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COLLECTIONS 


OF    THE 


Virginia  Historical  Society, 

New  Series. 


VOL  XI. 


WM.  ELLIS  JONES, 

PRINTER, 
RICHMOND,  VA. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


AT   THE 

ANNUAL    MEETING 

HELD 

DECEMBER  21-22,  1891, 

WITH 

HISTORICAL  PAPERS 

READ   ON   THE   OCCASION, 

AND  OTHERS, 

EDITED   BY 

R.  A.   BROCK, 

Corresponding  Secretary  and  Librarian  of  the  Society. 


RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY. 

MDCCCXCII. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

I.  Proceedings,  Constitution  and  List  of  Officers  and  Members 

of  the  Society ix 

II.  Early  Revolutionary  History  of  Virginia,  I773~'74,  and  the 
Call  for  the  First  Congress,  by  Professor  James  Mercer 
Garnett,  A.  M.,  LL.D i 

III.  Historic  Elements  in  Virginia  Education  and  Literary  Effort, 

by  Professor  John  B.  Henneman,  A,  M.,  Ph.  D 26 

IV.  Notes  on  Recent  Work  in  Southern  History,  by  Professor 

W.  P.  Trent,  M.  A 47 

V.  Ancient  Epitaphs  in  York  and  James  City  Counties,  Vir- 
ginia, by  Professor  J.  L.  Hall 61 

VI.  The  First  Election  of  Washington  to  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, by  R.  T.  Barton 113 

VII.  The  Old  Brick  Church,  Smithfield,  Virginia,  built  in  1632, 

by  R.  S.  Thomas,  A.  M.,  LL.B 127 

VIII.  Richmond's  First  Academy,  projected  by  M.  Quesnay  de 

Beaurepaire  in  1786,  by  Richard  Hey  ward  Gaines 165 

IX.  Some  Unpublished  Facts  Relating  to  Bacon's  Rebellion  in 

Accomac  County,  Virginia,  by  Frank  P.  Brent 177 

X.  Thomas  Hansford,  the  First  Native  Martyr  to  American 

Liberty,  by  Mrs.  Annie  Tucker  Tyler 191 

XI.  Journal  of  Captain   Charles   Lewis,  1755,  Edited  by  R.  A. 

Brock 203 

XII.  Orderly  Book  of  Captain  Robert  Gamble,  1779,  Edited  with 

Introduction  by  R.  A.  Brock 229 

XIII.  Memoir  of  General  John  Cropper,  by  Barton  Haxall  Wise,     273 

XIV.  Orderly  Book  of  Major  William  Heth,  1777,  Edited  with 

Introduction  by  R.  A.  Brock 317 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


Virginia  Historical  Society 


AT   ITS 


ANNUAL   MEETING 


HELD   IN   THE 


House  of  Delegates,  December  21-22, 1891, 


WITH   THE 


CONSTITUTION  AND  LIST  OF  OFFICERS  AND 
MEMBERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 


RICHMOND,  VA.: 
1802. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF   THE 

Virginia  Historical  Society 


IN 


Annual  Meeting  held  December  21-22,  2891. 


With  the  hope  of  enlisting  a  more  general  interest  in  the 
Virginia  Historical  Society  and  its  objects,  and  to  extend  its  use- 
fulness, the  Executive  Committee  in  meeting  held  July  n,  1891, 
adopted  a  plan  submitted  for  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Society, 
and  appointed  Messrs.  Lyon  G.  Tyler  and  R.  A.  Brock  a  com- 
mittee to  carry  the  same  into  effect. 

Their  efforts  met  with  highly  gratifying  success. 

As  duly  announced,  a  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  in  the 
Hall  of  the  House  of  Delegates  on  the  evenings  of  December  21 
and  22, 1891,  commencing  at  8  o'clock.  There  was  an  excellent 
and  intelligent  attendance,  composed,  in  part,  of  members  of  the 
State  Legislature. 

The  President,  Mr.  Henry,  called  the  meeting  to  order,  and 
having  stated  the  needy  condition  of  the  Society,  expressed  the 
hope  that  the  meeting  would  not  be  without  desired  and  deserved 
fruits. 

The  following  interesting  papers  were  read  during  the  session: 

MONDAY  EVENING,  DECEMBER  21, 

Early  Revolutionary  History  of  Virginia,  1773-' 74,  and  the 
Call  for  the  First  Congress,  by  Professor  James  Mercer  Garnett, 
A.  M.,  LL.D.,  University  of  Virginia ;  Historical  Elements  in 
Virginia  Education  and  Literary  Effort,  by  Professor  John  B. 
Henneman,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.,  Hampden  Sidney  College,  Virginia; 
Notes  on  Recent  Work  in  Southern  History,  by  Professor  Wil- 
liam P.  Trent,  M.  A.,  University  of  the  South,  Sewanee,  Ten- 
nessee ;  Ancient  Epitaphs  in  York  and  James  City  Counties, 
Virginia,  by  Professor  J.  L.  Hall,  William  and  Mary  College, 
Virginia. 


X  VIRGINIA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

TUESDAY  EVENING,  DECEMBER  22, 

The  First  Election  of  Washington  to  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
by  Mr.  R.  T.  Barton,  Winchester,  Virginia;  The  Old  Brick 
Church,  Smithfield,  Virginia,  built  in  1632,  by  R.  S.  Thomas, 
A.  M.,  LL.B., Smithfield,  Virginia;  Richmond's  First  Academy, 
projected  by  M.  Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire  in  1786,  by  Mr.  Rich- 
ard Heyward  Gaines,  Richmond,  Virginia;  Agriculture  in  Vir- 
ginia during  the  First  Twenty  Years  of  the  Colony,1  by  Philip 
A.  Bruce,  Richmond,  Virginia ;  Some  Unpublished  Facts  relat- 
ing to  Bacon's  Rebellion  in  Accomac  County,  Virginia,  by  Mr. 
F.  P.  Brent,  Virginia;  Thomas  Hansford,  the  First  Native  Martyr 
to  American  Liberty,  by  Mrs.  Annie  Tucker  Tyler. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  reading  of  the  papers  on  the 
second  evening,  on  motion  of  Dr.  W.  P.  Palmer  it  was — 

Resolved,. That  the  thanks  of  the  Virginia  Historical  Society 
are  hereby  tendered  to  the  several  gentlemen  and  to  Mrs.  Annie 
Tucker  Tyler,  who  have  read  valuable  and  interesting  papers 
before  them,  at  their  annual  meeting  held  in  the  Hall  of  the 
House  of  Delegates,  December  21  and  22,  1891,  and  it  is 
requested  that  these  papers  be  given  to  to  the  Society  for 
publication. 

Messrs.  Barton,  Garnett  and  Thomas  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  nominate  officers  of  the  Society  for  the  year  1892. 

The  nominations  as  submitted  were  duly  elected,  and  their 
names  are  given  on  a  succeeding  page. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Tyler  it  was  — 

Resolved,  That  the.  Society  approve  the  bill  now  pending  in 
the  Legislature  for  the  appropriation  of  five  thousand  dollars  for 
copying  the  county  court  records  of  the  State  prior  to  the  year 
1700.* 


1  A  copy  of  this  paper  was  not  furnished  the  Society. 

2  The  Legislature,  to  their  credit  be  it  entered,  did  make  the  appro- 
priation asked  for,  inadequate  as  it  is  known  to  be.     Auspiciously,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  has  caused  this  work,  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  the  muniments  of  Virginia,  to  be  entered  on.     Let  not 
the  "  Mother  of  States  and  Statesmen  "  continue  to  linger  in  the  pro- 
vision for  the  preservation  of  her  archives. 


PROCEEDINGS.  XI 

Professor  Garnett  made  an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of  the 
Society,  urging  that  it  was  not  only  the  duty  of  the  State  to  pro- 
vide means  for  the  just  maintainance  of  an  honoring  exponent, 
but  that  it  was  a  crying  shame  that  the  support  of  its  citizens 
was  not  greater.3 

The  President  then  expressed  his  thanks  to  the  audience  for 
the  interest  exhibited,  and  announced  the  meeting  as  adjourned. 


3  It  may  be  hoped  that  the  Society  will  soon  enter  upon  a  brighter 
life  and  a  more  satisfactory  execution  of  its  important  mission.  The 
desideratum  so  long  urged — a  habitation  of  its  own — has  been  assured. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  held  May  26,  1892,  the 
munificent .  offer  of  Mrs.  John  Stewart,  of  "Brook  Hill,"  Henrico 
county,  Virginia,  and  her  daughters,  to  convey  to  the  Society  for 
its  occupancy  for  ten  years,  and  longer  if  desired  at  the  expiration 
of  the  period,  the  commodious  building  in  Richmond  which  was  the 
residence  during  the  late  war  of  the  family  of  General  R.  E.  Lee,  was 
gratefully  accepted. 

The  Society,  however,  is  without  funds,  and  is  dependent  solely  upon 
the  subscriptions  of  its  members  for  the  means  to  defray  its  current 
necessary  expenses.  To  meet  the  expenses  of  removal,  furniture  and 
the  care  of  the  building,  the  membership  of  the  Society  must  be  greatly 
increased,  or  the  absolute  need  met  by  the  generosity  of  the  public 
spirited  of  our  people. 


CONSTITUTION 


OF  THE 


VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

[Adopted  March  10,  1870  ] 


ARTICLE  I. 

The  objects  of  the  Society  shall  be  the  collection  and  preserva- 
tion of  everything  relating  to  the  history,  antiquities  and  litera- 
ture of  the  State  of  Virginia  particularly,  and  the  United  States 

in  general. 

ARTICLE  II. 

The  fiscal  year  shall  terminate  on  the  3131  of  October,  and  the 
terms  of  office  shall  expire  on  the  315!  of  December. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  Society  shall  be  composed  of  Regular,  Life,  Corres- 
ponding and  Honorary  members. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  a  President,  First,  Second 
and  Third  Vice- Presidents,  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  a  Record- 
ing Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  a  Librarian,  and  these  shall  con- 
tinue in  office  until  their  successors  are  elected,  unless  vacancies 
occur  by  death,  resignation  or  removal,  in  which  case  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  shall  have  power  to  appoint  officers  ad  interim. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  President,  Vice-Presidents  and  Secretaries,  together  with 
twelve  members,  shall  constitute  a  committee  to  be  called  the 
Executive  Committee. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

All  the  officers  and  members  of  the  Committee  named  in  the 
preceding  sections  shall  be  elected  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Society,  by  ballot. 


CONSTITUTION.  Xlll 


ARTICLE  VII. 

The  duties  of  the  several  officers  shall  be  those  which  are 
usually  exercised  by  such  officers,  respectively,  and  may  be  more 
particularly  defined  in  the  By-Laws  established  by  the  Executive 
Committee. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  appoint  their  own  Chairman, 
and  have  power  to  fill  any  vacancy  that  may  occur  in  their  own 
body ;  to  remove  the  Treasurer  and  Librarian ;  to  ordain  and 
establish  such  By-Laws  as  they  shall  deem  necessary  and  proper; 
to  call  meetings  ;  to  elect  all  members  of  the  Society,  and  in  gen- 
eral, do  all  things  which  they  shall  deem  expedient  to  secure  the 
objects  of  the  Society  and  promote  its  general  welfare  in  all 
respects.  They  shall  meet  once  a  month,  and  oftener  if  they 
deem  it  necessary,  and  any  six  members  shall  constitute  a  quo- 
rum. They  shall  have  power  to  appoint  members  of  the  Society 
who  are  not  members  of  the  Committee  to  serve  on  special  com- 
mittees whenever  it  is  necessary. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

All  members  of  the  Society  shall  be  nominated  at  a  regular 
monthly  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  the  vote  on 
their  nominations  shall  be  taken  at  the  next  or  a  succeeding  reg- 
ular monthly  meeting  of  the  Committee. 

ARTICLE  X. 

Regular  members  shall  pay  an  admission  fee  of  one  dollar  ($i) 
upon  receiving  notice  of  their  election,  and  five  dollars  on  the 
first  day  of  every  subsequent  year.  Life  members  shall  pay 
fifty  dollars  within  thirty  days  after  their  election.  If  any  Regu- 
lar member  shall  fail  to  pay  his  subscription  for  two  years,  or  at 
any  time  shall  refuse  to  pay  the  same,  he  shall  forfeit  all  his 
rights  and  privileges  of  membership,  and  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee shall  cause  his  name  to  be  erased  from  the  list  of 
members. 


VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


ARTICLE  XI. 

Corresponding  members  may  be  elected  from  such  persons  as 
may  appear  to  be  entitled  to  such  distinction  from  their  connec- 
tion with  historical  or  literary  pursuits,  or  may  indicate  a  dispo- 
sition to  contribute  to  the  collections  or  promote  the  objects  of 

the  Society. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

Regular  or  Life  members  may  be  elected  by  a  majority  of  the 
Committee  present  when  the  vote  is  taken.  Three  votes  shall 
exclude  a  Corresponding  or  Honorary  member,  and  not  more 
than  ten  Honorary  members  shall  be  elected  in  any  one  year. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

The  annual  meetings  of  the  Society  for  the  election  of  officers 
and  the  transaction  of  business  shall  be  held  in  the  city  of  Rich- 
mond on  the  second  Thursday  in  December  of  each  year,  at 
such  place  as  the  Executive  Committee  shall  designate  by  adver- 
tisement, and  an  adjourned  meeting  shall  be  held  on  the  evening 
of  the  same  or  a  subsequent  day,  to  which  the  public  shall  be 
invited,  when  there  shall  be  a  suitable  address  or  discourse  by 
some  person  selected  by  the  Executive  Committee  to  perform 
this  duty  on  that  occasion.  Fifteen  members  shall  constitute  a 
quorum  of  the  Society  at  any  meeting. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

At  the  annual  business  meeting  of  the  Society  the  Executive 
Committee  shall  make  a  full  report  of  their  operations  during 
the  previous  year,  and  so  much  of  this  report  as  may  be  deemed 
advisable  shall  be  presented  at  the  public  meeting  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE' xv. 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended  at  any  general  meeting  of 
the  Society  by  the  vote  of  the  majority  of  members  present, 
when  such  amendment  shall  be  recommended  by  the  Executive 
Committee,  or  if  not  so  recommended  notice  thereof  shall  have 
been  given  at  some  previous  meeting  of  the  Society. 


OFFICERS  AND  MEMBERS 


OF   THE 


Virginia  Historical  Society, 


JUNE  1,  1892. 


President, 
WILLIAM  WIRT  HENRY,  Richmond,  Virginia. 

Vice- Presidents. 

J.  L.  M.  CURRY,  Washington,  D.  C. 
ARCHER  ANDERSON,  Richmond,  Va. 
WILLIAM  P.  PALMER,  M.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Corresponding  Secretary  and  Librarian. 
R.  A.  BROCK,  Richmond,  Va. 

Recording  Secretary. 
GEORGE  A.  BARKSDALE,  Richmond,  Va. 

Treasurer. 
ROBERT  T.  BROOKE,  Richmond,  Va. 

Executive  Committee. 

LYON  G.  TYLER, Williamsburg,Va.  C.  G.  BARNEY,  M.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 
D.C.RICHARDSON,  Richmond, Va.  J.ALSTON  CABELL,  Richmond,  Va. 
W.  A.  MAURY,  Washington,  D.  C.  ORIN  L.  COTTRELL,  Richmond,  Va. 
ROBT.  M.  HUGHES,  Norfolk,  Va.  B.  W.  GREEN,  M.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Jos.  BRYAN,  Richmond,  Va.  E.  V.  VALENTINE,  Richmond,  Va. 

JOHN  OTT,  Roanoke,  Va.  THOS.  NELSON  PAGE.Richmond.Va. 

and,  ex-officio,  the  President,  Vice- Presidents,  Secretaries 
and  Treasurer. 


XVI 


VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


HONORARY  MEMBERS. 


Arber,  Prof.  Edw'd,  Birmingham,  Etig'd. 
Gilbert,  Hon.  J.  W.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Horsford,  Prof.  E.  N.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Jones,  D.  D.,  Rev.  John  Win.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Keane,  Prof.  A.  H.,  London,  Eng'd. 


Sainsbury,  W.  Noel,  London,  Eng'd. 
Spofford,  A.  R.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Whitsitt,  D.  D.,  Rev.  W.  H.,  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky. 
Winthrop,  Hon.  Robert  C.,  Boston,  Mass. 


CORRESPONDING  MEMBERS. 


Adams,  F.  G.,  Topeka,  Kansas. 
Atrill,  Chas.  H.,  London,  Eng'd. 
Bacon,  H.  F.,  Bury  St.  Edmund,  Eng'd. 
Banks,  M.  D.,  Chas.  E.,  Chelsea,  Mass. 
Barber,  E.  A.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Bryant,  H.  W.,  Portland,  Me. 
Breckenridge,  W.  P.  C.,  Lexington,  Ky. 


Green,  M.  D.,  Hon.  S.  A.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Hart,  Chas.  H.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Hayden,  Rev.  H.  E.,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 
Hinsdale,  Prof.  B.  A.,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 
Hoadly,  Hon.  C.  J.,  Hartford,  Conn. 
Hoes,  Rev.  R.  R.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Judah,  Geo.  F.,  Spanish  Town,  Jamaica. 


Campeau,  Hon.  F.  R.  E.,  Ottawa,  Canada.    Lamb,  Mrs.  M.  J.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Carrington,  Gen.  H.  B.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Champlin,  Jr.,  J.  D.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Courtenay,  Hon.  W.  A.,  Charleston,  S.  C. 
Craig,  Isaac,  Allegheny,  Pa. 
Dean,  John  Ward,  Boston,  Mass. 
Darling,  Gen.  C.  W.,-Utica,  N.  Y. 
Drake,  Col.S.  A.,  Kennebunkport,  Me. 
Egle,  M.  D.,  Wm.  H.,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 
Fernow,  Berthold,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Graham,  A.  A.,  Columbus,  O. 


Lee,  J.  W.  M.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Neill,  D.  D.,  Rev,  E.  D.,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 
Nicholson,  Col.  J.  P.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Perry,  Hon.  Amos,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Phillimore,  W.  P.  W.,  London,  Eng'd. 
Rose,  Josiah,  Lancaster,  Eng'd. 
Ross,  Hon.  D.  A.,  Quebec,  Canada. 
Stone,  F.  D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Thwing,  E.  P.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Wright,  W.  H.  K.,  Plymouth,  Eng'd. 


