aroused, a large ma-
jority of them supporting Harrison, but a "Spartan band" of
the " unterrified Democracy " in the county was equally zealous.
A two days' meeting was held in Staunton, August 24 and 25,
Ex-Governor Barbour, John S. Pendleton, and S. McD. Moore
were the speakers on the Whig side ; and William Smith, after-
wards Governor, Thomas J. Randolph, and John Letcher repre-
sented the Democracy.
Early in October a great mass-meeting was held in Richmond,
on which occasion Daniel Webster delivered several speeches.
The Whigs of Augusta attended the meeting in large numbers.
On September court-day the "Augusta Banner" was displayed
at the courthouse in Staunton. General Baldwin made a speech
and delivered the " Banner" to John Wise, who was with Harri-
son under Wayne at the Maumee, to bear it in the procession at
Richmond. General Porterfield was in town and at the court-
house, and the people escorted him to his lodgings.
The Staunton Spectator of October 1, announced that one
hundred and fifty Augusta farmers had recently crossed Rock-
fish Gap, in their wagons, on their way to the Richmond meet
ing. John Wise was, however, stolen from them at Richmond,
and made to carry the " Maumee battle-flag."
At the election, Augusta county cast 1,206 votes for Harrison,
and 461 for Van Buren.
In the spring of 1841, Alexander H. H. Stuart, of Augusta,
was elected to the United States House of Representatives, over
his competitor, James McDowell, of Rockbridge. The prelimi-
nary canvass was noted for the ability and dignity with which it
was conducted by the candidates. It is a little remarkable that
only two citizens of Augusta — Jacob Swoope and Alexander H.
H. Stuart — have ever sat in Congress, and they only for one
268 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
term each, notwithstanding many eminent men have resided
here from the earliest period in the history of the county.
At the session of the Legislature of 1841-2, General B. G.
Baldwin, of Staunton, was elected by the Legislature a judge of
the Supreme Court of Appeals. Mr. Peyton was at that time
the State Senator from Augusta.
Staunton was from an early day the seat of a high school for
the education of females, under a succession of teachers. In
1 83 1 the widow and daughters of Daniel Sheffey opened a board-
ing school for girls, at their residence, called Kalorama, and
conducted it prosperously for many years. In 1842 the Presby-
terians of the county founded the Augusta Female Seminary.
Soon afterward, the Episcopalians founded the Virginia Female
Institute, and the Methodists the Wesleyan Female Institute.
Lastly, the Staunton Female Seminary was founded under the
auspices of the Lutherans.
General Porterfield died on Monday, February 13, 1843, in
the ninety-first year of his age.
In October, 1843, two attempts at balloon ascensions were
made in Staunton. John Wise, of Pennsylvania, a famous aero-
naut, advertised an ascension on the 3d of October. He began
to inflate his balloon in the Academy lot, around which a high
and close fence had been built, spectators being admitted at so
much a head, children half price. But the wind was very high,
and Mr. Wise, with the concurrence of the crowd, abandoned
his project, promising, however, to renew it at some future day.
The second attempt, on Saturday, the 14th, although by a man
named Cramer, was in fulfillment of the promise, and was open
to the public. Multitudes of people came in from the surround-
ing country, and even from neighboring counties, to witness the
spectacle. It was a beautiful October day, and the sight of the
immense crowd in Stuart's meadow and on the side of the adja-
cent hill, including many females in gay shawls and dresses, was
most picturesque. This time, however, there was not gas enough
to inflate the balloon. Cramer detached the car, or basket, and
sat astride the ropes ; he stripped off his coat, his hat, his shoes,
and nearly all his clothing, but was still too heavy to ascend.
The balloon occasionally leaped up a few yards, but before the
crowd could raise a shout it was down again. Partly floating in
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 269
the air, and partly borne by several men, who every now and then
tried to toss it up, it traversed Stuart's hill, the eager throng fol-
lowing after. Finally everybody became exhausted, and the
people dispersed, well pleased with the sport. A successful ascen-
sion could not have afforded half the entertainment. Previous
to this date paper balloons, inflated with heated air, had frequently
been sent up at night.
Some description of the four great lawyers of Staunton, who are
mentioned in the early part of the preceding chapter as cotemporaries,
will not be out of place here.
Major Sheffey, as he was called, is described by persons who remem-
ber him, as a short, stout man, very near-sighted, having a decided Ger-
man accent in his speech, and a habit of twirling his watch seal while
addressing a court or jury. His extraordinary ability was universally
conceded. He was a native of Frederick, Maryland, and originally a
shoemaker. Settling at Wytheville to pursue his trade, he studied law,
and soon became distinguished at the bar, in the Legislature, and in
Congress. His home at Staunton was at the place called Kalorama.
He died in 1830.
Mr. Johnson was a native of Louisa county, and was educated at
William and Mary College. He was a tall and portly man. His fea-
tures were regular and handsome, and his countenance was benignant.
He always dressed well, and as he rode on horseback to and from his
country seat, Bearwallow, every beholder recognized him as a man of
mark. His speeches in court were long and loud, but always very able.
He died in 1849.
Mr. Peyton was born in Stafford county, and educated at Princeton
College. He, like Mr. Johnson, was tall, large and erect, and dressed
neatly. He also rode on horseback to and from Montgomery Hall, a
mile west of town. His speeches were never very long, and never
wearied the listener. As a prosecuting attorney he was considered un-
rivalled. To many persons he probably appeared haughty; but to those
he approved of, however young or ignorant, he was very genial and
kind. He died in 1847.
General Baldwin— so called till he was elected a judge of the Su-
preme Court of Appeals — was born in Frederick county, and educated
at William and Mary College. His residence at Staunton was at Spring
Farm, less than a mile from his office. He was a large man, of rather
ungraceful figure, and very indifferent about his costume, though not
slovenly. He rarely appeared on horseback, but generally walked to
and from town, carrying his papers in a green bag, and apparently ab-
270 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
sorbed in thinking over some important matter. He was a man of
great benevolence, and in his private circle of friends distinguished for
his affectionate disposition. He was considered an eloquent speaker,
but was more eminent as a writer. His popularity in the county was
unbounded. He died in 1852. He was major-general of militia.
All these distinguished lawyers were adherents of the Episcopal
church.
Dr. Addison Waddell held no conspicuous public office, and his name
seldom appears in our Annals. The writer, however, may say of his
father, what all who knew him admitted to be true, that he was a
learned and wise physician, and a deeply-read metaphysician and
theologian. Born near Gordonsville in 1785, he was educated at
Hampden-Sidney College and in Philadelphia, and lived in Staunton
from 1809 till 1855. Unambitious for himself, he spent his life in en-
deavoring to help the suffering and needy.
<4 More bent to raise the wretched than to rise."
He " walked with God " as did Enoch ; and, on the evening of June
18, 1855, " he was not, for God took him." His brother, Lyttelton Wad-
dell, Esq., died March 11, 1869, and his son, Dr. J. Alexander Waddell,
July 23, 1883.
CHAPTER XII.
FROM 1844 TO i860.
The political canvass of 1844 was conducted in Augusta, as
well as elsewhere, with nearly as much ardor as was displayed in
1840. The Whigs were active in their efforts to secure the elec-
tion of Henry Clay, but failed of success.
A second newspaper was established in Staunton, in 1845, as
the organ of the Democrats of the county. It was first called the
Augusta Democrat, but the name was subsequently changed to
Staunto7i Vindicator.
When the war between the United States and Mexico arose, in
1846, the State of Virginia furnished a regiment of volunteers, to
which Augusta county contributed a company. The commis-
sioned officers of the company were Kenton Harper, Captain,
and Robert H. Kinney, Vincent E. Geiger and William H. Har-
man, Lieutenants. The Virginia regiment was employed on the
northern frontier of Mexico, and, the war having shifted to other
parts of the country, never encountered the enemy in battle.
The Augusta company returned home in August, 1848.
In the meanwhile the subject of internal improvements occu-
pied much attention in, the county. A meeting of the people was
held in October, 1846, and resolutions were adopted in favor of
the extension westward of the Louisa railroad, then completed to
Gordonsville. A convention of delegates from several counties
met in Staunton on the 30th of the same month, and passed reso-
lutions of similar purport. Another more imposing convention
was held in Staunton in October, 1848, which took action in favor
of tunneling the Blue Ridge, and extending the railroad to Cov-
ington. We cannot follow the history of this railroad, afterwards
272 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
called the Virginia Central, and now the Chesapeake and Ohio.
The road was completed to Staunton, and opened for travel in
1854.
On March 9, 1848, an act of the Legislature was passed au-
thorizing the extension of the " Howardsville and Rockfish turn-
pike" from Martin's Mill, in Nelson, to Greenville, in Augusta,
the State to pay two-fifths of the cost, not exceeding fourteen
thousand dollars. The turnpike was subsequently extended from
Howard's Gap to the Staunton and Middlebrook road, about a
mile from the latter place.
The "Junction Valley Turnpike Company" was chartered
March 17, 1849, to make a macadamized road from Buchanan
to Staunton, through Lexington, with a capital of sixty thousand
dollars, of which the State subscribed three-filths. This road
was graded and planked, but not macadamized.
On Monday, February 11, 1850, occurred what was designated
at the time as the " Irish Rebellion." The Irish laborers on the
Central Railroad were " Corkonians," but a party of "Far-
downers " [north of Ireland people] came to work on the section
near Fishersville, and with their wives and children took posses-
sion of a large frame house. The "Corkonians" at the Blue
Ridge tunnel warned them off, and finally, on the nth, marched
through Waynesborough, two hundred and thirty five in number,
and assailed the "Fardowners" in their quarters. They beat
the men, broke into boxes, tore up clothing, burnt down the
house, and then returned to the mountain. The neighboring
country people were afraid to approach near enough to ascertain
the true state of affairs^, and the most exaggerated and alarming
reports were brought to town. We heard that many persons
had been killed, and that human heads were rolling about like
pumpkins. The civil authorities called upon the military for as-
sistance ; the drum was beat, nearly all the young men in town
fell into ranks, and about dark a large company, well armed,
marched off to the scene of disturbance. Every one fully ex-
pected a fight with the rioters. Several mounted men started in
advance of the infantry, and finding on their arrival at the burnt
house that the enemy had retired, crossed over to Fishersville to
meet the main body. When the latter came up, the force pushed
on to Waynesborough. The company arrived there at eleven
o'clock, and after resting awhile, proceeded to the mountain to
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 273
make a night attack. A house in which some of the Irish
lodged, was surrounded, and the inmates surrendered without
resistance. Other suspected Irish were arrested in Waynes-
borough and on the road — in fact, every stranger whose tongue
betrayed him as a native of the Emerald Isle — so that about fifty
prisoners were secured and brought to Staunton. They were
examined by several magistrates during two or three days, but
it was impossible to identify many of them as rioters. Only two
or three were finally convicted and punished. The expedition
and subsequent trials furnished many entertaining and comical
incidents. The prisoners displayed their native wit on all occa-
sions, and seemed to enjoy the sport as fully as others. Finally
the community lost sight of the lawlessness of the occurrence in
the amusement over the affair ; and what at first appeared a
dreadful tragedy, ended in general laughter.
The " Middlebrook and Brownsburg Company" was char-
tered March 17, 1851, to make a turnpike from Staunton to
Lexington, by way of Middlebrook and Brownsburg. The capi-
tal stock was thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, of
which the State subscribed three-fifths. The road was made as
contemplated.
The first bank opened here was established in 1847. It was a
branch of the " Bank of the Valley in Virginia," at Winchester,
and was known as the "Valley Bank, at Staunton." The Cen-
tral Bank of Virginia, an independent institution, was established
here in 1853. The funds of these institutions were unavoidably
converted into Confederate currency and securities during the
war of 1861-65, and the capital of both was found to be worth-
less at the end of the war.
The Mossy Creek Academy, a high school for boys, was estab-
lished in 1850, by Jed. Hotchkiss. A handsome and convenient
building was erected, and the school flourished for a number of
years. Many of its pupils became prominent and useful men. The
war of secession closed this school, as it did most others. During
a part of the war the building was used as a Confederate military
hospital, and was accidentally destroyed by fire. The portions
of the building not consumed were used in the construction of a
public free school-house on or near the site of the academy.
The subject of calling a convention to revise the State Consti-
tution was agitated for several years previous to 1850. In that
18
274 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
year the convention was called; the members from Augusta were
David Fultz and Hugh W. Sheffey, and the new Constitution
was ratified by the people at the polls in 1851. The changes in
our system of government were numerous and radical. Suffrage
was extended to all white male citizens, and judges, justices of the
peace and all county officers were made elective by the people.53
The last session of the County Court of Augusta under the
old system was held July 26, 1852. Lyttelton Waddell was the
last of the high sheriffs, but held the office for only a few months.
George M. Cochran, Sr., would have succeeded him, if there
had been no change in the Constitution. Both these gentlemen
had served as members of the County Court for many years
without compensation. The people, however, retained most of
the former county officers. Judge Thompson was elected judge
of the Circuit Court, Nicholas C. Kinney clerk of that court, and
Jefferson Kinney clerk of the County Court. Moses H. McCue
was elected sheriff, and William H. Harman commonwealth's
attorney.
Under the Constitution of 1850, justices of the peace were
elected for a term of four years, beginning July 1, 1852. The
first County Court was held by the new justices on the fourth
Monday in July of that year. Colonel James Crawford was
elected president of the court. His successor was Nathaniel
Massie, and other presiding justices were, in the order named:
Robert Guy, J. Marshall McCue, and Robert G. Bickle.
Alexander H. H. Stuart, of Staunton, was called to the cabi-
net of President Fillmore in 1850, as Secretary of the Interior.
53 The justices of the peace and members of the County Court at the
time the change was made were Shelton S. Abney, Jacob Baylor, David
S. Bell, James Bell, Samuel H. Bell, James Berry, John B. Breckenridge,
Robert P. Brown, George M. Cochran, James A. Cochran, Samuel D.
Crawford, James Crawford, Benjamin Crawford, Joseph D. Craig, Dr.
Tohn A. Davidson, Tohn_G- Fulton, Theophilus Gamble, David Griffith,
Robert Guy, William GuyJSamuel Harnsberger, Dr. Isaac Hall, William
Harris, Samuel Harris, Kenton Harper, Porterfield A. Heiskell, James
Henry, Elijah Hogshead, David Kerr, Samuel Kennedy, James M.Lilly,
Nathaniel Massie, Edward G. Moorman, Archer M. Moore, John McCue,
J. Marshall McCue, John A. Patterson, William Ramsey, Joseph Smith,
James M. Stout, Gerard B. Stuart, William M. Tate, Dr. A. Waddell,
Lyttelton Waddell, John Wayt, Thomas P. Wilson, William Willson,
Luke Woodward, Lewis Wayland, and William Young.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 275
After the adoption of the Constitution of 1851, Staunton was
usually selected as the place in which to hold State conventions
of the Democratic party, to nominate candidates for governor,
lieutenant-governor and attorney-general. Here Joseph John-
son and Henry A. Wise were successively nominated for the
office of governor, by large and tumultuous assemblies.
We must not omit to mention the great snow storm of Janu-
ary, 1857, which is still often referred to in conversation, and by
the newspapers. Snow began to fall about 7 o'clock Saturday
night, the 17th, and continued without cessation for twenty-four
hours. All day Sunday, the 18th, the mercury stood at zero,
and the wind blew in a. gale from apparently every point of the
compass, driving the snow into houses through every crack,
piling it up many feet deep in some places, and in others sweep-
ing the earth bare. The running of trains on the Virginia Cen-
tral railroad was suspended for ten days, and as there was then
no telegraph line to Staunton, the people of the town and county
were cut off from communication with the outside world. But
never did good-fellowship and all the social virtues prevail so
generally in the community. Two issues of the Staunton news-
papers were brought out during the embargo, and the editors
were put to the trumps for copy. At length after dark Tuesday
evening, the 27th, the town was startled and elated by the unac-
customed sound of an engine whistle, and a large part of the
population rushed to the depot to learn the news. Did Rich-
mond, Washington and New York survive, or had they been
smothered to death by the snow? The train proved to be only
an engine with one car attached, bringing the passengers who
had started from Richmond on the 18th. The regular western
train of that day was arrested by the storm at Louisa Courthouse,
and the passengers were detained there till the 21st. They then
worked their way by some means to Gordonsville, where they
had to remain till the 25th. Starting again, they spent a night in
the railroad car, and reached Staunton, as stated, on the 27th.
They brought no mail nor news except the account of their own
adventures. At 4 o'clock Wednesday, January 28th, the first
train from Richmond arrived with thirty bags of mail for the
Staunton post-office.
The John Brown raid at Harper's Ferry occurred in the fall of
1859. Many military companies were assembled at that place by
276 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
order of Governor Wise, among them the West Augusta Guard
of Staunton, Captain W. S. H. Baylor. This fanatical affair was
like " the letting out of waters," comparatively trifling in itself,
but tending to the desperate strife which arose in less than two
years thereafter.
CHURCHES IN AUGUSTA COUNTY.
A history of religious denominations is an essential part of the an-
nals of a county, and we regret that we cannot give a more detailed and
satisfactory account of the various churches in Augusta Efforts to ob-
tain information, however, have signally failed. There has been a
strange neglect on the part of the officers and members of most con-
gregations to preserve the history of their respective organizations.
The first settlers of the county having been almost unanimously Pres-
byterians, the congregations and meeting-houses of that denomination
ante-date all others by many years. We have given such accounts as
we have of the earliest Presbyterian congregations— Augusta (or Stone
Church), Tinkling Spring, Hebron (or Brown's Meeting-house), Rock
Spring, and Bethel. Mossy Creek church was organized in 1767. All
these congregations have had a succession of worthy, and in some cases
eminent, pastors, besides many heretofore mentioned, including the
Rev. William Brown, Rev. F. M. Bowman and Dr. Handy, of Augusta
church ; and the Rev. Messrs. B. M. Smith, R. L. Dabney, C. S. M. See
and G. B. Strickler, of Tinkling Spring. There was no regular Presby-
terian church organization in Staunton till 1804. At first the Presbyte-
rians living in town were connected with Tinkling Spring. From 1804
to about 1824, or 1825, Staunton and Hebron united in the support of a
pastor. The first church building of the denomination in the town was
erected in 1818. Before the Revolution, Presbyterian ministers preached
occasionally in the courthouse, and after the war, up to the year 1818,
they officiated on alternate Sundays in the old parish church. The Rev.
Joseph Smith was the first pastor of the Staunton church, when it be-
came a separate, or self-sustaining, organization, from 1826 to 1832.
The present house of worship was erected in 1871, the old church being
then turned over to the Augusta Female Seminary.
A second Presbyterian church was organized in Staunton in 1875, and
its church building erected in 1876.
The first Presbyterian church in Waynesborough was erected about
1798, which was superseded by another in 1824. Until 1847, Waynes-
borough was associated with Tinkling Spring in the support of a pastor.
In that year, however, a separate church was organized there, with the
Rev. William T. Richardson as pastor.
Other Presbyterian churches in the county, with the dates of their
organization, are as follows: Union, 1817; Shemeriah, 1832; Mt. Car-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 277
mel, 1835; Mt. Horeb, 1857; and Loch Willow, at Churchville, 1S66.
There are also several chapels in the county connected with various
congregations.
The many " Mounts" in the county are supposed to be an importa-
tion from " the old country." The prefix of Mount to names of places
is common in the north of Ireland.
The Church of England being established by law in the colony till
the Revolution, vestrymen for Augusta paHsh were elected in 1746, and
a rector was appointed during 1747. The erection of the parish church
was not begun, however, till 1760. The building was finished in 1762,
the rector officiating in the meanwhile in the courthouse and private
dwellings. Mr. Balmaine, the curate in 1775, entered the army as chap-
lain at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, and did not return to
Staunton to reside. It is said that a minister named Chambers offici-
ated here for a short time, in 1788, and then removed to Kentucky.
From that time, till about 1811, there was no regular Episcopal service
in the church. In the meanwhile, several prominent gentlemen from
Eastern Virginia had settled in Staunton, and having been reared in the
Episcopal church, they naturally desired to reinstate here the modes of
worship to which they were attached. It is said also that fears were
entertained lest the heirs of William Beverley might successfully claim
the lot if the Episcopal service were permanently discontinued, and
thus alienate not only the church but the common burying-ground of
the town. At that time Mr. William King resided in Staunton. He
was a zealous member of the Methodist church, and a man of exemp-
lary character. Originally a cooper by trade, Dr. Boys gave him some
instruction in surgery, and he then practiced medicine upon a system
peculiar to himself. At the instance of Mr. Peyton, and others, Bishop
Madison, in 1811, licensed Mr. King as deacon, to read the Episcopal
service in the church. He officiated in this manner for some years. In
1815 he paid tax as one of the physicians of the county.
The Rev. Daniel Stephens, D. D., a regularly educated minister, set-
tled in Staunton, in 1820, as rector of the parish and principal of the
Staunton Academy. He remained for a few years only, going to the
west in 1827. The next rector was the Rev. Ebenezer Boyden, who
took charge of the church in 1831. Mr. Boyden was a gentleman of
literary taste and culture, and was the first person in the county to pay
particular attention to the cultivation of the grape-vine. He married
in Staunton the oldest daughter of Major Daniel Sheffey.
The original parish church was taken down in 1831 and a new church
built. The latter gave way to another, which was superseded by the
present structure. There are two Episcopal chapels in the county, one
called Boyden, five miles southeast of Staunton, and the other called
Trinity, two miles west of town.
About the year 1748 the Presbyterians began to hold service in a
meeting-house two miles northwest of Midway, or Steel's tavern.
278 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
They called the place " Providence," probably after a church of the
same name in Pennsylvania, but in the course of time it was designated
"Old Providence," to distinguish it from New Providence in Rock-
bridge. In or about 1765, the population on Walker's creek, Rock-
bridge, having increased, and the membership being chiefly in that
neighborhood, Old Providence was abandoned as a place of worship.
When the schism occurred at New Providence in 1789 or 1790 on ac-
count of psalmody, a portion of the congregation reopened the Old
Providence meeting-house, and it became an Associate Reformed, or
"Seceder" Presbyterian church. They built a stone church in 1793,
which still stands, but is disused, a brick church, built in 1859-60, hav-
ing taken its place. The Rev. Horatio Thompson, D. D., was pastor of
Old Providence for many years.
The first Lutheran church in the county, called Coiner's, or Trinity,
on South river, was built in 1780. Mt. Tabor church in Riverheads dis-
trict, was built in 1785; Mt. Zion, six miles west of Middlebrook, was
organized in 1830; Mt. Hermon, at Newport, in 1850; Bethlehem, near
Fishersville, in J843 ; Mt. Zion, near Waynesborough, about 1845 ;
Staunton Lutheran church, in 1850; Salem, near Mt. Sidney, in 1845;
and the Churchville church, in 1850. Bethany, near Waynesborough,
and Pleasant View, between Staunton and the village of Springhill,
are other Lutheran churches.
A Methodist church was built in Staunton before the close of the last
century, probably in 1797, although the name of " Staunton circuit "
first appears on the minutes of the Methodist Episcopal church in the
year 1806. Mr. Samson Eagon, who lived on the top of the hill, south-
west corner of Main and Coalter streets, was one of the founders of
the church in this community. He was a zealous and good man, uni-
versally respected, and held religious services at times in his wagon-
maker's shop, which stood in the same lot as his dwelling. Hence the
eminence on which he lived was called "Gospel Hill." The present
church building in Staunton is the third which has occupied the same
spot. There is now a Methodist church at nearly every village in the
county, the number of churches and chapels being eighteen, besides
several colored Methodist churches.
The German Reformed church in the county dates back to the last
century. For many years this denomination held jointly with the Luthe-
rans, St. John's church, near Middlebrook, St. Peter's, at Churchville,
and Zion's, near Waynesborough. The Rev. John Brown ministered to
these churches many years, till 1833. From 1835 to 1858 the Rev. J. C.
Hensel officiated at St. John's. New Bethany church, at Newport, was
founded in 1845, and a church was built at Mint Spring in 1882.
The Tunker, or German Baptist church, was organized in the county
about the year 1790. Its places of worship are known as Mt. Vernon,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 279
Barren Ridge, Valley District and Moscow, with branches at several
places.
The United Brethren have fifteen organized churches in the county,
and eleven houses of worship.
The Catholic church in Staunton was built in 1850. A school con-
nected with the church is conducted by Sisters of Charity.
A Baptist church was organized in Staunton in 1853 an<3 the present
house of worship was built in 1855. There are now six Baptist churches
of the same connection in the county— at Waynesborough, Greenville,
&c. — besides two colored churches in Staunton.
VOTE OF AUGUSTA COUNTY IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
1844. For Clay 1,398 For Polk 665
1848. " Taylor 1,341 " Cass 720
1852. " Scott 1,674 ''Pierce 1,388
1856. " Fillmore 1,904 " Buchanan i,499
i860. " Bell, 2,553; f°r Douglas, 1,094; for Breckenridge, 218.
1868. (Southern States not allowed to vote.)
1872. For Greeley i,943 For Grant 1,008
1876. " Tilden 4,137 " Hayes 1,317
^> " Hancock (D.).. 3,377 " Garfield 1,401
l88o'| " " (Read.) 724
1884. " Cleveland 4.103 " Blaine 2,971
For want of a more suitable place, we may mention here three of our
county-men who achieved more or less distinction abroad.
John Hall was born in Augusta in 1769. He removed to North Caro-
lina, and became a judge of the Supreme Court of that State. His
death occurred January 29, 1833. He was an uncle of the late Alexander
S. Hall and Dr. Isaac Hall.
James Haggerty was a poor boy, born in Staunton. Colonel Robert
Gamble found him working in a brickyard, took him into his store, first
in Staunton, and afterwards in Richmond, trained him to business, and
sent him to England. He became a prosperous merchant in Liverpool,
and in 1841, was appointed United States Consul at that port.
Joseph G. Baldwin, a nephew of General Briscoe G. Baldwin, was
reared in Staunton. He went to Alabama to practice law, wrote and
published two popular books — "Flush Times in Alabama" and "Party
Leaders" — and at the time of his death was a judge of the Supreme
Court of California.
CHAPTER XIII.
AUGUSTA COUNTY AND THE WAR OF SECESSION — l86o-2.
It is not expected that we should give here a history of the
recent war, from 1861 to 1865; but a brief account of the state
of affairs in the county during that period will be attempted*
Much has been written and published about the battles of the
war and the life of soldiers in the field ; we propose to relate
succinctly how the people at home fared, what they saw and
heard, what they thought, and how they felt.
Until the war actually arose, the sentiment of the people of
Augusta, with the exception of a few individuals, was earnestly
in favor of maintaining the Union. At the Presidential election,
Breckenridge, who was regarded as the secession candidate
(although most of his supporters denied that he was), received
only 218 votes in the county, while Bell received 2,553, an<^
Douglas, 1,094.
As soon as the result of the election was known, the people of
South Carolina took steps to secede from the Union ; and there-
upon many citizens of Augusta published a call for a county
mass-meeting on Saturday, November 17, to consult as to what
course was necessary " for the preservation of the Union in the
present alarming condition of our country." The meeting was
held in the courthouse on the day named, and was large and
enthusiastic. Alexander H. H. Stuart presided, and John L.
Peyton acted as secretary. It was resolved to appoint a commit-
tee of thirteen to report to a meeting at November court such
resolutions as they might deem proper for the people of Augusta
to adopt. By vote of the meeting, Mr. Stuart was made chair-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 281
man of the committee, and the other members were Hugh W.
Sheffey, George Baylor, John B. Baldwin, John L. Peyton, Ken-
ton Harper, John D. Imboden, George M. Cochran, Jr., Joseph
A. Waddell, John McCue, Benjamin Crawford, Gerard B. Stuart,
and Rnhert C7\]y —
On November court day (the 26th) the courthouse was crowded
with people anxious to participate in the proceedings, and never
were more interest and anxiety exhibited by a popular assembly.
A series of resolutions, written by Hugh W. Sheffey, and with
some modifications adopted by the committee of thirteen, was
reported to the meeting. One of the resolutions declared the
Constitution of the United States to be " the easiest yoke of
government a free people ever bore, and yet the strongest pro-
tector of rights the wisdom of man ever contrived." Another
expressed sympathy with the people of the extreme Southern
States in their aggrieved feeling at the election of Lincoln, but
appealed to them to unite with Virginia " in testing the efficacy
of remedies provided by the Constitution and within the Union."
The last resolution was as follows : " That our senator and dele-
gates be requested, in the discharge of the responsible duties
which will soon devolve upon them, in the spirit of harmony and
conciliation attempted to be expressed in these resolves, to bend
all their energies to keep Virginia to her moorings as ' the Flag
Ship of the Union,' and to induce her, placed as she is between
the North and the extreme South, with moderation, forbearance
and wisdom worthy of her ancient renown, to exert her power
and influence to preserve, on the one hand, the known and equal
rights of her own people as citizens of a common country, and,
on the other, the harmony of the Union and the integrity of the
Constitution."
Every attempt to change the resolutions was voted down, and
they were adopted by an overwhelming majority. A resolution
in favor of a State Convention, to be called by the Legislature,
was also defeated, Union men considering that a step in the
direction of secession. Thus the people of Augusta took their
stand in favor of the Union, and against every measure which it
was feared might tend to its dissolution. But while in favor of
the Union, they were opposed to all measures of coercion by the
Federal Government, regarding an enforced union of States, by
means of military power, as inconsistent with our theory of gov-
282 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
ernment, and not to be desired. They preferred to allow any
State, resolved upon secession, to try the experiment without let
or hindrance. For themselves, they proposed to remain in the
Union. And although seeking peace, they reserved the right to
determine on which side they would fight, if fight they must.
During the months of December and January, the course of
events was watched with intense anxiety. President Buchanan
having appointed Friday, January 4, 1861, as National Fast Day,
on account of the disturbed condition of the country, the occa-
sion was observed in Staunton in a remarkable manner. The
whole people appeared to feel the solemnity of the crisis. All
the stores were closed, and business generally was suspended.
Sermons were preached in the various churches by the respective
pastors at 11 o'clock, A. M., and at 3 a Union prayer-meeting
was held in the Lutheran church, which was crowded to over-
flowing. Vain was the help of man — God was earnestly en-
treated to interpose and save the country from ruin.
Contrary to the wishes of the people of Augusta, the Legisla-
ture passed an act providing for a State Convention. The elec-
tion was held on the 4th of February, and Alexander H. H«
Stuart, John B. Baldwin and George Baylor were chosen, as
Union men, to represent Augusta county.
The Convention met in February, and, being largely composed
of men opposed to secession, if it could be avoided, for two
months labored to prevent disunion, and restore peace to the
distracted country. It seemed to our people that a correspond-
ing spirit was not exhibited by the Federal government and the
North generally. A great revolution was in progress in many of
the Southern States, but the authorities at Washington persisted
in treating it as the ebullition of a mob. President Lincoln hav-
ing been inaugurated, formidable military and naval preparations
were set on foot. Finally, Fort Sumter having surrendered to
the Carolinians, the President issued a proclamation on April 15th
calling for seventy thousand volunteers. Virginia was asked to
furnish her quota of troops, and Staunton was named as one of the
places of rendezvous. The proclamation precipitated the action
of the Convention, and an ordinance of secession, subject to the
vote of the people, was passed April 17, 1861. From that day,
however, a state of war between Virginia and the United States
was recognized as existing. Our people almost unanimously
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 283
took side with the Southern States. Which side — North or
South — was to blame, we shall not discuss here, but the people
of Augusta, and, indeed, of the whole State, have always felt
that they were not responsible for the conflict.
Much military enthusiasm prevailed throughout the State after
the "John Brown raid," and many volunteer companies were or-
ganized in this county. When the war began we had about a
dozen, one artillery, two cavalry, and the remainder infantry.
All the infantry companies were armed, and the artillery had
four pieces of cannon. The West Augusta Guard, of Staunton,
the oldest of the organizations, was completely equipped.
On the 13th of April the commissioned officers of seven of the
organized companies in the county met in Staunton to form a
volunteer regiment, to be designated the Fifth, as provided by
law. The following field officers were elected : William S. H.
Baylor, Colonel ; Absalom Koiner, Lieutenant-Colonel ; Frank-
lin F. Sterrett, First Major, and Rudolph Turk, Second Major.
Other companies in the county were invited to join the regiment.
The organization of the regiment was, however, not completed,
the various companies being ordered to the field a few days
afterwards and a different arrangement consummated.
April 17, 1 861, was a day of intense excitement in Staunton.
People from the country poured into town, and all business and
labor were suspended. An order had been received by telegraph
from Richmond — irregularly issued, it was afterwards ascertained
— requiring the various military companies of the county to pre-
pare to march. Late in the afternoon of the 17th, the West
Augusta Guard, Captain William S. H. Baylor, and the Staun-
ton Artillery, Captain John D. Imboden, went eastward by a
special railroad train, and it soon afterwards appeared that their
destination was Harper's Ferry, by way of the Alexandria and
Manassas Gap railroad.
On the 19th the companies from Springhill, (Captain Doyle),
Greenville, (Captain Newton), and Middlebrook, (Captain Wil-
liams), marched down the Valley. Captain Patrick's troop ol
cavalry, and Captain Koiner' s company of infantry also marched
on the 19th without passing through Staunton. The West View
company, (Captain Roberts), the Mt. Solon company, (Captain
Grinnan), the Mt. Sidney company, (Captain Stuart M. Craw-
ford), commanded by Lieutenant William P. Johnston, the cap-
284 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
tain being sick, and Captain A. W. Harman' s company, organ
ized at Staunton, speedily followed the others down the Valley.
Kenton Harper, Major- General of militia, was ordered by the
Governor to proceed to Harper's Ferry and take command.
He was, however, superseded by Colonel Thomas J. Jackson
before the close of the month.
Eight infantry companies from this county and two more from
the lower valley, were organized at Harper's Ferry as the Fifth
Virginia regiment. This regiment became a part of the " Stone-
wall Brigade," and served during the war, at the close of which
very few of the original members survived. The first field offi-
cers of the regiment were Kenton Harper, Colonel; William H.
Harman, Lieutenant Colonel; and Wm. S. H. Baylor, Major.
Staunton soon became an important military station, and a
great depot for army supplies. M. G. Harman was the first
quartermaster of the post, with the rank of major. He, on going
to the field, was succeeded for a short time by A. W. Harman.
Finally, H. M. Bell was appointed to the office, and held it
during the last two and a half years of the war. The first
commissary of the post was Captain F. H. Henderson, who was
succeeded by Captain E. W. Bayly. Wm. M. Tate, of Augusta,
afterwards commissioned commissary, with the rank of major,
was stationed at Staunton as agent for the purchase of army
subsistence. Extensive hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers
were also organized and maintained here during the war. The
first surgeon in charge was Dr. J. Alexander Waddell, and after-
wards, successively, Dr. Hay and Dr. A. M. Fauntleroy.
During the latter part of April, sixty-nine wagons laded with
guns from the Lexington arsenal, arrived in town. Day after
day troops also arrived and departed. On May 18, seven com-
panies, under command of Colonel John Echols, were tem-
porarily quartered here. The ladies were then busily at work
making soldiers' garments.
The ordinance of secession was voted on by the people May
23, and ten votes against it were cast in the county. The vote
for the ordinance was 3,130. At the same time Hugh W. Shef-
fey, William M. Tate and James Walker were elected to the
House of Delegates. Bolivar Christian represented the county
in the State Senate.
On June 4, news of the encounter with the enemy at Philippa,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 285
Barbour county, was received. The Churchville cavalry, Cap-
tain Sterrett, was there, which increased the anxiety felt in the
community. A considerable body of Virginia troops was soon
collected in the northwestern part of the State, beyond the Alle-
ghany mountain, and most of the supplies were forwarded from
Staunton. For this purpose, in addition to government wagons
and teams, many others belonging to farmers were temporarily
pressed into service.
Captain R. D. Lilly's company, organized at Staunton, and
four other companies from different counties, started to the
northwest on June 7. Regiment after regiment and company
after company arrived and departed in like manner.
The militia of the county were called out on the 28th of June.
On the 15th and 16th of July we had tidings of the disaster in
the northwest, and of the death of General Garnett.
From a diary kept by the writer at Staunton during the war,
we shall now make sundry extracts, as more likely to interest the
reader than any other statement of facts. A contemporary ac-
count, written on the spot, will, perhaps, to some extent, enable
readers to view things as they were seen by the writer. We
quote:
Saturday ', July 20, 1861. — We have had a horrid view of war since
my last. On Thursday evening two wagons full of sick soldiers arrived
from Monterey, Highland county. Before these could be provided for,
others were brought in. The sick men were taken out of the wagons
and placed in the sheriff's office and courthouse, many of them on the
floors. The sight was a sickening one — one man gasping with asthma,
another burning with fever, and another shaking with chills. There are
now at least one hundred and fifty sick soldiers in town. The citizens
are doing what they can for them. * * * The Arkansas regiment
left for the northwest yesterday. Two other regiments left this morn-
ing, and a fourth will go to day. The men of one of the companies
sang as they moved off: "We'll stand the storm," etc. * * * George
M. Cochran, Jr., arrived from Winchester yesterday evening, and says
General Johnston has gone across the Blue Ridge to reinforce Beaure-
gard at Manassas. * * *
Evening. — The sick soldiers have been coming in all day in crowds,
and are lying about in every place, suffering for food, etc. * * *
On the 19th we heard by telegraph of some fighting in Fairfax
county, which was the beginning of the "First Battle of Ma-
nassas."
Monday, July 22. — The telegraph reported yesterday that the fight
286 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
near Manassas Junction had been renewed, and this morning there is
intelligence of a great battle, lasting from 8 A. M. till 6 P. M. The vic-
tory is attributed to our side. The enemy were said to be retreating,
pursued by our cavalry. Total loss (on both sides, it is presumed,) ten
thousand to twelve thousand. Most of the volunteers from this county
were on the field, and we know that at least a part of General Johnston's
command was in the engagement. The utmost desire, not without
apprehension, is felt to obtain full particulars.
At night the telegraph announced that one member of the
Staunton Artillery and two of the Guards (William H. Wood-
ward and Joab Seely) had been killed, and that seven men in
both companies were wounded.
Tuesday, July 23. — The town is overflowing with sick soldiers and
stragglers from the Northwestern army. There are probably three hun-
dred in hospital. No arrangements yet for their comfort at the Institu-
tion.
The State Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind
had been occupied as a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers ;
but some time was required for making suitable arrangements.
Wednesday, July 24. — The streets are full of soldiers, many of whom
are lying against the houses and on store boxes. A free negro woman
took three of them home with her to get something to eat and a place
to lie down. They had arrived from Monterey, broken down and des-
titute.
Thursday, July 25. — A letter was received last night from Lyttelton
Waddell, Jr. [of the Staunton Artillery]. He began the letter Sunday
morning (21st), and in the first part gives an account of the march from
Winchester and the arrival at Manassas. In the midst of a sentence he
breaks off to say that he heard the report of cannon and must go to his
post. At 5 o'clock P. M. he resumed and told about the battle; but at
the close of the letter could not say definitely what was the result. On
a separate piece of paper he states that General Johnston had come
along and announced a victory ! More troops arrived last night, and a
second North Carolina regiment this morning. Others are still here.
Friday, July 26. — The booty captured after the battle near Manassas
is said to be immense. The Federalists seem to have anticipated an
easy march to Richmond, and were provided with all sorts of conve-
niences and luxuries. Many females and children accompanied their
army, and female apparel and even children's toys were found scattered
over the ground.
Monday, July 29. — Two railroad trains arrived yesterday with troops,
Tennesseeans, I believe Part of them went on immediately by way of
Millborough to the Northwestern army. * * General Lee arrived in
the mail train late this evening, and was saluted by a Georgia artillery
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 287
company stationed on the left of the Middlebrook road, half a mile from
town.
Tuesday, July jo. — A Tennessee regiment went off last night. There
are still, however, many soldiers about town. The drum is beating
nearly all the time. The camp fires on Garber's hill Sunday night were
very beautiful. * * No paper has been issued from the Spectator
office for two weeks, Mauzy and all his hands being in the militia. A
long line of cavalry came in just before dinner from towards Winches-
ter. There seemed to be three or four companies. McDonald's Legion
they call themselves. The Georgia artillery company left town late
this afternoon. More troops passed to-day on the railroad — two trains.
I cannot keep count of them.
Wednesday, July si. — * * The militia have been greatly exercised
for more than two weeks past. The number of men remaining to be
furnished by this county, to make up the ten per cent, called for, was, on
yesterday, three hundred and fifty. * * One or two more cavalry
companies belonging to McDonald's Legion came in last evening. The
whole number is said to be seven or eight hundred.
Friday, August 2. — Troops! troops!! They have been pouring in
yesterday and to-day, principally from Southwest Virginia and Tennes-
see. They are rough-looking fellows, very free and easy in their man-
ners, but generally well-behaved. The Rockbridge militia, some eight
hundred strong, arrived day before yesterday. They have arranged to
furnish their quota of volunteers, and the remainder will return home.
The militia of Augusta, outside of Staunton, have also raised their
quota, I believe ; but the two town companies are still wrangling. * *
There must be from one thousand to twelve hundred volunteers at
this place, recently enlisted, besides regiments stopping in transitu.
Wednesday, August 7. — The soldiers passing through town make
themselves very much at home, and sometimes make ludicrous mistakes.
A party of them called at Mr. S.'s the other day and asked for food,
which was given to them. An officer afterwards made his appearance,
called for a room and dinner, and announced that he would be back to
supper, leaving directions as to what he would have prepared. On
taking his departure at night, when pay was refused for his entertain-
ment, he discovered that he was not in a boarding-house, and expressed
great mortification. He saw so many going there to eat he was sure it
was a house of public entertainment.
The Augusta militia was discharged on the 7th of August, the
quota of volunteers called for having been made up. The Fifty-
second Virginia regiment was organized at that time. The field
and staff officers were, John B. Baldwin, Colonel ; M. G. Har-
man, Lieutenant-Colonel ; John D. Ross, Major ; Dr. Livingston
Waddell, Surgeon ; George M. Cochran, Jr., Quartermaster,
and Bolivar Christian, Commissary.
288 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
On August 20 the price of salt had gone up to $10 a sack,
and on the 24th the price of coffee was forty cents a pound.
Thursday, August 22. — It was rumored in town on yesterday that St.
Louis had been burnt, and that our troops in Northwest Virginia had
captured fourteen hundred of the enemy with the loss of General
Loring. Neither report could be traced to any reliable source.
Monday, August 26. — Yesterday afternoon the Rev. Dr. Armistead, of
Cumberland county, preached to the soldiers camped on the Institution
grounds. There was no pulpit, but the preacher stood under the trees
or walked about, while the soldiers and others stood, or sat, or lay at
full length in the grove. * * * The ladies are bent upon nursing at
the hospital. Perhaps they agree with the Spectator (No. 193) " that
there is in military men something graceful in exposing themselves
naked." I hear some ludicrous stories of their performances. Mrs.
was very anxious to " do something," and went fussing round till
she found one of the doctors. He gave her two prescriptions, which
she hastened to administer, but was alarmed afterwards upon discover-
ing that she had given a dose of calomel to a typhoid fever patient. It
is said these ladies rub the fever patients and dose the rheumatics. One
man had his face washed by one lady after another till he was perfectly
clean or very tired of it.
This extract refers to a few good women who were entirely
unfitted for the business of nursing ; many others proved " min-
istering angels " in the hospitals here and elsewhere.
Tuesday, September 3. — About one hundred Federal prisoners arrived
last night from the west by railroad. They were taken in the affair at
Gauley river between our troops under Floyd and the Federalists under
a Colonel Taylor. Most of them are from Ohio.
Friday, September 6. — The regiment lately organized here (Bald-
win's) is preparing to start, but there is some trouble in the ranks.
Moreover, many of the men are absent without leave. * * * The
jailor of this county informs me that the Union men brought from Bev-
erley when our army retreated from that place, and since then confined
in our jail, are in miserable plight — some of them half naked. There
are twenty-one of them. We continue to hear sad accounts of the sick-
ness at Monterey. Eight deaths there yesterday or the day before.
Clothing and other necessaries were soon provided for the
prisoners referred to above.
Saturday, September 7. — * * * Last night sixteen prisoners were
brought down on the western train, most of them Ohio volunteers.
One of them had neither hat, shoes, nor stockings, and his feet looked
white and tender. I sent him a pair of shoes and a pair of stockings,
somewhat worn, but better than none. * * * We had an illustration
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 289
yesterday evening of the difficulty of getting true accounts of military
operations. On the arrival of the western train the baggage master
told A. F. Kinney that Wise's troops had recently killed four hundred
of the enemy, with only a small loss on our side. I did not believe that,
but on my way home I encountered Richardson, who came down on
the train, and he informed me that John H. McCueJust from the region
where Wise is, had come in with him, and told him that Wise had a
fight in which fifty of the enemy were killed, with no loss on our side,
and that the sixteen prisoners brought down were taken in that affair.
I have learned this morning that there is no truth in either story, yet
neither of the persons mentioned would tell a falsehood. The prisoners
were taken by Floyd.
Wednesday, September n. — The Fifty-second regiment left town
about 2 o'clock yesterday. Main street was lined with people for an
hour or two beforehand. One of the soldiers, who was detailed as
wagon-guard, sat on a stone by Morris's corner, and his wife clung to
him to the last. She was greatly distressed, but he appeared unmoved.
Seven of the companies are from this county, viz : Skinner's, Long's,
McCune's, Lambert's, Hottle's, John Lilly's (late Mason's), and Dab-
ney's ; and three from Rockbridge, viz : Miller's, Morrison's, and Wat-
kins's.
Monday, September 16. — We have been agitated for several days past
by rumors from General Lee's command, without being able to obtain
any definite information. The express has not come in since Friday
morning. Saturday night one or more persons arrived with the corpse
of a Georgia soldier, and stated that an attempt made by our force at
Greenbrier river against the enemy on Cheat mountain had failed.
Wednesday, September 18. — Many rumors from the northwest current
for several days past — one, that General Lee had reached Huntersville ;
another, that he had captured fourteen cannon, and afterwards lost six ;
another, that four hundred of his men had been killed ; another, that
the enemy had routed a body of our men at Petersburg, in Hardy
county. None of these are authentic. * * * Twenty-six wagons
were sent out on yesterday, six to-day*.
Friday, September 20. — A train of wagons has just arrived from
Greenbrier river, bringing the remnant of Captain Bruce's company,
Twentieth regiment. Thirty odd men are left of about ninety who
went out a few months ago. The regiment was at Rich Mountain when
the disaster occurred there, and is completely broken up. Many of the
men were captured by the enemy, some disabled by wounds, many died
of disease, and some, I presume, killed. Most of the men left of Bruce's
company go into the hospital.
The Confederate army operating in northwest Virginia de-
pended for subsistence almost entirely upon supplies collected at
Staunton, and transported thence in wagons. Most of the wagons
19
290 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
thus employed were hired, or "pressed," for the purpose, the
owners being paid $4 a day for a four-horse team and driver,
and $2.50 for a two-horse team, &c. The government, however,
owned a large number of horses and wagons, and for these
drivers only were hired. On September 24th, thirty-two wagons
were sent out, and thirty-six on the 25th. Thirty wagons went
out on the 28th, loaded for Monterev and Huntersville.
Friday, October 4. — An express boy, riding in great haste, arrived to-
day at the Quartermaster's office. He brought news that 5,000 of the
enemy attacked our force, 2,500 to 3,000, at Greenbrier river [on the
Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike, in Pocahontas county] yesterday
morning, and were repulsed with heavy loss, after a fight of three or
four hours. The Fifty-second regiment did not get up in time to parti-
cipate in the battle.
On October 17 there were seven hundred and fifty patients in
the Staunton hospital, and notice had been received to prepare
for five hundred more from Greenbrier river.
Thursday, October 24. — The Fifty-eighth Virginia regiment has at
last started west. It has been here for many weeks Most of the com
panies are from Bedford county. The ranks are thin from sickness, &c.
Eighty-one wagons with army supplies were started to Mon-
terey on October 21, and others on the 2d of November.
Thursday, November 7. — Yesterday was election day for president of
the Confederate States, members of Congress, etc. There was no
opposition to Jefferson Davis for the presidency. The refugees from
the Wheeling district, who voted here for congressman, under the
Governor's proclamation, seemed more interested and excited than
any other persons. At the courthouse they gave Russell three votes
and Kidwell two.
November 11. — Salt is now held here at $18 a sack. Baldwin was
elected to Congress in this district. Have not heard the result in the
Wheeling district. John N. Hendren was elected a member of the
State Convention in Baldwin's place.
Thursday , November 1 4. — The North Carolina regiment, Colonel Lee,
which passed through Staunton some months ago, returned to-day on
the way to Manassas. The men generally look rather soiled and badly.
The ranks, however, are not as much reduced as I would have expected.
From the manner in which the men ran over the town to procure bread
I presume they were suffering from hunger. They carried their bread,
cakes, etc., in very dirty hands. They came down by railroad, and
went on after a delay of two or three hours. Other regiments from the
west are expected in a day or two to go to Manassas or Winchester.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 291
During the latter part of November, Staunton was crowded
with soldiers, generally stragglers from the northwestern army.
Many regiments were moving from the mountains, and officers
and men seemed to think it not improper to come on in advance.
The diary remarked on the 28th : " The whole northwestern
army seems demoralized."
Monday night, December 2. — After vibrating on the road near Mc-
Dowell, Highland county — one day ordered forward, and the next
back — the troops lately at Greenbrier river, or a part of them, have
proceeded towards Manassas by way of Harrisonburg. Last Saturday
it was reported that a large body of the enemy was advancing this way
from Cheat Mountain, and another approaching Monterey from Peters-
burg, in Hardy county, while a third force was marching upon Win-
chester. * * We are sending large quantities of supplies to Mon-
terey and other points, for the troops left in that region.
December 11. — Several trains of empty wagons have gone out to
bring away the army stores which have accumulated at various points
in Highland county since last spring. War is a costly business. Five
teams from the lower part of Rockingham cost more than $250, eleven
days' hire, probably more than the lading was worth.
Saturday night, December 14. — The town was startled this morning
by the news of a battle, yesterday, on the Alleghany, an express having
arrived during the night. It is stated that two deserters from our side
informed the enemy of the very small force (under General Edward
Johnson) we now have on the mountain, which induced the Federal
general to collect all the men he could for an assault upon our camp.
The enemy had, it is said, 5,000, while we had 1,200 effective men. The
former were repulsed with a reported loss of eighty killed. Our loss
is given as twenty killed and eighty wounded. The fight lasted several
hours. * * Notwithstanding the Yankees are thus aggressive, the
movements still indicate that all our troops are to be withdrawn from
Pocahontas and Highland. The town was full of wagons to-day — some
having arrived from the west with supplies taken out heretofore with
vast labor and expense; and others going out empty, to bring back
similar loads.
Monday night, December 16. — The streets as full of soldiers to-night
as ever. Guards with fixed bayonets constantly walking about. * *
Teams going and coming all the time, and a constant rush of team-
owners, wagon-masters, teamsters, &c. Old or broken down horses
are coming in from the army in droves nearly every day, and better
ones are sent out as fast as they can be procured. Since dark a crowd
of worn out artillery horses arrived from Huntersville.
The Virginia Hotel stables, in Staunton, were destroyed by
fire on Wednesday morning, December 18, and forty-seven or
292 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
forty-eight horses were burnt up — most of them belonging to
individuals, and the remainder to the government.
By the 25th of December, army supplies were going by wagon
from Staunton to Winchester. Many teams from Buckingham
and Appomattox counties had been pressed into service.
December 26. — Money was never so plentiful. Confederate States
treasury notes, State treasury notes, bank notes of all sorts and sizes,
and " shinplasters " issued by corporations and anybody who chooses.
Gold and silver coin are never seen.
Friday night, January j, 1862. — We had exciting news to-day from
almost every quarter. At 2 o'clock an express arrived from the Alle-
ghany mountain, beyond Monterey, with intelligence that the Federal
ists in large force were at Greenbrier river, and also at, or near,
Huntersville. An attack was anticipated, and reinforcements were
requested. We hear that large reinforcements have been moving up
to-day from Richmond towards Centreville, beyond Manassas, in antici-
pation of an attack from the enemy in that quarter. General T. J.
Jackson has moved with his division from Winchester towards Romney,
and we hear of skirmishing in that region. One or two regiments
passed yesterday evening, by railroad, for the Greenbrier region, from
which our troops were lately withdrawn.
During the months of January and February the diary is full
of the reports about Mason and Slidell, the Burnside expedition,
the Confederate expedition to Romney, the disaster at Roanoke
Island, the fall of Fort Donelson, &c, &c. ; but there is little of
local interest, or pertaining to the annals of the county. News
came on February r6th of a splendid victory at Fort Donelson —
ten thousand men and one hundred cannon captured. This was
contradicted on the 17th, and on the 18th we had tidings of the
fall of Donelson. On the 19th the diary says : " It is impossible
to describe the state of feeling in the community — the depres-
sion and anxiety." Things looked brighter on the 20th, but on
the 22d everything was gloomy again. There was no salt in town
for sale, and persons were going round to borrow a little for
table use. Authentic intelligence from Tennessee was not re-
ceived till the 24th, and then it was said the Confederate loss at
Fort Donelson was from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand
men; but in a day or two the number was reduced to seven
thousand.
Wednesday night, March 5. — For a week or two past we have had
rumors that our army stores were to be removed from Manassas, Cen-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 293
treville, &c, to Gordonsville, where extensive store-houses have been
erected. Many wagons, moreover, have been impressed in Albemarle
and other eastern counties to go to Manassas. This morning forty
four-horse government wagons started from Staunton for the same
place. There was a rumor this morning that Winchester would be
evacuated in a day or two by our troops, but stage-passengers, who
afterwards arrived, contradicted it.
Monday night, March 10. — The Richmond newspapers bring a pro-
clamation of the Governor, calling upon the militia to go at once to
various points named, and report to our generals. The militia of this
county are to report at Winchester. The Confederate authorities have
called for 40,000 men from Virginia, and cannot wait the operation of
the act lately passed by the Legislature.
Thursday, March ij, 1862. — Intelligence came last night that the
enemy have occupied Winchester, General Jackson having withdrawn
his army.
Sunday night, March 16. — Jackson's army, when last heard from,
was at Woodstock. A portion of the rolling stock of the Manassas
Gap railroad arrived yesterday over the turnpike.
The militia of the county having been called out again to re-
inforce General Jackson, they assembled in Staunton, and on
March 17 proceeded down the Valley. The ranks of the com-
panies were very thin, nearly all the able-bodied men of the
county being in the army already. The diary states that " when
Company A, One-Hundred-and-Sixtieth regiment, was ordered
into line, marched out, solitary and alone. He was
afterwards joined by several others."
Wednesday night, March ip. — About 2 o'clock to-day seventy odd
men were brought in, having been captured by our cavalry scouts in
Pendleton or Hardy. Ten or eleven of these are from this county, and
the remainder from Rockingham. They were endeavoring to make
their way in small parties to Ohio, to escape military duty. Some, if
not all of them, are simple-hearted, inoffensive people, belonging to the
Dunkard church, whose tenets forbid going to war. They will be sent
to Richmond to-morrow, and are confined to-night in the courthouse,
every door and window being guarded by a sentinel. * * There is
something pitiful in the case of these people, flying as they were to
escape conscription, and being taken like partridges on the mountains.
The whole crowd had a pocket pistol between them, and no other arms.
Thursday night, March 20.— Early this morning 1 met Sam Baskin,
who had just returned from Jackson's army. He said the enemy had
mustered 70,000 strong at Winchester, but after laying a double-track
railroad to Strasburg, had gone off, leaving only 3,000 men behind.
Soon afterwards I met Sandy Garber, just arrived also. He said the
294 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
enemy had seventeen regiments at Winchester, and that none of them
except pickets had been out of the town in this direction. Such are the
contradictory reports constantly brought to us.
Saturday night, March 22. — * * * While in the country yester-
day I could but observe the quietude of the scene. The cattle in the
barn-yard, the sheep in the field, and all nature seemed perfectly com-
posed. What a contrast to the rage of men ! Coming home, I met a
man and asked him the latest news. " Nothing special," he replied ;
*' not many getting off, but I did." The ruling thought with him was
about the " Board of Exemption " from military duty.
March 23. — One of the Augusta militia, who was discharged and sent
home, gives the following account of things: "The army seemed to be
in a high state of enjoyment, but glad to receive the reinforcements
from this county. The volunteers — the men composing the army —
were dressed in every conceivable style. Some wore slouched hats,
some caps of their own manufacture, and others the old-fashioned
high-crowned beavers. They were, however, uniformly dirty. Many
wagons were employed in bringing the army stores from Mount Jack-
son to New Market. The loads were emptied in great haste and the
teams hurried back for more, as the enemy were approaching. The
people of the country round were flying with what property they could
carry off", some having their chickens tied on the wagons. But the men,
old and young, were coming to the army with their guns. The hurry
and tumult were kept up nearly all night. The next day (21st), the
Augusta militia were marched down near Mount Jackson, meeting our
army coming this way, and quartered on the Meem farm. The cavalry
were between them and the enemy, who had advanced to Woodstock,
and a battle was considered certain. The next morning (22d), our army
was suddenly put in rapid motion toward Woodstock in pursuit of the
retreating enemy."
On March 29, the price of sugar in Staunton was thirty-three
and one-third cents a pound. Salt could not be bought at any
price. Supplies were again going out to our military force on
the Alleghany mountain.
News of the battle of Kernstown, near Winchester, was
received on the 25th, and for several days afterward there were
various conflicting reports from that quarter. The troops com-
posing Jackson's command were all Virginians — that is, Virginia
regiments. They did not exceed 3,500 in number, it was said.
The wounded Confederates were brought to Staunton, including
Colonel John Echols.
About April 1, General Edward Johnson's force at the Alle-
ghany mountain was withdrawn to the Shenandoah mountain.
Under date of April 3, the diary says (the writer having recently
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 295
been in Highland) that the withdrawal of the army tl has caused
a great panic in Highland, Bath, and Pendleton counties. Many
of the people were flying to get away from the Yankees. It was
really painful to witness the anxiety of the women. * * *
Recruits and returned furloughed soldiers are going down (to
Jackson) from here every day in large numbers."
Monday night, April 14. — The town was full of rumors this morn-
ing— one, that 4,000 Yankees, commanded by Fremont, were at Mc-
Dowell, Highland county ; another, that a Yankee army of 20,000 was
crossing the Blue Ridge from Culpeper, to get in the rear of General
Jackson at New Market; a third, that we had captured the whole Fed-
eral army near Corinth, Mississippi.
Tuesday night, April 15. — It is evident that General Jackson is about
to make some important movement. He sent up last night for ambu-
lances, and the sick soldiers are to be removed from Harrisonburg.
The general belief is, that Jackson, if worsted in another battle, or
pressed by overwhelming numbers, will retire to the base of the Blue
Ridge, near Waynesborough. Staunton cannot be defended. Upon
the further advance of the enemy up the Valley, Johnson must leave
the Shenandoah mountain and unite with Jackson. These events may
occur in the next week.