LIFE  MEMBERS. 


Alexander,  H.  M.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Anderson,  Gen.  J.  R.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Barksdale,  Geo.  A.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Barksdale,  M.  D.,  R.,  Petersburg,  Va. 
Barney,  M.  D.,  C.  G.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Beverley,  Col.  R.,  The  Plains,  Va. 
Bosher,  Charles  H.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Brooks,  P.  C.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Bryan,  Joseph,  Richmond,  Va. 
Buckler,  W.  H.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Byrd,  Geo.  H.,  New  York,  N  Y. 
Cabell,  J.  Alston,  Richmond,  Va. 
Conway,  M.  D.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Coxe,  Bnnton,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Davenport,  Jr.,  Isaac,  Richmond,  Va. 
Ellis.  Col.  Thos.  H.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Fish,  Hon.  Hamilton,  Garrisons,  N.  Y. 
Fry,  Chas.  M.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Gary,  J.  A  ,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Grafflin,  John  C.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


Grandy.  C.  Wiley,  Norfolk,  Va 
Gratz,  Simon,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Grigsby,  H.  C.,  Smithville,  Va. 
Holliday,  Hon.  F.  W.  M.,  Winchester,  Va. 
Hughes,  R.  M.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Jones  Wm.  Ellis,  Richmond,  Va. 
Leigh,  C.  J.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Leiter,  L.  Z.,  Chicago,  111. 
Logan,  Gen.  T.  M.,  Richmond,  Va. 
McCormick,  Cyrus  H.,  Chicago,   111. 
Mallory,  Hon.  E.  S.,  Jackson,  Tenn. 
Mather,  Mrs.  M.  H.  Bound  Brook,  N.  J. 
Richmond,  Va.,  College  Library. 
Sutherlin,  W.  T.,  Danville,  Va. 
Talcott,  Col.  T.  M.  R.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Traylor,  R.  L.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Walker,  Major  D.  N.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Washington  and  Lee  Univ.,  Lexington,  Va. 
Whitehead,  Hon.  J.  B.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Woodbridge,  George  N.,  Richmond,  Va. 


Woodhouse,  James,  Richmond,  Va. 


LIST    OF   MEMBERS. 


XV11 


REGULAR  MEMBERS. 


Adams,  Hugh  W.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Acldison,  E.  B.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Addison,  John,  Richmond,  Va. 
Aldrich,  Hon.  P.  Emory,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Alfriend,  Thos.  L.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Alexander,  D.  D.,  Rev.  H.  C.,  Princeton, 

N.  J. 

Alexander,  John  H.,  Leesburg,  Va. 
Alexander,  L.  D.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Allison,  James  W.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Anderson,  H.  C.,  Louisville,  Ky. 
Andrews,  O.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Atkinson,  Thos.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Baker,  R.  H.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Barton,  R.  T.,  Winchester,  Va. 
Baskerville,  H.  E.  C.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Battle,  Presd't  K.  P.,  Chapel  Hill,  N.  C. 
Bayard,  Hon.  T.  F.,  Wilmington,  Del. 
Belvin,  Preston,  Richmond,  Va. 
Bird,  Prof.  H.  S.,  Williamsburg,  Va. 
Bispham,  J.  L.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Blackford,  Prof.  L.  M.,  Alexandria,  Va. 
Boisseau,  P.  H.,  Danville,  Va. 
Booth,  M.  D.,  E.  G.,  Carter's  Grove,  Va. 
Boston,  Mass.,  Public  Library. 
Bosher,  R.  S.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Bourguin,  F.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Boykin,  Col.  F.  M.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Branch,  Jotm  P.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Bransford,  M.  D.,  John  F.,  Bon  Air,  Va. 
Brent,  F.  P.,  Onancock,  Va. 
Broadhead,  Prof.  G.  C.,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Broadhead,  Hon.  J,  O.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Broadhead,  Lucas,  Spring  Station,  Ky. 
Broun,  Maj.  T.  L.,  Charleston,  W.  Va. 
Brown,  Prof.  W.  G.,  Lexington,  Va. 
Bruce,  Philip  A.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Buford,  Col.  A.  S.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Burgwyn,  C.  P.  E.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Burwell,  P.  L.,  Cumberland,  Md 
Cabell,  W.  D.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Caine,  Paul,  Louisville,  Ky. 
Cameron,  Alex.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Cannon,  E.  Y.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Carrington,  P.  R.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Carter,  Prof.  F.,  WillJamstown,  Mass. 
Gary,  Col.  J.  B.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Gary,  W.  M.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Casey,  Prof.  J.  J.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Caskie,  James,  Richmond,  Va. 
Christian,  E.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Claiborne,  M.  D.,  Jno.  H.,  Petersburg,  Va. 


Cleborne,  U.  S.  N.,  Dr.  C.  J.,  Portsmouth, 
N.  H. 

Cleeman,  Thos.  M.,  Petersburg,  Va. 

Clyde,  W.  P  ,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Cochran,  Prof.  J.  L.,  University  of  Va. 

Cole,  Dr.  H.  W.,  Danville,  Va. 

Conrad,  Maj.  Holmes,  Winchester,  Va. 

Courtney,  Maj.  A.  R.,  Richmond,  Va, 

Crenshaw,  Jr.,  L.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Crenshaw,  S.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Crocker,  Maj.  J.  F.,  Portsmouth,  Va. 

Cropper,  John.  Washington,  D.  C. 

Crump,  Hon.  W.  W.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Cutshaw,  Col.  W.  E.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Dabney,  Jr.,  Ph.  D.,  C.  W.,  Knoxville, 
Tenn. 

Dabney,  Ph.  D.,  Prof.  R.  H.,  University  of 
Va. 

Dabney,  M.  D.,  Prof.  W.  C.,  University  of 
Va. 

Davidson,  G.  G.,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Davies,  W.  G.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Davenport,  G.  A.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Dawes,  Col.  E.  C.,  Cincinnati,  O, 

Denham,  Edward,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Dexter,  Hon.  Julius,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Dickerson,  J.  E.,  Asheville,  N.  C. 

Dimmock,  Capt.  M.  J.,  Richmond.  Va. 

Doswell,  Maj.  J.  T.,  Fredericksburg,  Va. 

Downey,  M.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Duke,  Hon.  R.  T.  W.,  Charlottesville,  Va. 

Dunbar,  J.  B.,  Bloomfield,  N.  J. 

Dupuy,  MissL  J.,  Austin,  Texas. 

Durand,  John,  Paris,  France. 

Durrett,  Col.  R.  T.,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Ellett,  Col.  Tazewell,  Richmond,  Va. 

Figgatt,  Hon.  J.  H.  H.,  Fincastle,  Va. 

Flannagan,  W.  W.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Fleming,  Col.  R.  J.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Flournoy,  Hon.  H.  W.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Fogg,  M.  D.,  Jno.  S.  H.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Force,  Gen.  M.  F.,  Sandusky,  O. 

Forrest,  D.  D.,  Rev.  D.  F.,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Fowler,  T.  McK.,  London,  Eng'd. 

Frierson,  G.  F.,  Columbia,  Tenn. 

Gaines,  R.  H.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Garlick,  M.  D.,  Jas.  H.,  Williamsburg,  Va. 

Garnett,  Prof.  J.  M.,  University  of  Va. 

Garrett,  Hon.  W.  R.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Garrett,  M.  D.,  Prof.  Van  F.,  Williams- 
burg, Va. 

George,  J.  P.,  Richmond,  Va. 


XV111 


VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


Gilliam,  R.  D.,  Petersburg,  Va. 
Oilman,  Prof.  D.  C.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Ginter,  Maj.  Lewis,  Richmond,  Va. 
Glasgow,  Hon.  W.  A.,  Lexington,  Va. 
Goode,  Prof.  G.  Brown,  Washington,  D  C. 
Goode,  Hon.  John,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Gray,  Wm.F.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Griffith,  W.  R.  Baltimore,  Md. 
Gunter,  Hon.  B.  T.,  Accomac  C.  H.,  Va. 
Hack,  C.  A.,  Taunton,  Mass. 
Hall,  Prof.  J.  L.,  Williamsburg,  Va. 
Hall,  Maj.  P.  P.  G.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Hampton  Va.  Normal  and  Ag'l  Institute. 
Harris,  Geo.  Wm.,  Cornell  U.,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
Harris,  John  T.,  Harrisonburg,  Va. 
Harrison,  M.  D.,  Geo.  T.,  New  York,  N.Y. 
Harrison,  Jas  P.,  Danville,  Va. 
Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Haw,  Geo.  P.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Haxall,  Capt.  P.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Heffelfinger,  Jacob,  Hampton,  Va. 
Henneman,  Prof.  J.  B.,  Hampden-Sidney, 

Va. 

Herbert,  Col.  A.,  Alexandria,  Va. 
Heyl,  U.  S.  A.,  Col.  E.  M.,  Chicago,  111. 
Hoge,  Arista,  Staunton,  Va. 
Hooe,  Capt.  P.  B  ,  Alexandria,  Va. 
Howard,  Mai.  McH.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Howell,  M.  B.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Hughes,  Hon.  R.  W.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Huhn,  J.  D.,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Hnnnewell,  J.  F.,  Charlestown,  Mass. 
Hunter,  Jr  ,  John,  Richmond.  Va. 
Hutzler,  H.  S.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Ingle,  Edward,  Washington,  D.  C. 
James,  Edward  W.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Jenkins,  U.  S.  A.,  Rear  Admiral,   T.  A., 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Kean,  Col.  R.  G.  H.,  Lynchburg,  Va. 
Keane,  Rt.  Rev.  J.  J.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Keim,  Mrs.  Bettie  T.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Keith,  Chas.  P.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Kent,  Ph.  D.,  C.  W.,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Kentucky  State  Library,  Frankfort,  Ky. 
Knabe,  Wm.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Lancaster,  R.  A.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Lamb,  Hon.  J.  C.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Lassiter,  Maj.  F.  R.,  Petersburg,  Va. 
Leake,  Wm.  Josiah,  Richmond,  Va. 
Lee,  Capt.  R.  E.,  Lexington,  Va. 
Library  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Lilley,  E.  A.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Lodge,  Hon.  H.  C.,  Nahant,  Mass. 
Loyall,  Capt.  B.  P.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Luce,  J.  D.  Henley,  Boston,  Mass. 
Lurty,  Maj.  W.  S.,  Harrisonburg,  Va. 


Lyons,  James,  Richmond,  Va. 
McAdams.Geo.  B.,  Richmond,  Va. 
McCaw,  M.  D.,  J.  B.,  Richmond,  Va. 
McClintock,  A.  H.,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 
McGuire,  F.  B.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
McGuire,  F.  H.,  Richmond,  Va. 
McGuire,  M.  D.,  Hunter,  Richmond,  Va. 
McGuire,  J.  P.  Richmond,  Va. 
Mallory,  U.  S.  A.,  Lt.  J.  S.,  Fort  Omaha, 

Neb. 

Marshall,  Col.  Chas.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Markham,  Wm.  Harris,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Marks,  Arthur  H.,  Winchester,  Tenn. 
Marye,  Hon.  J.  L.,  Fredericksburg,  Va. 
Mason,  R.John  T.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Mayo,  P.  H.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Mayo,  Wm.  C.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Menefie,  R.J.,  Louisville,  Ky. 
Mercer,  W.  R.,  Doylestown,  Pa. 
Meredith,  Chas.  V.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Meredith,  W.  R.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Merrill,  Geo.  F.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Minor,  Miss  Ann  P.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Minor,  Prof.  J.  B.,  University  of  Va. 
Moncure,  M.  D.,  Jas.  D.,  Williamsburg, 

Va. 

Munford,  B.  B  ,  Richmond,  Va. 
Munford,  R.  B.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Myers,  Maj.  E.T.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Nash,  M.  D.,  F.  S.,  Charleston,  S.  C. 
Nash,  M.  D.,  H.  M.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Newton,  Virginius,  Richmond,  Va. 
Nolting,  E.  O.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Norris,  M.  D.,  W.  E.,  Charlottesville,  Va. 
North  Carolina  State  Library,  Raleigh. 
Old,  Major  W.  W.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Ordway,  Gen.  A.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Otis,  Philo  A.,  Chicago,  111. 
Page,  Maj  Mann,  Brandon,  Va. 
Page,  M.  D.,  R.  C.  M.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Page,  D.  L.,  Thos.  Nelson,  Richmond.  Va. 
Palmer,  Col.  Wm.  H  ,  Richmond,  Va. 
Parks,  Marshall,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Patton,  Col.  J.  M.,  Bentivoglio,  Va. 
Patton,  Mercer  W.,  New  Orleans,  La. 
Peyton,  Maj.  Green,  University  of  Va. 
Phillips,  A.  K.,  Fredericksburg,  Va. 
Pleasants,  James,  Richmond.  Va. 
Powell,  John  H.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Purcell,  John,  Richmond,  Va. 
Randolph,  J.  W.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Randolph,  Maj.  N.  V.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Raymond,  C,  H.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Reynolds,  Sheldon,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 
Richeson,  Col.  Thos.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Richardson,  R.  P.,  Richmond,  Va. 


LIST   OF    MEMBERS. 


XIX 


Rives,  Hon.  Geo.  L.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Robert,  Rev.  P.  G.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Robertson,  A.  F.,Staunton,  Va. 

Robertson,  Hon.  W.  J.,  Charlottesville,  Va. 

Robinson,  Col.  C.  W.,  London,  Eng'd. 

Robinson,  Capt.  Leigh,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Robinson,  Rev.  T.  V.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Rogers,  Archibald,  Hyde  Park,  N.  Y. 

Roller,  Gen.  John  E.,  Harrisonburg,  Va. 

St.  John,  Wm.  P.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Sands,  Conway  R.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Semmes,  Hon.  T.  J.,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Sheppard,  W,  L.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Sheild,  P.  B.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Sheild,  M.  D.,  Wm.  H.,  Williamsburg,  Va. 

Sinton,  R.  B.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Smith,  Prof.  F.  H.,  University  of  Va. 

Smith,  Geo.  P.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Smith,  Horace  J;,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Spotswood,  Hon.  W.  F.,  Petersburg,  Va. 

Stringfellow,  Maj.  C.  S.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Stewart.  Rev.  J.  Calvin,  Richmond,  Va. 

Stryker,  Gen.  W.  S.,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

Stubbs,  Prof.  T.  J.,  Williamsburg,  Va. 

Sturdevant,  Col.  R.,  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo. 

Sumner.John  O.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Swineford,  H.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Taliaferro,  Gen.  W.  B.,  Ware  Neck,  Va. 

Taylor,  E.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Taylor,  U.  S.  N.,  Commander  H.  C.,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

Taylor,  W.  E.,  Norfolk,  Va. 

Thaxton,  Geo.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Thorn,  Prof.  W.  T.,  Hollins  Institute,  Va. 

Thomas,  M.  D.,  Creed,  Richmond,  Va. 

Thomas,  R.  S.,  Smithfield,  Va. 

Thompson,   P.  Montagu,   Williamsburg, 
Va. 

Todd,  M.  D.,  Chas.  H.,  Owensboro,  Ky. 


Towles,  M.  D.,  Prof.  W.  B.,  University  of  Va 

Trent,  Prof.  W.  P.,  Sewanee,  Tenn.      • 

Tucker,  Hon.  J.  R.,  Lexington. 

Tulane  University,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Turnure,  Lawrence,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Upshur,  U.  S.  N.,  Rear  Admiral,  John  H., 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Valentine,  E.  P.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Valentine,  G.  G.,  Richmond  Va. 

Valentine,  Jr.,  M.  S.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Valentine.  Sr.,  M.  S.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Vermillion,  John,  Norfolk,  Va. 

Waddell,  J.  A.,  Staunton,  Va. 

Walker,  J.  G.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Walker,  J.  W.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Warren-Bey,  M.  D.,  Ed.,  Paris,  France. 

Watkins,  J.  E.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Waterman,  Wm.  H.,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Watson,  G.  F.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Watts,  J.  Allen,  Roanoke,  Va. 

Watts,  Hon.  L.  R.,  Portsmouth,  Va. 

Wellford,  Hon.  B.  R.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Wellford,  C.  E.  Richmond,  Va. 

Wellford,  Major  P.  A.,  Richmond,  Va. 

West,  Capt.  John  M.,  Petersburg,  Va. 

Wharton,  D.  D.,  Prof.,  L.  B.,  Williams- 
burg, Va. 

Wherry,  B.  C.,  Richmond.  Va. 

Whittle,  Rt.  Rev.  F.  M.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Williams,  Chas.  U.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Willis,  M.  D.,  F.  T.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Wingfield,  Rt.  Rev.  J.  H.  D.,  Benicia,  Cal. 

Winsor,  Justin,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Winston,  M.  D.,G.  S.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Wise,  U.  S.  N.,  Surgeon,  John  C. 

Wise,  Peter,  Alexandria,  Va. 

Wise,  Gen.  Peyton,  Richmond,  Va. 

Wood,  Thos.  L.,  Alexandria,  Va. 

Wortham,  Chas.  E.,  Richmond,  Va. 


EARLY  REVOLUTIONARY  HISTORY  OF  VIRGINIA, 
I773—I774- 


The  Committee  of  Correspondence 


AND 


THE  CALL  FOR  THE  FIRST  CONGRESS. 


A    PAPER    READ    BEFORE    THE    VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 
MONDAY,   DECEMBER    21,   1891, 

BY  JAMES  MERCER  GARNETT,  M.  A.,  LL.D., 

Professor  in  the  University  of  Virginia. 


EARLY  REVOLUTIONARY  HISTORY  OF  VIRGINIA, 

1773-1774. 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE 


AND 


THE  CALL  FOR  THE  FIRST  CONGRESS. 


It  has  been  often  made  a  reproach  to  Virginians  that  they 
have  neglected  the  history  of  their  own  State  and  people,  and  I 
fear  it  is  a  reproach  but  too  well  deserved.  They  have  been 
content  to  make  history  and  to  let  others  write  it,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence much  of  it  has  been  left  unwritten,  and  the  records 
have  perished  irretrievably.  The  investigator  of  any  particular 
point  in  the  history  of  Virginia  is  hampered  by  the  lack  of  origi- 
nal materials,  and  must  often  take  his  evidence  at  second  or 
third  hand.  This  defect  is,  however,  gradually  being  remedied, 
as  far  as  it  is  now  possible  to  remedy  it.  The  publications  of 
this  Society  during  the  past  ten  years,  and  the  work  done  by  its 
learned  President,  its  Secretary,  and  the  chairman  of  its  Commit- 
tee of  Arrangements,1  the  publication  at  intervals  for  the  past 
sixteen  years  of  the  "Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,"  and 
the  recent  valuable  work  on  "  The  Genesis  of  the  United 
States,"  by  a  member  of  this  Society,2  show  that  there  is  his- 
torical activity  in  the  State,  and  that  we  are  waking  up  to  the  im- 


1  W.  W.  Henry,  R.  A.  Brock  and  L.  G.  Tyler. 

2  Alexander  Brown. 


4  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

portanceof  bringing  the  records  of  the  past  to  the  attention  of  the 
present  generation,  and  of  interesting  the  people  of  this  day  in  the 
deeds  of  their  ancestors.  Pride  of  ancestry  has  sometimes  been 
made  an  occasion  for  cheap  witticism  at  the  expense  of  Virginians 
by  those  who  have  never  felt  the  force  of  the  ennobling  influ- 
ence of  the  past,  but  perish  the  day  when  the  son  forgets  his 
father,  when  the  Virginia  boy  fails  to  feel  an  inspiration  for  his 
own  life  from  a  reflection  upon  the  conduct  of  his  grandsires, 
who  were  making  history  in  the  days  that  tried  men's  souls  ! 

The  object  of  the  present  paper  is  to  notice  briefly — of  neces- 
sity briefly  in  the  limited  time  assigned  to  it — some  points  of 
Virginia  history  in  the  days  just  preceding  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence— events  occurring  on  the  threshold  of  the  Revolution, 
which  prepared  the  way  for  that  Declaration.  It  is  a  difficult 
matter  to  assign  a  beginning  to  the  Revolution.  Mr.  Mellen 
Chamberlain,  in  his  chapter  on  "  The  Revolution  Impending" 
(chap.  I,  Vol.  VI,  of  Justin  Winsor's  "  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America"),  says:  "The  year  176313  usually  re- 
garded as  the  beginning  of  the  American  Revolution,  because 
in  that  year  the  English  ministry  determined  to  raise  a  revenue 
from  the  colonies."  Others  take  as  a  starting-point  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1765,  and  the  consequent  action  of 
the  colonies.  But  while  there  is  much  of  interest  to  the  student 
of  Virginia  history  from  the  passage  of  Patrick  Henry's  cele- 
brated resolutions  to  the  actual  outbreak  of  war,  all  tending  to 
show  the  jealousy  felt  by  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  colonies,  the  events  to  be  considered  in  this 
paper  concern  chiefly  the  formation  and  work  of  the  Committees 
of  Correspondence,  the  first  step  looking  toward  united  action 
on  the  part  of  the  colonies,  and  in  this  step  Virginia  unquestion- 
ably took  the  lead.  It  used  to  be  said,  even  by  Virginia  writers, 
that  Massachusetts  was  entitled  to  equal  honor  with  Virginia  in 
originating  the  Committees  of  Correspondence.3 

But  this  statement  was  due  to  confounding  two  different  things, 
the  origination  of  local  Committees  of  Correspondence  within  a 


'See  Wirt's  "  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  third  edition,  1818,  note  to  p. 
87,  with  which  compare  Tucker's  "  Life  of  Jefferson,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  52-55, 
and  reference  there  given  to  "  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington  ;  "  also 
compare  Randall's  "  Life  of  Jefferson,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  78-80. 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY    OF   VIRGINIA.  5 

colony,  and  the  origination  of  Committees  of  Correspondence 
between  the  colonies  themselves.  It  is  not  denied  that  Massa- 
chusetts first  suggested  and  first  put  into  practice  the  formation 
of  Committees  of  Correspondence  between  her  own  towns,  and 
this  suggestion  was  due  to  the  active  brain  of  Samuel  Adams. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  held  on  November  2, 
1772,  Samuel  Adams  moved  "  that  a  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence be  appointed,  to  consist  of  twenty-one  persons,  to  state 
the  rights  of  the  colonists,  and  of  this  province  in  particular,  as 
men,  as  Christians,  and  as  subjects,  to  communicate  and  publish 
the  same  to  the  several  towns  in  this  province  and  to  the  world 
as  the  sense  of  this  town,  with  the  infringement  and  violations 
thereof  that  have  been,  or  from  time  to  time  may  be,  made ;  also 
requesting  of  each  town  a  free  communication  of  their  sentiments 
on  this  subject."  Mr.  Bancroft  adds  :  "  The  end  in  view  was  a 
general  confederacy  against  the  authority  of  Parliament ;  the 
towns  of  the  province  were  to  begin,  the  Assembly  to  confirm 
their  doings,  and  invite  the  other  colonies  to  join."  But  this  last 
sentence  is  Bancroft's,  not  Adams's.  Adams  says  nothing  about 
"  the  other  colonies,"  but  expressly  says  "each  town,"  showing 
that  the  resolution  was  limited  in  its  application  to  that  colony 
alone.  "The  motion  was  readily  adopted,"  and  by  January, 
[773>  eighty  towns  or  more  had  chosen  their  committees.  Mr. 
Bancroft  says  (History  of  United  States,  VI,  445)  :  "Samuel 
Adams  was  planning  how  to  effect  a  union  of  all  the  colonies  in 
Congress.  When  the  Assembly  met  [January  6,  1773]  the 
speaker  transmitted  the  proceedings  of  the  town  of  Boston  for 
organizing  the  provincial  Committees  of  Correspondence  [i.  e, 
on  November  2,  1772]  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia."  Here 
was  the  point  of  contact  between  Massachusetts  and  Virginia. 
The  suggestion  of  this  instrumentality  was  made,  and  it  was  to 
bear  fruit  in  the  action  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  as 
we  shall  see.  The  importance  of  the  action  of  Virginia  is  fully 
realized  by  Mr.  Bancroft,  for  he  says  further  in  his  chapter  en- 
titled "  Virginia  Consolidates  Union"  (VI,  454):  "  The  people  on 
their  part  drew  from  their  institution  of  Committees  of  Corres- 
pondence throughout  the  province  .the  hope  of  a  union  of  all  the 

4  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  original  edition,  1854,  Vol. 
VI,  p.  429- 


6  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

colonies."  *  *  *  "  Whether  that  great  idea  should  become  a 
reality  depended  on  Virginia,"  and  after  giving  an  account  of  the 
passage  by  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  the  resolutions  of  March  12, 
1773,  he  adds  (VI,  455)  :  "  Their  resolves  were  sent  to  every 
colony,  with  a  request  that  each  would  appoint  its  committee  to 
communicate  from  time  to  time  with  that  of  Virginia.  In  this 
manner  Virginia  laid  the  foundation  of  our  Union.  Massachu- 
setts organized  a  province  ;  Virginia  promoted  a  confederacy." 
Here  then  are  the  respective  shares  in  this  matter  allotted  to 
each  by  the  Massachusetts  historian  himself,  and  Virginia  has 
no  cause  to  complain. 

The  action  of  Virginia  is  also  fully  recognized  by  Mr.  Mellen 
Chamberlain,  who  says  (Winsor's  "  History  of  the  United  States," 
VI,  56) :  "  Massachusetts,  which  had  led  in  most  of  the  revolu- 
tionary movements,  did  not  take  the  lead  in  establishing  com- 
mittees of  correspondence  between  the  colonies.  That  honor 
belongs  to  Virginia ;  and  its  chief  cause  was  the  action  of  the 
commissioners  in  the  Gaspee  case.  It  paved  the  way  for  the 
union  of  the  colonies  after  the  general  Congress  which  was  con- 
vened at  Philadelphia  the  next  year"  ;  and  in  an  editorial  note  on 
this  chapter,  Mr.  Winsor  adds  (VI,  90):  "The  vote  passed  by 
Virginia,  March  12,  1773,  was  the  immediate  cause  of  intercolo- 
nial activity."  The  position  of  Virginia,  then,  in  the  matter 
of  the  formation  of  the  Committees  of  Correspondence  seems 
sufficiently  established,  but  the  above  account  has  been  given  as 
preliminary  to  a  more  careful  consideration  of  these  celebrated 
resolutions  and  their  effect  upon  the  other  colonies.  We  are 
greatly  aided  in  this  investigation  by  the  recent  publication  (in 
Vol.  VIII,  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  1890)  of  the  "  Letters 
and  Proceedings  of  the  Committees  of  Correspondence  and  In- 
quiry of  Virginia  and  the  other  Colonies  from  March  12,  1773, 
to  May  5,  1775."  The  letters  received  by  the  Virginia  committee 
are  here  published  for  the  first  time,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  but 
Mr.  Winsor,  in  an  editorial  note  as  above  (VI,  90)  tells  us  that 
Frothingham,  in  his  "Rise  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States," 
Boston,  1872,  a  work  that  I  have  not  seen,  "  determines  the  time 
of  appointing  such  a  committee  by  each  colony."  This  time  is 
readily  ascertained  from  the  record  itself. 

An  account  of  the  introduction  and  passage  of  the  resolutions 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY    OF    VIRGINIA.  7 

for  the  formation  of  Committees  of  Correspondence  is  given  by 
Mr.  Wirt  in  his  "  Life  of  Patrick  Henry"  (third  edition,  p.'  87), 
and  by  Professor  George  Tucker  in  his  "  Life  of  Jefferson  " 
(I,  p.  51),  followed  by  Charles  Campbell  in  his  "  History  of 
Virginia,"  who  designates  Richard  Henry  Lee  as  the  author  of 
the  plan,5  and  by  Randall  in  his  "Life  of  Jefferson"  (I,  p. 
78).  Doubtless  Lee  was  stimulated  by  the  reception  a  few 
weeks  before  of  the  Massachusetts  resolution,  and  with  far-seeing 
eye  realized  what  a  powerful  influence  for  united  action  might  be 
exerted  by  the  extension  of  these  committees  to  the  several  col- 
onies. We  are  told  by  Professor  Tucker,  following  Jefferson's 
"  Memoir,"  that  Patrick  Henry,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Francis 
Lightfoot  Lee,  Dabney  Carr,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  two  or 
three  others,  whose  names  have  not  unfortunately  come  down  to 
posterity,  used  to  meet  at  the  Raleigh  tavern  to  consult  on  the 
measures  proper  to  be  pursued  ;  that  they  drew  up  the  resolu- 
tions ;  and  Mr.  Jefferson  mentions  in  his  ' '  Memoir ' '  that  the  con- 
sulting members  proposed  to  him  to  move  these  resolutions  in 
the  House  the  next  day,  but  that  he  declined  the  honor  in  favor 
of  his  brother-in  law,  Dabney  Carr,  a  new  member,  to  whom  he 
wished  to  afford  so  good  an  opportunity  to  make  his  talents 
known.  The  resolutions  were  accordingly  moved  by  Dabney 
Carr,  a  member  from  Louisa  (not  Charlotte,  as  Mr.  Bancroft 
has  it)  on  March  12,  1773,  in  an  eloquent  speech,  on  which  Mr. 
Wirt  comments.  They  were  supported  by  Patrick  Henry  and 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  were  unanimously  adopted. 

I  regret  very  much  that  I  have  been  unable  to  procure  access 
to  the  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  1773  (which  sat  but 
eleven  days — March  4-15),  but  these  resolutions  are  printed  in 
Burk's  "History  of  Virginia"  (III,  372-3),  Wirt's  "Life  of 
Patrick  Henry"  (third  edition,  pp.  87,  88),  and  very  recently  in 
the  "Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers"  (VIII,  p.  i).  They 


5John  Esten  Cooke  says  (Magazine  of  American  History  for  May, 
1884)  that  "  as  far  back  as  1768  Lee  had  advocated  the  scheme  of  a  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence."  This  suggestion  of  R.  H.  Lee's  was  made 
in  a  letter  of  July  25,  1768,  to  John  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  which 
letter  is  given  in  Lee's  "  Life  of  R.  H.  Lee,"  and  this  was,  I  presume, 
Cooke's  authority  for  his  statement.  See  R.  H.  Lee's  "  Life  of  Richard 
Henry  Lee,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  64,  65,  and  Campbell,  p.  579. 


8  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

will  also  be  found  in  Mr.  W.  W.  Henry's  "Life  of  Patrick 
Henry"  (I,  159).  Although  presumably  well  known  to  the 
members  of  this  Society,  they  are  of  such  importance  in  the 
early  revolutionary  history  of  Virginia  that  they  deserve  to  be 
quoted  in  full.  They  read  as  follows  : 

"  Whereas  the  minds  of  his  Majesty's  faithful  subjects  in  this 
colony  have  been  much  disturbed  by  various  rumors  and  reports 
of  proceedings  tending  to  deprive  them  of  their  ancient,  legal, 
and  constitutional  Rights ;  and  whereas  the  affairs  of  this  Colony 
are  frequently  connected  with  those  of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as 
of  [Wirt  and  the  Cal.  omit  '  of]  the  neighboring  colonies, 
which  renders  a  communication  of  Sentiments  necessary  ;  in 
order,  therefore,  to  remove  the  uneasiness  [Burk  says  '  uneasi- 
nesses ']  and  to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  people,  as  well  as  for  the 
[Cal.  omits  '  the  ']  other  good  purposes  above  mentioned — 

"Be  it  Resolved,  That  a  standing  committee  of  correspond- 
ence and  inquiry  be  appointed,  to  consist  of  eleven  persons, 
to-wit:  the  honorable  Peyton  Randolph,  Esquire,  Robert  Car- 
ter Nicholas,  Richard  Bland,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Benjamin 
Harrison,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Patrick  Henry,  Dudley  Digges, 
Dabney  Carr,  Archibald  Gary,  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  Esquires, 
any  six  of  whom  to  be  a  committee,  whose  business  it  shall  be 
to  obtain  the  most  early  and  authentic  intelligence  of  all  [Burk 
omits  'all']  such  Acts  and  Resolutions  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment or  proceedings  of  administration  as  may  relate  to  or  affect 
the  British  Colonies  in  America ;  and  to  keep  up  and  maintain  a 
correspondence  and  communication  with  our  sister  Colonies  res- 
pecting those  [Burk  says  'these']  important  considerations; 
and  the  result  of  such  their  proceedings  from  time  to  time  to  lay 
before  this  [Burk  says  '  the  ']  House. 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  an  instruction  to  the  said  committee 
that  they  do  without  delay  inform  themselves  particularly  of  the 
principles  and  authority  on  which  was  constituted  a  court  of  en- 
quiry, said  to  have  been  lately  held  in  Rhode  Island,  with  powers 
to  transport  persons  accused  of  offences  committed  in  America 
to  places  beyond  the  seas  to  be  tried. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Speaker  [Burk  and  Wirt  add  '  of  this 
House']  do  transmit  to  the  Speakers  of  the  different  Assemblies 
of  the  British  Colonies  on  this  [Wirt  says  'the']  Continent 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY    OF   VIRGINIA.  9 

copies  of  the  said  Resolutions,  and  desire  that  they  will  lay  them 
before  their  respective  Assemblies  and  request  them  to  appoint 
some  person  or  persons  of  their  respective  bodies  to  communi- 
cate from  time  to  time  with  the  said  committee." 

Mr.  Wirt  says  (p.  89)  that  the  mover  of  these  resolutions, 
Dabney  Carr.  "  although  he  had  not  yet  reached  the  meridian 
of  life,  was  considered  by  far  the  most  formidable  rival  in  forensic 
eloquence  that  Mr.  Henry  had  ever  yet  had  to  encounter."  Un- 
fortunately for  the  colony,  he  died  on  the  i6th  of  May  following, 
not  two  months  later,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age,  cut  off  in 
the  beginning  of  his  public  career.  Mr.  Bancroft  well  says  (VI, 
455)  his  name  "  must  not  perish  from  the  memory  of  his  coun- 
trymen." 

The  Committee  met  on  the  next  day,  March  i3th,  all  present 
except  Edmund  .Pendleton  and  Patrick  Henry;  appointed  John 
Tazewell  clerk,  and  Peyton  Randolph,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas, 
and  Dudley  Digges  a  select  committee,  who,  as  is  shown  by  the 
record,  conducted  all  the  correspondence  of  the  committee. 
They  directed  the  select  committee  to  take  steps  to  carry  out  the 
second  resolution,  to  procure  copies  of  certain  acts  of  Parlia- 
ment and  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons  (which  were  pro- 
cured later  through  a  certain  Mr.  John  Norton,  of  London),  and 
to  transmit  to  the  Speakers  of  the  other  Assemblies  on  the  Con- 
tinent copies  of  an  act  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  making  it  a 
felony  to  forge  the  paper  currency  of  the  other  colonies,  like 
action  being  desired  from  the  other  assemblies,  for  it  seems  from 
a  subsequent  letter  that  this  Colony  had  "sustained  the  greatest 
injury  by  having  their  paper  currency  forged — the  supposed 
principal  author  of  this  mischief  being  an  inhabitant  of  North 
Carolina." 