Thursday morning, April 77. — Just a year ago the two volunteer
companies of this place started to Harper's Ferry. The war then
began, as far as we were concerned. What momentous events have
occurred since then! In Virginia, the battles of Bethel, Hainesville,
Manassas, Drainesville, Laurel Hill, Cheat River, Carnifax Ferry,
Greenbrier River, Alleghany Mountain, Kernstown, and innumerable
skirmishes. Out of the State, Springfield, Lexington, Boston Moun-
tain, Fishing Creek, Fort Henry, Donelson, Shiloh, Pittsburg, &c, &c.
At this time there are nearly a million of men in the field, including
both sides. The enemy is coming nearer and nearer to Staunton.
Large portions of the State are devastated.
CHAPTER XIV.
SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR — 1 862-' 3.
On Thursday night, April 17, 1862, the report came that
Jackson was attacked that morning" by thirty-five thousand men
and one hundred cannon, and was in full retreat toward Staun-
ton. At that time there were in Staunton clothing for ten thou-
sand or twelve thousand soldiers, ammunition, cannon and other
arms, besides the ordinary quartermaster and commissary stores.
On the 19th, it being understood that General Jackson had
ordered the evacuation of Staunton, the convalescent patients at
the hospital and a portion of the military stores were sent by
railroad to Charlottesville. The money, etc., of the Staunton
banks, the records of the courts, etc., were also sent to Char-
lottesville. At the same time, General Johnson's command, in
his absence, fell back from the Shenandoah mountain to the vil-
lage of Westview, in Augusta. It turned out, however, that
Jackson had given no orders for these movements, and a degree
of confidence was speedily restored. But by the 24th, some of
the enemy had appeared on North mountain, at Buffalo Gap, and
also at Jennings's Gap. On the 28th the enemy occupied Harri-
sonburg, "and helped themselves to whatever they wanted."
There were conflicting reports as to the movements of Jackson
and Ewell, but it was evident that they had withdrawn from
about Harrisonburg toward the Blue Ridge.
On Saturday, May 3, the news came that Jackson was crossing
the Blue Ridge at Brown's Gap, leaving Ewell at Swift Run
Gap, and the way open for the enemy from Harrisonburg to
Staunton. Sunday, May 4, was a day full of rumors and excite-
ment. Among other reports, it was stated that 10,000 of the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 297
enemy were advancing upon Johnson, at Westview, seven miles
west of Staunton In the afternoon, however, several trains of
railway cars arrived from the east, crowded with soldiers.
Pickets were immediately posted on all the roads leading from
town toward Harrisonburg, and no one was allowed to go in that
direction. General Jackson and his staff arrived, on horseback,
before night, and it was soon found that the army had entered
the Valley again, through Rockfish Gap. Train after train ar-
rived on Monday, and a part of the command came on foot.
Jackson's old brigade (known as "Stonewall") encamped two
miles east of town. In the evening the town was full of country
people, who were permitted to come in, but not to go out. On
Tuesday, the 6th, we had news that the Federal army at Harri-
sonburg, had started down the Valley, in a hurry, the day before;
we also learned that Johnson's command had moved westward,
but where to we did not know.
Wednesday night, May 7.— Jackson's army started to-day, all the
First brigade (except the Fifth regiment), and the artillery, passing
through town, and marching towards Buffalo Gap. We are entirely at
a loss to know the destination of the command; but presume it will
soon turn and move down the Valley. The force which has passed
through since Sunday, numbers at least 10,000; and this is exclusive of
Johnson's brigade, which is from 4,000 to 5,000 strong.
A portion of Ashby's cavalry, about 800, passed through
town in the afternoon, and camped on the Buffalo Gap road.
Thursday night, May 8.— General Johnson surprised the Federal
scouts — some two hundred cavalry — on yesterday at Ryan's, in the Pas-
tures, killing from six to ten (variously reported), and capturing two.
They left their tents behind them. * * Cannonading was heard
to-day from early morning till 4 o'clock, P. M , in the direction of the
Shenandoah mountain. "* * J. D. Imboden has arrived with authority
to raise companies for guerilla service in western Virginia.
On Friday morning, May 9, tidings came of the battle of Mc-
Dowell, in Highland county. A number of the wounded in the
battle were brought in on the 10th, and also the corpses of eight
or ten of the slain. " These poor fellows were from Georgia,
and their comrades are sending the remains home."
Sunday night, May 11. — Jackson's recent movements, which were so
incomprehensible to us, are now all explained. On last Sunday we
heard that 8,000 or 10,000 of the enemy were threatening Johnson at
Westview, only seven miles from Staunton. This proved untrue, and we
298 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
became incredulous as to reports of any Federal troops advancing from
the northwest. It turns out, however, that the enemy in considerable
force were advancing from the direction of Romney, through Pendleton
county, and no doubt with the expectation of assailing Johnson by sur-
prise and overwhelming him; Jackson being advised of their move-
ment, countermarched as he did to reinforce Johnson, and coming upon
the enemy suddenly at McDowell, scattered them to the four winds.
* * "Yankee shinplasters," or sutler's tickets, are very abundant in
Staunton.
Friday night, May 16. — Part of Jackson's army is at Stribling's Springs.
Some of the cavalry is in town.
The command moved down the Valley on Tuesday morning,
the 20th.
Tuesday morning. May 27. — Yesterday morning we had news that
Jackson had routed the enemy under Banks, and chased them beyond
Winchester, taking 2,000 prisoners, and capturing all their military stores.
Wednesday , May 28. — A number of Staunton people have gone to
Winchester to buy goods, having heard that the town was well supplied
with many articles very scarce here. An order has come for all the
wagons in the county and adjoining counties to go down to remove the
captured stores.
Some four thousand prisoners, captured in the lower Valley,
were taken to Charlottesville, without passing through Staunton.
On the 29th there were about thirteen hundred sick and wounded
soldiers in the military hospitals here.
Monday night, June 2. — Intelligence of the renewal of the battle near
Richmond on yesterday. Seventy-five thousand men on each side
engaged. * * The whole Federal army on the Richmond side of the
Chickahominy. Five hundred of our men drowned; some say, how-
ever, that the drowned men were Federal soldiers. * * Two hundred
and seventy-five wagons expected to-morrow with the stores captured
at Martinsburg.
Wednesday, June 4. — It seems to be true that Jackson has retired far
up toward Harrisonburg, before a large force of the enemy. * * A
large number of wagons, sent down the Valley to bring up the captured
stores, returned to day, many of them empty. The enemy pressed too
closely for us to bring off all the supplies. Upward of 3,000 Federal
prisoners were at Mt. Crawford to-day waiting till a bridge could be
built across North river.
Thursday night, June 5. — A day of rumors. We heard that the
Federal prisoners at North river (Mt. Crawford) had refused to come
across. Then it was said they were not at the river, but at Harrison-
burg. The first report was next repeated. Imboden started down
about 2 o'clock with his three small cannon and two larger pieces.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 299
Many laborers, white and black, went also to aid in building the bridge.
Late in the afternoon we heard that Shields (Federal) was at or near
Port Republic, that our men had burnt the bridge across the Shenan-
doah at that point, and that Shields would probably advance upon
Staunton by way of Mt. Meridian. Next it was circulated that Jackson
had come through Harrisonburg and gone towards Port Republic to
attack Shields, and that large reinforcements had come over to Jackson
from Gordonsville.
Friday, June 6. — Jackson's army is at Port Republic. The enemy,
under Fremont, are said to be near Harrisonburg, variously estimated
from 17,000 to 40,000. Shields is on the east side of the Shenandoah
with from 10,000 1o 18,000 men
On the 7th we heard " the sad news that Ashby had been
killed near Harrisonburg."
On Sunday evening, the 8th, we had the first tidings of the
battle of Port Republic. A body of demoralized Confederate
cavalry dashed into town, proclaiming that our army was de-
feated. They were put under arrest by Major A. W. Harman,
acting commandant of the post. Farther news of the battle was
received on the 9th. Many soldiers of the two regiments from
Augusta were wounded, and one (Doom,) was killed.
Monday night, June p. — A report this morning that Fremont was
routed yesterday and Jackson was assailing Shields to-day. * * The
cannonading was heard in town till past 9 o'clock and then ceased.
About 10 o'clock a courier arrived with intelligence that Jackson had
ordered a retreat across the Blue Ridge. This news flew through town
and caused great depression of spirits. About 11 o'clock another cou-
rier arrived with the report that Fremont was hastily retreating towards
Harrisonburg, blockading the road behind him, and that Shields was
in a fair way of being captured. Of course there was universal rejoic-
ing. In the afternoon, however, it was ascertained that Fremont had
not retreated, but was still on the field with (according to one report)
60,000 men. It was stated at the same time that Jackson had defeated
Shields this morning. Late in the evening several citizens and one or
two wounded soldiers arrived from the army. Shields was driven back
with a reported loss of 500 men arid eight cannon, while Fremont's
army was drawn up on the west side of the Shenandoah, unable to give
any assistance. Jackson crossed the river this morning to attack Shields
and destroyed the bridge so that Fremont could not follow. It is im-
possible for me to record the incidents related, or to describe the scenes
in town.
Wednesday night, June 11. — A rumor this morning that the Yankees
were coming this way, crossing North river at Mt. Crawford, and
300 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
t
another, that Fremont was retreating. From 9,000 to 11,000 reinforce-
ments are on the way to Jackson.
Thursday night, June 12. — A report this morning that Fremont was
marching up North river with a view this way. At the same time it was
said he had 40,000 men, while Jackson's effective force amounted to
only 15,000. During the day there were vague rumors that the Federal
army had passed through Harrisonburg, going down the Valley. Late
in the afternoon these last rumors were confirmed by persons from
Harrisonburg. The Yankees went off last night in haste, burning their
baggage and committing many depredations upon the property of our
people. They even destroyed the gardens as far as they could. It is
reported that their whole number was 15000 — that is, Fremont's
column.
A letter from a Michigan girl to her brother, a soldier in the Federal
army, picked up down the Valley, begs the latter to beware of poisoned
springs
Friday night, June 13. — Many Federal soldiers are said to be wander-
ing in the woods, and some have been brought in every day since the
battle (of Port Republic). Twenty of them surrendered to one of our
men.
Saturday night, June 14. — Six or seven railroad trains full of soldiers
arrived this evening from Richmond — General Whiting's command.
* * For several days past it has been reported that Andrew Johnson,
the Union Governor of Tennessee, was assassinated at Nashville. Also
that Butler, the Federal general in command at New Orleans, was
killed.
Sunday, June 13. — More troops arrived to-day by railroad. Four
regiments left town this morning, moving down the Valley turnpike,
viz: the Eleventh Mississippi, Sixth North Carolina, Fourth Alabama,
and Fourth Texas. These regiments constitute Whiting's brigade.
Many of them are good-looking young men, although roughly clad, as
usual. They all seem glad to get up to this region.
Tuesday night, June ij. — Many troops arrived yesterday and others
to-day. Whiting's brigade and others are encamped on the Valley
turnpike three miles from town. There are large encampments on the
hills to the left of the Middlebrook road, near the railroad, and a small
one on a hill north of town. A Texas brigade is here to which the
Staunton artillery is attached. * * Soldiers are constantly going
from house to house applying for something to eat. They threaten us
with famine, and to-night I was obliged to refuse a request for supper,
lodging, and breakfast for five who applied in a batch. The commis-
sary is well enough supplied, but the men like something better than
camp fare. The more respectable soldiers fare worse than others, as
they do not forage to the same extent.
Wednesday night, June 18. — To the surprise of everybody, the troops
near town began to move off this morning in the direction of Waynes-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 301
borough. The Texas brigade (Hood's) started at 5 o'clock, A. M. Whit-
ing's brigade retraced their steps through town between 8 and 9
o'clock, and marched down the Waynesborough road. Several artillery
companies moved in the same direction. Lawtons brigade, several de-
tached regiments, two or three artillery and two or three cavalry com-
panies were still about town late in the afternoon ; but at 6 o'clock two
railroad trains, full of soldiers, were getting ready to start. * * We
hear that Jackson's whole command was to-day moving to Waynes-
borough, to cross the Blue Ridge. General Jackson was in town nearly
all day, but no one found out the purpose of the movements mentioned.
There was a large number of wagons in connection with the various
brigades. Many of our regiments are very much reduced in numbers.
One company of the Forty-fourth Virginia had, a few days ago, five
officers and six privates. * * A member of the Thirty-first regiment,
from northwest Virginia, came into our office this evening, and meeting
there an acquaintance from the same region, told with great glee that
in the Monday's fight near Port Republic, he had shot the major of the
First Virginia regiment in the Federal service. He manifested a savage
joyousness in relating the fall by his hand of his fellow-townsman. * *
Brown sugar now sells by the barrel at 45 cents a pound ; bacon 30
cents.
Thursday night, June 19. — Everybody wondering to-day the cause
of Jackson's movement across the Blue Ridge Some suggest that he
is going to Richmond, intending to fall upon McClellan's rear. * *
Several persons arrived to-day from Buckhannon, Upshur county, hav-
ing come through without interruption. That route has been closed for
more than a year.
Saturday night, June 21. — Still no intelligence from any quarter. * *
Twenty-five or thirty Yankee prisoners were in the courthouse yard this
evening, having been brought up from Harrisonburg. All but three
wounded, and all but three Dutch.
Monday night, June 23. — We have scarcely had a rumor to-day.
Neither railroad trains nor mails from Richmond for several days. Sev-
eral thousand cavalry in the Valley. No other troops.
Tuesday, June 24. — No railroad train yet, and all the news we have
had from the east for about a week has been brought by persons travel-
ing on horseback.
On the 26th and 27th we heard heavy cannonading, indicating
a conflict near Richmond.
Friday , June 27 . — The battle was renewed this morning, and at the
last account (by telegraph) was raging all along the line. At least one
hundred thousand men are arrayed on each side. What multitudes are
now passing into eternity, and how many more are at this moment
writhing in pain on the bloody ground !
Monday afternoon, June 30. — The battle near Richmond was con-
302 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. ,
tinued on yesterday. Cannonading distinctly heard in this place. We
have no details of the fight since Friday, but telegraphic dispatches re-
ceived to-day state that the Federal army was retreating towards James
river. The reports are encouraging for our side. Eight members of
the Staunton Guard wounded, besides the captain, Burke. Three of the
Staunton Artillery reported killed.
Wednesday morning, July 2 — Very heavy and rapid cannonading was
kept up yesterday evening till long after dark. We heard it distinctly
at our house. [The distance by air line is about a hundred miles.] A
telegraphic dispatch between 9 and 10 o'clock last night stated that the
enemy was defeated again on Monday, and that there was every pros-
pect of capturing, or routing, the whole army. But the newspaper ac-
counts never come up to the telegraphic reports. The battle has been
raging for a week. The railroad train came through from Richmond
yesterday.
Friday morning, July 4. — * * lam certain of this only, that the
enemy has been repulsed, losing several thousand men in killed,
wounded and prisoners, and some cannon, &c; and that our loss is
also heavy.
Monday morning, July 7. — A great variety of reports from Richmond
since Friday, but no reliable intelligence. At one time we hear that
the greater part of the Federal army is surrounded and will certainly
be captured, [there was a rumor yesterday that 50,000 had been taken],
and immediately afterwards it is asserted that it has effected its escape.
The latter I believe to be true. McClellan has, no doubt, at last
reached a position on James river, where his transports and gunboats
are, his columns a good deal shattered, but not seriously reduced in
numbers. We have about five thousand prisoners (besides the wounded
left on the field), including one Major- General and four or five Briga-
diers. No estimate has yet been made of the slain.
Tuesday, July 8. — Yesterday a poor woman who lives in town heard
that her husband, a soldier in the Fifty-second regiment, had been
killed. Her wailings, which were kept up for an hour or two, were
most distressing.
Monday, July 14. — For several days we have had no intelligence in
regard to the war, from any quarter. Yesterday afternoon, however, a
report came by railroad that the Yankees were in considerable force at
Culpeper Courthouse.
Thursday, July ij. — The town as quiet all this week as if no war were
raging in the land. No railroad train since Monday, and no news from
any quarter. Brown sugar selling in Staunton at 75 cents a pound. No
coffee here for sale, but selling elsewhere at $2 a pound.
Friday, July 25. — A report this morning of skirmish at Luray yester-
day, in, which we captured twenty five men, ten wagons, &c. * * To
all appearance Richmond is more closely invested now than before the
late battles.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 303
Monday, July 28. — The prisoners, &c, captured at Luray arrived last
evening. Jackson has been collecting his forces in the neighborhood of
Gordonsville. He is said to have about 15,000, but receiving reinforce-
ments. His ranks very much reduced by sickness, "absence without
leave,"' &c.
Friday morning, August 1. — This morning, while sitting in my office,
I heard a sound of lamentation. Upon going out I found the noise
proceeded from an upper room in the courthouse. A negro woman in-
formed me that it was a soldier crying because he had to go to the war 1
He was brought in under the conscript act. Poor fellow! Although I
pitied him, there was something very ludicrous in his wailings. Several
men and women stood in the street, some laughing and others de-
nouncing the recruit.54
Saturday, August 9. — According to report, Jackson's army is pressing
towards Culpeper Courthouse, the enemy falling back. Federal officers
are said to be rigidly enforcing Pope's order in the lower Valley, requir-
ing all persons over fourteen years of age to take the oath of allegiance
to the United States, or move outside the Federal lines, with their
clothes only.
News of the battle of Cedar Mountain was received on August
10, but, as usual, reliable details were not obtained till several
days afterwards. Several railroad trains with wounded soldiers
arrived on the 12th and 13th, among them fifty Federal soldiers.
A young man named Baylor, of this county, was killed, and
William H. Gamble lost an arm. •
Monday, August 11. — Passing the courthouse yard a while ago, I ob-
served a number of persons standing before several "bluejackets"
stretched upon the grass. These latter turned out to be deserters from
the Yankee army in the lower Valley. A dozen of them arrived here
last evening.
Wednesday, August ij. — Twenty-one deserters from the Federal army
came in to-day.
Monday, August 18. — We hear that troops are pouring in to both
sides on the line of the Rapidan. * * There is a great stir among
persons liable to military service under the conscript act.
Wednesday, August 20. — A number of Marylanders, who have come
off in consequence of the draft ordered by the Federal government,
have arrived here. Quite a cavalcade of them came into town a while
ago. The railroad trains being again used for army transportation, we
have had no regular mails for a week.
54 The ancient Romans would not have considered the lamentations
of the young recruit at all ridiculous. Julius Csesar relates that even
the veterans of his Tenth Legion bewailed aloud and shed tears when
ordered to march against the Germans.
301 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY,
Friday, August 29. — We hear of vigorous movements in northwest
Virginia by our rangers, &c. Imboden has 800 men now, and Jenkins
more than 2,000. They have been joined by large numbers in conse-
quence of the Federal draft.
Monday, September 1. — Many rumors for several days past, but no re-
liable intelligence. A report last night that a battle occurred on Fri-
day at Manassas.
This was the bloody battle of "Second Manassas." Among
the slain were William S. H. Baylor, Colonel of the Fifth regi-
ment; Edward Garber, Captain in the Fifty-second regiment;
William Patrick, Major of cavalry ; Preston Byers and others
from Augusta county.55
By September 8, the Confederate aimy was in Maryland, and
recruits were again passing through Staunton. Jackson cap-
tured Harper's Ferry with many prisoners, etc., and the battle
of Boonsboro was fought.
Wednesday, September 24. — All the wounded men who can walk have
been creeping up from Winchester, trying to get to their homes. Staun-
ton is full of them. Many look very forlorn, hands and arms hurt, faces
bound up, badly clad, barefooted and dirty.
September 25. — Last night the town was overflowing with wounded
soldiers from the army and recruits going down.
Saturday night, September 27. — Late this evening nearly five hundred
Yankee prisoners were brought up from Winchester. They marched
four abreast. It was pitiful to see so many human beings led or driven
along like sheep. Troops have been moving down the Valley from
this point nearly every day this week. Most of the wounded who have
arrived here have been forwarded to Richmond. Others continue to
come, however. Night before last the town was alive with them.
They were fed, as far as possible, by citizens.
Thursday, October 2. — An ambulance train laden with wounded sol-
55 Colonel Baylor was the only son of Jacob Baylor, Esq., and was
born in 1831. He was educated at the Staunton Academy and Wash-
ington College, Lexington, and studied law at the University of Vir-
ginia. For some years he was commonwealth's attorney for the town
of Staunton. When killed he was in command of the Stonewall brigade,
and it is said would soon have been commissioned Brigadier- General if
he had lived.
Major Patrick, son of Mr. Charles Patrick, was born on South River,
Augusta, in 1822. He was a farmer, an intelligent gentleman, and a
gallant soldier.
Captain Garber was a son of Mr. Albert J. Garber of Staunton, and a
young man of great promise, as was Preston Byers.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 305
diers has come in from Winchester. From the number of Northern
vehicles in the train one might suppose that the Federal army was pass-
ing along. * * The number of ambulances arrived and on the road
this side of Mt. Sidney is said to be two hundred and twenty-five.
Wednesday, October 8. — The scene at the railroad depot this morning
was in striking contrast to those of former times. Many wounded sol-
diers were going home on furlough or discharge — some on two crutches,
others on one, and several supported by two men each. A poor fellow
came limping along, using a rough staff in place of one of his legs, which
was wounded. One leg of his pants was cut off at the knee, and the
other was slit open so as to expose the bare limb. What clothing he
had on was dirty, as usual with most soldiers returning from the army.
Monday, October ij. — There was a distribution of public salt to-day.
Considerable crowd and pressure. One pound allowed to each indi-
vidual. Several wagons went through town to-day on their way to
Kanawha county for salt. News was received on the 13th, of Stuart's
cavalry excursion into Pennsylvania, capture of Chambersburg, etc.
Saturday, October 18. — A dreadful railroad accident at Ivy, Albemarle
county, a few days ago, to a train bringing soldiers up this way. Seven
or eight men killed and sixty or seventy wounded. But what of this at
a time when men are killed by hundreds and thousands every day !
Soldiers still pressing through the town to the army. Provisions of all
kinds scarce and prices high. Flour, $14 per barrel ; butter, 75 cents
per pound ; clothing very difficult to get.
Wednesday, October 22. — We have more to fear from the scarcity of
subsistence and clothing than from the Federal armies. * * Felt hats
sell for $10 to $15. The price for making a pair of common shoes is
from $5.50 to $6. The cannon of twenty-three dismantled artillery com-
panies have been sent to Staunton. Up to a few days ago, 13,000 re-
cruits for General Lee's army had passed through town since the battles
in Maryland.
Friday, October ji. — Rumors for several days past that our army is
falling back from Winchester or going into eastern Virginia. It is said
that Jackson is to remain in the Valley this side of Winchester. Troops
still going down.
Friday, November 7. — A long train of ambulances with sick soldiers
just arrived from Winchester. * * General expectation that the war
will close in a short time, either from European intervention, or a
change of feeling in the Northern people.
Wednesday, November 12. — Yankees said to be at Shenandoah moun-
tain, twenty-six miles from Staunton. * * The South Carolina cav-
alry regiment, which has been in the vicinity of town for some time past,
went out just now to see after the enemy. They passed through town
and made an imposing display.
Monday, November 17. — Our cavalry have returned from Highland
(across the Shenandoah mountain), and report that no Yankees are in
20
308 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
that region this side of the Alleghany mountain. * * More than a
hundred Yankee prisoners were brought up the Valley yesterday. A
hundred or more on the 13th.
Thursday, November 20. — Yankees in Highland — Millroy and Kelley
— committing great depredations in Crab Bottom. Several Yankee
prisoners on parole are walking about our streets — one strapping fellow
in Zouave uniform — red pants, &c.
Tuesday, November 23. — The scene has greatly changed. The enemy
under Burnside are opposite Fredericksburg, demanding the surrender
of the place. General Lee is there commanding our forces. Jackson
and D. H. Hill have moved from the Valley in the same direction.
Intelligence of the battle of Fredericksburg was received on
December 12th, 13th, and continuously to the 23d.
Tuesday night, December 23. — As an incident of the times, I mention
that a milliner of Staunton went to Baltimore recently to purchase
goods, taking a female companion with her. The goods had to " run
the blockade," in other words, to be smuggled across the lines, and the
two women returned, each concealing a large number of bonnet frames
under her hood and wearing any quantity of dresses and cloaks.
Thursday night, December 23 — Upon joining a crowd near the court-
house, I learned that the sentinels had last night halted citizens on the
streets, and ordered them not to pass unless they were going to their
homes. We all agreed that it was a high-handed usurpation, which
should not be submitted to. So we addressed a communication to
Colonel D., the commander of the post, inquiring if the guard had
acted in pursuance of orders, and if so, whether the proceeding was
to be continued to-night. He stated in his reply that the guard were
inexperienced and had misunderstood their instructions. The paper
sent him, however, showed that the Provost Marshal was present at one
of the street corners, and required the sentinel to use his gun when
necessary to arrest passers-by.
Friday night, December 26. — At a sale near town to-day, corn went
off" at $3.60 a bushel, oats $2.05, bran $1.05 and other things in pro-
portion.
Sunday night, January 4, 1863. — Returning from the cemetery this
morning, I walked over the hill and through the grounds where deceased
soldiers are buried. The number of graves has greatly increased since
I was there last. It was almost appalling to see the rows of graves re-
cently dug, waiting with gaping mouths for the still living victims. The
sight brought before me vividly the sufferings of the soldiers dying in
military hospitals, far from home and kindred, and all the horrors of a
time of war.
Friday night, January 30. — A general impression that the war will
soon be over.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 307
February y. — A number of deserters from the Federal army opposite
Fredericksburg have arrived here within a few days past.
February 23. — The money value of a day's rations for one hundred
soldiers, formerly about $9, is now at market prices more than #123.
Coffee $3.50 to $4, and sugar $1 a pound ; butter $1.75.
By March nth, flour had gone up in Staunton to $25 a barrel,
bacon $1 a pound, indicating " either a time of famine or an ut-
terly ruinous depreciation of the currency."
Early in 1863, the people of Staunton relied upon " Confed-
erate candles" for light in their dwellings at night. Candlewick
was dipped in melted wax and resin, and wrapped around a stick,
one end being passed through a wire loop fastened to the stick.
The end of the wick burned freely when lighted, but the illumina-
tion was very feeble, and unless the candle was watched, and the
wick drawn through the loop and trimmed every few minutes,
the whole affair was soon aflame.
March 27. — At an auction sale yesterday, common dinner plates
brought $3.75 a piece. Many persons have had their glass and china-
ware broken up since the war began, and there is a great demand for
such articles.
Saturday, April 11. — The Thirty-first and part of the Twenty-fifth
Virginia regiments arrived to-day and go to join Imboden at the Shenan-
doah mountain. The remainder of the Twenty-fifth is expected to-
night. It is probable that a movement is on foot to procure cattle in
the northwestern part of the State.
CHAPTER XV.
THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR — 1863-4.
The third year of the war opened with rather bright prospects
for our people. Certainly the general feeling was hopeful and
comparatively cheerful. It was however very difficult to procure
necessary articles of subsistence in this community, and families
who had previously lived well, were reduced to bread and water.
The casualties in the Fifty-second Virginia regiment were re-
ported April 28, 1863, as follows : Killed in battle or died from
wounds, 54; died of disease, 68; died from causes not known,
15. This statement does not include the men permanently dis-
abled by wounds and sickness.
The first rumor of the battles of Chancellorsville came by
telegraph on May 1st. On the 4th, it was reported that our
army was occupying the camp of the enemy, that we had taken
ten thousand prisoners, and that General Jackson was wounded.
Charles Calhoon was mortally wounded, and Joseph N. Ryan
lost a leg. Ninety-five Federal prisoners taken in Hardy were
brought in on the 2d, and forty-seven more from the northwest
on the 8th.
But we continue the extracts from the diary:
Monday, May 4. — A telegraphic rumor this morning that Jackson had
defeated the enemy at Port Royal, capturing 5,000 of them. * * After
night the railroad train brought the report that the Yankee army had
been driven seven miles beyond the Rappahannock, that our army was
occupying the camp of the enemy, that we had taken 10,000 prisoners,
and that General Jackson was wounded, one person said severely,
others said slightly.
Tuesday, May 5. — While we were enjoying the good news received
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 309
last night, a dispatch came this morning stating that 12,000 Yankees,
cavalry and artillery, under General Stoneham [Stoneman], were in
Louisa county on their way to the James river canal. It is said that this
division, as they came on last week, took our cavalry entirely by sur-
prise, capturing 2,000 of them, and scattering the remainder; that Fitz-
hugh Lee with 500 men followed them, and fought them while they
were breaking up the railroad, but having such superiority of numbers
they were able to brush Lee off and go on with their work. * *
General R. E. Lee states in his official dispatch that he gained a great
victory, but says that General Jackson was severely wounded. Another
account says he was wounded in the arm, and did not leave the field.
Some members of the Fifth regiment, wounded in the recent battle,
arrived this evening.
Wednesday night, May 6. — Very few additional particulars in regard
to the recent great battle — chiefly repetitions of the statement that we
gained a decided victory. But General Jackson has lost his arm, the
injury being so serious as to render amputation necessary.
Thursday night, May 7. — A man from Harrisonburg stated this morn-
ing that the Yankees were coming up the Valley. As the telegraph
made no such report, it was considered an idle rumor. But after dark
an army surgeon arrived with the sick soldiers from the Harrisonburg
hospital. He said the road between Harrisonburg and Staunton was
full of people, with their cattle, &c, flying before the Yankees supposed
to be coming. We have a force of 800 men below Harrisonburg.
Afterwards I learned that a telegraphic dispatch had been received,
stating that 2,100 of the enemy were nine miles below Harrisonburg.