The  second  resolution  requires,  perhaps,  a  few  words  of  expla- 
nation. Some  months  before,  on  June  10,  1772,  a  revenue 
vessel,  the  "  Gaspee,"  which  had  been  making  illegal  seizures 
of  goods  and  much  harassing  the  people  of  Providence,  R.  I., 
having  run  aground  in  a  chase,  was  boarded  and  burnt  by  the 
incensed  citizens.  A  royal  commission  sat  at  Newport  from 
January  4th  to  22d,  1773,  to  consider  the  affair,  and  at  the  end 
of  its  deliberations  required  the  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  to 
arrest  the  offenders  and  send  them  to  England  for  trial.  He 


10  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

laid  the  matter  before  the  Assembly,  who  referred  it  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  Chief  Justice,  Stephen  Hopkins.  He  boldly  re- 
fused, "for  the  purpose  of  transportation  for  trial,  either  to 
apprehend  any  person  by  his  own  order  or  to  suffer  any  executive 
officers  of  the  colony  to  do  it;"  and  thus  the  matter  ended,  as 
no  armed  force  was  used.6 

This  transportation  of  accused  persons  beyond  seas  for  trial 
was,  then,  what  excited  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  and 
this  was  not  the  first  occasion  on  which  like  action  had  been 
taken,  for  on  May  n,  1769,  they  had  passed  unanimously  certain 
noted  resolutions  (given  in  Burk,  III,  343-4.  and  in  Henry,  I, 
138-9),  one  of  which  declared  "  that  the  seizing  any  person  or  per- 
sons residing  in  this  colony,  suspected  of  any  crime  whatsoever 
committed  therein,  and  sending  such  person  or  persons  to  places 
beyond  the  seas  to  be  tried,  is  highly  derogatory  of  the  rights  of 
British  subjects,  as  thereby  the  inestimable  privilege  of  being 
tried  by  a  jury  from  their  vicinage,  as  well  as  the  liberty  of  sum- 
moning and  producing  witnesses  in  such  trial,  will  be  taken  away 
from  the  party  accused." 

The  result  of  the  passage  of  those  resolutions  was  the  dissolu- 
tion of  that  Assembly  by  Lord  Botetourt.  Let  us  now  notice 
the  effect  of  the  resolutions  just  read,  which  had  been  duly  trans- 
mitted to  the  other  colonies  by  the  Select  Committee  on  March 
J9'  :773-  The  first  letter  received  was  from  the  Speaker  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  New  York,  dated  April  14,  who  states  that 
he  will  lay  the  resolutions  before  the  Assembly  when  it  convenes, 
but  he  does  not  imagine  that  this  will  be  before  the  latter  end  of 
this  or  the  beginning  of  next  year.  On  March  i,  1774,  nearly  a 
year  later,  the  Speaker  transmits  the  New  York  resolutions  of 
January  20,  appointing  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  thirteen, 
in  the  very  words  of  the  Virginia  resolution,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
other  Assemblies.  He  adds :  "  I  am  also  directed  to  return  their 
thanks  to  the  Burgesses  of  the  ancient  colony  and  Dominion  of 
Virginia  for  their  early  attention  to  the  Rights  and  Liberties  of 
America."7 

6See  Bancroft,  VI,  417-419  and  450,  451,  and  Winsor,  VI,  53. 

7  See  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  15,  ff.,  for  all 
these  letters. 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY     OF   VIRGINIA.  11 

The  first  Assembly  to  respond  to  the  initiative  of  Virginia  was 
that  of  Rhode  Island^  which  appointed  its  committee  of  seven  on 
May  7th,  and  the  resolutions  were  transmitted  by  the  Speaker  on 
May  i5th,  who  says:  "The  House,  thoroughly  convinced  that 
a' firm  union  of  the  colonies  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  pre- 
servation of  their  ancient,  legal  and  constitutional  rights  [the 
very  words  of  the  Virginia  preamble],  and  that  the  measures 
proposed  by  your  House  of  Burgesses  will  greatly  promote  so 
desirable  an  end,  came  nemine  contradicente  into  the  resolutions 
of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  you  a  copy." 

The  House  of  Representatives  of  Connecticut  appointed  its 
committee  of  nine  on  May  2ist,  but  the  resolutions  were  not  trans- 
mitted by  the  Speaker  until  June  24th,  who  refers  to  the  "  Reso- 
lutions of  the  patriotic  House  of  Burgesses  of  the  Colony  of 
Virginia,"  which  are  quoted  in  full  in  the  copy  of  the  clerk 
extracted  from  the  Journals. 

New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts  appointed  their  committees 
on  the  same  day,  May  2yth,  the  former  consisting  of  seven,  and 
the  latter  of  fifteen  persons.  The  Speaker  of  the  New  Hampshire 
House  of  Representatives,  under  date  of  May  2yth,  has  their 
"  unanimous  direction  to  present  their  thanks  to  and  assure  your 
Hon'able  House  that  in  every  constitutional  plan  for  securing  the 
Rights  of  British  America  and  removing  the  present  infringements 
thereon,  our  sister  colonies  may  rely  we  sincerely  join,  having  no 
wish  for  ourselves  of  an  exclusive  nature  in  those  matters,  ever 
looking  on  the  whole  as  embarked  in  the  same  common  Bottom, 
and  so  represented  it  in  our  address  to  Lord  Dartmouth  at  our 
first  meeting  after  his  appointment  for  American  Affairs." 

The  Massachusetts  House,  after  a  suitable  preamble,  places  as 
its  very  first  resolution — 

"Resolved,  That  this  House  have  a  very  grateful  sense  of  the 
obligations  they  are  under  to  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  Vir- 
ginia for  the  vigilance,  firmness  and  wisdom  which  they  have 
discovered  at  all  times  in  support  of  the  Rights  and  Liberties  of 
the  American  Colonies,  and  do  heartily  concur  with  them  in  their 
said  judicious  and  spirited  Resolves." 

This  does  not  look  as  if  those  Massachusetts  men  had  any 
idea  that  they  had  been  forestalled  in  the  inception  of  any  plan 
of  intercolonial  correspondence  that  they  had  already  conceived, 


12  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

and  if  historians  had  had  these  resolutions  before  them,  there 
would  never  have  been  any  doubt  as  to  which  colony  moved  first  in 
this  matter.  The  Speaker  of  the  Massachusetts  House,  under  date 
of  June  3d,  says  :  "  The  wisdom  of  the  measures  proposed  in  those 
Resolves  and  the  great  and  good  effects  that  may  reasonably  be 
expected  to  flow  from  them,  not  only  to  the  Colonies,  but  to  the 
parent  State,  were  so  obvious  that  the  House  immediately  adopted 
them  and  appointed  a  committee  to  keep  up  and  maintain  a  free 
communication  with  Virginia  and  the  rest  of  the  Sister  Colonies." 

That  the  colonies  did  not,  however,  look  upon  this  measure 
as  leading  to  independence  of  Great  Britain  is  here  shown,  and 
it  is  shown  also  by  the  words  of  the  Speaker  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire House,  who  says :  ' '  The  House  have  appointed  a  committee 
for  the  proposed  purpose  of  communication,  and  flatter  ourselves 
that  some  means  may  yet  be  hit  on  for  restoring  the  mutual  con- 
fidence once  subsisting  between  Great  Britain  and  the  American 
provinces." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  four  New  England  colonies,  whose 
Assemblies  were  already  in  session,  were  the  first  to  respond  to 
the  Virginia  resolutions. 

The  Speaker  of  the  Georgia  House,  on  June  5th,  acknowl- 
edges the  receipt  of  the  Resolutions,  and  states  that  he  will  "  take 
care  to  lay  [them]  before  our  House  of  Representatives."  But 
Georgia  did  not  appoint  her  committee  of  six  until  September  loih, 
accompanying  this  resolution  with  one  of  thanks  to  the  Speaker 
and  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  "  for  communicating  their 
Intentions  firmly  to  support  the  rights  and  privileges  of  his 
Majesty's  faithful  and  loyal  subjects  in  America." 

On  July  8th  South  Carolina  appointed  a  committee  of  nine, 
and  also  thanked  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  "for  com- 
municating the  said  Resolutions  to  this  House,  as  well  as  for  their 
steady  attention  to  the  general  interests  of  America."  The 
Speaker,  in  transmitting  these  resolutions  the  next  day,  adds, 
"by  which  your  province  have  so  nobly  and  uniformly  distin- 
guished itself  in  the  great  cause  of  liberty." 

On  August  loth  the  Select  Committee  of  Correspondence  of 
Connecticut  refers  to  the  previous  letter  of  the  Speaker,  of  June 
24th,  transmitting  a  copy  of  the  Resolutions  of  the  Connecticut 
House,  "  by  which  you  will  see  the  House  of  Representatives  of 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY    OF    VIRGINIA.  13 

this  Colony  have  fully  adopted  the  measures  proposed  by  your 
patriotic  House  of  Burgesses,  and  with  pleasure  follow  the  'lead 
given,  an  example  set  by  the  fathers  of  the  people  in  the  ancient, 
free  and  loyal  Colony  of  Virginia."  Here  is  another  New  Eng- 
land testimony  to  the  source  from  which  "  the  lead  "  proceeded, 
and  to  the  estimation  in  which  Virginia  was  held  by  the  other 
colonies. 

The  Speaker  of  the  Pennsylvania  House  acknowledges,  on 
September  25th,  the  receipt  of  the  resolutions  sent  on  March 
igth,  and  states  that  the  Assembly  considers  it  "  highly  expedi- 
ent and  necessary  a  correspondence  should  be  maintained  be- 
tween the  Assemblies  of  their  several  Colonies  ;  but  as  the  present 
Assembly  must  in  a  few  days  be  dissolved  by  virtue  of  the  char- 
ter of  the  province,  and  any  measures  they  might  adopt  at  this 
time  rendered  by  dissolution  ineffectual,  they  have  earnestly 
recommended  the  subject  matter  of  the  letter  and  resolves  of  the 
House  of  Burgessess  of  Virginia  to  the  consideration  of  the 
succeeding  Assembly."  This  looks  like  "  dodging  the  question," 
and  it  does  not  appear  that  "  the  succeeding  Assembly"  ever  ap- 
pointed a  Committee  of  Correspondence,  for  the  next  record  we 
have  from  Pennsylvania  is  dated  May  20,  1774,  and  recounts  the 
appointment,  "  at  a  Meeting  of  a  Number  of  respectable  Inhabi- 
tants of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,"  of  a  Committee  of  Corres- 
pondence of  eighteen  members,  which  committee  is  "  instructed 
to  apply  to  the  Governor  to  call  the  Assembly  of  the  Province." 

This  action,  however,  was  in  consequence  of  the  receipt  of 
intelligence  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  and  not  in  response  to  the 
Virginia  resolutions  of  the  preceding  year. 

On  October  I5th  the  Maryland  House  appoints  its  Committee 
of  Correspondence  of  eleven  persons,  but  this  action  is  not  com- 
municated by  the  Speaker  until  December  6th.  He  states,  how- 
ever, that  he  had  laid  the  Virginia  resolutions  before  the  House  in 
June  last,  and  that  "  they  then  had  them  under  consideration, 
but  before  any  Resolutions  were  entered  into  an  unexpected 
prorogation  took  place,"  and  they  did  not  meet  again  until 
October. 

Under  date  of  October  2ist  there  is  an  important  letter  from 
the  Massachusetts  Committee,  discussing  the  general  situation 
and  advocating  a  strenuous  effort  for  the  restoration  of  the  rights 


14  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

and  liberties  of  the  colonies.  They  say  expressly  :  "  We  are  far 
from  desiring  the  connection  between  Great  Britain  and  America 
should  be  broken.  Esto  perpetua  is  our  most  ardent  wish,  but 
upon  the  terms  only  of  equal  liberty.  If  we  cannot  establish  an 
agreement  upon  these  terms,  let  us  leave  it  to  another  and 
wiser  generation."  They  refer,  in  conclusion,  to  the  British 
ministry's  "  allowing  the  East  India  Company,  with  a  view  to 
pacifying  them,  to  ship  their  Teas  to  America,"  and  urge  that 
"  each  Colony  should  take  effectual  methods  to  prevent  this 
measure  from  having  its  desired  effect." 

Delaware  appoints  its  committee  of  five  on  October  25th,  and 
includes  in  the  resolutions  one  reading  as  follows  : 

"Resolved,  That  this  House  have  a  very  grateful  sense  of  the 
obligations  they  are  under  to  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  Vir- 
ginia for  the  vigilance,  firmness  and  wisdom  which  they  have 
discovered  at  all  times  in  support  of  the  Rights  and  Liberties  of 
the  American  Colonies,  and  do  heartily  concur  with  them  in  their 
said  judicious  and  spirited  Resolves." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  Massachu- 
setts resolution  of  thanks  to  Virginia,  Delaware  having  already 
received  the  resolutions  of  Rhode  Island  and  of  Massachusetts. 

There  is  a  letter  of  November  4th  from  the  Connecticut  Com- 
mittee also  referring  to  the  action  of  the  ministry  in  permitting 
teas  to  be  sent  by  the  East  India  Company,  and  expressing  "  the 
most  uneasy  apprehensions  for  the  consequences." 

They  conclude:  "  It  is  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  we  see  the 
seasonable  and  beneficial  example  set  by  vour  honorable  and  pa- 
triotic House  of  Burgesses  already  followed  by  almost  all  the 
Houses  of  Assembly  on  the  Continent,  and  doubt  not  that  it  will 
be  universal  soon.  The  union  of  the  Colonies  is  of  the  last  im- 
portance, and  we  conceive  a  regular  correspondence  the  most  cer- 
tain means  to  effect  so  salutary  a  design." 

The  Speaker  of  the  House  and  the  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence of  Georgia  both  write  on  November  2oth,  transmitting  the 
resolutions  of  September  loth,  already  mentioned  above.  It  is 
surprising  to  see  how  long  a  time  often  elapses  between  the  pas- 
sage of  resolutions  and  their  transmission  by  the  Speaker  or  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence. 

North    Carolina  appoints  a  committee  of  nine  on  December 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY    OF   VIRGINIA.  15 

8th,  and  the  Speaker  transmits  the  resolutions  on  December 
26th,  the  first  one  of  which  deserves  partial  quotation. 

'*  This  House  resolve — 

"That  the  vigilance  which  the  honorable  House  of  Burgesses 
of  Virginia  have  displayed  in  attending  to  every  encroachment 
upon  the  Rights  and  Liberties  of  America,  and  the  wisdom  and 
vigour  with  which  they  have  always  opposed  such  encroach- 
ments are  worthy  the  imitation  and  merit  the  gratitude  of  all 
their  sister  colonies,  and  in  no  instance  more  particularly  than  in 
the  measure  proposed  for  appointing  corresponding  committees 
in  every  colony  by  which  such  harmony  and  communication 
will  be  established  among  them." 

Thus  colony  after  colony  extols  and  follows  the  action  of  Vir- 
ginia. 

The  letter  of  March  i,  1774,  from  the  Speaker  of  the  New 
York  House  of  Representatives,  transmitting  their  resolutions 
of  January  2Oth,  which  is  the  next  one  in  chronological  order, 
has  been  already  noticed. 

The  Connecticut  Committee  writes  on  March  8th  in  reply  to 
the  letter  of  the  Virginia  Committee  of  January  6th  concerning 
writs  of  assistance,  which  contained  an  elaborate  argument 
against  granting  such  general  writs  as  were  demanded  by  his 
Majesty's  commissioners.  This  argument  the  Connecticut  Com- 
mittee pronounces  "  at  once  ingenious  and  conclusive."  They 
cannot  refrain  from  again  referring  to  the  appointment  of  com- 
mittees of  correspondence,  as  follows  : 

"  We  consider  with  pleasure  the  step  taken  by  your  worthy 
House  of  Burgesses  in  appointing  a  committee  to  keep  up  a 
regular  correspondence  with  your  sister  Colonies,  now  adopted 
by  nearly  all  on  the  Continent,  as  a  basis  on  which  the  most  last- 
ing and  beneficial  Union  may  be  formed  and  supported."  They 
are  "anxiously  expecting  the  account  how  the  returned  Tea  is 
received,  and  what  measures  the  present  session  of  parliament 
will  adopt  respecting  that  and  other  American  concerns."  A 
P.  S.  significantly  adds  :  "  A  quantity  of  Tea  arrived  at  Boston 
and  met  the  fate  of  the  former,  the  particulars  of  which  will  be 
with  you  before  this." 

In  respect  to  the  appointment  of  these  committees  of  corres- 
pondence, the  last  action  is  that  of  New  Jersey,  which  colony 


16  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

appoints  its  committee  of  nine  on  February  8,  1774,  and  "  returns 
the  thanks  of  the  House  to  the  Burgesses  of  Virginia  for  their 
early  attention  to  the  Liberties  of  America."  These  resolu- 
tions are  transmitted  by  the  committee  on  March  14th,  so  that 
within  a  year  from  the  passage  of  the  Virginia  resolutions  all 
the  other  colonies,  except  Pennsylvania,  had  appointed  commit- 
tees of  correspondence. 

These  several  quotations  from  the  records  of  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence  have  been  given  with  a  view  to  showing  the 
effect  produced  on  the  different  colonies  by  the  action  of  Vir- 
ginia, which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  an  official  means  of 
communication  between  the  colonies,  and  led  to  the  meeting  of  the 
first  Congress,  concerning  which  Mr.  Jefferson  says  in  his  "  Me- 
moir "  (Randall's  Life,  p.  78),  in  giving  an  account  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Virginia  Committee:  "  We  were  all  sensible  *  *  * 
that  their  first  measure  would  probably  be  to  propose  a  meeting 
of  deputies  from  every  colony  at  some  central  place,  who  should 
be  charged  with  the  initiation  of  the  measures  which  should  be 
taken  by  all."  This  was  to  come,  though  not  quite  so  soon  as 
Mr.  Jefferson  conceived. 

We  have  a  glimpse  of  the  effect  produced  in  England  by  the 
action  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  in  a  MS.  letter  of 
William  Lee  to  his  brother,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  dated  London, 
January  i,  1774,  which  is  briefly  referred  to  by  Charles  Camp- 
bell (History  of  Virginia,  p.  570).  This  letter  is  among  the  Lee 
papers  in  the  Library  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  while 
chiefly  on  private  business,  it  alludes  to  "politics"  near  the 
close,  and  contains  the  following  sentence  from  which  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's extract  is  taken  :  "  Every  real  patriot  in  this  country  ad- 
mires the  spirit  that  has  already  appeared  among  you,  and  the 
last  resolves  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  have  struck  a  greater 
panic  into  the  ministers  than  anything  that  has  passed  since  the 
Stamp  Act."  Here  is  testimony  from  England  to  the  impor- 
tance of  this  Virginia  move,  for  it  was  felt  that  the  colonies 
would  now  unite  in  defence  of  their  rights  and  liberties. 