Monday, May 11. — A report of General Jackson's death was current
this morning, but most persons hoped it was not true. Between 1 and
2 o'clock, however, the telegraph operator stepped into the room where
I was writing, and handed me a dispatch from the War Department at
Richmond, to be forwarded to Lexington by express, announcing the
fact. There is universal lamentation in this community. It is like "the
mourning at Hadadrimmon, in the valley of Megiddon," when King
Josiah was slain.
Wednesday night, May /j. — Persons from Shenandoah give some par-
ticulars of the recent advance of the enemy through that county. They
were about 2,000 in number, and came only a mile this side of New
Market. All accounts state that they were very timid, and suddenly
hurried back upon receiving some intelligence by courier from Win-
chester, the officers not waiting to eat the dinner that was preparing.
* * The slain have been arriving ever since the battle, as well as the
wounded.
Wednesday night, May 20. — General Jenkins's brigade of cavalry is
collecting at Staunton, and an inspection takes place to-morrow near
town. Jenkins is to command in the Valley, Jones, and perhaps Imbo-
den, having been ordered to join Lee.
310 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Saturday, May 23. — The expedition to northwest Virginia brought off
about 3,000 cattle, it is said.
Wednesday \ May 27. — * * About sixty women and children from
northwestern Virginia arrived in town last night. They were sent off
by the Federal authorities for sympathizing with the South, and were
allowed to bring only necessary wearing apparel and $100 each.
Saturday night, June 6. — No railroad train from Richmond this even-
ing. Reason not given, but it is presumed that General Lee's army is
moving. It is believed that Lee is advancing north of the Rappahan-
nock.
Saturday night, June 13. — Rumored this evening that General Ewell's
corps was near Winchester, en route for Pennsylvania.
Tuesday night, June 16. — Passengers by stage from Winchester report
that General Ewell has captured a large number of Yankees at that
place. * * It is evident from the large quantity of ordnance and
other stores coming to Staunton, that the Valley will be the scene of
protracted operations.
June 17. — We learn from Winchester that our army has crossed the
Potomac at three points. All the Federals at Winchester, except Mill-
roy and his body-guard, were captured. The number is given as five
thousand.
Friday night, June 79. — Staunton is again a great thoroughfare for the
army — many soldiers passing through town to join their various com-
mands.
Monday night, June 22. — About 10 o'clock this morning upwards of
sixteen hundred Yankees, taken at Winchester, arrived. They were
guarded by the Fifty-eighth Virginia infantry. * * The prisoners
were much better clothed than the Confederates who guarded them.
They were immediately put aboard a railroad train, which started for
Richmond in the evening. * * Large numbers of our soldiers have
been passing through town for several days past, coming from the east
by railroad, and going down the Valley on foot.
Tuesday night, June 23. — Nineteen hundred more Yankee prisoners
were brought up to the vicinity of town to-day, and a part of them sent
off to Richmond by railroad this evening.
June 24..— The guard of the prisoners — a North Carolina regiment —
although generally dirty, and some of them ragged, looked stouter and
more hardy than the Yankees. Several of our poor fellows were bare-
footed.
June 23. — A number of female Northern camp followers have been
brought up from Winchester and sent to Richmond to be passed beyond
our lines.
June 26. — The whole number of prisoners who have arrived here this
week is 4,321, including forty -five women and children.
Tuesday night, June 30. — The main body of our cavalry under Stuart,
has been fighting constantly on the Virginia side of the Potomac. * *
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 311
Wagon trains going from Staunton to Winchester are now required to
be guarded. A train is waiting till a guard of five hundred men can be
formed of convalescent soldiers.
July 4. — A number of wagons loaded with hardware, stationery, etc.,
purchased by our quartermasters in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, ar-
rived to-day. Northern merchants have been excluded for sp long from
the Southern market that they are way behind the times in regard to
prices. For example, hand-saw files, which sell here at $3 each, they
sold to our quartermaster at 25 cents, Confederate currency.
July 7. — The atmosphere seemed full of exciting rumors yesterday.
Great battles at or near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, were reported.
Wednesday \ July 8. — The following is given as a specimen of the
current reports during the war : * * Later in the day, Towers came
into my room, with a glowing face, to tell that Mr. Phillips told him that
Judge Thompson told him that Stump (telegraph operator) told him
that in a battle on Sunday we had a glorious victory, some forty thou-
sand to sixty thousand of the enemy laying down their arms. George
E. Price went to the telegraph office to inquire about the matter, and
reported on his return that Stump said the news must have come by
some other line. Next, Major Tate came in — David S. Young had just
told him that Judge Thompson said, etc. Then Major Bell informed me
that Stump denied having authorized any such report. Coming home
to dinner, I encountered Mr. Michie and John B. Baldwin. Mr. Michie
had seen McGuffin, etc. Baldwin said he had seen Judge Thompson,
who had given him the news in full. Mr. Michie believed the report —
he was determined to believe it. Stump, he said, had communicated to
Judge Thompson confidentially what he had no liberty to divulge, and
was now endeavoring to repair damages by his denials, while the Judge
was relating the news in strict confidence to everybody he met.
Thursday night, July 9. — Blue! blue! The Richmond newspapers of
this morning publish a dispatch from General Johnston, dated Jackson,
Mississippi, July 7th, stating that the garrison of Vicksburg capitulated
on the 4th.
Friday, July 10. — Soldiers wounded at the battle of Gettysburg give
fearful accounts of the slaughter of our army. Pickett's division anni-
hilated. Many persons known to us were killed. A disastrous affair.
The news received by us is, however, in many respects unintelligible.
As far as we now see the tide is running fearfully against us. The road
leading into town from Winchester is lined with wounded soldiers
coming up from the battlefield. * * It is a sad sight to see so many
poor fellows dragging themselves along to get nearer home. They are
of course those who are comparatively slightly wounded.
July 11. — Wounded soldiers have come into town to-day in a con-
stant stream ; some of them in vehicles and some on horseback, but
most on foot. Many of them are without shoes.
July 12. — The stream of wounded men arriving has been uninter-
312 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
rupted, and not a third part of those disabled has arrived yet. It is
now said that comparatively few were killed.
By the 16th, General Lee's army was back on this side the
Potomac. On the 18th, nearly four thousand prisoners were
brought in. On the 20th, a long train of ambulances loaded with
wounded or sick men arrived.
July 25. — Crowds of sick and wounded soldiers have been arriving
in ambulances, wagons, and on foot ; and many of the inhabitants of
the lower Valley, with all the property they could bring off.
General Lee had left the Valley and gone east of the Blue
Ridge.
July 28. — Wounded and sick soldiers and refugees still coming in.
Monday night, August 24. — I was aroused at 5 o'clock this morning
and informed that the Yankees were at Buffalo Gap, ten miles from
town. Was surprised upon going down street to find everything quiet.
As the day advanced, the convalescent patients in the hospitals were
armed, the citizens formed companies, and Imboden's command — said
to be 1,000 men — came up from their camp three miles below town.
Cannon were planted on the hill west of town, and other defensive
preparations were made. Towards 10 o'clock most persons concluded
that no enemy was near. People from Buffalo Gap had heard nothing
of the Yankees till they came to town, and a man from Highland re-
ported that they had gone towards Pocahontas. Afterwards scouts
came in and reported that no Yankees were near Buffalo Gap.
Thursday, August 27. — On Tuesday we heard that the Yankee raid-
ers, from 4,000 to 5,000, had driven Colonel Jackson across the Warm
Springs mountain, that he was retreating to Millborough, and that
Staunton was threatened again. We next heard that the Yankees were
" going back," and that Jackson was " after them."
Wednesday night, September 30. — On Monday last (court day) General
Smith, ex-Governor and Governor elect, and Senator Wigfall, of Texas,
addressed the people of this county on their duty at this crisis. The
people " resolved " that they would sell produce at the rates fixed by
the government to all consumers.
In September, peaches were abundant and sold at $23 to $25
a bushel.
Tuesday night, October /y. — I have been engaged for several days
past in the great work of having a suit of clothes made. My wife
bought the cloth several weeks ago at the factory near town. It is gray
jeans, and cost $10 a yard, but similar cloth sells now at $14. Four
yards of unbleached cotton cloth were furnished by my wife (where
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 313
from I know not) for pockets, sleeve-lining, &c. She also produced a
piece of black alpaca, which her brother had worn as a cravat, for skirt
and back lining-. I bought two yards of osnaburg, at $2.50 a yard, and
have engaged buttons from the manufacturers in town. The Lush-
baughs turn buttons out of maple wood. The suit will cost from $130
to $150.
The Augusta " Raid Guard," otherwise called Home Guard,
were summoned to the Shenandoah mountain November 12, as
the enemy was supposed to be advancing-. The various com-
panies were organized as a regiment on the nth — John B Bald-
win, Colonel; Kenton Harper, Lieutenant-Colonel; J. M. Mc-
Cue, Major ; Dr. J. Alexander Waddell, Surgeon ; C. R. Mason,
Quartermaster ; N. P. Catlett, Commissary, and J. C. Marquiss,
Adjutant.
Friday, November 13. — Seven or eight companies of the Raid Guard
were on parade to-day. It was encouraging to see that we had so many
men left. They are mounted infantry, except a company of artillery
raised in town.
The alarm of invasion proved unfounded, and the companies
were dismissed for the time. The price of flour had risen to $80
a barrel on November 16.
Saturday night, November 21. — There is a general feeling that the war
will be interminable. All round the horizon there is not a glimmer of
light. Yet the war does not weigh as heavily on the spirits of the peo-
ple as it did for many months after it began. The recollection of the
security and abundance formerly enjoyed seems like a dream. I picture
to myself the scenes in our streets three years ago — piles of boxes be-
fore every store door, shelves and counters within filled and piled up
with goods ; merchants begging customers to buy ; groceries running
over with molasses, sugar, coffee, tea, cheese, fish, etc.; confectioners
making the most tempting display of fruits, candies and cakes ; wagons
loaded with country produce calling at every house, and farmers earn-
estly inquiring who wished to purchase flour, corn, potatoes, beef, pork,
apples. Now the stores — still so-called by courtesy — will furnish you
thread, buttons, pins and other light articles whic'h have " run the block-
ade," cotton cloth of Southern manufacture (at $3.75 a yard), vessels
made of clay instead of glass or chinaware, and occasionally a few
yards of calico or linsey; the confectioners' saloons are like "banquet
halls deserted,'' and you will be lucky if by dint of entreaty, and as a
special favor, a farmer will sell you a barrel of flour or a few bushels of
corn. In consequence of this state of affairs, each family manufactures
314 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and produces its own supplies, as far as possible. People are willing to
pay any price in " currency " for what they need ; " money " is plentiful,
but alas ! it cannot be used as food or clothing.
But I discover no change in female attire ; most of the ladies seem to
"dress " quite as much as formerly. How this happens I do not know.
Perhaps woman's ingenuity : " Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's
the new." But from the sensation caused by a new bonnet at church I
suppose the sex do feel the pressure of the times in regard to fashions.
Men dress in homespun or in broadcloth of antique cut, without regard
to style. Our ladies, however, are just as eager as formerly for the
"fashions" from Philadelphia and New York. Every now and then
some female comes "through the lines," and the patterns of her bon-
net, cloak and dress are speedily adopted by the whole sex. As apropos
to this, see No. 277 of the Spectator. In the time of Queen Anne,
French fashions were imported into England by means of dolls dressed
in the latest styles, and during the hottest period of the war between
the two countries the dolls continued to come.
November 29— Flour is up to $95 a barrel. At this rate of deprecia-
tion we shall soon have no currency at all, as the money we have will
buy nothing. Many persons, however, have no more of the depreciated
currency than they formerly had of good money.
November 30. — It is reported that the loss of men from this county,
killed and wounded, in the late fight on the Rappahannock, was one
hundred and fifty.
Friday night, December 11. — Another raid reported. The Home
Guard called out.
The Home Guard went to the Shenandoah mountain to meet
the enemy on the 13th. During- the night of the 13th, there were
wild reports from various quarters. It was said that Imboden
had been skirmishing with the enemy at the Shenandoah moun-
tain, and that Echols had been driven back from Lewisburg. On
the 15th, several railroad trains filled with soldiers, under General
Early, arrived from the east, and went through to Buffalo Gap,
and General Fitz. Lee's cavalry was in the vicinity of town.
December 17. — When I awoke this morning, it was raining hard, and
the trees were covered with ice. I wondered how it was possible for
human beings to endure long-continued exposure to such weather. * *
At 10 o'clock, Lee's division of cavalry passed through town, and went
up the Greenville road. None of them knew where they were going.
The men were dripping wet, but seemed in fine spirits. The horses
generally are in good condition. The Home Guard returned to-day,
having been dismissed to assemble again at a minute's warning. V
December 18. — All the troops returned from Buffalo Gap last night,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 315
in the rain. They were marched two miles from town on the Greenville
road, and spent the night without shelter. * * During the morning,
we learned that part of the troops were to go to Millborough to inter-
cept Averill. At i o'clock, Thomas's brigade was marched to the
depot, to meet a railroad train, which, however, did not arrive till after
dark. * * As soon as the men found they would not start immedi-
ately, they had blazing fires in the open space between the American
hotel and the depot. * * The crowds of dusky, clay-soiled and
smoke-begrimed men gathered in the dark around the fires, cooking
their rations as best they could, was a picturesque scene.
On Saturday, the 19th, there was a rumor that a Federal force
was coming up the Valley, and was near Harrisonburg. After
ten o'clock that night a cannon was fired on one of the hills in
town to summon the Home Guard of the county. In a short time
the regular troops arrived from their camp, and were marched
out towards Harrisonburg. " The soldiers seemed to be in high
spirits, calling for the Home Guard, and cracking jokes at one
another as they passed along."
The Home Guard started Sunday evening, the 20th, and being
mounted, they overtook and out-stripped the regular infantry.
The Federal force at Harrisonburg, hearing of the approach of
the Confederates, hurriedly retreated, and there was a lively race
to New Market. From that point the Guard returned home,
General Early with his troops moving down in the direction of
Woodstock.
The portion of the diary from January 1 to June 5, 1864, was
lost — most probably destroyed, having been in a house burnt by
a party of Federal soldiers. In February, 1864, it was officially
reported that two hundred soldiers of the Stonewall brigade were
without shoes.
CHAPTER XVI.
FOURTH YEAR OF THE WAR — 1 864-' 5.
The writer recalls no local event of special interest from Janu-
ary 1 to June 5, 1864. In the month of May the battles of the
Wilderness, or Spotsylvania Courthouse, between Generals Grant
and Lee, occurred. Colonel James H. Skinner, commanding the
Fifty-second regiment, was severely wounded and permanently
disabled on the 12th at Spotsylvania Courthouse. On the 15th
of the same month General Breckenridge defeated a considerable
Federal force at New Market, many Augusta people participating
in the battle.
No resident of Staunton then living and over the age of in-
fancy will ever forget Sunday, June 5, 1864. For a week or
more we had heard that a Federal force under General Hunter
was coming up the Valley, and that Generals Crook and Averill
were pressing in from the west with another large force. Imbo-
den, with two skeleton regiments and a company of artillery, was
in the Valley, while McCausland and Jackson, each with a small
force, were between Staunton and Crook and Averill. The re-
serves (men over forty-five and boys under seventeen years of
age) were also with Imboden ; and during the previous week
all the men in the county able to bear arms — detailed workmen,
farmers, etc. — were hastily collected and formed into companies,
and joined him at North river, near Mount Crawford. On
Thursday and Friday troops arrived from the southwest under
General William E. Jones, probably twenty-five hundred men.
General Jones joined the force at North river on Saturday morn-
ing and assumed command. The enemy finding our men
strongly posted and intrenched, moved toward Port Republic
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 317
and crossed North river to the Augusta side. During Saturday-
night our army fell back to a point between New Hope and
Mount Meridian, near the village of Piedmont. Skirmishing
began early on Sunday morning.
From eight or nine o'clock in the morning till three in the
afternoon, many citizens of Staunton were on the hills observing
the smoke arising from the battlefield. For several hours no
one of them imagined that a battle was in progress only eleven
or twelve miles off, but the smoke was supposed to arise from
the conflagration of mills and barns burnt by the enemy. We had
often heard the reports of cannon from below Richmond, but the
noise of the battle of Piedmont did not reach our ears till quite
late in the day, when a few explosions of cannon were indis-
tinctly heard.
In the meanwhile, diligent preparations for departure in case of
disaster were going on at the various government depots and
offices. Railroad trains and wagons were loaded up. and all
hands connected with the quartermaster and commissary de-
partments were ready to start at a moment's warning. Informa-
tion of the battle was received by mid-day, but our people were
generally hopeful, especially as persons recently observing on
the hill-tops reported that the smoke was receding, showing, as
they thought, that our men were driving the enemy back. Late
in the afternoon, however, the writer learned the result of the
battle from the excited remark of a citizen:56 " General Jones is
killed and our army is routed!" Such was the intelligence
from the field.
The army wagon trains and many citizens immediately left
town, going up the Greenville road and crossing the Blue Ridge
into Nelson county at Tye River Gap.
It is not proposed to give here an account of the battle. The
Augusta men, hasty levies as they were, are said to have ac-
quitted themselves with marked gallantry. One wing of the
enemy was repulsed, but the other overwhelmed the Confederate
force opposed to it, and the men not killed or captured came
pell-mell into Staunton Sunday night. The county had to mourn
the loss of several esteemed citizens, and many more were seri-
ously wounded. Robert L. Doyle, acting as captain, Harvey
56 William B. Kayser, Esq.
318 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Bear and John W. Meredith were killed on the field. The more
experienced soldiers said the raw troops did not know when they
were whipped, and kept on fighting" when they should have re-
treated. But nearly every man of them was, to some extent, a
trained soldier. Brigadier-General Vaughan succeeded to the
command of the defeated army, and drew off to the Blue Ridge
at Rockfish Gap.
Sunday night passed away at Staunton without incident. On
Monday, June 6, the Federal troops entered the town. Very
few men were left in town, but many Confederate soldiers, absent
from their commands, lingered till the last moment. One daring
youth, when exhorted to make his escape, declared his purpose
to remain till he could capture a horse. And he actually accom-
plished his purpose. Almost in the presence of a large body
of Federal cavalry, he singled out a man in advance, and pre-
senting his gun ordered him to dismount. Leaping into the
saddle, he made his way with horse and prisoner to Waynes-
borough, where he joined his command.
From a letter written at Staunton, by a lady, on the 6th and
several subsequent days, we make the following extracts. After
describing the alarm in her family on the entrance of the Federal
troops, the writer says: " We got through the remainder of the
day and the night without much alarm and without being much
annoyed, except by so many Yankees coming to the hydrant for
water and to . the kitchen for food. * * Tuesday morning
early, the burning commenced — railroad depot, steam mills,
government workshops, Trotter's shops and stages, woollen
factory, Garber's mills, etc. * * He (General Hunter)
agreed that the workshops should not be burnt, if the citizens
would bind themselves to pull them down, which they did;
but still the fire was applied, without notice having been given.
All the interior of the shoe factory was destroyed. It must
have been ludicrous to see Mrs. flying across the street,
axe in hand, to assist in the work of destruction, and thus escape
the danger of fire.
" After the houses were consumed, the Yankees began to pack
up for a move, and we could hear them saying to one another,
'bad news!' but could not quite learn what, until it leaked out
that there was a report of the capture of their wagon train.
Before they began to pack up, some of the houses were searched
•ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 319
for provisions, but a stop was put to it, and by dinner time not
a Yankee was seen in town. Our scouts were on the hills in a
little time, and we felt too happy to think whether the enemy
would return. * * By four o'clock the town was perfectly
alive with blue coats again. I learned from some of the men
that they had gone to reinforce Averill. On Wednesday Crook
and Averill came, and it seemed to me that the locusts of Egypt
could not have been more numerous. Our yard and kitchen
were overrun all the while, and the streets were filled from end
to end. * * The house-searching began in good earnest on
Wednesday." The officer who searched the lady's house "was
very gentlemanly, and went through it as a matter of form,"
without taking any of her limited supplies.
" N. K. Trout" (mayor of the town) "and B. F. Points were
arrested, and kept in confinement till this morning, or last night.
Mr. Trout was accused of concealing arms, and Mr. Points of
showing pleasure when the Federal troops left town on Tuesday.
George W. Fuller was arrested as a spy, and held for some time,
because he returned to town bringing letters from Confederate
soldiers to their families. Our people captured at Piedmont were
cooped up in an old guard-house, and we all made bread for
them.
"Friday. — Most of the Yankees left this morning. Since din-
ner a regiment has passed, just arrived from Martinsburg. I
understand most of the troops took the Lexington road. * *
Our servants were such a comfort to me. They could not have
behaved better, and I really feel thankful to them."
Many of the Federal soldiers who were in Staunton seemed
to be gentlemanly persons, having no heart for their business;
others were mere plunderers, and robbed blacks and whites alike.
At night the town was perlectly quiet, and the citizens felt safe.
During the day, however, the soldiers were permitted to roam
about, and there was a reign of terror. Federal soldiers, dressed
in Confederate uniform, called "Jesse Scouts," traversed the
county, and strong parties of cavalry visited nearly every house.
They boasted that some of their men were in Staunton Sunday
evening while the stampede was going on, and even on the pre-
vious Friday.
General Breckenridge came from the east to Rockfish Gap
with reinforcements, and for several days there were frequent
320 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.*
skirmishes about Waynesborough and on the road to Staunton.
On the 1 2th the writer counted twelve dead horses, on the road
between Staunton and Waynesborough. The railroad as far as
Fishersville was torn up, and the bridges were burnt. Another
person, who came down the Middlebrook road a few days after-
wards, reported many graves of Federal soldiers killed in skir-
mishes with Jenkins's cavalry, and puddles of blood here and there.
The Donaghe, Opie and Taylor farms, adjacent to Staunton, were
almost denuded of fences. R. Mauzy's printing office, Staunton
Spectator, was broken up.
The Federal army proceeded up the Valley towards Lexington,
part going by the Greenville route and the remainder by way of
Middlebrook and Brownsburg. Jenkins was in advance of the
latter, skirmishing as he was driven back by the superior force
of the enemy. Breckenridge broke up at Rockfish Gap, and
hung upon the Federal rear. Several citizens of Staunton, in
charge of government supplies at a point in Nelson county, were
surprised and captured by a party of Federal soldiers. The Rev.
R. H. Phillips, acting as quartermaster, and William D. Candler,
were taken to Ohio, and spent many weary months in a military
prison.
The diary was resumed, and we continue our extracts :
Thursday, June 16. — We heard this morning that Hunter was at
Buchanan, and Breckenridge in Amherst county. Still no mail, and no
reliable intelligence from any quarter. It is said the Yankees shot one
man and hung another in Lexington. Reported that Crook or Averill
brought off Mr. David S. Creigh from Lewisburg, and when they got to
Rockbridge hung him, and left his body suspended to a tree. The
town has been as quiet every day as on Sunday. Stores and shops
closed; a few men sitting about on the streets and talking over the
events of the last two weeks ; and even the little children are less noisy
than usual. Everything looks like a tornado had swept over the coun-
try and left the stillness of death in its track. Many farmers having
lost their horses are unable to work their corn.
Saturday, June 18. — The telegraph is up again, and working from
Richmond to Staunton. * * Accounts we have from Lexington
represent the treatment of that place by the Yankees as much worse
than Staunton suffered. * * The Yankees while here threw a num-
ber of bombshells into the creek, and the town boys have been fishing
them up and opening them to get the powder. One exploded to-day
while a negro man was opening it, killing the man. The fragments
flew to a great distance.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 321
Sunday night, June 19. — Reported this morning that Hunter got
near enough to Lynchburg to throw two shells into the city, one of
which killed a boy ; that Early attacked him yesterday evening, and
defeated him ; that the Confederates advanced this morning, but found
the Federal army retreating in confusion ; and that Breckenridge was
in a position to intercept the retreat. * * While the Federal army
was here, an officer rode up to the sentinel stationed at the Confederate
workshops, corner of Frederick and Lewis streets, and handing him
written orders from General Hunter, as he said, told him to shoot down
any man who should set fire to the buildings. The Rev. S. D. Stuart
was present and heard it all. In a few minutes the sentinel was with-
drawn, and the buildings were in flames. * * Several of our people
suffered severely at the hands of "Jesse Scouts," taking them for Con-
federate soldiers, and telling them where they had property hid, &c.
Dr. Davidson even took some of them into the woods to see a fine
horse he had secreted there in charge of a negro boy. Horse and boy
were both taken off.
Wednesday night, June 20. — Many reports during the day, some of
which came in a Lynchburg newspaper received this evening. * *
Too much good news for one day! We now have a mail from Char-
lottesville three times a week. The railroad trains come up to Chris-
tian's creek, and from there a stage runs to Staunton. * * Legh R.
Waddell, who was in John L. Opie's company at the battle of Piedmont,
says he did not know the Confederates were defeated till they had re-
treated some distance. He was on the right wing of the Confederate
army, which was successful, the left being broken and routed. After
the company, which was at the rear of the retreating column, had pro-
ceeded some miles, Mr. Waddell became suspicious in regard to the
movement, and remarked to a comrade that the Yankees were proba-
bly at that time in Staunton. This remark was regarded as very ab-
surd, as the company generally thought the movement was for the pur-
pose of "heading the enemy." Upon arriving at Hermitage, the com-
pany was halted, and it was announced that all the farmers had
permission to go home to take off their stock. [This is mentioned as
another instance of how little a private soldier knows about a battle.]
June 24. — We had most flattering reports this morning of the capture
of a good part of Hunter's army and the dispersion of the remainder;
but by evening what seemed to be more truthful accounts were re-
ceived. Nearly the whole concern will escape towards Kanawha.
Sunday night, June 26. — General Early, commanding Ewell's corps,
has arrived within a few miles of town, from towards Lexington, and
the soldiers from this county have been permitted to visit their homes.
We did not know that Early was coming till he had almost reached
town. * * I hear that Federal officers, recently here, said the ladies
of Staunton did not insult them, nor at the same time give them any
countenance ; that no where had they been treated with such cold
21
322 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
politeness. * * During the occupation, several young men belonging
to the cavalry in General Lee's army, who had come home for horses,
called at John Hamilton's, on Christian's creek. While they were at
dinner a dozen Yankees came upon them. They, of course, resisted
capture, and one of them killed a Yankee. One was captured, and the
others escaped. The dead man was taken by his comrades into Hamil-
ton's house and laid upon a bed. They ordered Hamilton to bury him,
which he refused to do, and after insulting and endeavoring to intimi-
date him they went off, promising to send another squad. The second
party came and left without burying the corpse, and Mr. Hamilton had
to do it at last. Two or three of our cavalrymen, at home on furlough,
dashed upon the Yankee pickets near the Lunatic Asylum, and killed
one, and came near stampeding the whole army. While here, the Yan-
kees seem to have been in a state of great trepidation.
Tuesday evening, June 28. — Early's army has been passing through
town since daylight, off and on. The infantry have gone down the
Valley turnpike, the artillery down the New Hope road, and the cavalry
around the western part of the county, without coming through town.
* * The soldiers, generally, seemed in good spirits. * * Early is
supposed to have from 20,000 to 25,000 men. I was aroused early this
morning by the music of the troops who were marching out of town.
They had plenty of music, such as it was. One of the bands played,
"When this cruel war is over." * * As far as dress, &c, are con-
cerned, they are a woe-be-gone looking set. As usual, multitudes of
them have been calling at private houses for something to eat. We
thought the Yankees had left no surplus in the county, but it is im-
possible to refuse a morsel to our own men, notwithstanding the beg-
gars are generally stragglers.
Sunday night, July 10. — At last accounts, Early was at Frederick
City, Maryland. His object, according to current report, is to release
our men held as prisoners at Point Lookout.
Monday, July 11. — We are at last getting some authentic particulars in
reference to the case of Mr. Creigh, of Greenbrier. It was said by some
that a negro woman shot the Yankee who was threatening outrage to
Mrs. Creigh and her daughters ; by others, that Mrs. Creigh's mother shot
the man while Mr. Creigh was struggling with him on the floor. A letter
from Lewisburg states, however, that he was killed by Mr. Creigh in
defence of himself and family, and that his body was thrown into a well.
This occurred six months ago. When the Federal troops were re-
cently in Greenbrier, a negro informed upon Mr. Creigh, and he was
arrested and brought to Staunton. After a mock trial he was condemned,
and hung near New Providence church, in Rockbridge. Averill and
Crook were opposed to his execution, it is said, but it was ordered by
Hunter. A Federal chaplain named Osborne, from Pennsylvania, tes-
tified that Creigh was " a good man, if there ever was one," and that the
soldiers said he did right in killing the ruffian.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 323
Wednesday flight, July /j. — We have no intelligence from Early, ex-
cept through Northern newspapers. Great excitement in the North.
Friday, July /j. — * * The government offers $30 a bushel for
wheat! Surely the public debt will never be paid.
Monday night, July 18. — Our army has left Maryland and crossed to
the south side of the Potomac, near Leesburg.
Saturday, July 23. — A dispatch was received this evening from Rich-
mond, stating that a baggage car on the Danville railroad was burned
this morning, and that the books, papers, &c, of the two banks of
Staunton were destroyed. The effects of the banks were taken to Dan-
ville to preserve them from the enemy, and were on the road back
when the catastrophe occurred. [This report caused a panic in the
community, but it turned out that the loss was not great.]
Tuesday, July 26. — Seven hundred and forty Yankee prisoners were
brought into town yesterday, and sent off by railroad. They were taken
in Maryland and down the Valley.
July 30. — We have no lights at night. Candles are so high in price
that I cannot buy them. * * Very heavy cannonading heard all
morning.
Monday, August 1. — News by the train last night that Grant sprung a
mine at Petersburg, on Saturday. * * The Reserves of the Valley
District are in town to-day, in obedience to an order requiring them to
report here for organization. [They were chiefly men from forty- five to
fifty-five years of age.]
Tuesday, August 2. — Early is said to be at Bunker Hill, near Win-
chester. * * Our loss at Petersburgon Saturday is reported as 1,200;
the loss of the enemy is said to be about 3,000, including 1,100 prisoners.
The slaughter of the enemy is said to have been terrible. [The enemy's
loss was afterwards reported as 5,000.]
August 3. — A rumor to-day that 40,000 Federal troops were at Har-
per's Ferry.
August 4. — Northern newspapers report that McCausland has been to
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and burnt the town.
Tuesday, August p. — One or two persons who were with McCaus-
land at Chambersburg have arrived in town. They say that McCaus-
land, by order of General Early, made a demand on the town for a
hundred thousand dollars, to reimburse the owners of property des-
troyed by the Yankees in Virginia. The people laughed at the demand,
which was made at intervals three or four times, accompanied by a
threat to burn the town if it was not complied with. As the people
persisted in disregarding the demand, the town was finally set on fire.
Our men say the affair was extremely painful to them. There is every
reason to believe that Henry K. Cochran, of Staunton, was killed at
Chambersburg, and he probably fell a victim to popular rage.
Saturday, August 13. — We hear that a large force of the enemy is
324 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
pressing Early up the Valley. * * Heavy cannonading was heard all
the morning from six to eleven or twelve o'clock.
August 14.— Reported that our army and the enemy were confronting
each other at Strasburg on yesterday. * * A large number of army
wagons came in to-day, probably 140 to 150 in all.
Wednesday night, August ij. — Yesterday evening about 6 o'clock I
heard the cannonading below Richmond very distinctly. The Reserves
were sent to Richmond on Monday.
Friday night, August ig. — News from the lower Valley this morning
that the Yankee army was retiring, and burning barns and mills as they
went. Early had passed through Winchester in pursuit.
Wednesday night, August 24. — Four hundred and fifty prisoners from
the lower Valley brought in this evening. They are to be detained
here till further orders from General Early.
August j/.— I am again engaged in the arduous labor of getting up a
coat and vest. Five yards of coarse cloth, which I obtained by a trade,
would have cost in our currency at least $200. Having procured the
cloth, the difficulty now is about trimmings and making. Two yards of
skirt lining will cost $30. My jeans coat, made last year and lost at
Hubbard's, in Nelson county, on the nth of last June, was lined with
an old cravat. Alas ! everything of that kind is now used up, so I must
make the back of an old vest serve another " tour " to help out the new
one. The usual charge of a tailor for cutting out a coat and vest is $15,
and a woman charges $33 for making. These prices are not high con
sidering what the currency is worth. For coat buttons I must rob an
old garment.
Saturday night, September 3. — The Yankee prisoners sent up the Val-
ley by Early, have been forwarded to Lynchburg. While detained here
they were bivouacked on the Middlebrook road two or three miles
from town. A sergeant-major preached to his fellow prisoners once or
twice on last Sunday. .They frequently held prayer-meetings, and their
singing was heard all round the country. Twelve of them, from New
Jersey, expressed a desire to take the oath of allegiance to the Confed-
eracy, and all declared themselves heartily tired of the war.
Saturday night, September 4 .—Mrs. C. sent for me this evening to di-
rect a letter to her husband, who is a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio.
Such letters go from Richmond, by the flag-of-truce boat. While I was
at Mrs. C.'s two children came in, and, inquiring who they were, I was
told that their father also was a prisoner in the enemy's hands. In a
few minutes another little girl entered, and Mrs. C. remarked that her
father, too, was a prisoner.
Tuesday, September 20. — Our army defeated yesterday below Win-
chester. * * A deep feeling of gloom seems to pervade the commu-
nity. Life has no charms at present, and there is little to hope for the
future. It is like walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 325
September 21. — Still very few particulars in regard to the recent battle.
Stage passengers report that our loss was three thousand, killed and
wounded — comparatively few killed— and that the enemy's loss was
very large. They say the enemy was repulsed twice and driven back
two miles, but continued to bring up fresh troops. Early brought off
his wagons and 400 prisoners taken during the battle. Our army was
at Fisher's Hill, and there is a rumor of skirmishing there this morning.
Friday evening, September 23. — A report got out about 2 o'clock that
Early had been driven from Fisher's Hill, with the loss of twelve pieces
of cannon. * * I thought we had reached the lowest stage of
despondency on yesterday, but there was still a " lower deep." Anxiety
was depicted on every countenance. Some persons report that the
enemy is 70,000 strong, while Early has only 7,500 infantry. Edward
Waddell arrived yesterday, badly wounded in the right hand. * *
Reported that thousands of our soldiers are without arms, having
thrown their guns away. Guns have been sent from Staunton since the
battle of Winchester.
Saturday, September 24. — A dispatch from General Early this morn-
ing assured the people of Staunton that they were in no danger — that
his army was safe, and receiving reinforcements. He, however, ordered
the detailed men to be called out. * * This county is now rich in
all that is needed to sustain an army, and if the enemy comes the loss
will be irreparable. General Early's dispatch has not quieted appre-
hension.
About 10 o'clock at night, September 24, General Early sent
an order to evacuate the town, as he was compelled to retire
from the Valley to Brown's Gap, in the Blue Ridge. Daring
that night there was little rest or sleep to persons connected with
the various government depots, and as early as possible the next
day all army stores were started eastward by railroad and wagon
trains.
The Federal army, some 3,000 men, under General Torbert,
entered Staunton on Monday evening, September 26, and, pass-
ing through, camped on the Waynesborough road. A part of
them went to Waynesborough on Tuesday, during which day
the remainder of them occupied Staunton. They entered very
few houses and committed no depredations of any consequence.
They impressed all the negro men into their service, and took
them down the railroad to destroy the track and bridges. The
colored people were very indignant, and did much less damage
to the railroad than they could have done.
On Wednesday, the 28th, the whole Federal command moved
to Waynesborough, and late that evening they were attacked
326 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
by a party of Confederate cavalry from Brown's Gap. The
enemy were driven off, leaving about forty dead and more than
eighty prisoners. They returned through Staunton late Wed-
nesday night, in great haste and some disorder, and went down
the Valley as they came up, by the Springhill road. They ap-
peared to spend Thursday and Thursday night in burning barns
in the direction of Middle river, the whole heavens being illumi-
nated until a late hour.
Confederate cavalry entered Staunton on Thursday, the 29th.
General Early afterwards moved his infantry from Waynesbo
rough towards Mt. Sidney, and for several days North river, from
Bridgewater to Port Republic, was the line between the two
armies.
John N. Hendren, of Staunton, was appointed Treasurer of
the Confederate States in the fall of 1864.
Monday night, October 10. — The Richmond Dispatch of this morning
says that the New York Herald of the 5th published a letter from Grant
to Sheridan, ordering him to burn every house in the Valley, to destroy
every mill, kill every horse, cow, sheep and hog; that he is determined
to make the Valley a wilderness. * * It is said that when the Yan-
kees were here recently an officer made an address to the negroes after
they had finished tearing up the railroad track near town He was
anxious for the young men to go off with them, but would not advise
the old men to leave their homes ; if, however, the latter chose to go,
they would be taken to Washington city where arrangements would be
made by which thev could work for a living. " Humph," said an old
negro, (< plenty work here."
Wednesday night, October 12. — At this usually abundant season of the
year, people heretofore accustomed to live in luxurv are scuffling for
the necessaries of life. Since dark we have been listening to the noise
of a mill grinding sugar cane (sorghum), there it is, still, after 10
o'clock, probably half a mile off. Something sweet -molasses, if not
sugar — is eagerly sought after. At Waynesborough, the other day, I
drank at supper and breakfast " rye coffee " without sugar.
October ij. — Nothing talked of except the recent order calling into
service all detailed men. One order has followed another in rapid suc-
cession from the adjutant-general's office. It seems that almost every
male from seventeen to fifty years of age not in the army is to be taken
to Richmond with the view of going to the field. The recent orders
take millers from their grinding, but men sent from the army undertake
in some cases to run the machinery. Farmers are ordered from their
fields and barns and soldiers are detailed to thresh the wheat. All men
engaged in making horseshoes are ordered off, so that our cavalry and
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 327
artillery horses will have to go barefooted. The officials at Richmond
are apparently in a state of panic.
- Thursday night, October 20. — This afternoon it was announced that
Early had attacked the enemy near Strasburg, and captured 1,500
prisoners. Before the first glow of satisfaction at this good news had
left my face, we heard that Early had lost his cannon, and was retreating
before the enemy.
October 21. — A number of officers and men who were engaged in the
affair down the Valley, and many ambulances with the wounded, have
arrived. They say the enemy was attacked early in the morning and
completely routed, being driven a long distance, with the loss of cannon,
wagons, about 4,000 men — in fact, almost everything. Early ordered a
halt, and immediately his men scattered to plunder. The enemy ral-
lied, and, another corps coming up, attacked our men while they were
dispersed. At the same time the Federal cavalry attacked the wagons
in the rear of the army. The result was, that we were routed, and lost
more than was gained at first, except in prisoners.
October 22. — A large body of prisoners was brought in this morning
and sent oflf by railroad. The number was stated to be 1,340, but I
thought it at least 2,000.
Throughout the war the courts were open, and their authority
was respected, In November of this year, several ''detailed
farmers," called into military service, sued out writs of habeas
corpus, and brought their cases before Judge Thompson at Staun-
ton. He decided that they were not liable to serve as soldiers,
and ordered their discharge.
Thursday, November 10. — From the means employed to provision
Early's army it must be in great straits for subsistence. Commissaries
and quartermasters, with details of men, are traversing the county in
search of supplies. The mills are watched, and every barrel of flour is
taken up as soon as it is turned out.
Thursday, November 24.— A large part of Early's army is in this
county.
December 7. — Two divisions of Early's corps are on their way to
Richmond, having reached Waynesborough.
Rodes' division passed through Staunton on the 15th, and
Wharton's division on the 17th. Rosser went into quar-
ters with his cavalry, near Buffalo Gap, and tne infantry and
artillery left under Early were stationed near Fishersville.
General Early had his headquarters in Staunton.
A report on the 20th, that the enemy was coming up the Val-
ley, brought Early's small force up from Fishersville, and sent
328 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
them down the Winchester road. By the 22d the alarm was
over, and our men were back in their quarters. At 3 o'clock, on
the morning of the 23d, the cavalry were roused in their camp,
and brought to town. The weather was bitter cold, the ground
covered with snow, and the roads were slippery. The men were
chilled and hungry, and went from house to house for breakfast.
Saturday night, December 31. — The last night of a dreary year, full
of wretchedness. * * Forage is very scarce, and many horses are
dying.
Thursday night.. January 12, 1863. — The State sells salt to citizens at
a less price than the market affords, and I have secured all T am entitled
to, as the best investment of Confederate money. Some time ago the
article was distributed to the people of the town at the rate of 25 pounds
to each person, and I then obtained 275 pounds. Another distribution
was made to-day, and I received 220 pounds more. * * A lady's
dress, which formerly cost $10 to $15, now costs $400 to $500.
Monday night, January 16. — Rosser has been to Beverley, Randolph
county, and has captured 600 or 700 Federal soldiers.
January 18. — Pins sell in town at $12 a paper, and needles at $10.
Flour in Richmond at $1,000 a barrel. Confederate currency is almost
worthless.
Friday night, January 20. — Many persons were encouraging them-
selves to-day with reports about foreign intervention. * * The
prisoners captured by Rosser at Beverlev (600 or 700) were sent off by
railroad to-day. They have suffered greatly from cold and hunger, as
our soldiers have. Several of them died on the way to Staunton, and
others will probably not survive long. After the train started I saw one
of the prisoners lying on the pavement at the corner of the courthouse
yard. A crowd was around him, some of whom said he was dying.
He was taken to the Confederate military hospital. All the prisoners
are from Ohio. One of them boasted, it is said, that he had been in
many of the houses about here.
Tuesday, January 31. — Early has had his headquarters in Staunton
for some time, and Fitzhugh Lee moved up from Waynesborough a few
days ago.
Thursday , February p. — Two soldiers, convicted of desertion and
robbery, were shot to-day near town.
Friday, February 24. — General Crook entered Staunton this after-
noon under very different circumstances from his visit in June last.
He was brought in by McNeil's men, who kidnapped him in
Cumberland, Maryland, although there were two Federal regi-
ments in the town.
The people of Augusta, who assembled at February court,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 329
contributed a large amount of provisions for the maintenance
of the Confederate army.
Tuesday, February 28. — We were startled this morning by an order
from General Early to pack up. The enemy in large force was coming
up the Valley, and had arrived at Mt. Jackson.
This was Sheridan's command of mounted men, which swept
through the Valley without tarrying at any point. They burnt
Swoope's depot, Swoope's mill and barn, Bell's barn, etc., on
March 2.
General Early retired with his small force to Waynesborough,
where he made a stand, but he was surrounded by a host of
enemies, and his men were killed, captured or scattered. Wil-
liam H. Harman was killed there, while acting as volunteer aid.
The General narrowly escaped capture. On Saturday, the 4th,
a body of the enemy returned to Staunton with their prisoners,
600 to 800, and the same day proceeded down the Valley, while
the main body crossed the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap. Sheri-
dan had no wagon train, but subsisted upon the country, his men
plundering, consuming and destroying as they went. While
they were in Staunton they seized cooked food wherever they
found it, and on the 2d the writer's family had nothing to eat
during the day except some potatoes which a servant smuggled
into the house and roasted in the dining-room. For several
weeks afterwards there was no communication by railroad or
telegraph between Staunton and Richmond.
Early Monday morning, April 3, the news of the evacuation
of Richmond flew through the streets of Staunton, and from
house to house.
April 6. — All things indicate that the days of the Confederate States
are numbered
On Tuesday morning, April 11, vague reports of General
Lee's surrender reached Staunton.
Friday, April 14. — We heard last night from an authentic source that
General Lee had certainly surrendered himself with his army. * *
O'Ferrall is still operating in the lower Valley. The Federal com-
mander in that quarter notified him that he was violating the terms of
Lee's surrender, and O'Ferrall has sent to Staunton for information.
* * Pierpoint, the Governor of Virginia, recognized by the Federal
government, has been in Richmond. He was elected by a few votes in
330 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Alexandria, Norfolk, and possibly some other places occupied by Fede-
ral troops during the war. Another State, called West Virginia, is pre-
sided over by Governor Bowman or Boreman. Nothing remains for us
but submission.
Sunday night, April 16. — Authentic intelligence to-day that two per-
sons have arrived in Charlottesville from Richmond, sent by Lincoln in
search of Governor Smith, to invite him to return. At last accounts the
Governor was flying from Richmond, on the tow path of the James
river canal.
Monday night, April /y. — Four years ago this day, the two military
companies started from Staunton, and the war began. Now the war is
virtually over, and we are — what shall I say?
LIST OF AUGUSTA MEN
WHO SERVED IN THE FIELD AS CAPTAINS, MAJORS, ETC., IN THE
CONFEDERATE ARMY.
Antrim, George T. — Captain of Company H, Fifth regiment Virginia
infantry. Disabled at Kernstown.
Arehart, Abrahatn. — Captain of Company D, Fifty-second infantry.
Baldwin, John B. — Inspector-General of State troops; colonel of Fif-
ty-second infantry. Disabled by sickness.
Balthis, William L. — Captain of Staunton Artillery, succeeding John
D. Imboden. Disabled at Malvern Hill.
Bateman, Elijah. — Captain of Company G, Fifty-second infantry, suc-
ceeding Samuel McCune. Lost arm in battle, May 6, 1864.
Baylor, William- S. H. — Major of Fifth infantry, lieutenant-colonel
and colonel. Killed at second battle of Manassas, commanding bri-
gade.
Berkeley, Frank B. — Chief of staff of Brigadier-General Imboden,
with rank of captain.
Brown, S. Bradford. — Captain of cavalry: General Lee's body guard.
Bucher, David. — Captain-quartermaster of Fifth infantry.
Bumgardner, James, Jr. — Captain of Company F, Fifty-second regi-
ment, succeeding Joseph E. Cline.
Bitrke, Thomas J. — Captain of Company L, Fifth infantry, succeeding
James H. Waters.
Byers, John S. — Captain of Company C, Fifty-second infantry, suc-
ceeding Wm. E. Dabney. Disabled by wound.
Christian, Bolivar. — Captain-commissary of Fifty-second infantry.
Afterwards on special service with rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Cline, Joseph E. — Captain of Company F, Fifty-second infantry. Re-
tired from disability.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 331
Cochran, George M.,Jr. — Captain-quartermaster of Fifty-second in-
fantry.
Cochran, James. — Captain of Company I, Fourteenth Virginia caval-
ry, succeeding F. F. Sterrett. Promoted colonel.
Coi?ier, C Benton. — Captain of Company G, Fifty-second infantry,
succeeding Elijah Bateman.
Curtis, E. L. — Captain of Company I, Fifth infantry, succeeding O. F.
Grinnan.
Dabney, William E. (of Albemarle).— Captain of Company C, Fifty-
second infantry. Killed at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862.
Davis, Robert C — Captain of Company A, Fifty-second infantry,
succeeding Edward Garber.
Dempster, John J. — Captain of Company E, Fifth infantry, succeed-
ing L. Grills.
D'>ld, James A. — Captain of Company H, Fifty-second infantry, suc-
ceeding J. D. Lilly. Killed at Bethesda Church, below Richmond, 1864.
Doyle, Robei't L. — Captain of Company C, Fifth infantry, lieutenant-
colonel of Sixty-second infantry. Killed at Piedmont while acting as
captain of reserves.
Eultz, Alexander H. — Captain of Staunton Artillery, succeeding A.
W. Garber.
Garber, Asher W. — Captain of Staunton Artillery, succeeding W. L.
Balthis. Promoted major.
Garber, Edward.— Captain of Company A, Fifty-second infantry,
succeeding J. H. Skinner. Killed at second battle of Manassas.
Gibson, James W— Captain of Company H, Fifth infantry, succeed-
ing G. T. Antrim.
Grills, Lycurgus. — Captain of Company E, Fifth infantry, succeeding
J. W. Newton. Died in service.
Grinnan, Oswald F. — Captain of Company I, Fifth infantry.
Hall, William. — Captain of Company G, Fifth infantry, succeeding
R. Simms. Killed at Wilderness, May 5, 1864.
Hanger, Henry H — Captain of Company I, Fourteenth cavalry, suc-
ceeding Joseph A. Wilson.
Hanger, Marshall. — Captain and major on staff of General J. E. B.
Stuart
Harman, Asher W. — Captain of Company G, Fifth infantry, colonel
of Twelfth Virginia Cavalry.
Harman, John A. — Major and quartermaster of Second Corps Army
of Northern Virginia.
Harman, Lewis. — Captain of Company I, Twelfth cavalry.
Harman, Michael G. — Lieutenant-colonel and colonel of Fifty-second
infantry, succeeding J. B. Baldwin.
Harman, William H. — Lieutenant-colonel and colonel of Fifth in-
fantry, succeeding K. Harper. Killed at Waynesborough, 1865, acting
as volunteer aid.
332 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Harper, Kenton. — Colonel of Fifth infantry.
Hotchkiss,Jed. — Major and topographical engineer of Second Corps
Army of Northern Virginia.
Hottle, Joseph F. — Captain of Company D, Fifty-second infantry.
Humphreys, John F. — Captain of Company I, Fifty-second infantry,
succeeding Samuel Lambert.
Imboden, George W. — Colonel of Eighteenth Virginia cavalry.
Lmboden,John D. — Captain of Staunton Artillery ; colonel of inde-
pendent command ; brigadier-general.
Koiner, Absalom. — Major of Fifth infantry, succeeding W. S. H.
Baylor.
Lambert, Samuel. — Captain of Company I, Fifty-second infantry.
Died in service.
Lilly, John D.— Captain of Company H, Twenty-fifth infantry. Pro-
moted lieutenant-colonel.
Lilly, Robert D. — Captain of Company D, Twenty-fourth infantry.
Promoted lieutenant-colonel, and brigadier-general. Lobt an arm at
Winchester, 1864.
L^ong, William. — Captain of Company B, Fifty-second infantry.
Killed at McDowell, May 8, 1862.
Mason, C. R. — Commissioned first as a post-quartermaster with the
rank of captain ; afterwards as lieutenant-colonel of engineers in the
field.
Mc Clung, James A. — Captain-quartermaster of the Fifty-seventh
Virginia regiment.
McClung, Thomas. — Captain of Company E, First Virginia cavalry,
succeeding William Patrick.
McCoy, Charles D.~ Captain of Company D, Twenty-fifth infantry,
succeeding R. D. Lilly.
McCune, Samuel. — Captain of Company D, Fifty-second infantry.
Merrill, C. G. — Captain-quartermaster of Twenty-fifth infantry.
McKamy, William. C. — Captain of Company D, Fifth infantry, suc-
ceeding W. H. Randolph.
Neivton, James W. — Captain of Company E, Fifth infantry. Pro-
moted major. Lost a leg in service.
Patrick, William. — Captain of Company E, First Virginia cavalry.
Promoted major. Killed at Second Manassas.
Randolph, William H. — Captain of Company D, Fifth infantry, suc-
ceeding H. J. Williams. Killed at Cold Harbor.
Roberts, St. Francis. — Captain of Company F, Fifth infantry. Dis-
abled by wounds in battle.
Simms, Richard. — Captain of Company G, Fifth Infantry, succeeding
A. W. Harman. Killed at Second Manassas.
Skinner, James //.—Captain of Company A, Fifty-second infantry,
lieutenant-colonel, and colonel. Wounded and disabled, May 1?, 1864.
Sterrett, F. F. — Captain of Company I, Fourteenth cavalry.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 333
Thompson, James. — Captain of Company B, Fifty-second infantry,
succeeding William Long.
Trevy,J. M. — Captain of Company C, Fifth infantry, succeeding R. L.
Doyle.
Trout, E. Stribling. — Captain of Company H, Fifty-second infantry,
succeeding J. A. Dold.
Waters, James H. — Captain of Company L, Fifth infantry. Captain
and commissary of regiment.
Welter, Charles L— Captain of Company C, Fifty-second infantry,
succeeding J. S. Byers.
Williams, Hazel J, — Captain of Company D, Fifth infantry. Pro-
moted lieutenant-colonel.
Wilson, Joseph A.— Captain of Company I, Fourteenth cavalry, suc-
ceeding James Cochran. Lost an arm in battle.
Wilson, Peter E. — Captain of Company F, Fifth infantry, succeeding
St. F. Roberts.
The following natives of Augusta, who, however, were not living in
the county when the war arose, were officers in the military service :
William D. Stuart, son of Thomas J. Stuart, Esq., of Staunton, born
about 1830, and educated at the Staunton Academy and the Virginia
Military Institute. Was principal of a school in Richmond, in 1861.
Appointed by Governor Letcher, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fourteenth
Virginia regiment. At the reorganization in 1862, was elected colonel
of the Fifty-sixth regiment. Mortally wounded at Gettysburg, and
died in Staunton.
James A. Walker, son of Mr. Alexander Walker, of South river.
Educated at the Virginia Military Institute. While practicing law in
Pulaski county was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Thirteenth Vir-
ginia regiment, commanded then by A. P. Hill. Became successively
colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general.
Briscoe G. Baldwin, Jr., son of Judge B. G. Baldwin, educated at the
Staunton Academy and the Virginia Military Institute. Appointed
lieutenant colonel of artillery and assigned to ordnance duty in Rich-
mond.
John H. McCue, son of John McCue, Esq., was practicing law in Nel-
son county in 1861. Appointed commissary of the Fifty-first regiment,
Colonel Wharton. Was with General Floyd's command at the fall of
Fort Donelson. Captured at Waynesborough in March, 1865, while
acting as volunteer aid and detained a prisoner till July.
John L. Peyton, of Staunton, was appointed, early in the war, agent
of the State of North Carolina in England, and running the blockade
in October, 1861, he resided abroad during the remainder of the war.
334 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
In the battle near Winchester, July 20, 1864, General R. D. Lilly,
while commanding Pegram's brigade, was wounded three times — first,
in the left thigh by a shell ; next, his right arm was shattered near the
shoulder by a minie-ball; and, lastly, a minie-ball went through his
already injured thigh. Being entirely disabled by the second injury, he
dismounted, and as his horse was galloping to the rear he received the
third wound. Weak and faint he laid down under a tree. A portion
of the Federal army passed over him, and a soldier stopped long
enough to take off his field-glass. Left alone for awhile, he crawled to
a shady spot among rocks and leaves. Soon a Federal straggler came
up and robbed him of his watch, pocket-book, hat, gold ring and pocket
knife. Next, an Irishman in the Federal army came along, inquired
about his injuries, and went nearly a mile to procure water for him.
Finally, several of Averill's cavalry gathered near him, and while they
stood there a moccasin snake glided across his forehead and stopped
near his face. He called to the soldiers, and they killed the reptile.
His arm was amputated at the shoulder by a Federal surgeon, and the
wounded thigh was properly treated. The stolen watch was recovered
through the agency of the surgeon and a Federal colonel.
Clement R. Mason was one of the most remarkable men of his day.
He was born a poor boy, early in the present century, and reared in
Chesterfield county. At an early age he was thrown upon his own re-
sources, without the advantages of education. After pursuing various
avocations, he turned his attention to the construction of railroads, and
a large part of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad was constructed by him.
By a mental process peculiar to himself, he made the most intricate cal-
culations in mensuration, with promptness and accuracy. He accumu-
lated several fortunes during his life, and lost nearly as many by his
liberality. He was transparently honest, and, with much worldly
wisdom, as guileless as a child. For about the last thirty years of his
life he resided in Augusta county. When the war arose in 1861, he
raised a company for the Fifty-second regiment, but his services were
more needed otherwise. He was first commissioned as quartermaster,
with the rank of captain. Soon, however, General T. J. Jackson at-
tached him to his person and employed him in constructing roads and
bridges, obtaining for him the commission of lieutenant-colonel of en-
gineers. An anecdote is related to show his energy and skill : One
evening General Jackson notified him to hold himself in readiness to
construct a bridge over a river they were at. The regular engineers
sat up all night, drawing the plan, and in the morning Mason was sent
for to receive instructions. He presented himself at headquarters, with
the announcement that the bridge was up ! His death occurred in
January, 1885, when he was about eighty-two years of age. Up to the
time of his last sickness he was actively engaged in constructing railroads
in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and elsewhere.
CHAPTER XVII.
AFTER THE WAR — 1 865.
The war closed when General Lee surrendered at Appomattox
Courthouse. For many days afterwards all the roads in the State
were full of weary men wending their ways homeward. Many
homes were devastated and poverty-stricken. The armie of
the Confederate States had wasted away, and not only so, but
the people were impoverished. Some food was left in the coun-
try— more, indeed, than was generally known of a few weeks
before — and the pressing need was for articles of clothing.
Railroads had been torn up, factories destroyed, farms laid waste,
towns wrecked, the banks were all broken, and there was liter-
ally no currency in the country. Farmers set to work to do
what they could, and a few other people found employment.
Most white people were idle from necessity, and the negroes as-
serted and proved their newly acquired freedom by leaving the
farms and flocking to town. The recuperation of the country,
which began at once and has been so far consummated, is one of
the marvels of the age.
It was not anticipated at the close of the war that the Southern
people generally would be subjected to pains and penalties.
Edmund Burke said : "It is impossible to frame an indictment
against a whole people." But the fate of many regarded as
leaders was for some time in suspense.
We continue our extracts from the diary :
April 19. — No rumors to-day of any consequence. Yesterday there
was a report that Lincoln had been assassinated.
April 20. — The report of Lincoln's assassination was renewed this
evening.
4f *
There is general regret in our community.
We
336 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
are now in a condition of anarchy. Bands of soldiers are roaming
about and taking off all cattle, sheep, horses, etc., they suppose to be
public property.
Having borne the heat and burden of the war for so long, it is
not strange that returned soldiers, having come home in a state
of destitution, should feel that they had a peculiar right to Con-
federate property, nor is it strange that they sometimes mistook
private for public property.
Friday night, April 21. — I hear that a lady arrived this evening from
Washington with a newspaper giving an account of Lincoln's assassi-
nation. Seward was assailed in his chamber at the same time and
wounded.
April 22. — The assassin was an actor, named John Wilkes Booth.
He and twenty or thirty others associated with him escaped down the
Potomac on the Maryland side. He was not considered a Southern
sympathizer, having left Richmond early in the war to go North.
Rumor says that some persons at the North attribute the murder to
the ultra abolitionists, who are disaffected on account of Lincoln's sup-
posed leniency to the South. Vice-President Andrew Johnson has been
sworn in as President of the United States, and has made several
speeches, in which he announced vengeance against "traitors." He
has withdrawn the invitation, or permission, for our Legislature to
meet at Richmond.
Monday night, April 24. — The Pierpoint government is established at
Richmond, and we will doubtless be required to recognize it as legiti-
mate. * * The County Court was busy to-day trying to devise
means for maintaining law and order.
April 25. — We have no mails, no newspapers, and no regular com-
munication with the world. Occasionally some person arrives with a
Baltimore or Richmond paper. * * There were many exciting
rumors to-day. Among them that Andrew Johnson had been killed,
and that Washington, Philadelphia and New York were in flames.
Also, reported by some one who came up the Valley that Grant had
been killed, and that fighting was going on in Washington city. * *
Trouble, suspense, anxiety — a time when we have no government, and
know not what will be on the morrow.