I  regret  that  lack  of  time  will  not  permit  me  to  consider  in  de- 
tail the  measures  leading  to  the  first  Congress  of  all  the  colonies, 
but  they  must  be  briefly  noticed.  The  throwing  overboard  of 
the  tea  in  Boston  harbor  on  December  16,  1773,  led  to  the  Bos- 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY   OF   VIRGINIA.  17 

ton  Port  Bill  of  March  31,  1774,  which  was  to  take  effect  on  June 
ist.  Information  of  this  was  received  early  in  May,  and  caused 
a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  on  May  i3th,  which  rec- 
ommended to  the  other  colonies  a  non-importation  and  non-ex- 
portation agreement  "  till  the  Act  for  blocking  up  the  harbour  be 
repealed."  This  resolution  was  transmitted  the  same  day  by 
Samuel  Adams  to  Peyton  Randolph  for  Virginia,  and  a  copy 
was  sent  also  to  each  of  the  other  colonies.  In  the  letter  of 
Samuel  Adams  there  is  no  allusion  to  a  Congress.  Resolutions 
of  sympathy  with  Boston  were  passed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Philadelphia  on  May  2Oth,  and  a  Committee  of  Correspondence 
was  appointed  for  that  city.  The  next  day  (2ist)  this  Philadel- 
phia committee  sent  a  letter  to  Boston,  and  a  copy  of  it  to  each 
of  the  other  colonies,  in  which  the  following  sentence  occurs  : 

"  By  what  means  this  truly  desirable  circumstance  of  a 
reconciliation  and  future  harmony  with  our  mother  country  on 
Constitutional  principles  may  be  obtained  is  indeed  a  weighty 
question,  whether  by  the  method  you  have  suggested  of  a  non- 
importation and  a  non-exportation  agreement,  or  by  a  General 
Congress  of  Deputies  from  the  different  Colonies  to  state  what 
we  conceive  to  be  our  Rights,  and  make  a  claim  or  petition  of 
them  to  his  Majesty  in  firm  but  decent  and  dutiful  terms,  so  as 
that  we  may  know  by  what  line  to  conduct  ourselves  in  future, 
are  now  the  great  points  to  be  determined,"  and  they  favor  the 
latter  method,  i.  e.,  a  Congress,  first.8 

Whence  came  this  suggestion  of  a  Congress  ?  Mr.  Bancroft 
says  that  the  committee  of  the  "Sons  of  Liberty  "  of  New  York 
"  proposed — and  they  were  the  first  to  propose — 'a  general  Con- 
gress/" but  he  does  not  give  their  letter.  His  statement  is 
(History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  40,  41):  "Their 
summons  to  the  country  had  already  gone  forth  when,  on  the 
evening  of  the  i6th  of  May,  they  convoked  the  inhabitants  of 
their  city."  The  Philadelphia  letter  of  the  2ist  of  May.  states 
that  they  had  read  at  their  meeting  of  the  2Oth  "  a  letter  from 
the  committee  of  correspondence  of  New  York."  Doubtless 
this  contained  the  proposition  mentioned  by  Mr.  Bancroft,  for  he 
states  further  (VII,  43)  that  "the  letter  from  the  New  York 


8  See  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  48- 


18  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Sons  of  Liberty  had  been  received  in  Philadelphia"  before  this 
meeting.  There  is  among  the  Lee  papers  in  the  Library  of  the 
University  of  Virginia  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  New  York 
committee  of  correspondence  to  the  Boston  committee,  dated 
May  23,  1774,  marked  "  For  Virginia,"  and  signed  "  By  order  of 
the  Committee  of  Correspondence.  The  foregoing  is  a  true 
copy.  Isaac  Sears," — in  which  letter  occurs  the  following  sen- 
tence :  "Upon  these  reasons  we  conclude  that  a  Congress  of 
Deputies  from  the  Colonies  in  general  is  of  the  utmost  moment  ; 
that  it  ought  to  be  assembled  without  Delay  and  some  unanimous 
Resolutions  formed  in  this  fatal  Emergency,  not  only  respecting 
your  deplorable  circumstances,  but  for  the  security  of  our  com- 
mon Rights."  This  shows  that  the  idea  of  a  Congress  had 
already  occurred  to  the  New  York  Committee.  There  is  no  copy 
of  this  letter  in  the  "  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,"  and 
it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  very  letter  among  the  Lee 
papers  should  have  been  on  the  files  of  the  Virginia  committee. 
Meantime,  what  was  going  on  in  Virginia?  The  Assembly 
met  on  May  5,  1774.  On  the  6th  the  Committee  of  Corres- 
pondence ordered  the  letters  which  had  been  received  from  the 
different  colonies  "  to  be  laid  before  the  House  of  Burgesses  now 
sitting,"  and  on  the  25th  it  took  similar  action  with  respect  to  the 
letter  from  the  New  Jersey  committee,  the  last  one  received. 
But  news  had  now  been  received  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  and 
on  the  24th  the  Assembly  passed  its  noted  preamble  and  resolu- 
tion (given  in  full  in  Wirt's  "  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  p.  95,  and 
also  in  Henry's  "  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  I,  177)  appointing 
June  ist  as  "a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,"  in  con- 
sequence of  which  action  the  Assembly  was  dissolved  by  Lord 
Dunmore,  "on  the  following  day,"  say  Wirt  and  Campbell,  but 
Burk  gives  on  the  margin  the  date  as  May  27th,9  although  this 
must  apply  to  the  association  formed  next  day.  Burk  says  (III, 
378) :  "  On  the  following  day  the  members  met  by  agreement  at 
the  long  room  in  the  Raleigh  tavern  "  (Wirt,  followed  by  Camp- 
bell, says  "  immediately"),  entered  into  their  agreement  against 
the  use  of  tea,  and  recommended  to  the  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence (380)  "  that  they  communicate  with  their  several  correspond - 

9  Professor  M.  C.  Tyler  and  Mr.  Henry  give  the  date  more  exactly  as 
May  26th  (Tyler's  "  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  p.  86  ;  Henry's  "  Life  of 
Patrick  Henry,"  I,  178). 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY    OF   VIRGINIA.  19 

ing  committees  on  the  expediency  of  appointing  deputies  from 
the  several  colonies  of  British  America,  to  meet  in  general  congress 
at  such  place  annually  as  shall  be  thought  most  convenient ; 
there  to  deliberate  on  those  general  measures  which  the  united 
interests  of  America  may  from  time  to  time  require."  Mr.  Wirt 
quotes  in  full  this  "Association,  signed  by  eighty-nine  members 
of  the  late  House  of  Burgesses"  (as  also  does  Mr.  Henry,  I,  179- 
181),  and  appends  the  date,  May  27,  1774.  The  record  of  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  shows  that  it  met  on  the  following 
day,  Saturday,  May  28th,  all  present  except  Patrick  Henry  and 
Archibald  Gary,  and  "  Ordered  that  letters  be  prepared  to  the  sev- 
eral Committees  of  Correspondence  on  the  Continent,  requesting 
their  sentiments  on  the  appointment  of  Deputies  from  the  several 
Colonies  to  meet  annually  in  general  Congress."  Such  a  letter 
was  immediately  prepared  for  Maryland,  and  a  copy  for  each  of 
the  other  colonies,  and  it  was  ordered  "that  said  letters  be  sent 
by  this  day's  post."  This  shows  that  the  committee  was  not 
slow  to  fulfill  the  recommendation  of  the  late  House  of  Burgesses, 
but  it  also  appears  that  Virginia  was  not  the  first,  as  is  stated  by 
Campbell  (p.  573),  to  propose  a  general  Congress,  for  the  sugges- 
tion occurs  in  the  letters  of  both  the  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
Committees,  although  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  was  igno- 
rant of  this  suggestion  when  it  made  the  proposition.  While 
this  suggestion  was  made  by  the  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
Committees  of  Correspondence,  in  Virginia  it  was  made  by  an 
organized  legislative  body,  presided  over  by  the  Speaker,  though 
it  had  just  been  dissolved  by  the  Governor. 

But  Virginia  went  a  step  further.  On  the  next  day,  Sunday, 
May  2gth,  a  letter  was  received  from  Maryland,  of  the  25th,  en- 
closing the  Philadelphia  letter  of  the  2ist  and  the  Boston  letter 
of  the  I3th,  whereupon,  in  the  words  of  the  Virginia  commit- 
tee's letter  of  the  3ist  to  North  Carolina,  the  Moderator  "immedi- 
ately convened  as  many  members  of  our  late  House  of  Burgesses 
as  could  be  got  together  upon  so  short  a  notice,  and  we  yes- 
terday took  this  important  business  under  our  most  serious  con- 
sideration ;  the  result  of  our  deliberations  will  best  appear  from 
the  inclosed,  which  is  submitted  to  your  Judgment."  (Cal. 
VIII,  n). 

What  was  "the  inclosed"  here  referred  to?  The  original 
paper  and  signatures  may  be  seen  framed  occupying  a  conspicu- 


20  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

ous  position  in  the  Virginia  State  Library,  and  a  copy  of  it  will 
be  found  on  p.  52,  Vol.  VIII  of  the  "  Calendar  of  Virginia  State 
Papers."  It  is  the  action  taken  on  Monday,  May  30,  1774,  "  At 
a  meeting  of  twenty-five  of  the  late  Representatives  legally  assem  - 
bled  by  the  moderator,"  at  which  "  it  was  agreed  that  letters  be 
wrote  to  all  our  sister  Colonies,"  acknowledging  the  receipt  of 
the  letters  above-mentioned,  informing  them  of  the  unexpected 
dissolution  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  and  stating  that  it  was 
their  opinion  "  that  the  colony  of  Virginia  will  concur  with  the 
other  Colonies  in  such  measures  as  shall  be  judged  most  effectual 
for  the  preservation  of  the  common  Rights  and  Liberty  of  British 
America;  "  "  that  an  association  against  Importations  will  proba- 
bly be  entered  into  as  soon  as  the  late  Representatives  can  be  col- 
lected, and  perhaps  against  Exportations  also  after  a  certain 
time;  "  and  "  that  we  are  sending  Dispatches  to  call  together  the 
late  Representatives  to  meet  at  Williamsburg  on  the  ist  day  [of] 
August  next,  to  conclude  finally  on  these  important  Questions." 
This  last  sentence  was  the  most  important  part  of  this  paper. 
Governor  Dunmore,  on  June  i7th,  summoned  the  Assembly  to 
meet  on  August  nth  (Cooke's  "Virginia,"  p.  420),  but 
these  twenty-five  members  of  the  late  House  of  Burgesses 
anticipated  him,  and  here  was  the  summons  for  that  first 
Virginia  Convention,  which  met  on  August  I,  1774,  appointed 
delegates  to  the  General  Congress,  with  full  instructions  for  their 
action  (see  Wirt,  pp.  101-105,  and  Henry,  I,  pp.  198-202), 
adopted  a  non  importation  agreement  after  November  ist  next, 
and  a  non-exportation  one  also  after  August  10,  1775,  "unless 
American  grievances  are  redressed  "  before  that  time,  and  em- 
powered the  moderator  to  convene  the  delegates  "  on  any  future 
occasion  that  might,  in  his  opinion,  require  it."  It  was  thus  the 
prelude  to  the  Virginia  Conventions  of  March,  July  and  Decem- 
ber, 1775.  and  May,  1776,  which  last  severed  all  connection  with 
Great  Britain  and  adopted  an  independent  government  for  Vir- 
ginia— the  first  permanent  written  constitution  ever  adopted  on 
this  Continent.10  Among  these  twenty-five  names  we  find  those 
of  Peyton  Randolph,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  Edmund  Pendle- 

10  Of  this  Convention  of  1774  Mr.  Randall  says  (Life  of  Jefferson,  I, 
58) :  "  This  Convention  was  the  first  assembly  of  popular  representa- 
tives of  Virginia— twenty-four — which  convened  without  the  express 
authority  of  law,  and  by  virtue  of  the  inherent  rights  of  the  pt-ople." 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY    OF   VIRGINIA.  21 

ton,  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee,  Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, George  Washington,  Paul  Carrington  and  James  Mercer — 
all  of  whom  later  occupied  high  official  positions.  Three  of 
these  men — Edmund  Pendleton,  Paul  Carrington  and  James 
Mercer — were  appointed  by  the  Convention  of  July,  1775,  on  the 
Committee  of  Safety  of  eleven  members,  that  governed  Virginia 
during  the  recess  of  the  conventions  from  that  time  until  July, 
1776,  when  Patrick  Henry  was  inaugurated  as  the  first  Governor, 
and  all  three  of  them  were  afterwards  judges  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals  of  the  State.11 


11  As  showing  the  relations  existing  between  these  three  men,  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  Edmund  Pendleton  was  nominated  for  President  of 
the  Convention  of  December,  1775,  by  Paul  Carrington,  and  the  mo- 
tion was  seconded  by  James  Mercer  (Journal  of  the  Conventions  of 
1775  and  1776,  p.  59).  Edmund  Pendleton  was  also  nominated  by  Paul 
Carrington  for  President  of  the  Convention  of  1788.  The  late  Hugh 
Blair  Grigsby,  in  his  "  Virginia  Convention  of  1788,"  says  of  Judge  Pen- 
dleton (I,  66):  "Not  a  few  of  the  members  could  recall  him  as  with  a 
buoyant  and  graceful  step  he  walked  from  the  floor  of  the  Convention 
of  December,  1775,  and  of  May,  1776,  to  the  chair,  escorted  in  the  for- 
mer body  by  Paul  Carrington  and  James  Mercer,  and  in  the  latter  by 
the  venerable  Richard  Bland  and  the  inflexible  Archibald  Gary." 

Sketches  of  Judge  Pendleton  and  Judge  Carrington  will  be  found  in 
Grigsby's  work  above-mentioned,  and  in  his  "  Virginia  Convention  of 
1776."  A  brief  sketch  of  Judge  Mercer  may  be  appended  here,  as  no 
notice  of  his  life  has  ever  appeared  in  print  except  a  few  lines  prefixed 
to  Vol.  IV  (p.  xx)  of  Call's  Reports,  which  contains  brief  sketches  of 
the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals. 

JAMES  MERCER  was  the  son  of  John  Mercer,  of  Marlboro',  Stafford 
county,  Va.,  a  lawyer  and  author  of  Mercer's  "  Abridgment  of  the  Laws 
of  Virginia,"  and  Catherine  Mason,  daughter  of  Colonel  George  Ma- 
son, of  Stafford  county,  Va.,  and  aunt  of  George  Mason,  noted  as  the 
author  of  the  Virginia  Constitution  of  1776,  and  otherwise.  James 
Mercer  was  born  February  16,  1736,  and  was  educated  at  William  and 
Mary  College. 

He  was  a  captain  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and  in  command  of 
Fort  Loudoun  at  Winchester  in  1756.  He  represented  Hampshire 
county  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  1765,  and  was  frequently  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body.  He  also  represented  that  county  in  the  Virginia 
Conventions  of  1774,  1775  and  1776.  He  was  elected  by  the  Convention 
of  July,  1775,  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  eleven 
that  governed  Virginia  as  the  chief  executive  authority  during  the 
recess  of  the  Conventions  until  July,  1776,  when  Patrick  Henry  was 


22  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

The  Committee  of  Correspondence  on  the  next  day,  May  3ist, 
enclosed  this  action  of  the  twenty-five  members  of  the  late  House 
of  Burgesses  to  North  Carolina,  with  a  request  for  transmission 
to  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  also  to  Maryland,  with  a 
similar  request  for  transmission  to  Philadelphia  and  Boston — for 
in  this  way  the  torch  was  borne  from  hand  to  hand  in  the  several 
colonies. 

The  letter  of  Maryland  contains  the  following  sentence  :  "  We 
could  wish  to  have  known  the  sentiments  of  New  York.  We 
found  a  letter  from  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  in  that 
province  mentioned  in  the  Philadelphia  letter,  but  no  copy  of  it 
inclosed  nor  the  purport  of  it  mentioned."  This,  too,  shows 
that  the  Virginia  Committee  was  still  ignorant  that  the  New 
York  Committee  had  proposed  a  general  Congress,  the  letter  con- 
taining that  proposition  not  having  been  received. 

This  notice  of  the  records  of  the  Virginia  Committee  of 
Correspondence  must  now  close,  just  on  the  eve  of  that  day  ol 
fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  appointed  by  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, Wednesday,  June  i,  1774,  on  which  day  George  Mason 
directed  that  his  elder  children  should  attend  church  in  mourn- 


inaugurated  as  the  first  Governor  under  the  Constitution.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  I779~'8o,  and  in  1779  was 
chosen  a  judge  of  the  General  Court.  In  1789  he  was  made  a  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Appeals  of  five  judges.  He  died  in  Richmond  while 
attending  the  Court  of  Appeals,  October  31,  1793,  and  was  buried  in  the 
churchyard  of  St.  John's  Church,  but  the  exact  spot  was  not  marked 
and  is  now  unknown.  His  residence  was  in  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  and 
he  was  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Fredericksburg 
Academy.  A  letter  from  him  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  who  was  also  a 
member  of  this  Board,  relating  to  the  Academy,  is  still  preserved 
among  the  Lee  papers  in  the  Library  of  the  University  of  Virginia.  He 
married  Mary  Eleanor  Dick,  daughter  of  Charles  Dick,  of  Fredericks- 
burg, and  was  the  father  of  Charles  Fenton  Mercer,  who  represented 
the  Loudoun  district  in  Congress  from  181710  1840.  His  only  daughter, 
Mary  Eleanor  Dick  Mercer,  married  her  cousin,  James  Mercer  Gar- 
nett,  of  Elmwood,  Essex  county,  Virginia,  M.  C.,  1805  to  1809.  Por- 
traits of  James  Mercer  and  of  his  father,  John  Mercer,  are  still  preserved 
at  Elmwood. 

Judge  Mercer  drew  the  will  of  Mary  Washington,  still  preserved  in 
the  records  of  the  corporation  court  of  Fredericksburg,  and  was  one 
of  the  witnesses  to  her  signature. 