April 27. — Reported that Andrew Johnson had not been poisoned, as
was said, but was under arrest as an accomplice in the assassination of
Lincoln !
Saturday, April 2g. — Several companies of the Twenty-second New
York cavalry, under Colonel Reid, arrived to-day from Winchester.
They came in very cautiously, having scouts on the hills before they
entered. They evidently feared an ambuscade ! Their camp is near
the cemetery. * * It was a curious spectacle this afternoon to see
Federals and Confederates mingling on the streets. Everybody seemed
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 337
to be at ease. Jesse Scouts were in town considerably in advance of
the main body.
Sunday night, April 30. — The day passed off quietly. Many Yankees
were riding and walking about unarmed. Four officers and two other
soldiers attended the Presbyterian church in the forenoon. The Epis-
copal church was not open, because Mr. Latan6 was apprehensive of
trouble if he omitted to pray for the president of the United States.
Surely these are evil times when churches are subject to military con-
trol. * * Our town police arrested a drunken Yankee soldier last
night and put him in jail.
Monday night, May 1. — Negroes are flocking to the Yankee camp,
some of them having come from home on horseback. * * The Yan-
kees gave up stolen horses to their owners when called for. * * The
officers have told everybody that they did not wish the negroes to gooff
with them, and would furnish to them neither transportation nor rations,
but they were not at liberty to send them home. This afternoon, how-
ever, the soldiers began a system of treatment which must have been
discouraging to " American citizens of African descent." A number of
tents had been taken from the military hospital to the Yankee camp,
and some of them were spread upon the ground and used as blankets
for tossing up the colored friends. Men, women and children were
thrown up at the risk of cracking skulls or breaking necks. One woman
having been tossed up several times fell on her head, and at last ac-
counts was lying insensible. * * This evening a Confederate and
Yankee had a fist-fight in the street. The former got the better of his
opponent, but both were put in jail.
Tuesday, May 2 — The Federal troops started early this morning
down the Valley. Many negroes, men, women and children, accom-
panied them. The negroes can't realize that freedom is possible in
their old homes. One old man started, but soon returned, saying it was
too far !
Thursday night, May 4. — A movement was on foot this morning for a
public meeting on Monday next, with a view to the reorganization of
the State government under the Constitution and laws of the United
States.
Sunday night, May 7. — Information that a considerable body of Fed-
eral troops is on the way from Winchester. * * General Smith, our
fugitive Governor, is in town to-night, and has sent round notice that he
will deliver an address at the American hotel.
Monday night, May 8. — The county meeting came off to-day, and was
attended by many people. A committee was appointed to go to Rich-
mond and confer with the authorities there, civil or military, and ascer-
tain what liberty will be allowed in regard to the re-establishment of
the State government. The committee are Alexander H. H. Stuart, Wil-
liam M. Tate, John B. Baldwin, M. G. Harman and Hugh W. Sheffey.
22
338 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Governor Smith approved of the meeting. Resolutions were adopted
declaring that the contest is ended ; that a State Convention should be
held, &c. The Governor goes armed with a brace of pistols, and his
servant carries a gun or two. He has returned to Lexington.
Tuesday night, May 9. — The Federal troops entered town this morning.
First came three or four scouts, next the cavalry (three regiments), and
then three regiments of infantry. Brigadier-General Duval commands.
Their principal camp is on the Parkersburg road, near town. The
headquarters are at the Virginia hotel. They have about 150 wagons,
and supplies for thirty days. As the first infantry regiment marched in
the band played " Hail Columbia." The private soldiers seem good-
natured enough, but they are a low order of people, much inferior to
our men, who have always whipped them when not outnumbered more
than three to one. The officers are a spruce, dapper-looking set.
Wednesday night, May 10. — The committee appointed by the county
meeting on Monday called upon General Duval this morning. He
was extremely civil; said the only instructions he had were to restore
order by suppressing guerilla parties, and to parol Confederate soldiers.
He had no instructions in regard to civil government. [There were no
guerillas in the country.]
Friday night, May 12. — We are tasting the bitterness of a conquered
people. The Yankees are evidently trying to worry us because they
are not taken into society. No disrespect is shown to them, but cold
politeness. The officers ride and walk about, decked off in shining
coats, and evidently desire to attract the attention of the ladies. Gen-
eral Duval is not satisfied with the temper of the people — "they are
still defiant." He has therefore resorted to various petty annoyances.
* * Yesterday he alleged that several persons had been murdered
within four miles of Staunton — "Union people," who had recently come
back. Nobody else had heard of it, and the statement is utterly false.
* * Citizens are not allowed to be on the streets after 10 o'clock at
night. * * This morning a Yankee soldier was found dead near
town, but, strange to say, the " Rebels " are not charged with having
killed him. Yesterday a body of four or five hundred cavalry came in
from Charlottesville to open an office for paroling, not knowing that
any troops were here. They returned this morning. We hear that the
Yankees at Winchester have the negro men, who lately went off from
this place, working on the streets, guarded by soldiers, and that the
women are begging from door to door.
May 14. — Reported on the streets that President Johnson has issued a
proclamation declaring the property of all aiders and abettors of the
" rebellion" confiscated, declaring all public offices vacant, and setting
aside all sales of real estate made since i860. Pierpoint is recognized
as the Governor of Virginia, of course.
May 75. — A sentinel has been promenading to-day before N. K.
■I
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 339
Trout's residence, because, the Yankees allege, the girls " made
mouths," or hissed at the band as they entered town a week ago. The
girls deny the charge. But what if they did ?
May 16. — Many persons in town have been making what money they
could out of the Yankee soldiers. Betty, a colored servant girl at 's,
thought she would try her hand, although her mistress is suspected of
being a secret partner in the venture. At any rate, Betty went out to
the camp with a lot of fresh pies to sell on reasonable terms. In due time
she returned, greatly elated with her success — she had a handful of
notes. But, alas ! the rascality of the Yankees, and, alas ! Betty's igno-
rance of United States currency. Upon examination, it turned out that
the papers for which she had exchanged her pies were bottle labels,
advertising cards, etc., without a cent of money among them. Betty
probably told very freely where she lived, and- during the day some
Yankees called at the house and inquired if they could get any pies
there.
Thursday, May 18. — A pistol or gun was fired in one of the streets
last night, and General Duval imagined that he was shot at. Early in
the morning the town was surrounded by pickets, and no one was
allowed to come in or go out. Every house was searched for fire-arms,
and every weapon, however rusty and useless, was triumphantly seized
and carried off. It is said and believed that a gun in the hands of a
Federal soldier was accidentally discharged. But General Duval firmly
believes that the " rebels," having sacrificed the head of the nation,
are trying to kill him, the next great man. * * The soldiers have
been tossing negroes in blankets at their camp, and it is reported that
one was killed and buried yesterday.
May ig. — Several stores have been opened in town by army sutlers
and others. The report of President Davis's capture is repeated.
May 20. — A second public meeting was held to-day in the courthouse
by General Duval's permission, and another committee was appointed
to go to Richmond, &c, &c. It was a sham affair. * * Yesterday
no one was allowed to leave town unless he had taken the oath of alle-
giance. All restrictions were removed to day, but no one is permitted
to be on the streets after 8 o'clock P. M.
Sunday, May 21. — This morning, after the Presbyterian congregation
had assembled for worship, through some bungling, a Yankee chaplain
was escorted to the pulpit where the Rev. Mr. Baker was seated. The
chaplain only wanted to give notice that he would preach elsewhere in
the evening, but persons outside, hearing of the intrusion, as they re-
garded it, spread the report that he had usurped the pulpit and intended
to preach by force of arms. The affair caused great indignation at first,
but afterwards much amusement. The scene which outsiders imagined
was exhibited in the church is described by Walter Scott in "Wood-
stock," when the Rev. Nehemiah Holdenough was thrust from his pul-
pit by one of Cromwell's soldiers and his comrades, who exclaimed :
340 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
" We will pluck yon Jack Presbyter out of his wooden sentinel box and
our own watchman shall relieve guard and mount thereon, and cry
aloud and spare not." According to report, some of the Federal offi-
cers don't spare the chaplain. They asked him if he had preached
to-day, and he replied : "No, neither preach, pray, nor sing." He did
sing, however, at the Presbyterian church.
Monday night, May 22. — Pierpoint is recognized by the Washington
authorities as the legitimate Governor of Virginia. We are apprehen-
sive that no one will be allowed to vote or hold office unless he purges
himself by oath of all sympathy with the " rebellion," and thus nearly
the whole people will be excluded. No doubt some will swear they
never did sympathize. The applicants for office upon the restoration
of the monarchy in the person of Charles II were not more debased
than some people now-a-days.
Monday night, May 2g. — Yesterday evening United States flags were
hung out at several street corners, so that persons going to the Episcopal
church should have to pass under them, and a small paper flag was sus-
pended over the church gate. This morning a small flag was found
pasted to the portico of A. F. Kinney *s house, and Ned Kinney, who
first discovered it, took it down. For this act of treason he was ar-
rested and threatened with banishment to a Northern prison. A large
flag was then put at Kinney's gate.
Tuesday night, May 30. — The Pierpoint's Constitution of Virginia,
framed at Alexandria during the war by sixteen men, and never voted
for by anybody else, is to be imposed upon us by Federal bayonets. It
wipes out slavery now and forever, &c, &c.
May ji. — Most of the county committee, No. 1, have returned from
Richmond. Pierpoint insists upon his Constitution with its provision
restricting the right of suffrage to those who can, or will, take what is
called '' the iron-clad oath" But it seems that the Legislature may
remove the restriction.
Thursday night, June 1. — General Duval's flags are spreading them-
selves. Another string of them is stretched across Augusta street, near
Main. The General says the flags were not put up by his order, but
being up they must be respected.
Friday night, June 2. — The " last agony " from Washington appeared
this morning — President Johnson's proclamation of pardon to rebels on
certain conditions. There are so many proclamations and oaths of one
sort and another that it is hard to keep the run of them. All military
officers above the rank of lieutenant, all civil officers of the " pre-
tended," or " so-called," Confederate States, and all persons worth more
than $20,000 are excluded from the benefits of the oath last prescribed
by the president. Persons belonging to these classes must file petitions
to his excellency for pardon, and he promises to be liberal. Why per-
sons worth over $20,000 are specially guilty is hard to see. Many a fla-
grant " rebel " is not worth a dollar in ready money.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 341
June 4. — There is a good deal of talk about emigrating to Brazil.
But it is not worth while. No doubt the first man met on landing
would be a Connecticut vender of wooden nutmegs.
June 5. — A man in a sulky, while passing under the flags on Saturday,
cut at them with his whip, for which grave offence he was put into the
guard-house and kept there until to-day.
June 6. — The flag farce has reached the ne plus ultra of absurdity.
Yesterday two soldiers went to O. C. Morris's and demanded a flag they
said he had. He stated that he knew of no flag on his premises, and
the men rushing by him found a negro child having a little red rag tied
to a switch, which it had been playing with at the kitchen window
Full of patriotic ardor, the soldiers seized the rag, and tearing it in
pieces warned Morris that his whole family would be put under arrest
if the offence were repeated.
Monday night, June /<?.— -Two regiments of infantry, under a Colonel
Stewart, arrived to-day, from Winchester, to relieve Duval's command.
Tuesday night, June 13. — The two infantry regiments of Duval's com-
mand marched out this afternoon, on their return to Winchester, fol-
lowed by an immense train of negroes. The other infantry regiment
was sent to Harrisonburg several weeks ago. The officers of the Ohio
regiment, which left to-day, are apparently gentlemen, and we are sorry
they did not remain, as we are still to have Federal troops here. Col-
onel Duval (no relation of the General) and Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson
have always conducted themselves as sensible and liberal men, and
have freely expressed their disapproval of the General's fooleries. The
General's coach was a luxurious vehicle, drawn by four elegant gray
horses. It is said the cavalry have gone also.
June 14. — United States treasury notes, called "green backs," and
national bank notes constitute our paper currency. Very little current,
however.
Tuesday night, June 20. — The poor negroes flock to town as if they
could not be free in the country. One small tenement, in which an old
couple lately lived, is now occupied by thirty.
June 21. — A report that four hundred Yankee negro troops, in Texas,
demanded the surrender of some Confederates, and were attacked and
all but sixty killed. As we are now a part of the United States, the
way of telling this news on the street is: "The Rebels have whipped
our people again."
Monday night, June 26. — A military order is posted in the streets
to-day, requiring "Rebel" soldiers to take off all insignia of rank,
brass buttons, &c. The days of "the '45," when the Highland plaid
was proscribed, have come back again. * * The "so called " Legisla-
ture of Virginia — the Senate composed of four men, including the Lieu-
tenant-Governor— has met at Richmond, and passed an act allowing
persons to vote without taking " the iron-clad oath." There can be no
courts till October.
342 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
June 29. — Many stores in Staunton. Goods said to be very cheap —
that is, it seems so because we have not forgotten Confederate prices.
July 2. — Federal soldiers have been enforcing the order for Confede-
rates to strip off military clothing. Some of them have stood at street
corners with shears to cut off brass buttons, &c. Every negro, even,
wearing an old Confederate coat or jacket has lost his buttons. Most
of our poor fellows have nothing to wear except their old uniforms.
Wednesday, July 5. — The negroes gave the Yankee officers a dinner
yesterday at their barracks. The town was full of negroes of both
sexes, who celebrated the Fourth by walking about. A number of
drunken soldiers were also on the streets. At night there was quite a
mob of them in town.
Wednesday night, July 19. — The first election for county officers under
the new order of things was held yesterday. The vote was quite full,
contrary to expectation. Most of the late incumbents of the various
offices were re-elected, but the present attorney-general has published
an opinion, received here after the election, in which he lays it down
that all persons who have held office under the " so-called " Confederate
States government are ineligible to office, which will probably cut out
many of the successful candidates. * * "Loyal" men are so much
afraid of acknowledging the Confederacy that they generally preface
it by the words "so-called."
Saturday, July 22. — The Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania regiment came
here last week from Richmond, or somewhere east. The men are dis-
contented and lawless. * * We have no mails, although the railroad
trains and stage-coaches run regularly.
Tuesday night, July 25. — The two regiments under command of Colo-
nel Stewart started down the Valley this evening. Everybody regrets
the departure of Stewart. We expect nothing good from the Pennsyl-
vania regiment which remains here. The officers seem afraid of the
men. It is currently reported that a soldier gave his captain a whipping
a few days ago.
August 13, — Governor Pierpoint has ordered new elections of county
officers in place of those recently elected, who had held Confederate
offices. The county magistrates elected on the 18th July met recently
and adjourned over to the regular court day in this month. The corpo
ration election took place last week, and I believe the military have
made a formal surrender of the town to the civil authorities.
Monday night, August 28. — The first session of the new county court
was held to-day. Some routine business was transacted. * * Mr.
A. H. H. Stuart was nominated by a public meeting for Congress.
Candidates for the Legislature were also nominated.
September 10. — Notwithstanding we now have civil courts, our pro-
vost-marshal continues to try all sorts of cases. He generally decides
in favor of the negroes whenever they are parties before him.
An election for members of the State Legislature was held
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 343
October 12. Nicholas K. Trout was elected to represent Au-
gusta county in the Senate, and John B. Baldwin, Joseph A.
Waddell, and George Baylor were elected members of the House
of Delegates. Mr. Stuart was at the same time elected a mem-
ber of the United States House of Representatives.
The Circuit Court for Augusta county, Judge L. P. Thomp-
son presiding, was held at the usual time in November. But
although civil authority was then professedly restored, some
Federal troops were kept in Staunton till January 12, 1866,
when they were finally taken away. They were accused of ex-
citing much disorder in the town, and their departure caused
general rejoicing in the community.
CHAPTER XVIII.
RECONSTRUCTION — 1 865~'7 1 .
At the close of 1865, our people flattered themselves that they
would be left to attend to their own affairs, under the Constitu-
tion of the United States, without further molestation. They
had in good faith "accepted the situation," and had no thought
of future resistance to Federal authority. We shall see how far
they were disappointed.
Congress and the Legislature met in December, on the same
day. Mr. Stuart could not take the prescribed oaths, and he
and all Southern men were excluded from the halls of Congress.
This was a strange spectacle. The war was waged for four years
to compel the Southern people to return to the Union, and now
their representatives, although prepared to swear allegiance, were
denied all participation in the government. For four years more
Virginia had no representative in Congress.
The Legislature, however, proceeded comparatively untram-
meled. John B. Baldwin, of Augusta, was elected speaker of the
House of Delegates, and his influence was commanding and
most salutary. There was little in the proceedings of the Legis-
lature during either session — the winters of i865~'6 and 1866-7
— which has a place in these Annals. Some of the business was
of general importance, and much of it was merely routine. Fed-
eral politics were avoided as far as possible. Many acts of incor-
poration were passed, and amongst them one for chartering the
Valley Railroad Company.
Under the Alexandria Constitution, "so called," judges of the
higher courts were nominated by the Governor, and ratified or
rejected by the Legislature. The Court of Appeals consisted of
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 345
three judges, and the counties were arranged in circuits, as pre-
viously. In February, 1866, Judge Lucas P. Thompson, of the
Augusta Circuit Court, was nominated by the Governor and con-
firmed by the Legislature as one of the judges of the Court of
Appeals. His health, however, was then declining, and he died
in the following April, without having taken his seat on the
bench of the highest court. In like manner, Hugh W. ShefTey,
of Staunton, became the judge of the Circuit Court of Augusta
and other. counties.
Mutterings of the coming trouble were heard early in 1866.
The few "original Union men" in the State were dissatisfied with
the restoration of " Rebels" to place and power; and a few of
them, under the lead of John C. Underwood, held a meeting in
Alexandria, in February, and adopted a memorial asking Con-
gress to set aside the State government and organize a tenitorial
government for Virginia. The proposition was generally re-
garded as preposterous; but Underwood and his faction having
the sympathy of the dominant party in Congress, in order, if pos-
sible, to forestall hostile action, the people of Augusta, in a public
meeting, on February court day, reaffirmed the resolutions
adopted by them May 8, 1865.
On the 4th of April, 1866, a convention was held in Staunton,
in behalf of the Valley Railroad enterprise, eight counties being
represented. The company was organized under the charter
granted by the Legislature, and a president and directors were
elected.57
A proclamation of the Secretary of State of the United States at
Washington, dated December 18, 1865, set forth that the Thir-
teenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited slavery
in the United States, had become valid, having been ratified by
thirty-three States, exclusive of Virginia. To this amendment
there was no opposition in this section of country, our people
generally having no desire to perpetuate the institution of
slavery. But the Thirteenth Amendment was no sooner adopted
than the Fourteenth was proposed. This amendment, among
other things, disfranchised every person, who, having previously,
as a public officer, taken an oath to support the Constitution of
57 The road was completed to Staunton in March, 1874, and to Lex-
ington in November, 1883.
346 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the United States, had engaged in rebellion, unless relieved of
such disability by a vote of two-thirds of each house of Congress.
It also prohibited the payment by any State of any debt incurred
in aid of rebellion. The agitation of this matter led to another
meeting of the people of Augusta, at their June court, 1866, at
which J. M. McCue presided. Resolutions were adopted protest-
ing against amendments to the Constitution proposed by " the
body of men now assembled at Washington, and which claims
to be the Congress of the United States." They further ex-
pressed opposition to the amendment, but declared that no pro-
position of the sort could be considered by the people till all the
States were represented in Congress.
While our people were kept in a state of unrest and discom-
fort by the measures proposed by politicians at Washington,
nothing of special interest occurred in the county during the
remainder of 1866.
On the 4th of January, 1867, a bill to establish and incor-
porate the "Augusta County Fair" was introduced in the
House of Delegates by John B. Baldwin. This bill was duly
passed, and, as required by it, the County Court appointed
directors of the Fair at their June term, 1867.
Until the early part of 1867, it was expected that a Governor
would be elected during that year to take office January 1, 1868.
Mr. Stuart and Colonel Baldwin were the only citizens promi-
nently named in connection with the office; and if the election
had been held, it is almost certain that one or the other of them
would have been chosen to preside over the St9te.
The Legislature was called upon to consider the proposed
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and on the
9th of January, 1867, the Senate unanimously, and the House
of Delegates with only one dissenting vote, declined to ratify it.
The party controlling Congress had, however, been at work
devising measures to constrain the Southern States to ratify the
Fourteenth Amendment, and on the 20th of February the " Shel-
lebarger Bill" was passed. This bill provided, that whenever
the people of any one of the "Rebel States" should adopt a
Constitution framed by a convention of delegates elected by
"the male citizens of said State, twenty-one years old and up-
wards, of whatever race, color, or previous condition," &c, &c. ,
"except such as may be disfranchised for participation in rebel-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 347
lion," &c, &c, and when, by a vote of the Legislature of said
State, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution should be
adopted, then senators and representatives therefrom should be
admitted into Congress, &c. This act was vetoed by President
Johnson, but became a law by a two-thirds vote of Congress.
Another act was passed over the president's veto, March 22d,
which provided for the registration of voters and the call of State
conventions contemplated by the Shellebarger Bill. These meas-
ures caused a feeling of deep depression in the State, as they
indicated, it was believed, an intention to place the common-
wealth in the hands of the freed negroes, to the exclusion of
nearly all other people.
General Schofield, of the Federal army, commanded the troops
in Virginia, or " Military District No. i," as it was called. He
issued an order, April 2, suspending all elections by the people
until the registration of voters required by act of Congress
should be completed. In the meantime, vacancies in office were
to be filled by military appointment of persons deemed "loyal,"
or who would take the prescribed oath, commonly known as
" the iron-clad oath." Registration officers in the various coun-
ties were appointed by General Schofield from the same class.
The Legislature adjourned finally on the 29th of April.
Confederate Memorial Day was observed in Staunton by the
people of Augusta for the first time on the 10th of May, the fourth
anniversary of the death of General Thomas J. Jackson. Colonel
Charles T. O'Ferrall delivered an address in the Methodist
church, and a procession of people, nearly a mile in length, moved
from the town to Thornrose Cemetery, where there were appro-
priate ceremonies.
The registration of voters, under the act of Congress, was
begun June 22, and completed July 20. The number of voters
registered in the county was 4,690, of whom 3,484 were white
people, and 1,206 colored. This system of registration, and the
secret ballot coupled with it, were innovations on the ancient cus-
tom in Virginia. We had now seen the last of the old, and, as
many still think, better plan of voters proclaiming their choice
at the polls.
Everything in relation to the proposed convention was ar-
ranged and ordered by the Federal officer in command of
" Military District No. 1." General Schofield directed that Au-
348 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
gusta county should have two delegates, and the district of
Augusta, Albemarle, and Louisa, one, and that the election
should take place October 22. The voters had the privilege of
voting for or against the Constitution, as well as for delegates to
serve in case the majority in the State was in favor of a conven-
tion.
Nearly all the white people in the State were arrayed in oppo-
sition to the measures of the extreme "Republicans," who
controlled both branches of the United States Congress. The
former styled themselves "Conservatives," and called the other
party " Radicals." A public meeting of the Conservatives of
Augusta was held in the courthouse on Saturday, October 12, to
nominate candidates for the Convention, the assembling of which,
however, they intended to vote against. The nominees were
Joseph A. Waddell and Powell Harrison to represent Augusta
county, and James C. Southall to represent the district, and
these gentlemen were elected on the 22d by large majorities over
their Radical opponents. The vote stood in the county, for
convention, 1,257, including 1,024 negroes and 233 whites ;
against convention, 1,655, including 1,646 whites and 9 negroes.
The total number of votes cast in the county was 2,912. Thus,
of the registered voters, 1,788 — nearly all white people — did not
exercise the right of suffrage on this occasion. Very many of
the people were discouraged, and indisposed to wage what they
felt was a useless contest with the Congress of the United States,
supported by the military power of the government. So it was
in the State generally. The vast majority of the white people
who went to the polls voted against the convention, but very
many did not vote at all, while the negroes generally attended
and voting for the convention, the majority in favor of it was
45,455-
At November court a public meeting was held in the court-
house to appoint delegates to a State Conservative Convention.
This body convened in Richmond on the nth of December, and
was presided over by Mr. Stuart, of Augusta. Among its mem-
bers were many of the ablest and best known citizens of the
State, all or nearly all of whom, however, were disfranchised by
act of Congress. Its proceedings, though important, constitute
no part of the Annals of Augusta County.
The Constitutional Convention, in session at the same time,
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 349
was in striking contrast to the body just mentioned. It met on
Tuesday, December 3, 1867, in the Hall of the House of Dele-
gates, at Richmond. The ruling spirit of the body was John C.
Underwood, the President of the Convention, and also Judge of
the United States District Court. It is therefore known in his-
tory as the " Underwood Convention." From a Richmond let-
ter, dated January 16, 1868, published in the Stamiton Spectator,
we take the following account of the convention :
Of the members in attendance (104), twenty-five are colored men,
varying in complexion from the bright mulatto to the blackest African.
Among those classed as colored men, is one who is said to bean Indian
of almost pure blood. This is "Mr. Morgan," of Petersburg, whose
person is quite imposing, and whose deportment so far has been emi-
nently respectable. Indeed, I must, in justice, say that most of this
class conduct themselves in a manner which shows they were well
brought up — that is, they are polite and unobtrusive. Of course they
are uneducated and ignorant, and the idea of their undertaking to
frame a State Constitution would be too ridiculous to be credited, if
the spectacle were not presented to us daily in the capitol of Virginia.
But some five or six of the negroes aspire to statesmanship and oratory,
and discuss the most difficult questions with all the self-complacency
that Daniel Webster could exhibit. White men unaccustomed to speak
in public usually betray some embarrassment in addressing an audience
— not so these negroes The most practiced speakers are not more
composed and self-satisfied than they. The official reporter is giving
an utterly false version of the debates, as far, at least, as the negro ora-
tors are concerned. A speech delivered by one of them several weeks
ago was entirely without meaning, a mere string of words having no
connection or sense, but the stenographer has put forth in its place quite
an elegant effusion.
The white Radicals are a motley crew. Some of them have appa-
rently little more intelligence than the negroes, and have doubtless come
from the lowest ranks of the people. The leaders, with three or four
exceptions, are Northern men who came to this State with the Federal
army in the capa:ity of petty officers, chaplains, commissaries, clerks,
sutlers, &c. Others were probably employees of the Freedmen's Bu-
reau, and when that institution dispensed with their services were left
here stranded like frogs in a dried-up mill-pond. Having no other re-
source they plunged into politics. They are now jubilant in the receipt
of eight dollars a day from the treasury of the State, and happy in an-
ticipation of the fat offices they are to get by means of the same voters
who sent them to the Convention. In regard to the latter particular,
however, they may be disappointed. The negroes have their eyes on
the same places for themselves, and will probably claim them. " Dr.
350 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Bayne " would not hesitate to take a seat on the bench of the Court of
Appeals.
The Conservative members oi the Convention number about thirty-
four. They are generally men of intelligence, but only a few of them
have any experience or skill in legislative business. The opinion is
often expressed here that there is too much speaking on their side of
the house. The impulsiveness and imprudence of some of these gen-
tlemen, it is thought, injure the cause they seek to maintain.
The president of the Convention is, apparently, a gentleman of great
amiability. When I observed the other day the suavity of his deport
ment in the chair, and thought of the shocking harangues he was lately
wont to deliver to his grand juries, I was reminded of Byron's descrip-
tion of one of his heroes — " as mild-mannered man as ever scuttled
ship," &c.
A Conservative looker-on is filled with indignation, disgust, and
amusement all at one moment. I have seen several gentlemen from
the North who have visited the Convention, and they seemed aghast at
the spectacle.
The Radical members of the Convention were of course elected
by the votes of negroes, the whites yielding to apathy in many
counties where it might have been otherwise. Some of the
Northern leaders were men of good talent, but all were, more or
less, possessed by a spirit of vindictive hostility to everything
distinctively Virginian, and sought to frame all the institutions of
the State according to the New England pattern.
A pen-and-ink sketch of the Convention on the 29th of Janu
ary, drawn from life on the spot, by the writer of the letter just
quoted, may be tolerated here.
Since the date of my last letter, the farce of " High Life Below Stairs"
has been performed daily in the capitol before an admiring crowd of
idle blacks who fill the galleries of the hall. At twelve o'clock pre-
cisely, the president, having already since sunrise undergone the labors
of Hercules in his court-room, takes the chair, and in the blandest tones
calls the Convention to order. The burly and apparently good-natured
secretary is safely ensconced behind his desk. The chaplain, who is
exceedingly meek and sleek in appearance, goes through his part of the
performance, occasionally remembering in his petitions the " ex-Con-
federates." The assistant secretary next proceeds to read the journal
of the previous day, getting over printed matter quite readily, but
stumbling sadly over manuscript. All this being done, a hundred reso-
lutions, more or less, are forthwith precipitated upon the chair. A
score of members, white and black, shout " Mr. President ! " all at once,
and at the top of their voices. A dozen more, led on by the white mem-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 351
ber from Norfolk, "rise to pints of order." The sergeant-at-arms raps
vigorously with his mallet, and calls, "Order, gentlemen!" "order,
gentlemen ! ! " looking very fierce, and making more disorder than
everybody else. By this time the president is grievously perplexed.
He tries to decide the various points of order. Sometimes " the chair
is in doubt," and asks to be advised. At another time he announces
his decision, or at least "the chair is inclined to think so." Forthwith
one dozen copies of Jefferson's Manual are drawn upon him. The
chair begins to hesitate — he " believes the gentleman is right," takes
back his decision, retracts incontinently — and looks as humble as
Uriah Heep. Thus the business begins, and proceeds day after day.