EARLY    REVOLUTIONARY    HISTORY   OF   VIRGINIA.  23 

ing,  a  strong  evidence  of  the  deep  feeling  throughout  the  colony.1* 
I  cannot  refrain,  however,  from  quoting,  in  conclusion,  a  few  brief 
sentences  from  a  letter  of  the  Philadelphia  committee  (without 
date,  but  dated  by  the  editor  of  volume  VIII  of  the  Calendar  of 
Virginia  State  Papers  "June  13,  1774"),  as  it  shows  plainly  the 
esteem  in  which  Virginia  was  held:  "All  America,"  says  the 
secretary  of  the  committee,  "  look  up  to  Virginia  to  take  the 
lead  on  the  present  occasion.  Our  united  efforts  are  now  neces- 
sary to  ward  off  the  impending  blow  levelled  at  our  lives,  liberty 
and  property."  *  *  *  "  Some  colony  must  step  forth  and 
appoint  the  time  and  place  [i.  e. ,  for  the  Congress].  None  is  so 
fit  as  Virginia.  You  are  ancient.  You  are  respected.  You  are 
animated  in  the  cause." 

It  is  a  source  of  pride  to  the  sons  of  Virginia  to  know  that 
she  did  not  fail  to  respond  to  this  call,  and  to  know  further  that 
she  has  never  failed  to  respond  in  a  becoming  manner  when  her 
rights  and  liberties  were  threatened. 

JAMES  MERCER  GARNETT. 
University  of  Virginia. 


12  Mason's   letter  to  Martin   Cockburn,  quoted   in  Bishop   Meade's 
"Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia,"  I,  174,  and  elsewhere. 


Historic  Elements 


IN 


Virginia  Education  and  Literary  Effort, 


A  paper  read  before  the  Virginia  Historical  Society 
Monday,  December  2ist, 


BY 


PROFESSOR  JOHN  BELL  HENNEMAN,  M.  A.,  Ph.D. 

HAMPDEN-SIDNEY   COLLEGE,  VIRGINIA. 


Historic  Elements 


IN 


Virginia  Education  and  Literary  Effort, 


The  key  to  Virginia's  intellectual  past,  and  consequently  to 
her  after  development,  lies  in  large  measure  in  what  science 
teaches  is  true  of  individuals — and,  as  we  might  infer,  also  of  a 
collection  of  individuals,  like  the  State — namely,  the  principles 
of  heredity  and  environment.  What  is  the  origin  of  Virginia's 
people?  What  are  the  sources  of  her  various  race-elements  ?  and 
how  has  the  further  history  of  these  elements  been  affected  and 
modified  by  climatic  conditions,  by  geographical  divisions,  by 
the  physical  contour  of  the  land,  by  peculiarities  of  soil,  nay, 
further,  by  traditions  and  customs  and  habits,  that  manifestation 
of  a  man's  self  and  a  nation's  existence  from  which  neither  ever 
seems  to  break  completely  away. 

Cast  a  glance  upon  the  map  of  Virginia  and  note  the  divisions 
of  to-day,  politically,  materially,  and  industrially,  varied  and 
diverse.  Five  divisions  will  indicate  roughly  these  differences: 
First,  the  Tide-Water,  including  the  parts  contiguous  to  the 
navigable  streams ;  second,  the  Southside  ;  third,  the  Valley ; 
fourth,  the  Southwest ;  and  fifth  (I  shall  add  for  our  present  pur- 
poses), West  Virginia.  These  geographical  divisions,  appa- 
rently made  for  convenience,  in  reality  affect  deeply  the  inner 
history  of  the  State,  and  were  originally  the  settling  places  of  peo- 
ples, however  commingled  later,  of  different  origins,  governed 


28  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

by  different  principles,  and  affected  by  different  interests.  Four 
race-elements  are  important  enough  in  the  history  of  Virginia's 
culture  to  bear  distinction :  the  English,  the  Scotch-Irish,  the 
German,  and  the  French  Huguenot.  The  African  negro  would 
constitute  a  fifth. 

The  first  settlers  were  the  English.  Coming  over  at  the  insti- 
gation of  the  Virginia  Company  in  London,1  their  objects  were 
very  similar  to  the  later  East  Indian  and  Southern  and  Central 
African  companies  :  to  found  a  colony,  to  establish  plantations, 
to  engage  in  trade  with  the  natives,  to  extract  from  a  fresh  soil 
its  mineral  and  agricultural  wealth,  to  amass  fortunes,  and  pos- 
sibly to  achieve  fame. 

It  needs  little  discernment  and  slight  study  of  the  map  of  the 
New  World  to  note  how  admirably  just  this  part  of  the  entire 
American  coast  was  adapted  to  their  purposes.  Stretched  be- 
fore them  lay  the  beautiful  waters  of  the  Chesapeake.  Into  this 
flows  fairly  parallel  the  great  river  of  the  Potomac  ;  the  Rappa- 
hannock  ;  the  York,  with  its  confluents  ;  the  Mattaponi  and  the 
Pamunkey;  the  James  and  its  tributaries,  the  Chickahominy  and 
the  Appomattox,  all  forming  fertile  and  pleasing  peninsulas  and 
presenting  a  perfect  tracery  and  net-work  of  navigable  waters, 
great  highways  for  commerce  and  communication.  The  Bay 
itself  and  the  Ocean  create  still  another  great  peninsula,  that  of 
the  "  Eastern  Shore."  From  these  sections  these  pioneers 
spread  slowly  to  the  north  and  west  and  south,  following,  in  the 
main,  the  courses  of  the  larger  streams. 

It  is  a  most  striking  illustration  how  the  topography  and  phy- 
sical features  of  a  land  determine  its  history,  its  social,  political, 
and  particularly  its  economical  and  intellectual  development. 
Sufficient  labor  was  naturally  difficult  to  obtain,  and  the  demand 
grew  still  greater  as  the  tobacco  crop  became  the  staple  of  pro- 
duce and  the  plantations  encroached  on  the  forest  domain. 
Economical  conditions  create  history  ;  and  a  dozen  years  after 
the  colony  had  been  planted,  the  first  ship  load  of  African  slaves 
was  introduced.2  The  social  scale  was  lengthened  at  both  ends. 
Plantations  became  more  princely,  as  hundreds  of  servants  were 


1  Edward  D.  Neill :  The  Virginia  Company  in  London. 

2  Minor's  Institutes,  Vol.  I. 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN    VIRGINIA    EDUCATION.  29 

added  as  laborers  and  domestics.  The  English  manorial  estate, 
controlling  the  surrounding  acres,  leading  in  the  vestry  meeting 
of  the  neighboring  church,  was  the  model  upon  which  the  Vir- 
ginian's life  and  government  were  patterned.3  Physical  geogra- 
phy produced  also  here  its  effects.  The  scattered  homes  and 
estates,  extending  irregularly  along  the  courses  of  rivers,  neces- 
sitated the  division  into  counties  of  irregular  shape  and  unequal 
extent ;  and  these  counties  were  accepted  as  the  unit  of  society 
and  the  basis  of  representation  in  the  government.*  The  con- 
trast with  New  England  already  accentuated  by  certain  differ- 
ences in  people,  in  attitude,  in  thought,  was  here  complete. 
The  colonists  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  for  reasons  both 
natural  and  social,  dwelt  in  compact  communities,  living  close  to- 
gether and  knit  by  common  interests.  These  had  naturally  re- 
course to  the  township  or  ward  as  the  central  point  in  their 
democratic  system,  and  a  county  composed  a  number  of  these 
smaller  divisions.  It  is  unprofitable  to  dicuss  the  advantages  of 
the  one  form  of  government  as  compared  with  the  other,  to 
praise  one  as  containing  germs  of  liberty,  which  the  other  does 
not  possess.5  Nature  and  climate  and  mode  of  life  imposed  the 
one  upon  New  England  and  the  other  upon  Virginia.  In  both 
colonies  we  find  local  self-government  and  individual  liberty 
alike  dear  and  near  to  an  English-speaking  people. 

True  Englishmen  these  Virginians  remain;  there  is  still  mani- 
fest throughout,  the  Englishman's  love  of  out-door  pleasure,  of 
an  open-air  existence,  of  a  life  filled  with  excitement  and  adven- 
ture. Professor  Moses  Coit  Tyler,  in  his  History  of  American 
Literature,6  asserts  :  "  These  constitute  a  situation  out  of  which 
may  be  evolved  country  gentlemen,  loud-lunged  and  jolly  fox- 
hunters,  militia  heroes,  men  of  boundless  domestic  heartiness 
and  social  grace,  astute  and  imperious  politicians,  fiery  orators, 
and  bye  and  bye,  here  and  there,  perhaps,  after  a  while,  a  few 
amateur  literary  men  ;  but  no  literary  class  and  almost  no  litera- 
ture." These  were,  at  least,  the  conditions  which  produced 
"militia  heroes"  like  Washington  and  Lee;  "  fiery  orators " 

8  Woodrow  Wilson :  The  State. 

4  John  Fiske  :  Civil  Government  in  the  United  States. 

6  Henry  Adams  :  Life  of  John  Randolph. 

6  Vol.  I,  p.  92. 


30  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

like  Patrick  Henry  and  Randolph,  of  Roanoke ;  "astute  and 
imperious  politicians"  like  Jefferson  and  Madison;  "country 
gentlemen  "  like  Wythe  and  Mason  and  John  Marshall. 

The  second  race  element,  entering  into  the  make-up  of  Vir- 
ginia's culture,  is  the  Scotch-Irish.  One  hundred  and  thirty 
years  after  the  tide-water  was  settled,  the  valley  received  this 
stream  of  immigration.7  The  situation  of  the  original  home  of 
the  Scotch-Irish  in  Virginia  was  typical  of  the  spreading  of  the 
race  itself  to  the  four  quarters.  Their  settlements  extended 
along  the  headwaters  of  streams  flowing  in  all  directions — some 
northward  with  the  Shenandoah  to  empty  into  the  Potomac  ; 
others  eastward  into  the  James  or  more  southerly  into  the  Roa- 
noke ;  others  southerly  and  westward  into  the  Holston,  and  thus 
into  the  Tennessee;  and  still  others  into  the  Greenbrier  and 
Kanawha,  and  thence  down  the  Ohio.  That  descendants  still  , 
retain  that  love  of  external  scenery,  inborn  in  their  ancestry,  is 
one  of  the  curious  problems  which  science  attempts  to  explain. 
Whether  we  view  the  Scotch-Irish  in  Pennsylvania  or  Virginia, 
in  North  or  South  Carolina,  in  Tennessee  or  Kentucky,  they 
have  fairly  well  followed  the  Appalachian  range  and  its  offshoots 
and  the  courses  of  its  streams,  the  highlands  and  the  Piedmont 
section  ever  remaining  that  portion  where  their  genius  seems  to 
flower  at  fullest  perfection. 

These  people  added  to  the  character  of  the  colony  a  much 
needed  Puritan  element — stern,  serious-minded,  burdened  with 
consciences,  somewhat  severe  in  their  aspects  of  life  and  in  their 
relations  with  the  world,  but  in  their  very  nature  earnest,  law- 
abiding,  upright,  staunch,  honest  patriots,  filled  with  a  love  of 
liberty  inherited  from  generations  of  Scotch  covenanters. 

The  German  element  seems  at  first  sight  not  to  have  been  so 
pronounced  as  might  have  been  expected  from  their  early  con- 
tact. This  is  due  in  large  measure  to  their  natural  conservatism 
and  their  contentment,  clustering  by  themselves,  to  lead  simple, 

7J.  L.  Peyton:  History  of  Augusta  County;  J.  A.  Waddell :  Annals  of 
Augusta  County;  Henry  Ruffner :  Early  History  of  Washington  Col- 
lege. J.  H.  Bryson  :  The  Scotch-Irish  in  America — seems  to  me  to  claim 
too  much ;  the  Scotch-Irish  have  surely  done  enough,  without  one's  desir- 
ing to  go  beyond  legitimate  limits  and  to  ascribe  nearly  everything  to 
them. 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN   VIRGINIA    EDUCATION.  31 

thrifty  and  comparatively  secluded  lives.8  In  reality  the  geogra- 
phy of  the  State  has  been  deeply  affected,  as  the  abundance  of 
post-offices  bearing  German  appellations  testify,9  and  a  study 
of  the  catalogues  of  the  Valley  and  westerly  institutions  reveal  a 
constantly-marked  increase  in  students  whose  names  show  them 
to  be  descended  from  these  eighteenth  century  pioneers.10  Wil- 
liam Wirt,  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  and  author  of 
the  first  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  Judges  Conrad  and  Sheffey, 
Governor  Kemper,  Koiner  and  Speece,  are  among  the  promi- 
nent representatives  of  this  race. 

The  French  element  in  Virginia  has  been  not  so  large,  but 
marked  in  capacity  and  distinct  in  quality.  Settling  along  the 
upper  waters  of  the  James  on  the  border  of  Goochland  and 
Powhatan,  this  original  handful  of  Huguenots  became  distributed 
here  and  there  in  all  sections  of  the  State,  particularly  along  the 
James  and  the  Appomattox,  the  Southside  receiving  possibly  the 
larger  share.11  Maury,  Marye,  Maupin,  Michaux,  Legrand, 
Fontaine,  Flournoy,  Dupuy,  Dabney,  are  but  a  few  among  many 
Virginian  family  names  from  this  source. 

I  have  just  alluded  to  the  Southside  and  its  French  elements. 
Half-way  between  the  tide-water  and  the  mountains  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  the  southern  section  of  Virginia  received  an  admixture  of 
both  English  and  Scotch-Irish.  A  further  commingling  with  the 
French  Huguenots  intensified  the  Presbyterian  influence.  Add 
to  this  the  labors  of  Samuel  Davies  and  other  missionary  evan- 
gelists, and  we  have  the  causes  which  gave  rise  to  Hampden- 
Sidney  College  in  Prince  Edward.1'2  But  if  any  point  is  clear  in 
the  educational  history  of  the  State,  it  is  the  fact  that  her  early 
institutions  in  their  origin  are  not  so  much  the  creatures  of  de- 


8  Henry  Ruffner:  History  of  Washington  College— characterizes  very 
fairly  both  the  Scotch  Irish  and  the  German  settlers. 

9  Post-Office  Directory  ;  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.'s  Railway  Guide,  etc. 

10  General  and  Annual  Catalogues  of  Washington  and  Lee  University, 
University  of  Virginia,  Roanoke  College,  Hampden-Sidney  College,  etc. 

11  R.  A.  Brock:  Huguenot  immigration  to  Virginia — Virginia  Histori- 
cal Collections,  Vol.  V,  New  Series. 

12 W.  H.  Foote:  Sketches  of  Virginia;  Hugh  Blair  Grigsby:  Centen- 
nial Oration  at  Hampden-Sidney  College  in  1876. 


32  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

nomination  as  the  result  of  traditions  of  race  and  place.  They 
sprang  from  local  needs,  were  supported  by  local  patronage,  and 
only  by  degrees,  for  especial  reasons  and  in  exceptional  cases,  did 
they  become  institutions  for  a  whole  land.  Only  three  of  these 
belong  to  the  first  half  century  of  our  national  existence  (1775- 
1825):  The  College  of  William  and  Mary  for  the  Tide- Water 
section;  Hampden-Sidney  College  for  the  Southside;  and 
Washington  College  (now  Washington  and  Lee  University)  for 
the  Valley.13 

13  Two  members  of  the  Senior  Class  of  Hampden-Sidney  College,  Mr. 
James  P.  Moss,  of  Texarkana,  Texas,  and  Mr.  Cochran  Preston,  of 
Smyth  county,  Virginia,  have  been  good  enough  to  investigate  this 
point,  Mr.  Moss  taking  the  General  Catalogue  of  William  and  Mary  of 
1874,  and  Mr.  Preston  that  of  Washington  and  Lee  University,  pub- 
lished in  1888.  It  had  been  my  hope  and  intention  of  having  the  past 
of  Hampden-Sidney  College  treated  in  like  manner,  but  the  General 
Catalogue  has  not  yet  appeared,  and  complete  material  was  therefore 
not  accessible.  The  work  of  these  gentlemen  has  been  very  pains- 
taking, and  I  trust  that  the  results  may  prove  valuable  as  statistics. 
These  have  been  tabulated  for  each  year  and  each  county  and  State  on 
charts  preserved  in  the  Hampden-Sidney  College  Library,  and  from 
these  I  have  easily  made  the  following  tables.  The  period  before  the 
late  war  is  separated  into  three  divisions:  First,  the  eighteenth  century 
and  then  two  others,  the  dividing  point  being  1825,  the  date  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  University  of  Virginia.  The  table  for  William  and  Mary  has 
been  brought  down  only  through  1861,  owing  to  the  peculiar  sufferings 
of  that  institution  for  many  years,  induced  through  the  war.  The  post- 
bellum  period  for  Washington  and  Lee  has  been,  for  convenience,  cut 
into  two,  the  first  being  the  decade  from  1865  to  1875,  displaying 
the  influences  due  to  General  Lee's  presidency,  markedly  increased 
accessions  from  the  Southwestern  States  being  the  most  striking. 
Many  other  interesting  facts  will  be  readily  seen  by  a  comparison  of 
the  two  tables,  which  conclusions  I  must  leave  to  the  interested  reader 
to  draw,  the  lack  of  space  forbidding  a  longer  digression.  To  assist 
this  comparison  in  some  small  measure,  I  have  appended  to  the  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  table  corresponding  figures  for  Washington  College 
for  the  same  county  and  the  similar  period.  The  central  counties  have 
naturally  sent  both  east  and  west,  and  the  increase  in  the  figures  of 
Henrico,  Norfolk,  and  Dinwiddie  counties  in  the  history  of  William 
and  Mary,  shows  the  expansion  of  urban  at  the  expense  of  rural 
population. 

[To  avoid  a  too  great  division  of  the  text  and  to  present  the  table 
more  clearly,  it  is  printed  as  an  appendix.— ED.] 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN   VIRGINIA    EDUCATION.  33 

The  college  of  William  and  Mary  was  the  offspring  of  the 
genius  of  the  English  race  in  northern  and  eastern  Virginia. 
The  objects  asserted  were  "  to  the  end  that  the  church  of  Virginia 
may  be  furnished  with  a  seminary  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and 
that  the  youth  may  be  piously  educated  in  good  letters  and  man- 
ners, and  that  the  Christian  faith  may  be  propagated  amongst 
the  western  Indians  to  the  glory  of  Almighty  God."  There  is 
about  this  the  true  and  unmistakable  English  ring.1* 

It  was  a  college  for  both  church  and  state,  because  church  and 
state  were  then  one.  In  the  chapel  could  assemble,  with  equal 
propriety,  a  band  of  college  youth,  a  convention  of  the  church, 
a  body  of  legislators.  But  the  influences  were  still  stronger. 
Williamsburg  was  not  only  the  educational  and  the  religious 
centre  of  the  English  colony,  it  was  the  seat  of  the  colonial  gov- 
ernors, men  who,  imitating  the  state  and  ceremony  of  the  court 
of  St.  James,  introduced  style,  fashion,  luxury,  social  grace — 
in  short,  a  world's  culture.  Here  were  the  sessions  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses,  comprising  the  most  prominent  and  active  men  in 
the  colony ;  here  were  the  law  courts,  and  later  the  seat  of  the 
chancellor  and  the  school  for  law.  No  wonder  these  young  Vir- 
ginians became  natural  leaders.  They  received  their  training, 
besides,  in  their  homes,  among  domestics,  in  the  fields,  on  the 
plantations,  in  church  matters  as  vestrymen,  as  justices  in  the 
county  courts,  and,  finally,  in  the  capital  at  Williamsburg  as 
members  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  and  of  the  Governor's 
Council.  Perhaps  such  an  atmosphere  was  not  too  favorable 
for  the  production  of  preachers,  if  that  had  been  the  hope  of 
the  founders  of  William  and  Mary.  The  genius  of  this  people  lay 
no  more  in  that  direction  than  in  philology  and  mathematics,  or 
even  in  literature,  though  none  of  these  branches  was  neglected 
in  a  way ;  but  their  genius  in  state-craft  was  consummate.  They 
became  students  of  politics,  of  government,  and  of  the  law ;  and 
it  was  the  teachers  in  these  departments,  George  Wythe,  the 
chancellor,  Judge  St.  George  Tucker,  and  their  successors,  who 
inspired  and  captivated  the  youth  of  the  time.15  And  later,  toward 


14  H.  B.  Adams :  The  College  of  William  and  Mary ;  also,  The  His- 
tory of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary. 

15  George  Wythe  was  professor  of  law  from  1779  ;  St.  George  Tucker, 
his  successor,  from  1800  to  1804. 


34  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

the  middle  of  the  century,  when  abolition  and  territorial  sover- 
eignty and  states'  rights  were  the  great  issues  involved,  Presi- 
dent Thomas  R.  Dew  and  Professor  Beverley  Tucker  were  still 
upholding  the  genius  of  the  race  and  the  institution  among 
youth  nurtured  in  the  same  traditions.16 

16 Thomas  R.  Dew  is  represented  in  the  General  Catalogue  as  having 
taken  A.  B.  in  the  session  of  i82o-'2i,  and  A.  M.  in  that  of  r824-'25. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  became  Professor  of  Political  Economy,  History 
and  Metaphysics,  and  in  1836  succeeded  to  the  Presidency,  which  he 
held  until  his  death,  ten  years  later.  Judge  Beverley  Tucker  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Law  from  1833  to  1851.  These  seem  to  have  been  golden 
days  for  William  and  Mary— the  decade  under  Dew's  presidency  (1836 
to  1846)  showing  five  hundred  and  fifty-five  names  in  the  General  Cata- 
logue against  two  hundred  and  ninety  in  the  preceding,  and  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  in  the  following  ten  years.  The  Southern  Literary 
Messenger,  the  truest  exponent  of  the  literary  culture  of  Virginia  for 
the  thirty  years  of  its  existence,  gives  full  testimony  to  the  activity 
and  influence  of  both  of  these  gentlemen.  I  cite  from  its  pages : 

March,  1836.  An  Address:  or  the  Influence  of  the  Federative  Repub- 
lican System  of  Government  upon  Literature  and  the  Development  of 
Character — prepared  to  be  delivered  before  the  Historical  and  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Virginia  at  its  annual  meeting  in  1836,  by  Thomas 
R.  Dew,  Professor  of  History,  Metaphysics  and  Political  Law,  in  the  Col- 
lege of  William  and  Mary.  Published  by  request  of  the  Society,  March 
20.  1836. 

October,  1836.  An  Address  delivered  before  the  students  of  the  Col- 
lege of  William  and  Mary,  at  the  opening  of  the  College  on  Monday, 
October  10,  1836,  by  Thomas  R.  Dew,  Professor,  &c.  Published  by  re- 
quest of  the  Students.  [The  occasion  was  Professor  Dew's  accession 
to  the  Presidency.] 

February,  1837.  A  review  of  the  above  address. 

July,  1837.  Baccalaureate  Address  delivered  to  the  Graduates  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  College,  July  4,  1837,  by  Thomas  R.  Dew,  President. 

November,  1846.  Notice  of  the  death  of  President  Dew,  which  gives 
the  following  list  of  his  works  :  A  Treatise  in  Defence  of  Free  Trade  ; 
Defence  of  Slavery  ;  Notes  on  Ancient  and  Modern  History,  designed 
as  a  text-book  for  class,  and  including  Review  of  the  Causes  and  Effects 
of  the  French  Revolution ;  The  Characteristics  of  Women— a  series  of 
articles  which  appeared  in  the  earlier  numbers  of  the  Messenger. 
[After  his  death,  was  published  in  1851  :  A  Digest  of  the  Laws,  Cus- 
toms, Manners  and  Institutions  of  the  Ancient  and  Modern  Nations.] 

January,  1837.  Extended  reviews  of  Beverley  Tucker's  two  novels, 
"George  Balcombe  "  and  "The  Partisan  Leader."  [The  review  of 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN    VIRGINIA   EDUCATION.  35 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  to  send  abroad  for  Professors  in  Latin  and 
Greek,  Mathematics,  and  Modern  Languages,  in  furnishing  his 


the  former  of  these  two  "anonymous"  novels  ends  thus:  "George 
Balcombe  thinks,  speaks  and  acts  as  no  person,  we  are  convinced,  but 
Judge  Beverley  Tucker  ever  precisely  thought,  spoke  or  acted  before;  " 
while  that  of  the  second  lets  fall  no  word  nor  hint  as  to  the  probable 
hand  that  had  traced  it.  In  this  number  fifty-four  and  a  half  pages  are 
devoted  to  criticisms  and  reviews,  and  forty  to  the  literary  contents  !] 

April,  1837.  A  Lecture  on  Government  by  Professor  Beverley  Tucker, 
delivered  before  the  students  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary, 
March  6,  1837. 

December,  1838.  A  Discourse  on  the  Genius  of  the  Federative 
System  of  the  United  States,  prepared  to  be  delivered  by  Professor 
Beverley  Tucker,  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  read  before  the 
Young  Men's  Society,  of  Lynchburg,  Va.,  August  26,  1838. 

August,  1839.  Political  Science:  A  Discourse  on  the  questions,  What 
is  subject  of  Sovereignty  in  the  United  States,  and  what  the  relation  of 
the  People  of  these  States  to  the  Federal  and  State  Governments  re- 
spectively, read  before  the  Petersburg  Lyceum,  May  15, 1839,  by  Judge 
Beverley  Tucker,  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary. 

September,  1839.  A  Lecture :  delivered  to  the  Law  Class  of  the 
College  of  William  and  Mary,  June  17, 1839.  This  is  the  last  of  a  course 
of  lectures  on  the  Philosophy  of  Government  and  Constitutional  Law 
by  Judge  Beverley  Tucker. 

[In  the  number  for  January,  1842,  a  reference  is  made  to  the  deter- 
mination some  years  (sic]  ago  to  discontinue  furnishing  lectures  and 
addresses  as  literary  matter,  owing  to  the  complaints  of  the  readers, 
and  naturally,  one  afterwards  hears  less  in  these  columns  of  the  two 
great  favorites  However,  a  departure  from  this  rule  is  soon  noted.] 

September,  1842.  Temperance  :  An  Address  before  the  Temperance 
Society  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  by  Beverley  Tucker,  Pro- 
fessor of  Law. 

Finally,  two  representative  articles  in  the  volume  for  1850.  The  one: 
Observations  on  a  Passage  in  the  Politics  of  Aristotle  Relative  to 
Slavery — Apropos  of  an  Essay  on  Slavery  by  Thomas  R.  Dew,  late 
President  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  second  edition,  Rich- 
mond, 1849.  The  other:  Origin  and  History  of  the  High  Court  of 
Chancery,  dedicated  to  Hon.  N.  Beverley  Tucker — being  a  Review  of 
Campbell's  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors  of  England,  and  of  Spence's 
Jurisdiction. 

In  the  joint  number  for  October  and  November,  1851,  the  Editor's 
Table  announces  the  death  of  Beverley  Tucker,  at  Winchester,  on 
August  26, 1851. 


36  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

State  university;"  but  for  Political  Economy,  Law,  and  the 
Science  of  Government  he  had  only  to  reach  out  his  hand  among 
the  graduates  of  William  and  Mary.18 

But  what  growth  could  literature,  as  the  expression  of  an  art, 
enjoy  in  such  an  atmosphere  ? 

But  no  less  did  the  Scotch-Irish  possess  their  institution.  As 
early  as  1749  those  in  the  Valley  originated  Augusta  Academy.19 
Those  in  the  Southside  were  among  the  chief  promoters  in  1775 
for  the  Prince  Edward  Academy.20  Through  the  patriotic  fervor 
engendered  by  the  Revolution,  the  one  became  changed  into 
Liberty  Hall  and  the  other  to  Hampden-Sidney  College.  I  have 
referred  to  the  personality  of  George  Wythe  and  St.  George 
Tucker  and  the  consequent  school  of  jurists  and  statesmen  at 
Williamsburg.  Here  we  have  to  deal  with  the  personality  of 
William  Graham  in  Rockbridge,21  and  of  the  two  brothers,  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith  and  John  Blair  Smith,  in  Prince  Edward.  All 
three  were  Pennsylvanians  by  birth,  were  reared  under  Scotch- 
Irish  influences,  were  pupils  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  at  Princeton, 
and  preachers  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Princeton 
influence,  ever  strong  in  Virginia,22  was  now  at  its  highest.  Cir- 
cumstances combined  to  make  Lexington  as  much  a  centre  of 
intellectual  culture  for  the  one  people  as  Williamsburg  for  the 
other.  The  mental  activities  of  the  youth  were  directed  not  so 


17  H.  B.  Adams:    Thomas  Jefferson  and  the  University  of  Virginia  ; 
W.  P.  Trent:  The  Gilmer  Letters. 

18  Not  only  were  Thomas  Jefferson,  Joseph  C.  Cabell,  and  Chapman 
Johnson,  all  of  whom  were  prominent  in  founding  the  new  State  Uni- 
versity, old  students  of  William  and  Mary,  but  also  Francis  W.  Gil- 
mer, the  Commissioner  to  England,  and  Professor  elect  of  Law  ;  George 
Tucker,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Political  Economy,  i825~'45; 
John  Tayloe  Lomax,  Professor  of  Law,  1826-^0;  John  A.  G.  Davis, 
Professor   of    Law,    1830-  '40  ;    Henry  St.   George  Tucker  (brother  to 
Beverley  Tucker,  and  son  of  St.  George  Tucker),  Professor  of  Law, 


19  General  Catalogue   of   Washington   and  Lee   University;    H.  A. 
White  :  The  Scotch-Irish  Unversity  of  the  South. 

20  W.  H.  Foote  :  Sketches  of  Virginia,  first  series. 

21  Henry   Ruffner  :    Early   History   of  Washington   College  ;    Hugh 
Blair  Grigsby  :  The  Founders  of  Washington  College;  Foote's  Sketches. 

22  Princeton  Catalogues. 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN    VIRGINIA    EDUCATION.  37 

much  to  law  and  politics — although,  the  history  of  the  times 
would  not  allow  these  anywhere  to  remain  wholly  in  the  back- 
ground— but  it  was  theology  and  metaphysics  which  absorbed 
most  attention.  The  genius  of  the  race — the  Scotch — was  again 
triumphant.  Among  Graham's  pupils  in  Rockbridge  we  find 
Revolutionary  heroes,  congressmen,  and  judges  ;  but  it  is  a  tell- 
ing fact  that  more  than  one-fourth  from  among  them  became 
preachers  of  the  Gospel.23  It  is  to  four  of  these24 — Archibald 
Alexander,  Moses  Hoge,  John  Holt  Rice,  and  George  A.  Baxter, 
imbued  with  the  spirit  and  purpose  instilled  by  the  teacher — that 
is  due  the  rise  and  greatness  of  the  two  historic  seminaries  of 
Calvinistic  theology  at  Princeton  and  at  Hampden-Sidney. 

Much  the  same  characteristics  are  fairly  manifest  in  the  history 
of  Hampden-Sidney  College.  She  has  turned  out  a  President 
of  the  United  States,  one  or  two  Cabinet  members,  Congress- 
men, Governors,  and  Judges,  but  the  genius  of  the  institution 
has  been  far  more  directed  towards  producing  an  educated  min- 
istry ™  and  to  filling  professional  chairs  and  presidencies  of  edu- 


23  Graham  was  Tutor  from  1774  to  1776,  and  from  1776  to  1796  Rector 
or  Principal.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  names  in  the  General 
Catalogue  as  having  registered  between  1749  and  1800,  forty  became 
ministers  (thirty-seven  Presbyterian,  two  Episcopalian,  and  one  Inde- 
pendent), *'.  e.,  26  per  cent. 

"Archibald  Alexander  was  afterwards  President  of  Hampden-Sid- 
ney College  (1797-1806),  main  instigator  of  the  movement  for  a  Presby- 
terian theological  seminary,  and  first  Professor  in  the  same  at  Princeton 
(1812-1851);  see  Life  of  Alexander  by  (his  son)  James  W.  Alexander, 
Moses  Hoge  was  Alexander's  successor  as  President  of  Hampden- 
Sidney  College  (1807-1820),  and  founder  of  the  Theological  Depart- 
ment at  the  same.  John  Holt  Rice  became  Tutor  in  Hampden-Sidney 
College,  Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Richmond,  founder 
and  Editor  of  the  Virginia  Evangelical  and  Literary  Magazine 
(i8i8-'28),  President-elect  of  Princeton  College,  and  founder  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary  at  Harnpden-Sidney  as  a  distinct  institution,  and 
first  Professor  in  the  same  (i824-'3i).  George  A.  Baxter  was  a  follower 
of  William  Graham  in  the  Presidency  of  Washington  College  (1799-1829), 
and  was  Dr.  Rice's  successor  in  Union  Theological  Seminary  (i83i-'4i). 

23  Mr.  Blair  Dickinson,  of  Prince  Edward  county,  Virginia,  a  member 
of  the  Senior  Class  of  Hampden-Sidney  College,  has  examined  the 
catalogues  of  Union  Theological  Seminary  (an  institution  supported  by 
the  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  synods)  and  has  given  the  following 


38  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

cational  institutions.  Noble  and  exalted  aims  !  but  in  themselves 
not  altogether  favorable  to  the  creation  of  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  the  electric  current  ready  for  a  literary  outburst. 

The  quarter  of  the  century  from  1825  to  1850  seems  espec- 
ially active  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the  State.  The  older  col- 
leges become  infused  with  new  spirit.  The  theological  semina- 
ries at  Hampden-Sidney  and  near  Alexandria  enter  upon  careers 
of  distinguished  usefulness.  The  University  of  Virginia  opens 
its  doors  and  achieves  its  pre-eminent  position  in  the  State  and 
the  South.  There  arise  on  all  sides  new  institutions26  with  high 
educational  and  literary  aims.  Randolph-Macon,  in  Mecklen- 
burg, and  Emory  and  Henry  in  Washington  county,  are  organ- 
ized by  the  Methodists.  The  Baptists  and  the  Lutherans  put  on 
foot  the  beginnings  of  Richmond  and  Roanoke  Colleges.  The 
State  opens  the  Military  Institute  at  Lexington,  and  one  or  two 
law  and  medical  schools  are  started  in  different  localities.  Fur- 


estimates  :  From  1824  to  1892  there  have  matriculated  948  students.  Of 
these  374  have  come  from  the  present  counties  in  Virginia,  61  from 
those  in  West  Virginia,  and  184  from  North  Carolina,  making  a  total 
of  619,  and  leaving  329  for  other  States.  Hampden-Sidney  College 
has  contributed  225 ;  Washington  and  Lee  University  (including  Wash- 
ington College),  139;  Davidson  College,  North  Carolina,  99  ;  University 
of  North  Carolina,  40.  Fifty-eight  fall  to  the  University  of  Virginia, 
but  these,  for  the  most  part,  have  already  been  counted  elsewhere. 
The  representation  of  other  colleges  rapidly  declines :  King  College, 
Tennessee,  39 ;  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  20 ;  Centre  College, 
Kentucky,  18 ;  Southwestern  Presbyterian  University,  Tennessee,  17; 
Central  University,  Kentucky,  14,  etc.,  etc. 

The  above  figures  are  of  course  exclusive  of  the  number  from  these 
several  institutions  who  have  gone  to  Princeton  and  other  seminaries. 

The  Virginian  representation  according  to  counties  would  correspond 
generally  with  the  figures  already  given  :  e.  g.,  Rockbridge  56,  Augusta 
32,  Botetourt  9,  Bedford  7— total  104,  representing  the  Scotch-Irish 
strongolds.  Further,  Montgomery  9,  Pulaski  4,  Smyth  4,  Wythe  7, 
Washington  12 — total  36,  for  the  Southwest.  Prince  Edward  30,  Char- 
lotte 16,  Cumberland  12 — total  58,  for  the  local  influence.  Further, 
Appomattox  3,  Buckingham  2,  Powhatan  4,  Chesterfield  3,  Nottoway  3, 
Dinwiddie  9  (including  Petersburg  5),  Mecklenburg  2,  Halifax  4— 
total  30,  for  the  remaining  South-side.  Finally,  for  the  cities  :  Rich- 
mond 26,  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  9,  Alexandria  6,  Fredericksburg  7, 
Lynchburg  10,  Winchester  14 — total  72.  The  rest  are  very  scattering. 