At this moment the subject of taxation is under consideration, and
gives rise to much debate. This subject, as you are aware, has occu-
pied the attention of the ablest political economists and statesmen for
many centuries, and I congratulate the world that its true principles are
about to be settled at last by a competent tribunal. Dr. Bayne (whether
M. D., D. D., or LL.D., this deponent sayeth not,) has recently enlight-
ened us on the subject. The question presented no difficulties to his
clear and vigorous intellect. He spoke for a good hour, shedding a
flood of light upon a great variety of subjects. He told us about the
"bears and panters " in the Dismal Swamp near Norfolk, where the
Doctor lives, and declared his determination to have free schools
established there.
Another topic upon which the Doctor enlightened us during his speech
on taxation, was the mode of constructing pig-pens and chicken-coops
in Massachusetts. He had rusticated for a time in the Bay State.
Taking up a printed document which was lying before him, he bent it
into the shape of a model, the original of which was no doubt brought
over by the Pilgrim Fathers in the May Flower, along with all other
useful institutions. I am satisfied that our new Constitution should
provide for the introduction of the Massachusetts pig-pen and chicken-
coop into this State without delay. Dr. Bayne informed us that in the
Bay State one little boy fed all the pigs, while here it took four men and
five women, and " old master " to boot.
And now Mr. Frank Moss, of Buckingham county, gets the floor on
the same subject. White Radical: "Will the gentleman allow me a
minute ? " Mr. Moss : " No ; I aint gwine to low you nary minit."
The very black gentleman proceeds to say that he " has sot here and
hern em talk about taxation," &c. He goes for laying the burden on
land. So do all the colored members, and some of the whites, avowedly
expecting by this means to force the owners to sell or give away a part
of their lands. If I understood Dr. Bayne, however, taxing the lands
heavily will cause pigs to grow much faster and larger.
Another member — and a white man this time — advocates a capitation
tax, but is entirely opposed to a poll-tax ! A mischievous Conservative
politely asks the speaker to explain the difference, and we are told that
352 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
" a capitation tax is on the head," and '" a poll-tax is for roads — that's
the way I understand it, sar ! " These are our Constitution-makers!
I have a suspicion that some of the white Radicals are getting sick
of their black allies. The white leaders expected the blacks to be a
very tractable set of voters, so excessively in love with " the old flag,"
and so thoroughly " loyal," as to give all the good fat places to the pale
faces. But genius will assert itself— the star of Africa is in the ascend-
ant, and the light of its civilization is dawning upon us. The new era,
beginning with " equality before the law," has now reached the stage
of "manhood suffrage," and the consummation of no distinction any-
where " on account of race or color " is hastening on. No, not exactly
that — there is to be distinction, for the blacks seem to claim the honors
and emoluments without bearing the burdens of government. The
black speakers scold and hector their white associates, whom they sus-
pect of an indisposition to toe the mark. Some of the latter cower and
cajole, and do everything possible to conciliate. Others of the whites,
however, are evidently restive. They have caught a Tartar.
Governor Pierpoint's term of office expired January i, 1868,
and no successor had been elected. In point of fact, a governor
was entirely unnecessary, as all the functions of the office were
exercised by the Federal military commander. General Scho-
field, to keep up appearances, however, issued an order, April
4th, appointing Henry H. Wells governor of the State, and re-
quiring that he be " obeyed and respected accordingly." Wells
was a Northern man, who settled in Alexandria at the close of
the war.
The Underwood Convention adjourned April 15, having com-
pleted its work. It must be admitted that the Constitution
proposed was, in some respects, better than could have been
anticipated But it prohibited from voting all persons who,
having held any civil or military office, afterwards participated
in "rebellion," and imposed the "iron clad oath" upon all
persons appointed or elected to public office, thereby disfran-
chising nearly all the white people in the State.
The Convention designated June 2 as election day for rati-
fication or rejection of the Constitution. General Schofield,
however, issued an order, April 24. postponing the election
indefinitely, alleging want of funds to meet the expenses.
The possibility of having such a Constitution, with all its
restrictive clauses, imposed upon the State, aroused the white
people from their lethargy. The general feeling was expressed
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 353
by the Charlottesville Advocate in a few words. Speaking of
the Constitution it said: "The thing is coal-black. It is an
ebon)' Constitution, with an iron-clad oath. It is not Jamaica,
but Hayti, and Hayti with the felon's ethics as the fundamental
law. " The Petersburg Index said : " We do not intend to mollify
Radical wrath, or propitiate Republican patronage by a base
surrender or compromise of the cause of Virginia. We will
cling to her in her fallen fortunes with the love of love. We will
turn upon her enemies with the hate of hate. We are not care-
ful in this matter. There are crises in human affairs when who-
soever would save his life shall lose it."
The policy of the Conservatives was to vote down the Consti-
tution, if possible. But as a governor and other State officers
were to be elected whenever the Constitution should be sub-
mitted to the vote of the people, and as the instrument might be
foisted upon the State, it was important to have acceptable can-
didates in the field for the offices referred to. A State Conserva-
tive Convention was therefore called. It met in Richmond, May
7, and was largely composed of the best men in the Common-
wealth. John B. Baldwin, of Augusta, presided, and would have
been nominated for Governor if he had not positively refused
the position. Under the terms of the new Constitution he was
ineligible to any office. Robert E. Withers was nominated for
Governor, James A. Walker (a native of Augusta, living in Pu-
laski county), for Lieutenant-Governor, and John L. Marye, for
Attorney-General. Canvassers were appointed in the various
counties, who were expected to arouse the people to defeat the
adoption of the Constitution, but at the same time to vote for
the candidates presented by the Conservative Convention.
In June, General Stoneman succeeded General Schofield as
commander of "Military District No. i," and was therefore
practically governor of Virginia.
The question of a county subscription of $300,000 to the stock
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad company was submitted
to the voters of Augusta on the 27th of August. Not more than
half the registered voters went to the polls. It required a ma-
jority of three-fifths of the votes cast to carry the proposition,
and it was defeated — yeas, 1,205 5 nays, 1,077.
The first Augusta County Fair was opened on Tuesday, Octo-
ber 27, and continued on Wednesday and Thursday. The
23
354 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA -COUNTY.
dedication address was delivered by Mr. Stuart. In the midst of
the general depression, on account of our political affairs and
prospects, the Fair was enjoyed as an agreeable and seasonable
pastime and relief. The Fair ground was then along Lewis's
creek, a mile east of Staunton
On the 3d of November, the presidential election took place
in the Northern States. The people of Virginia were not per-
mitted to vote.
In December, 1868, what was afterwards designated as "The
New Movement" was started by Mr. Alexander H. H. Stuart,
with other citizens of Staunton co-operating. Mr. Stuart and
his associates wrote to many prominent men in various parts of
the State, inviting a conference in Richmond, on Thursday, De-
cember 31, in regard to the state of public affairs. About forty
gentlemen met at the time and place appointed. At that time it
was understood that Congress, in order to compel the adoption
of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Underwood Constitution,
would soon pass an act vacating every office in the State, leaving
them to be filled by the classes known as " carpet baggers " and
"scalawags." The former were people of Northern birth, who
had recently come into the State to obtain what spoils they could,
bringing all their worldly estate in hand-satchels. The latter
were native white people who claimed to have always been Union
men, but were believed by others to have prostituted themselves
for the sake of office.
The conference in Richmond, without presuming to represent
the people of Virginia or the Conservative party, proposed to
consent to universal suffrage as the means of getting rid of the
disfranchisement clauses of the Constitution. They regarded
negro suffrage as inevitable. A committee was appointed to go
to Washington and negotiate with Congress a compromise on
the basis of " universal suffrage and universal amnesty." The
committee consisted of Messrs. Stuart and Baldwin, of Augusta;
John L. Marye, Wyndham Robertson, William T. Sutherland,
William L. Owen, James F. Johnson, James Neeson, and J. F.
Slaughter, and soon became famous as the " Committee of
Nine."
The press of the State, with few exceptions, opposed the
movement, and the members of the committee were for a time
covered with opprobrium, as surrendering the whole field. They
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 355
repaired to Washington early in January, 1869, and their move-
ments, conferences with leading politicians, &c. , were eagerly
and widely reported by the newspaper press. On the 18th they
submitted to the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, a letter
stating the modifications of the Constitution proposed by them — ■
to strike out certain clauses and modify others. Congress was,
therefore, expected virtually to frame a Constitution for the
State, which to some extent it undertook to do. The " Commit-
tee of Nine" merely dealt with circumstances as they existed.
Joint resolutions were passed by Congress, January 23, declar-
ing that all persons holding civil offices under the " Provisional
Governments" of Virginia and Texas, who could not take the
oath prescribed by act of July 22, 1866, should be removed, and
their places filled by District Commanders by the appointment
of persons who could take the oath. Hardly any other qualifi-
cation for office was required except that the appointee was will-
ing to swear he had not engaged in rebellion against the United
States.
During the month of February, the " New Movement" was
the absorbing topic throughout the State. The Committee of
Nine were assailed by argument and ridicule, but they persevered
in their course, and public opinion began to change in regard
to the propriety of their movement. It was a common remark
at the time, uttered or written somewhat ironically, "The Com-
mittee of Nine has done a great deal of good." President John-
son, whose term expired March 4, was at open war with the
majority in Congress, and it was well understood that they would
favor whatever he opposed. It was therefore suggested that the
committee induce him to promise in advance to veto a bill
embracing their scheme, as a means of securing its passage.
Senator Boutwell was represented as enquiring, whether, if all
disabilities were removed, the people of Virginia would sustain
or oppose the Republican party; and the Committee was repre-
sented as replying, they " could do a great deal of good."
The justices of the peace elected by the people of Augusta,
were removed from office, in February, and others appointed by
General Stoneman. At February court a new sheriff, also ap-
pointed by Stoneman, qualified and assumed the duties of the
office.
A State Convention of the Radical party was held in Peters-
356 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
burg, March 10, which nominated Henry H. Wells for Governor,
J. D. Harris (a negro) for Lieutenant-Governor, and Thomas R.
Bowden for Attorney-General. A portion of the members
seceded, headed by Franklin Stearns, desiring, as they said, to
" rescue the Republican party of Virginia from the management
and control of designing and selfish politicians." They organ-
ized and nominated a State ticket — Gilbert C, Walker for Gov-
ernor, John F. Lewis for Lieutenant-Governor, and James C.
Taylor for Attorney-General. This was popularly designated
"the Newest Movement." This party called themselves " Liberal
Republicans."
In March, the judge of the Circuit Court of Augusta, and the
clerks of all the courts sitting in Staunton, were removed, and
the offices filled by military appointments. David Fultz was
appointed judge in place of Hugh W. Sheffey. Mr. Fultz was
one of the few citizens of the county who never gave in their
adhesion to the Confederate government, and who, therefore,
could take the prescribed oaths without forfeiting entirely the
respect of the people. Samuel A. East was appointed clerk of
the County Court in place of William A. Burnett, but declined
to qualify, and the office was conferred upon Samuel Cline, a
worthy member of the Dunkard church, who could take the
oath honestly if any resident here during the war could. Robert
D. Sears was appointed clerk of the Circuit Court in place of
Joseph N. Ryan, and the Rev. Samuel J. Baird, clerk of the
Hustings Court of Staunton, in place of James F. Patterson.
Messrs. Baird and Sears resided at the North during the war,
and were therefore out of the way of giving aid and comfort to
the " rebellion." These appointments of clerks were merely
nominal, however, the former incumbents, under the name oi
deputies, continuing to discharge the duties and receive the
profits of the offices. John R. Popham, a resident of Bath
county, was appointed commonwealth's attorney for Augusta,
there being no resident lawyer qualified according to the exist-
ing requirement. All the commissioners in chancery were re-
moved, a military appointee undertaking to perform their various
functions. Thus all the old officers were deposed, and new men,
many of them strangers, installed in their places.
The farce of having a governor, "so-called," played out on
the 27th of March, when a military order was issued, announcing
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 357
that Henry H.Wells, "Provisional Governor," was removed,
and that all the powers of the chief executive were assumed by
General Stoneman.
General Grant was inaugurated president of the United States
March 4, 1869. Before, and after his inauguration, he gave his
countenance to the "Committee of Nine" and the "New
Movement." On the 9th of April, Congress passed an act
authorizing the president to submit the "Underwood Constitu
tion " to the qualified voters of the State, and to submit to a
separate vote such clauses thereof as he might deem proper.
The president was authorized to fix the day of election, at which
time also State officers and members of Congress and the Legis-
lature should be elected. The " Committee of Nine," therefore,
finally obtained all, or nearly all, they sought.
The State Executive Committee and County Superintendents
of the Conservative party met in Richmond, April 28, and with-
drew Messrs. Withers, Walker and Marye from the field, with
their consent. They nominated no other candidates, and it was
understood that the Walker ticket would be supported by the
party.
President Grant, on May 18, issued a proclamation appointing
July 6 as election day in Virginia, and requiring a separate vote
to be taken on several clauses of the Constitution.
During the month of May, General Canby became military
governor in place of General Stoneman.
Before the election a new registration of voters was made.
The number registered in Augusta county was 5,788 — 4,426
white, and 1,362 colored.
At the election, on the 6th of July, the new Constitution was
ratified by the vote of the people, the clauses specially submitted
being, however, stricken out. Gilbert C. Walker was elected
Governor, and the Conservatives and Liberals secured a large
majority in both branches of the Legislature. Joseph A Wad-
dell was elected to represent the district of Augusta and High-
land counties in the Senate, and the delegates elected in Augusta
were Henderson M. Bell, Marshall Hanger,58 and Alexander B.
58Augusta has furnished more speakers of the House of Delegates
than probably any other county. Hugh W. Sheffey served in that capa-
city during the war. John B. Baldwin in 1865, to 1867, and Marshall
Hanger from 1871 to 1877.
358 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Cochran. William Milnes, of Page county, was elected to repre-
sent the district of Augusta, Page, &c, in the lower house of
Congress.
In pursuance of a proclamation issued by General Canby, the
Legislature met on the 5th of October. Both Houses were
speedily organized, and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend-
ments to the Constitution of the United States were formally
ratified. After the election of United States Senators, the Legis-
lature adjourned to await the further pleasure of Congress.
The stockholders of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Com-
pany met in Richmond in November, 1869, and ratified a con-
tract previously entered into by the directors with Huntington
and others, by which the completion of the road to the Ohio
river was secured.
The proceedings of the Legislature being so far satisfactory, a
bill to admit Virginia into the Union was passed by Congress
January 24, 1870 The theory of "Union men" had been pre-
viously that the act of secession had not taken the State out of
the Union. This theory could not be ignored consistently, and
therefore the bill referred to was styled " An act to admit the
State of Virginia to representation in the Congress of the United
States." The people, however, did not care to criticise phrase-
ology. They congratulated themselves upon the prospect of
peace and quietness at last, although they felt irritated at the
ungracious conduct towards them of the party in power. The
course of this party was entirely illogical, to say the least of it.
If the State was out of the Union in October, 1869, how could
its Legislature ratify the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments?
If it was in the Union, what right had Congress to meddle with
her affairs ?
The Legislature met again on the 8th of February, and pro-
ceeded to organize the State government under the new Consti-
tution. Joseph A. Waddell was elected president pro tern, of the
Senate. Judges and other public officers were elected as speedily
as possible. William McLaughlin was elected judge of the Cir-
cuit Court of Rockbridge, Augusta, &c ; John N. Hendren judge
of the County Court of Augusta, and Alexander B. Cochran
judge of the Hustings Court of Staunton. The last named de-
clining the office mentioned, J. W. Green Smith was finally
elected in his place. In accordance with the provisions of the
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 359
Constitution and an act of the Legislature, the town of Staunton
was erected into a city.
The Shenandoah Valley Railroad Company was organized in
March, 1870.59
The last County Court of Augusta county, held by justices of
the peace, sat April 1, 1870, and the last orders of the court were
attested by William J. Nelson, president pro tern. At the next
term the bench was occupied by Judge John N. Hendren.
On the 27th of April, the great disaster at the capitol in Rich-
mond occurred, by which sixty-two persons were killed and
many others wounded. Among the wounded was Henderson M.
Bell, one of the delegates from Augusta.
The first election in Virginia of supervisors took place on the
fourth Thursday in May, and in Augusta the following persons
were elected : John Paris, Joseph D. Craig, John G. Fulton,
Thomas W. Shelton, William T. Rush and Henry B. Sieg.
The people of the county voted, August 6th, upon a proposi-
tion to subscribe $300,000 to the stock of the Valley Railroad
Company, and it was defeated by a decisive majority. During
the following year the vote was taken upon a proposed county
subscription of $200,000 to the Valley Railroad and $100,000 to
the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, and it also was defeated.
On the last three days of September heavy rains fell in a large
portion of the State. The water courses were swollen beyond
anything ever known before, and in the valleys of the James and
Shenandoah the destruction of property was unprecedented.
Many lives also were lost.
County officers under the Constitution were elected in Augusta
November 8th, viz : James Bumgardner, commonwealth's attor-
ney; William L. Mowry, sheriff; Samuel Paul, county treasurer;
Joseph N. Ryan, clerk of the Circuit Court; William A. Burnett,
clerk of the County Court; and John D. Lilly, county surveyor.
At the same time, John T. Harris, of Rockingham, was elected
to Congress.
And here, at the close of 1870, we close our Annals.
59 The road was completed to Waynesborough in April, 1881, and the
■first train went through to Roanoke City in June, 1882.
360 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
John Brown Baldwin was the oldest son of Judge Briscoe G. Bald-
win, and was born near Staunton, January ri, 1820. His mother was a
daughter of Chancellor John Brown. He was educated at the Staunton
Academy and the University of Virginia. In 1841 he was admitted to
the bar, and the following year married the oldest daughter of John H.
Peyton, Esq. As soon as he attained the prescribed age, he was elected
by the people of Augusta a member of the House of Delegates, and
served one term in that body with Nathaniel Massie, Esq., as his col-
league. Having a fondness for military affairs, he became captain of the
Staunton Light Infantry, and, finally, colonel of the One-hundred-and-
sixtieth regiment of militia. At an early age he acquired distinction as
a lawyer and as a political speaker. In 1859 his friends brought him
forward as a candidate for judge of the Court of Appeals, the judges
being elected by districts, but his competitor, Judge William J. Robert-
son, obtained a majority of the votes cast. The steps in his subsequent
career have been noted in the course of our narrative. Being thoroughly
identified with the people of Augusta and highly appreciated by them,
his death, which occurred September 30, 1873, caused universal lamen-
tation in the county.
Staunton Banks. The first banking institution in Staunton after
the war, was opened by Hugh W. Sheffey and William Allan, known as
Allan & Co., brokers and bankers. The firm began business in July,
1865, and continued till the First National Bank was started in Novem-
ber of the same year. Hugh W. Sheffey was the first president of the
latter, and William Allan, cashier. The capital was $100000. The Na-
tional Valley Bank of Staunton was chartered in November, 1865, but
did not engage in business till January following. Of this bank, John
Echols was president, and Edwin M. Taylor, cashier. Capital, $100,000.
Alexander H. H. Stuart became president of the First National Bank,
and in July, 1866, M. Harvey Effinger was made cashier in place of Wil-
liam Allan, resigned. Edwin M. Taylor resigning as cashier of the Valley
Bank, in February, 1868, was succeeded by William C. Eskridge. In
1875 the two banks were consolidated under the name of the National
Valley Bank of Staunton — John Echols, president, and M. Harvey Effin-
ger, cashier, succeeded by Thomas A. Bledsoe. Capital, $200,000. The
Augusta National Bank, of Staunton, was organized in 1875 — Hugh W.
Sheffey, president, and N. P. Catlett, cashier. Capital at first, $50,000,
but soon increased to $100,000.
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360 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
John Brown Baldwin was the oldest son of Judge Briscoe G. Bald-
win, and was born near Staunton, January n, 1820. His mother was a
daughter of Chancellor John Brown. He was educated at the Staunton
Academy and the University of Virginia. In 1841 he was admitted to
the bar, and the following year married the oldest daughter of John H.
Peyton, Esq. As soon as he attained the prescribed age, he was elected
by the people of Augusta a member of the House of Delegates, and
served one term in that body with Nathaniel Massie, Esq., as his col-
league. Having a fondness for military affairs, he became captain of the
Staunton Light Infantry, and, finally, colonel of the One-hundred-and-
sixtieth regiment of militia. At an early age he acquired distinction as
a lawyer and as a political speaker. In 1859 n^s friends brought him
forward as a candidate for judge of the Court of Appeals, the judges
being elected by districts, but his competitor, Judge William J. Robert-
son, obtained a majority of the votes cast. The steps in his subsequent
career have been noted in the course of our narrative. Being thoroughly
identified with the people of Augusta and highly appreciated by them,
his death, which occurred September 30, 1873, caused universal lamen-
tation in the county.
Staunton Banks. The first banking institution in Staunton after
the war, was opened by Hugh W. Sheffey and William Allan, known as
Allan & Co., brokers and bankers. The firm began business in July,
1865, and continued till the First National Bank was started in Novem-
ber of the same year. Hugh W. Sheffey was the first president of the
latter, and William Allan, cashier. The capital was $100000. The Na-
tional Valley Bank of Staunton was chartered in November, 1S65, but
did not engage in business till January following. Of this bank, John
Echols was president, and Edwin M. Taylor, cashier. Capital, $100,000.
Alexander H. H. Stuart became president of the First National Bank,
and in July, 1866, M. Harvey Effinger was made cashier in place of Wil-
liam Allan, resigned. Edwin M. Taylor resigning as cashier of the Valley
Bank, in February, 1868, was succeeded by William C. Eskridge. In
1875 the two banks were consolidated under the name of the National
Valley Bank of Staunton — John Echols, president, and M. Harvey Effin-
ger, cashier, succeeded by Thomas A. Bledsoe. Capital, $200,000. The
Augusta National Bank, of Staunton, was organized in 1875 — Hugh W.
Sheffey, president, and N. P. Catlett, cashier. Capital at first, $50,000,
but soon increased to $100,000.
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Appendix.
BESSY BELL AND MARY GRAY.
During the time over which we have passed in the course ot
our Annals, one generation of men after another has flitted by
"like shadows o'er the plain." "The fathers, where are they?"
Old houses, too, and nearly all the ancient works of man, have
been rapidly disappearing. It is only here and there that a
structure associated with the early times of the county remains.
But some objects in and around Staunton have remained the
same year after year, substantially unchanged and unchangeable.
These old hills, who does not love them? The pioneer settlers
in Beverley's Manor saw them as we see them now, and no
"native to the manor born" can ever behold or think of them
without feelings of almost filial affection. The dwellers in level
countries cannot appreciate many parts of the book of Psalms.
When they read of "the mountains round about Jerusalem," no
chord in their heart vibrates; and those other words, " I will lift
up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help," so
pleasant to us, excite no emotion in them.
Pre-eminent among our Staunton hills stand Bessy Bell and
Mary Gray. We prefer the original Scotch spelling and pro-
nunciation of the former name. " Betsy," as people call it now,
is harsh and crabbed, but "Bessy" " is soft as is Apollo's lute."
As far as we know there is nothing remarkable in the structure
or products of the two hills. We presume the soil continues to
produce annual crops of huckleberries and chincapins, as it did
in days of yore. One of the former productions of that region,
however, has long since disappeared. Seventy or eighty years
ago the boys and girls who went there for berries and nuts re-
362 APPENDIX.
turned with an ample supply of ticks, the little insects now quite
unknown in this part of the country.
It must be confessed that Bessy Bell and Mary Gray cannot
boast of the cedars of Lebanon, the dew of Hermon, or " the
excellency of Carmel." Even the prospect from the higher
peak does not fully compensate for the toil of climbing the
rugged ascent. Bessy Bell is no Pisgah; but of her it may be
said emphatically,
'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,
And robes the mountain in its azure hue.
People living in Staunton, northwest of Bessy Bell, never see
how beautiful she appears at sunrise; but all of them who love
the picturesque must have observed and feasted upon the en-
trancing beauty sometimes presented after a shower of rain, by
the rays of the setting sun lingering of a summer's evening upon
her leafy summit. And then, when the clouds gather around
her head, and " Bessy Bell puts her nightcap on," we see her in
another phase scarcely less attractive. Ben Nevis and Snowden
are doubtless goodly mountains, but what are they to Bessy Bell
and Mary Gray ! Surely no Staunton boy, coming home from
his wanderings, ever fails to look out for the old familiar hills, and
to hail them at first sight with feelings akin to rapture.
It was once currently reported that Bessy Bell and Mary Gray
were young girls murdered near Staunton by the Indians ; but
there is no foundation for the story. The names are of Scottish
origin. According to the tradition, Mary Gray's father was laird
of Lednoch, and Bessy Bell's of Kinvaid. An intimate friend-
ship existed between the girls, and while Bessy was on a visit
to Mary Gray, in 1645, the plague broke out in the neighbor-
hood. To escape the pestilence, they built a bower near Led-
noch House, and lived there for some time. But the plague
raging with great fury, they caught it from a young man who
was in love with both of them, and who had brought them their
food. They died in their bower, and were buried near the river
Almond, half a mile from the house of Lednoch, which is seven
miles northwest from Perth. Their sad fate became the subject
of a ballad, which commenced thus:
O Bessy Bell an' Mary Gray!
They were twa bonnie lasses —
APPENDIX. 363
They biggit a bower on yon burn-brae,
An' theekit it ower wi' rashes.
They theekit it ower wi' rashes green,
They happit it round wi' heather:
But the pest cam' frae the burrows-toun,
An' slew them baith thegither.
The remainder has been lost, except the concluding stanza :
They thought to lie in Methven Kirk,
Beside their gentle kin;
But they maun lie in Dronach haugh,
And beak foment the sin.
O Bessy Bell and Mary Gray !
They were twa bonnie lasses —
They biggit a bower on yon burn-brae,
An' theekit it ower wi' rashes.
Allan Ramsey's ballad on the same subject is a modern pro-
duction. He adopted only the first four lines of the old ballad,
and appended to them a new song of his own, which, instead of
lamenting the fate of the " bonnie lasses," celebrated the witch-
eries of their charms. Thus :
O Bessy Bell and Mary Gray,
They are twa bonny lasses,
They bigg'd a bower on yon burn-brae,
And theek'd it o'er wi' rashes.
Fair Bessy Bell I loo'd yestreen,
And thought I ne'er could alter ;
But Mary Gray's twa pawky e'en,
They gar my fancy falter.
Now Bessy's hair's like a lint-tap ;
She smiles like a May morning,
When Phcebus starts frae Thetis' lap,
The hills with rays adorning:
White is her neck, saft is her hand,
Her waist and feet's fu' genty,
With ilka grace she can command,
Her lips, O wow ! they 're dainty.
And Mary's locks are like a craw,
Her eyes like diamonds glances ;
She's ay sae clean, red up and braw,
She kills whene'er she dances;
Blyth as a kid, with wit at will,
She blooming, tight, and tall is;
364 APPENDIX.
And guides her airs sae gracefu' still,
O Jove ! she's like thy Pallas.
Dear Bessy Bell and Mary Gray,
Ye unco sair oppress us ;
Our fancies jee between you twae,
Ye are sic bonny lasses:
Wae's me! for baith I canna get,
To ane by law we're stinted ;
Then I'll draw cuts, and take my fate,
And be with ane contented.
When a new proprietor took possession of Lednoch, about
the year 1781, a heap of stones, almost covered with thorns and
briers, was shown to him as the burial place of Bessy Bell and
Mary Gray. He removed all the rubbish, made up the grave
double, planted flowering shrubs around it, and enclosed the
spot with a wall, in which he fixed a stone, bearing in engraved
letters the names of Bessy Bell and Mary Gray.
These names were carried from Scotland to Ireland, and ap-
plied to two mountains in County Tyrone, near the town of
Omagh; and by our Scotch-Irish ancestors they were brought
to the Valley of Virginia.60
As introductory to the following lines, written in his youth by
the Rev. James A. Waddell, D. D., we state for the information
of readers not acquainted with the locality, that the Western
Lunatic Asylum is at the western base of Bessy Bell, and the
Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind is on a neigh-
boring knoll, in full view:
TO BESSY BELL.
Now Bessy Bell, why should you swell,
With such a towering air?
Why thus look down on all the town,
And frown upon the fair?
'Tis true, you're tall, but that's not all —
You're ugly, big, and bold ;
60 Other early settlers in this region called another hill Betsy Bell,
showing how they cherished the associations of their former life in the
old country. This hill is in Bath county, on the Cowpasture river,
about a mile below Windy Cove church. It is said that the Indian
name for the beautiful Cowpasture was Wallawhatoola.
APPENDIX. 365
You're bald and bare, and some e'en dare
To whisper you are old.
Grizzly old maid, you're much decayed
(My pencil shall not flatter),
And one may guess, your style of dress
Can never mend the matter.
Your taste prefers a cap and spurs
To all the forms of fashion,
And you must own a heart of stone,
Insensible of passion.
But, dear Miss Bell, the Muse must tell
Your virgin boast and pride —
How minds that roam find health and home,
And welcome by your side.
Reason beguiled, like a lost child,
By Fancy's false pretences,
Upon your lap just takes a nap,
And wakes up in her senses.
The Deaf and Blind have found you kind,
The Dumb, too, speak your praises ;
The wealher-wise neglect the skies
To watch your varying phases.
All, all, speak well of you, Miss Bell;
Nature her favor shows,
Washing your face with earliest grace
And spanning thee with bows.
Now, Bessy, sure, you'll frown no more,
Since lovers are not few ;
At least you'll smile at morn a while,
When Sol begins to woo.
And Day grown old, with tints of gold,
Perhaps may light thy face;
And silvery Night may crown thy height
With ornaments of grace.
I N DBX.
Abney, William, 227.
Alexander, Archibald, 83, 164.
Alexander, Rev. Dr., 193.
Alfred, George, 224.
Allen, James, 91.
Allison, Lieutenant, 227.
Amendments to United States Con-
stitution, 345, 347, 358.
Anderson, Andrew, 159, 206, 222,
227.
Anderson's barn, Massacre at, 58.
Anderson, Rev. James, 17.
Arbuckle, Matthew, 136, 140.
Ashby, Turner, 297. 299.
Associators in 1756, 95.
Augusta Academy, 184, 185.
Augusta Church, 50, 70.
Augusta County established, 19, 26.
Augusta County Fair, 346, 353.
Augusta Female Seminary, 268.
Austen, Stephen, 132.
Bailey, Robert, 215.
Baldwin, Briscoe G., 219, 226, 230,
243, 258. 263, 267, 268 269.
Baldwin, Briscoe G., Jr.. 333.
Baldwin, John B., 28r, 282, 287, 290,
313, 337. 343. 344, 346. 353, 360
Baldwin, Joseph G., 279.
Balloons, 268.
Balmaine, Rev. Alex., 133, 148, 162.
Balthis, William L., 330.
Banks in Sfaunton, 273. 360.
Bank books burnt, 323.
Barracks at Staunton, 230.
Barry. Andrew, 198.
Baskin's company in 1813, 231.
Basis of representation, 239.
Bath County, 202.
Battle of Alleghany Mountain, 291.
Cedar Mountain, 303.
Chancellorsville, 308.
Battle of First Manassas, 285. ■
Fisher's Hill, 325.
Fredericksburg, 306.
Gettysburg, 311.
Greenbrier River, 290.
Kernstown, 294.
McDowell's, 297.
Near Richmond, 301.
New Market, 316.
Piedmont, 316, 317.
Port Republic, 299.
Second Manassas, 304.
Strasburg, 327.
Waynesborough, 326.
Wilderness, 316.
Winchester, 324.
Baxter, Rev. Dr., 193.
Baylor, George, 282, 343.
Baylor, Wm. S. H., 283, 284, 304.
Bayly, E. W., 284.
Bear, Harvey, 317.
Bell, Henderson M., 284, 357, 359.
Bell, James (1st), 26
Bell, James (2d), 256.
Bell family raided by Indians, 30.
Berkeley, F. B., 330.
Bethel church, 176, 185.
Beverley, William, 14, 15.
Beverley's Manor, 15
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, 361.
Bickle, Robert G., 274.
Blair, Rev. John, 50.
Blackburn, Rev. Gideon, 193.
Blackburn, Samuel, 216, 217, 229,
247.
Bledsoe, Thomas A., 360.
Boone, Daniel, 40.
Borden, Benjamin, 16.
Boston, Contribution to, 144.
Botetourt county, 131.
Bothwell Bridge prisoners, 5.
Boundary controversy, 145, 147.
368
INDEX.
Bouquet, Colonel, 103, 124, 125,
Bowyer, John, 116, 131.
Bowyer, Michael, 116, 129, 133, 148.
Bowyer, Wm., 133, 162.
Boycotting in 1775, 151.
Boyden, Rev. E., 277.
Boys, John, 198, 207, 212.
Boys, Dr. William, 212, 229, 243.
Braddock's defeat, 65, 69.
Breadstuff's in 1789, 201 ; in 181 1, 224.
Breckenridge, Robert, 83, 90, 95,
130, 131, 132.
Breckenridge family, 140.
Brigade, Seventh, organized, 203
British spy shot, 183.
Brooke, Judge F. T., 181, 182.
Brooke, Robert S., 257.
Brooks, Absalom, 258.
Brooks, John S., 264, 265.
Brown, Rev. John (1), 32, 66, 85.
Brown, Rev. John (2), 278.
Brown, Judge John, 214, 217.
Brown, Colonel Samuel, 120, 121.
Brown, Rev. Samuel, narrative of,
113, 122.
Brown, Rev. Wm., 276.
Brown's raid, 275.
Brownlee, James, 263.
Buchanan, Colonel John, 26, 90, 130.
Bullitt, Captain, 104.
Bumgardner, Jacob, 134.
Bumgardner, James, 263.
Bumgardner, James, Jr., 330, 359.
Burnett, Wm. A., 356, 359.
Burnings in Staunton, 321.
Buttons cut off by Federal order,
Byers, Preston, 304.
Caldwell, John, 17
Calhoon, Charles, 308.
Calhoon, Rev. Wm., 220, 240.
Calvert, Elijah, 264.
Cameron, Charles, 159.
Campbell, Arthur, 98.
Campbell, Rev. J. P., 192.
Campbell, Robert, 26.
Campbell, William, 99.
Camp, Lieutenant, 228.
Camp Holly, 230.
Candler, W. D., 320.
Candles, Confederate, 307, 323.
Cannonading, 30 1, 302.
Captains in 1756, 91.
Captains, &c, i86i-'5, 330.
Captives, Return of, 124.
Carpenter, Wm., 119, 120
Carpet-baggers, 354.
Carriages in 1815, 237.
Catlett, N. P., 313.
Cemetery, scene in, 306.
Centennial celebration, 266.
Chain of forts, 85, 89, 90, 92.
Chambersburg burnt, 323.
Chambers's tavern, 216, 223.
Chambers Wm., 204, 207.
Chancery Courts, 201, 214.
Chapel of ease, 101.
Chastellux's account of Valley in
1782, 186, 187.
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, 353,
358.
Chiswell, Fort, 132.
Christian, Bolivar, 284, 287, 330.
Christian, Israel, 90, 114, 130, 131,
132, 142.
Christian, John, 26.,
Christian, William, 142, 159.
Churches in Augusta, 276 9.
Church-going, 256.
Churchville cavalry, 285.
Church-wardens, 32.
Circuit Courts, 214.
Clarke family, 198.
Clarke, Samuel, 229, 244.
Classical school, the first, 42.
Clay, Henry, 245.
Clendenin family, in, 112.
Cline, Samuel 356.
Clothing for soldiers, 174.
Clothing, scarcity of, 324.
Clowseme, Rev. Robert, 34.
Coalter, John, 201, 203, 216, 221.
Coalter, Micajah, 201.
Cochran, Alex. B., 358.
Cochran, George M., 274.
Cochran, George M , Jr., 281, 285,
287, 231
Cochran, H. K., 323.
Cochran, James, 216, 221.
Cochran, James, Jr., 331.
Cochran, John, 234.
Cohees, 16.
Coiner, S. D., 266.
Coiner, C. B , 331.
Coins in 1764, 126.
Collett, Isaac, 221, 229.
Committee of Nine, 354, 355, 357.
Connoly, Dr. John, 145, 147.
Cooke, Wm. D., 223.
Cornstalk, 137, 138, 139, 140, 164.
Convention of 1788, 199; of 1816,
238; of 1829, 243; of 1832, 246;
of 1850, 273 ; of 1861, 282.
Conservative State Conventions,
348, 353-
INDEX.
369
Costumes in 1833, 259.
Council of war, 90.
County Court records, 77, 89.
County meetings, 281, 337.
County officers in 1745, 26.
County officers removed, 355, 356.
Courthouse buildings, 26, 66, 262.
Courts during the war, 327.
Courts-martial, 94, 103, 166, 167,
173, 174, 184, 206.
Cowan, Joseph, 198, 213.
Cowpens, battle of, 179, 186
Craig, Rev. John, 20, 21, 43, 44, 45,
69, 134.
Craig, Joseph D., 359.
Craighead, Rev. Alex., 69.
Crawford, Benjamin, 281.
Crawford, James, 238, 263, 274.
Creek Indian War, 263.
Creigh, David S., 320, 322.
Crook, General, 328.
Cumberland Fort, 59.
Cummings, Rev. Charles, 50, 52.
Currency in 1833, 259.
Dabney, Rev. R. L., 276.
Davidson, Dr. J A., 321.
Davies, Rev. Samuel, 68, 83.
Decapitation in 1780, 178.
Deed, first recorded, 29.
Deed of Indian chiefs, 146.
Dennis family, 107, 108, 111.
Deserters arrested, 293.
Deserters, Federal, 303.
Detailed men called out, 326.
Diary of McAden, 65.
Diary of McMillan, 152.
Dickinson, Adam, 26.
Dickinson's Fort, 90.
Dickinson, John, 91, 93, 99, 114,
135.
Dietrick, Jacob D., 219.
Dinwiddie, Governor, 40, 59,61,70,
76, 77, 84, 95, 96, 97, 99, ioo, 101.
Dinwiddie's Fort, 90.
Dissenters, 17, 18, 19, 21.
District courts, 201, 214.
Doak, Robert, 160, 176, 206, 227,
229, 246.
Doak, Rev. Samuel, 192.
Dold's cavalry, 233.
Donaldson, fall of, 292.
Douthat, Robert, 204.
Doyle, Robert L., 283, 317.
Draper family, 71.
Ducking stool, 43.
Dunmore, Governor, 135, 137, 138.
Duquesne, Fort, 60, 105.
Duval, General, 338, 339, 341.
Dyer, James, 102.
Eagle newspaper, 219.
Eagon, Samson, 258, 278.
Early, General, 322, 326, 328.
East, Samuel A., 356.
Echols, John, 284, 294, 360.
Edward's Fort, 88.
Elections in 1861, 296; in 1865,
342 ; in 1868, 348.
Ellinipsico killed, 140
Emigration to America, 4.
Eskridge, George, 226, 257.
Eskridge, Wm. S., 214.
Executions, returns of, 51.
Falling Spring church, 36.
Fannin's massacre, 264.
Fashions in 1863, 313.
Fast day in 1861, 282.
Fauntleroy, Dr. A. M., 284.
Fauquier, Governor, 102.
Febiger, Colonel, 167, 178.
Federalist convention, 228.
Federal army in Staunton, 318,325,
329. 336, 338.
Female camp followers, 310.
Fifth regiment, 284.
Fifty-second regiment, 287, 289, 308.
Fincastle county, 132.
Finley, John, 26.
Fires in Staunton, 266, 291.
Flags, display of, 340, 341.
Fleming, Wm., 83, no, 131.
Fleury, Lieut.-Col., 168.
Flood in 1870. 359.
Forbes' expedition, 103.
Fort in Cherokee county, 87, 89,
94-
Fourth of July, 223, 228, 255, 263,
265.
Frazier, James A., 219.
Frazier, William, 263.
Frederick county, 19.
Frederick, Fort, 84.
Free Masons, 198.
Frogge, John, 136, 137.
Fuller, Bartholomew, 223.
Fuller, George W., 319.
Fulton, Andrew, 180, 222.
Fulton, John G., 359.
Fultz, Alexander H., 331.
Fultz, David, 274, 356.
Gamble family, 187.
Gamble, Robert, 159, 168, 169, 178,
207.
2+
370
INDEX.
Garber, Asher W., 331.
Garber, Edward, 304.
Garber, Michael, 198, 221.
Garrisons of forts, 96.
Geiger, V. T., 271.
German immigrants, 195.
German Reformed Church, 202.
Gibson, George, 163.
Gilkeson, David, 258.
Givens's company in 1813, 232.
Glebe buildings, 49, 51, 101.
Glebe farm, 34.
Glendy, Rev. John, 213.
Gooch, Governor, Reply to Synod,
of, 18.
Graham, Rev. Wm., 183, 201, 205.
Grant's (Col.) defeat, 104, 105.
Grant's order to Sheridan, 326.
Grattan, John, 165, 177.
Grattan, Robert, 205, 206, 207.
Greenlee, Mrs. Mary, 16.
Greenbrier country, 45.
Greenbrier, Road to, 175.
Greenbrier Settlements extermi-
nated, in, 113.
Grinnan, O. F., 283.
Guilford, battle of, 179, 181.
Gunn, Mrs., 120.
Guy, Robert, 233, 274, 281.
Haggerty, James, 279.
Hall, Judge John, 279.
Hamilton, Andrew, 51.
Hamilton, John, 322.
Hampshire county, 51.
Hanger, Henry H., 331.
Hanger, Marshall, 331, 357.
Hanger, Peter, 195.
'Harman, A. W., 284, 299.
Harman, John A., 331.
Harman, Lewis, 331.
Harman, M. G., 284, 287, 331, 337.
Harman, Wm. H., 271, 274, 284,
329
Harper, Kenton, 241, 263, 266, 271,
281, 284,313.
Harper's Ferry raid, 275.
Harris, John T., 359.
Harrison, Benjamin, 135.
Harrison Convention, 263.
Harrison, General. 263, 265.
Harrison, Powell, 348.
Harrisonburg, Town of, 166.
Harrisonburg and W. S. turnpike,
244.
Hart, Silas, 151, 165.
Hebron Church, 50.
Hessian fly, 152.
Hessian prisoners, 152.
Heiskell, Peter, 198.
Hendren, Rev. John, 240.
Hendren, John N., 290, 326, 358,
359-
Henderson, F. H., 284.
Hensel, Rev. J. C, 278.
Highlander, anecdote of, 104
Hill, James B., 249.
Hindman, Rev. John, 34.
Hite, Joist, 10.
Hogg, Peter, 63, 81, 92, 100,130,165.
Hotchkiss, Jed., 273, 332.
Howardsville turnpike, 272.
Humphreys, Dr. Alex., 199, 203,
213.
Humphreys, Mrs. Margaret. 176.
Illinois county, 167.
Imboden, Geo. W., 332.
Imboden, John D., 281, 283. 332.
Indian allies, 77, 81, 92, 93, 94, 97.
Indian battles, 56.
Indian tramps, 80, 96.
Indian tribes, 54, 55.
Ingles family, 71, 72,74, 75.
Innes, Col., 59, 67.
Irish Rebellion, 272.
Iron-clad oath, 341, 342.
Jackson, Gen. Andrew, 245.
Jackson, Thos. J., 284, 297, 301, 309.
Jefferson, Col. Peter, 88.
Jefferson, President, 206-7.
Jenkins's Brigade, 309.
Jesse Scouts, 321, 337.
Johnson, Chapman, 214, 219, 220,
222, 234, 243. 269.
Johnston, William P., 283.
Johnston, Zachariah, 184, J99, 200.
Jones, Gabriel, 31. 166.
Jones, Rev. John, 49, 78, 129, 130,
133. 162.
Junction Valley Turnpike, 272.
June Courts, 255.
Justices of Peace in 1850, 274.
Kalorama School, 268.
Kennedy, John, 258.
Kerr, James, 26.
Kerr's Creek massacres, 113, 122.
King, Rev. William, 277.
Kinney, A. F., 289, 340.
Kinney, Chesley, 201, 214.
Kinney, Chesley, Jr., 263, 265.
Kinney, Jacob, 198.
Kinney, Jefferson, 274.
Kinney, N. C, 226, 244, 274.
INDEX.
371
Kinney, R. H., 271.
Kinney, William, Jr., 238, 264, 265.
Knights of Golden Horseshoe, 7.
Knoxville teams 254.
Koiner, Absalom, 283, 332.
Koiner family, 195.
Laird, David, 159.
Lamentations of a recruit, 303.
Lange's company in 1813, 232.
Lapsley. Joseph, 91.
Law School, 258,
Lawyers in 1745, 27 ; in 1815, 238.
Leas, Jacob, 221.
Lee, General R. E., 286.
Legislature in Staunton, 182, 184.
Lewis, Andrew, 12, 61, 62, 63, 64, 81,
87, 104, 105, 116, 131, 135, 156.
Lewis, Charles, 12, 80, 125, 135, 139.
Lewis, John, 11, 12, 26, 40, 79, 109.
Lewis, John, Jr., 135.
Lewis, Thomas, 12, 26. 38,* 45, 80,
148, 165, 196.
Lewis, William, 12, 80, 148, 196.
Lewis, Mrs. William, 183.
Lexington, town of, 165.
Liberty Hall Academy, 185.
Light Infantry of Staunton, 257.
Lilly, John D., 332, 359.
Lilly, Robert D., 285, 332, 334
Lincoln, President, assassinated,
.335, 336.
Links company in 1813, 232.
Logan, Indian chief, 135, 138.
Logstown, treaty of, 48.
Londonderry, siege of, 1.
Lottery in Staunton, 243.
Loudoun, Earl of, 102.
Loyalty of the people, 42, 89.
Lunenburg county, 41.
Lyford, William G., 221,
McAden, Rev. Hugh, 65.
Macaslin, Mrs., 250.
McClanahan, Alexander, 116, 125,
135, 139, 148, 160, 199.
McClanahan, John, 116, 125.
McClanahan, Robert, 41.
McClanahan, Robert, Jr., 136, 137.
McCutchen, Wm., 155.
McCue, Rev. John, 197, 239.
McCue, John, 244, 281.
McCue, John H., 289, 333.
McCue, J. M., 257, 274^ 313, 346.
McCue, M. H., 274.
McCue, Moses, 226, 227.
McClung, Henry, 216, 234.
McCoy, Wm., 222, 229, 243.
McCormick's reapers, 266.
McDowell, Ephraim, 16.
McDowell, Col Jas., 224, 230, 23 r.
McDowell, James, (Governor) 267
McDowell, John (ist), 31.
McDowell, John (2d), 220.
McDowell, Samuel, 148, 179, 191.
McDonald, Col. Angus, 135
McFarland, Rev. F., 241.
McKamy, Wm. C, 332.
McLaughlin, Wm., 358. /
McMillan, Rev. Dr., 152.
McNutt, Alex., 82, 84.
McPheeters, Rev. Wm., 177.
Madison committee in 1808, 221.
Madison, John, 26.
Madison, Rev. Dr., 53.
Madison, Thomas, 130, 132.
Manassas, first battle, 285.
Manassas, second battle, 304.
Manufactures in the county, 207,
258, 259.
Marlin, John, 10.
Marquiss, James C, 313.
Marriages by Dissenters, 85, 175.
Martin, Dr., 262.
Marylanders. 303.
Mason, C. R., 313, 332, 334. ,_
Massacre of Indians, 58.
Massie, Nathaniel, 274.
Mathews, George, 107, 135 148, 160,
178, 190.
Mathews, Sampson, 109, 148, 161,
166.
Mauzy, R., 320.
Maxwell, Audley, 107.
Memorial Day, 347.
Memorial of County Committee,
154.
Merchants in 1800, 213.
Merritt, C. G., 332
Methodist Church, 202.
Mexican war, 271.
Michie, Thomas J., 241, 244, 265, 311.
Middlebrook and B. turnpike, 273.
Military District No. 1, 347.
Militia called out, 293.
Militia musters, 256.
Mill, First at Staunton, 48.
Mill place, Beverley's, 26.
Miller, Alexander, boycotted, 151.
Miller's Iron Works, 224.
Miller, Samuel, 246.
Missionaries to the Valley, 17.
Moffett, George, 179, 191.
Monroe Committee in 1808, 221.
Moore, Andrew, 139, 143.
Moore, Dr. J. K., 237.
372
INDEX.
Moore, S. McD., 243, 262.
Mosby, Armistead, 258.
Mossy Creek Academy, 273.
Mt. Tabor church, 202.
Muddy Creek massacre, ill.
Navy of Virginia, 161.
Necessity, Fort, 57.
Negroes after the war, 337, 341, 342.
Nelson, Alexander, 216, 225.
Nelson, Wm. J., 359
New Movement, 354, 355.
Newest Movement, 356.
New Providence church, 36, 202.
New-side Presbyterians, 37.
Newton, James W., 283, 332.
Newtown, 199.
North Mountain meeting-house, 50.
O'Ferrall, Chas. T., 329, 347.
Officers in the Revolution, 159.
Old-side Presbyterians, 37.
Opie, John N., 321.
Order book of Capt. Gamble's com-
pany, 169.
Ordinance of secession, 282.
Ordinaries in 1746, 30; in 1787, 199.
Overton, Capt., 82.
Page, Capt., 228.
Paine's pistols, 262.
Paper mill at Staunton, 207, 220.
Parish buildings, 40.
Parish church, 105, 107, no.
Paris, John, 359.
Patents for land, 22.
Patrick, Wm., Jr., 283, 304, 332.
Patrick, Wm., Sr., 226.
Patriotic resolutions in 1775, 148.
Patterson, James F., 356.
Patteson, D. W., 264, 265.
Patton, James, 16, 22, 38, 48, 57, 70,
71 1 72,-73,74-
Paul, Audley, 120.
Paul's Fort, 108.
Paul, Samuel, 359.
Paul, William, 135.
Paupers, care of, 105, 109, no.
Peace of 1815, 236.
Pearis, Richard, 60, 84, 85.
Peck, Jacob, 178, 198.
Pendleton county, 199.
Perkins, Ute, 46.
Persecution in Ireland, 2.
Petersburg mine sprung, 323.
Petersburg volunteers, 229.
Peyton, Henry J., 214.
Peyton, John H., 219, 234, 238, 244,
263, 269.
Peyton, John L., 280, 282, 333.
Phillips, Rev. R. H., 320. "
Physicians in country, 23, 199, 237.
Pickens, Gen. Andrew, 28.
Piedmont, Battle of, 316, 317.
Pierpoint, Governor, 336, 340.
Point Pleasant, battle of, 135, 139.
Points, B. F., 319.
Politics in 1840, 267 ; in 1844, 271.
Poor-house, 109, 130.
Population in 1756, 86; in 1810, 223.
Porterfield, Robert, 178, 197, 223,
227, 228, 234, 267, 268.
Posey, Maj.Thos., 168, 178.
Post-office at Staunton, 203.
Preston, John, 31, 32.
Preston, William, 83, 90, 98, 116,
117, 131, 132.
Prices in 1745, 29; in 1780, 178 ; in
1811, 224; during war of i86i-'5,
290, 292, 294, 305, 306, 307, 312,
313,314, 323.328.
Prisoners, Federal, 288, 298, 300,
303, 304, 306, 308, 310, 323, 324,
327, 328.
Puffenbarger, Michael, 249.
Radical State Convention, 355.
Raid Guard, 313, 314, 315.
Raid of Indians east of Blue Ridge,
106.
Randolph, John, 219.
Rangers, 100.
Read, Col. Clement, 93, 96.
Redemptioners, 17.
Registration of voters, 347, 357.
Religious liberty, 155. 185.
Renix, Mrs., 107, 125.
Republican Farmer, 221.
Reserves called out, 323.
Resolutions in 1775, 148.
Richardson, D. D., Rev. W. T., 276.
Richmond evacuated, 329.
Roads family massacred, 129.
Robbers in Valley, 46.
Roberts, St. Francis, 283.
Robertson, Geo. C, 233, 264.
Robinson, George, 26.
Robinson, Rev. Mr., 37.
Rochefoucault in Staunton, 209.
Rockbridge county, 164.
Rockfish Gap, 183, 224.
Rockingham county, 165.
Ross, John D., 287.
Rosser, Gen., 327, 328.
Rouse's Psalms, 201.
Running the blockade, 306.
Rush, Wm T., 359.
INDEX.
373
Ryan, Joseph N., 308, 356, 359.
Sabbath breaking, 42.
Sail duck, 161.
St. Clair, Alexander, 41, 155, 161,
162, 175, 178, 199, 203, 207, 212.
Sailing, John, 10.
Salt, scarcity of, 290, 292, 294,305, 328
Sandy Creek expedition, 81, 87.
Scalawags, 354.
Scarcity in 1863, 313; in 1864, 327,
328. _
Scene in church, 339.
Scholl, Peter, 26.
Schools for females, 268.
Scotch-Irish, 1.
Scott, Rev. Archibald, 176, 182.
Sehon woman killed, 106.
Seig, Henry B., 359.
Selim, the Algerine, 126, 128.
Sermon, first in country, 17.
Seventh brigade of militia, 227.
Sevier, Lieut., 220.
Seybert's Fort massacre, 102.
Sheffey, Daniel, 214, 224, 269.
Sheffey, Hugh W., 274, 281, 284,
237, 345-
Shellebarger bill, 347.
Shelton, Thos. W., 359
Shenandoah Val. R. R., 359.
Sheridan's raid, 329
Sick soldiers, 285, 290, 298, 312.
Skillern, George, 131, 140.
Skinner, James H., 289, 316, 332.
Slavery in Augusta 244.
Smith, Abraham, 103.
Smith, Rev. Adam, 133.
Smith, Rev. B. M., 276.
Smith, Daniel, 222.
Smith, Ex-Governor, 337, 338.
Smith, John, 83, 84.
Smith, J. W. G., 358.
Smith, Lieutenant William, 159.
Snow storm of 1750, 47 ; of 1857, 275.
Snyder, Henry, 257.
Soldiers' families in Revolution, 175.
Sorghum molasses, 326.
Southall, James C, 348.
Sowers, John C. 219, 226, 231.
Spectator newspaper, 241.
Speece, Rev. Conrad, 340.
Spotswood's expedition, 7.
Statistics of 1789, 199 ; of 1800, 212 ;
of 1815 237,
Staunton Academy, 203, 222.
Staunton Female Seminary, 268.
Staunton, town of, 38, 39, 40, 45, 46,
108, 199.
Steele, David, 180, 186.
Steele, Samuel, 180.
Steele, Captain Samuel, 227, 229,
230.
Stephen, Lt.-Col. Adam, 77.
Stephens, Rev. Daniel, 277.
Sterrett, F. F., 283, 285, 332.
Stewart ^or Stuart), David, 83, 90,
92, 94.
Stewart, Federal Colonel, 342.
Stocks, Use of, 32.
Stofer, Henry, 258.
Stone Church, 50, 70.
Stony Point, storming of, 167-9.
Stribling, Erasmus, 199, 219.
Stribling, Dr. F. T., 243.
Strickler, Rev. G. B., 276.
Stuart, Alexander, 180.
Stuart, Alexander H. H., 263, 265,
267, 280, 282, 338, 343, 344, 346,
348, 354-
Stuart, Archibald, 179, 197, 199, 203,
204, 214, 246.
Stuart family, 192.
Stuart, G. B., 281.
Stuart, John, 113, 117, 140.
Stuart, Rev. S. D., 321.
Stuart, Thomas J., 244.
Stuart, William D., 333.
Stuart's company in 1813, 231.
Suit of Cloyd vs. Montgomery, 126.
Supernatural story, 136.
Surrender of General Lee, 329.
Supervisors elected, 359.
Swoope, Jacob, 198, 221, 228.
Syme, Captain John, 159.
Synod to Governor Gooch, 18.
Tapp, Vincent, 204.
Tarlton's invasion, 181, 184.
Tate family, 192.
Tate, James, 179.
Tate, Wra. M., 284, 337.
Taverns in Staunton, 253.
Taxes, first imposed, 22.
Taxes payable in produce, 187.
Teaze's tavern, 186.
Thackeray on Braddock's defeat,
67.
Thompson, Lucas P., 244, 274, 311,
343, 345-
Thompson, Rev. Horatio, 278.
Thompson, Smith, 249.
Thornrose Cemetery, 306.
Timber Ridge church, 36.
Tinkling Spring, 21, 38.
Tithables in 1747, 36.
Todd's company, 1813, 231.
374
INDEX.
Todd, Rev. John, 47.
Toleration of Dissenters, 19.
Tombstone inscription, 23.
Tories ordered to Staunton, 152.
Traditions, 125.
Tremper, L., 198, 204, 244.
Trick of Federal soldiers, 339.
Trimble, James, 27.
Trimble, James B., 258.
Trinity Lutheran church, 202.
Troops, how raised in Revolution,
156, 159, 163, 166, 167, 174.
Troops in 1812, 227.
Trout, N. K., 319, 343.
Tuckahoes, 16.
Tucker, St. George, 216, 217.
Tug river, 86.
Tunker church, 202.
Turk, R., 283.
Turnpikes, 241, 243, 244, 265, 272,
273-
Underwood Convention, 348, 352.
United States Court, 255.
Valley of Virginia, 6, 13.
Valley Railroad, 244, 345, 359.
Valley Turnpike, 265.
Van Lear, Rev. J. A., 241.
Vanmeter, John and Isaac, 9.
Vass's Fort, 75, 76, 91, 98.
Vestrymen elected, 32.
Vestry dissolved, 130, 131, 174.
Vindicator newspaper, 271,
Virginia Female Institute, 268.
Waddell, Dr. A., 238, 258, 270.
Waddell, Dr. J. Alexander, 284, 313.
Waddell, Rev. James, 154, 185, 196,
210.
Waddell, James G., 222-3.
Waddell, Dr. Livingston, 287.
Waddell, L., Sr., 223, 238, 246, 265,
274.
Wagons, army, 290, 293, 324.
Wagons for transportation, 242.
Walker, James, 284.
Walker, James A., 333, 353.
Walker, Mary, trial of, 164.
Wallace, Andrew, 179.
Washington, 57, 61, 77, 78.
Washington College, 185.
Washington Tavern, 205.
Water supply, 266.
Waters, James H., 333.
Watts, John B., 257.
Wayne. Anthony, 167, 204.
Wayne tavern, 204, 266.
Wayt, John, 198, 217.
Weld's account of Staunton, 207.
Weller, Charles L., 333.
Wesleyan Female Institute, 268.
West Augusta, district of, 161.
Western Lunatic Asylum, 243.
West Virginians exiled, 310.
Whiskey insurrection, 205, 206.
Wilderness road, 207.
Will, the first recorded, 29.
William. Fort, 91.
Williams, Hazel J., 283, 333.
Williamson, Robert, 212.
Willson, Burgess, 35.
Wilson, Rev. James C, 241.
Wilson, Joseph A., 333.
Wilson, Peter E., 333.
Wilson, Rev. Wm , 135.
Wilpert, John David, 48.
Winchester stages, 223.
Wirt on war of 1812, 234, 236.
Wise, John, 205, 267.
Wolf heads, 42.
Woods, Michael, 16.
Woodson, Captain, 82.
Wounded soldiers, 311, 312.
Wythe, George, 36.
Young's Fort, 119.
Young. John and Thomas, 114.
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