26  H.  B.  Adams  :  Thomas  Jefferson  and  the  University  of  Virginia. 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN   VIRGINIA    EDUCATION.  39 

ther,  it  is  in  this  period  that  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger 
is  begun  ;  that  other  enterprises,  lyceums,  athenaeums,  and  lite- 
rary institutes,  are  attempted ;  that  the  VIRGINIA  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY  is  founded  and  incorporated. 

If  the  political  and  constitutional  ferment  during  and  after 
Revolutionary  times  checked  the  expansion  of  literary  talent  and 
turned  the  genius  of  the  people  to  other  channels,  still  darker 
grows  the  prospect  toward  the  middle  of  the  century.  The 
Southern  Literary  Messenger  affords  a  most  pathetic  instance. 
In  its  brief  life  of  three  decades  (1834-' 64)  it  never  succeeded  in 
casting  off  the  shadow.  With  distinct  and  apparent  effort  to 
approach  nearer  the  ideals  of  a  literary  organ,  its  literary  features 
became  submerged  under  its  uses  as  a  reflector  of  political  senti- 
ment, as  a  defender  of  southern  institutions  and  Virginian  rights. 
Constitutional  and  political  questions  absorbed  all  interest,  all 
energy  ;  the  exigences  of  the  time  once  more  crushed  out  litera- 
ture as  an  art  and  as  a  profession. 

The  influence  of  the  colleges  and  seminaries  could  not  retard 
this  movement ;  indeed,  but  accelerated  it.  All  participated 
nobly  in  building  up  the  culture,  the  educational  and  intellectual 
life  of  the  State — each  institution,  each  section,  each  element, 
happy  that  it  could  preserve  withal  a  distinctive  individuality. 
The  State  University  had  to  be  largely  professional — aims 
very  distinct  from  literary — and  specialized  in  philology,  in 
mathematics,  in  the  sciences.  On  the  other  hand,  the  study  of 
government,  moral  and  political  science,  and  the  law,  ever  remain- 
ing popular  and  attractive  with  Virginian  youth,  intensified  the 
zest  for  the  practical  politics  of  the  day.  Taking  a  look  back- 
ward, we  see  that  it  could  hardly  have  been  otherwise.  The  con- 
ditions were  not  those  for  a  creative  and  productive  era,  for  an 
universal  glow  and  spontaneous  outburst  indicative  of  an  aggres- 
sive crusade.  The  very  preference  for  country  life  was  adverse. 
There  was  hardly  occasion  for  literary  criticism,  for  the  higher 
flights  of  poetry,  for  the  calm  observant  analysis  of  the  writer  of 
fiction.  Edgar  Poe  looms  out  conspicuously  not  as  one  born  of 
the  times,  but  as  a  lurid  meteor  dashing  across  a  darkling  sky — 
and  yet  in  this  brilliancy  matching  with  Hawthorne  and  Emerson 
as  the  three  original  and  Titanesque  appearances  in  American 
authorship. 


40  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

There  was  no  centre,  whether  at  college  or  in  a  city,  no  system 
of  large  collections  of  books  and  constant  public  discourses ; 
little  opportunity  for  sympathetic  mind  to  keep  in  touch  with 
kindred  spirit,  laboring  and  studying  and  waiting,  loving  litera- 
ture as  an  art,  and  art  for  art's  sake. 

Intellectual  energy  was  suppressed.  It  was  not  free  to  move 
and  range  at  will.  There  could  not  be  freedom  of  thought  when 
it  was  ever  on  the  defensive,  on  the  watch  for  the  terrible  conflict 
which  was  not  to  be  averted  ! 

JOHN  BELL  HENNEMAN. 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN   VIRGINIA    EDUCATION. 


41 


APPENDIX. 

TABLE  FOR  THE  COLLEGE  OF  WILLIAM  AND  MARY. 
[See  note,  p.  32.] 


1700-1800. 

1800-1825. 

1825-1861. 

Whole  No. 

James  City  

W.&M. 

73 
54 
33 
29 

27 

21 
20 
20 
19 
17 

16 
16 
16 
16 
15 
14 
13 

12 
10 
IO 

9 
9 
8 

7 
7 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
5 
5 
5 
4 
4 
4 
4 
3 
3 
•* 

w.  c. 

W.&M. 

59 

21 

31 
21 
10 

3 
4 

w.  c. 
3 

is 
3 

i 

W.  &  M. 

175 
48 

93 
33 

20 

5 
24 
8 
68 
ii 

22 
32 
14 
13 

H 
6 

5 
18 

14 
5 
3 
71 

w.  c. 
I 
2 

39 

W.  &  M. 

307 
123 

157 

83 

57 
29 
48 

28 
114 
33 
52 
60 

39 
32 
38 
28 
3i 
34 
28 

21 
20 

99 
9 
3i 
13 
37 
36 
35 
36 

22 
29 
9 

37 
18 

9 
15 

10 

15 
24 
18 

15 

w.  c. 
4 

2 

57 
3 

i 

2 

5 
24 
4 
7 
7 
4 

2 

43 

5 
ii 

34 

20 

5 

7 

2 

3 

2 

7 
29 

183 

i 

2 

7 
ii 
i 
8 

9 
i 

Henrico  

Charles  City  

York  

Warwick     

Elizabeth  City  

Middlesex  

2 
I 

13 
2 

I 
I 

I 

Norfolk.  

I 
3 

i 

2 

27 
5 
H 

12 

9 
3 
9 
8 

13 
4 
4 
6 
8 

19 

i 

9 

4 
ii 
i 
6 
3 
3 

2 
17 

3 
5 
13 
13 

4 

4 

King  George  

Hanover  

King  &  Queen  

King  William  

Spotsylvania  

Prince  George  

Westmoreland  

Albemarle  

25 

Surry  

Caroline  

2 

5 

19 

7 
i 

3 

i 
i 

i 

3 
16 

117 

"s 

i 

3 

i 

Louisa     

Amherst  

Stafford 

New  Kent  

J5 
6 

30 
17 
23 
14 
13 
17 

2 
28 

8 

2 

7 
4 
8 

14 

7 
7 

Northumberland  

Accomac  

28 

I 

I 

I 
2 

i 

13 
6 
16 

3 
6 

2 

4 
5 
3 
4 

2 

3 
7 
8 
S 

i 

2 

I 

4 
13 

'38' 
i 
i 

7 

2 

7 
4 

Amelia  

Brunswick  

Chesterfield    

Cumberland   

Isle  of  Wight  

Augusta  

Northampton  

Prince  William  

Fairfax  

Orange  

Prince  Edward  

Southampton  

Fauquier     

Frederick    

Nansemond  .  . 

42 


VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 


WILLIAM  AND  MARY  COLLEGE— CONTINUED. 


1700-1800. 

1800-1825. 

1825-1861.          Whole  No. 

fharlnttp 

W.&  M. 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

2 

I 
I 

w.  c. 

2 
I 

10 

8 

W.&M. 
I 
2 

8 
ii 
i 
18 
i 
i 

2 

w.  c. 

7 

"6 
4 
3 
ii 

3 
13 

22 
10 
II 

5 

7 

i 

2 
12 

I 
2 

105 
IO 

3 
6 
6 

i 
3 

w.  &  M. 
I 
16 
9 
17 

w.  c. 

W.  &  M. 

4 

20 
19 
30 

3 

32 

5 
4 
8 

10 
12 

J3 
18 

.? 

6 

23 
ii 

15 
8 

19 
6 
8 

7 
19 

2 

4 
6 

3 

2 
2 
2 
2 
I 
I 
I 
I 

14 
207 
289 

W.  C. 

7 
i 
ii 
6 

21 
H 

3 
46 
73 
37 

J,O 

ii 

15 

i 

7 
i 

3 
16 
30 
5 

2 

525 
28 

7 

10 

ii 

3 
8 

8 
6 

103 

155 
80 

Essex   

I 
5 

2 

16 

2 

12 

2 
2 

5 
9 

10 

6 
16 
6 

12 

3 
16 

3 
9 
3 
15 

3 
6 
6 
18 

i 

3 
6 

3 

2 
2 
2 
2 

! 

Bedford            

23 

43 
27 

19 
5 
8 

I 

I 
I 
I 
I 
.    I 
I 

i 

I 

6 

i 

Halifax     

i 

4 

2 

6 
8 
6 

4 
3 

2 

I 
I 

I 
I 

7 

Princess  Anne  

Mathews  

Clarke         

3 
14 
17 
4 

Lunenburg  

Nelson  

i 

Fluvanna  

Alexandria  .       .         

Greenesville    

Rappahannock  

362 
18 

i 
4 
4 

2 

5 

Rockbridge  

58 

Pittsvlvania  

Washington  

Franklin  

Henry  

i 

Patrick  

Wythe  

Pasre.  . 

Roanoke  

3 
i 

i 

i 

5 
5 

Shenandoah  

Warren  

*West  Virginia  

5 
ii 

9 

4 
30 
144 

18 
26 
66 

10 

169 

23 

80 
118 
5 

Other  States  

8 

122 

fUnknown  

Total  

721 

663 

1.356 

2,740 

*  The  present  State. 


f  Not  given. 


No  representation  at  all  have  the  following  counties,  almost  wholly  in  the  west  and 
southwest:  Alleghany,  Appomattox,  Bath  (Bland),  Buchanan,  Carroll,  Craig,  (Dicken- 
son),  Floyd,  Giles,  Grayson,  Greene,  Highland,  Lee,  Madison,  Pulaski,  Rockingham, 
Russell,  Scott,  Smyth,  Tazewell  and  Wise. 


HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN    VIRGINIA    EDUCATION.  43 

WILLIAM  AND  MARY  COLLEGE— CONTINUED. 
TABLE  FOR  OTHER  STATES. 


Kentucky i 

Massachusetts 

Maryland 4 

South  Carolina 

Georgia 

North  Carolina 2 

Tennessee 

Pennsylvania. 

Mississippi 

Florida.." 

Alabama 

New  York 

Louisiana 

Missouri 

District  of  Columbia 

Maine 

Illinois 

Delaware 

Bermuda i 

Total.. 


Before 

1801. 


1801-1861. 


3 
29 

7 

19 

56 

7 

3 

12 

2 

22 

4 
9 
3 
7 
i 
i 
i 
i 


199 


This  "Table  for  Other  States"  differs  slightly  from  the  similar  table 
of  Mr.  C.  L.  Smith,  in  Prof.  H.  B.  Adams'  treatise  on  "  The  College  of 
William  and  Mary,"  but  Mr.  Moss  claims  to  have  verified  his  results 
more  than  once. 

Mr.  Moss  further  estimates  that  of  the  307  from  James  City,  248  were 
from  Williamsburg  and  7  from  Jamestown  ;  of  157  from  Henrico,  117 
were  from  Richmond  ;  of  the  114  from  Norfolk  county,  100  were  from 
Norfolk  city  and  12  from  Portsmouth;  of  the  99  from  Dinwiddie,  74 
were  from  Petersburg ;  of  the  48  from  Elizabeth  City,  28  were  from 
Hampton  ;  of  the  32  from  Spotsylvania,  19  were  from  Fredericksburg; 
of  the  57  from  York,  13  were  from  Yorktown  ;  of  the  18  from  Frederick, 
ii  were  from  Winchester;  of  the  12  from  Campbell,  10  were  from 
Lynchburg ;  of  the  36  from  Chesterfield,  5  were  from  Manchester;  of 
the  29  from  the  Isle  of  Wight,  5  were  from  Smithfield  ;  of  5  from  the 
Eastern  Shore,  3  were  given  to  Accomac  county,  and  2  to  Northampton, 
on  mere  probability. 


44 


VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


TABLE  FOR  WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY. 


1749-1800. 

1800-1825. 

1825-1864. 

1865-1875. 

i875-'87. 

Total. 

58 

105 

362 

117 

128 

770 

Augusta     

28 

38 

117 

53 

26 

262 

Bedford      

10 

13 

23 

9 

9 

64 

Botftourt  

8 

22 

43 

13 

4 

9° 

•3 

IO 

=; 

s 

23 

T. 

7 

I 

•i 

i 

ii 

2 

T« 

IQ 

2 

^6 

Frederick  

2 

4 

3 

6 

7 

22 

Montgomery  

2 

7 

16 

I 

4 

26 

I 

17 

2"; 

•i 

2 

48 

I 

c 

C. 

4 

15 

I 

7 

c 

n 

I 

6 

A 

II 

I 

i 

2 

4 

Louisa  

I 

5 

5 

5 

I 

17 

Nelson        

I 

12 

17 

I 

I 

^2 

Powhatan  

I 

II 

2 

7 

2 

23 

Prince  Edward   .... 

j 

2 

8 

I 

12 

I 

I 

Prince  \Villian~i  

I 

I 

I 

1 

Rockingham  

I 

II 

18 

•2 

IO 

41 

Henrico    

18 

-3Q 

g 

12 

78 

Cumberland  

I  3 

16 

6 

7C 

Dinwiddie     

11 

7 

6 

I 

27 

Campbell         

1  1 

TO 

8 

7 

4C 

Hanover    

II 

11 

8 

•52 

Buckingham  

IO 

27 

I 

18 

Pittsylvania  

IO 

18 

7 

•2C 

Charlotte  

21 

Halifax  

7 

8 

16 

Orange  ....       ... 

7 

IO 

Franklin  

6 

i? 

Goochland  

6 

i/i 

King  William  

6 

8 

Chesterfield  '.  . 

A 

I 

2 

IO 

King  George  

7 

Mecklenburg  

A 

2 

6 

New  Kent  

7 

Stafford  

Caroline  

7 

Charles  City  

9 

4 

James  City  

Prince  George  

I 

A 

Richmond  

Roanoke    

IA 

Wythe  

•} 

6 

I/I 

Alexandria    

< 

Alleghany  

2 

6 

1  1 

Amelia... 

2 

T 

•3 

I 

HISTORIC    ELEMENTS    IN   VIRGINIA   EDUCATION. 


45 


WASHINGTON  AND  LEE   UNIVERSITY— CONTINUED. 


1749-1800. 

1800-1825. 

1825-1864. 

1865-1875. 

l875-'87. 

Total. 

Lunenburg    

2 

T/l 

Westmoreland  

2 

j 

*9 

I 

I 

2 

Appomattox  

I 

f. 

Bath  

I 

8 

I 

I 

I 

i 

I 

I 

j 

Kluvanna  

I 

Lancaster  

I 

I 

j 

Northampton  

I 

Patrick  

I 

2 

j 

Shenandoah  

I 

7 

•j 

I 

jl 

Nottoway  

7 

A 

j  i 

Clarke  

•7 

A 

12 

Gloucester  

2 

2 

Norfolk  

2 

I 

6 

CYflicr 

I 

I 

Essex  

j 

I 

2 

Greene  

I 

I 

I 

i 

2 

Pulaski     

j 

A 

Southampton  

I 

I 

2 

Loudoun  

7 

c 

12 

Fairfax    

Smyth  

•i 

•7 

•I 

Rappahannock    .... 

2 

2 

Giles  

I 

I 

2 

Greenesville  

I 

I 

Isle  of  Wight  

I 

•j 

4 

Floyd  

2 

2 

Carroll      

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

*Unknown     

66 

80 

Other  States  : 
Pennsylvania  

7 

i 

9 

K 

6 

28 

fWest  Virginia  

18 

80 

41 

51 

195 

Kentucky  

2 

.  7 

156 

63 

237 

North  Carolina  

I 

7 

18 

41 

5 

68 

South  Carolina  

I 

7 

i 

46 

31 

82 

Mississippi  

A 

ii 

SQ 

17 

91 

Georgia  

2 

10 

64 

19 

95 

*  Not  given. 


t  The  present  State. 


46 


VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY— CONTINUED. 


1749-1800. 

1800-1825. 

1825-1864. 

1865-1875. 

1875-87- 

Total. 

i 
i 

i 

8 

80 

14 

103 

I 

173 
I 
144 
46 
70 

23 
6 

5 
59 
19 

12 
2 
6 
201 

7 
3 

2 
2 

2 
I 

I 
I 
I 

I 

3 
i 
i 

12 

140 

2O 

10 

6 
5 

4 
3 
3 
3 

2 
2 
2 
I 
I 

91 

33 
46 

12 
2 
2 

37 
13 
4 

43 
7 
19 
7 
i 

Florida 

19 
4 
6 

Ohio           

I'linois  *  .  • 

4 
135 
6 

2 
2 
2 
I 

I 
I 
I 

I 

i 

65 

i 
i 

California  

District  of  Columbia. 

i 

Kansas           

M  GX1CO 

Idaho    

Oregon  

3 

i 
i 

Indian  Territory          

Grand  total  

153 

588 

1,141 

1,398 

673 

3,953 

The  number  (3955)  in  the  General  Catalogue  is  incorrect,  as  two 
numbers  (745  and  1,115)  were  omitted  in  counting. 

Mr.  Preston  makes  a  note  that  of  the  770  from  Rockbridge,  243  were 
from  Lexington ;  of  the  78  from  Henrico,  72  were  from  the  city  of 
Richmond  ;  of  the  262  from  Augusta,  40  were  from  Staunton  ;  of  the 
45  from  Campbell,  30  were  from  Lynchburg;  of  the  27  from  Dinwiddie, 
23  were  from  Petersburg ;  of  the  23  from  Spotsylvania,  10  were  from 
Fredericksburg ;  of  the  35  from  Pittsylvania,  8  were  from  Danville  ;  of 
the  9  from  Norfolk  county,  7  were  from  Norfolk  city. 

Bland,  Buchanan,  Dickenson,  Grayson,  Russell,  Tazewell  and  Wise 
counties  in  the  west ;  and  Middlesex,  Northumberland,  Surry,  Warwick 
and  York  counties  in  the  east,  are  not  represented. 


NOTES 


ON 


Recent  Work  in  Southern  History, 


A  paper  read  before  the  Virginia  Historical  Society 
Monday,  December  21, 1891, 


PROFESSOR  W.  P.  TRENT,  M.  A. 

University  of  the  South. 


NOTES 


ON 


Recent  Work  in  Southern  History, 


Just  two  years  ago  I  had  the  honor  of  reading  before  the 
American  Historical  Association  at  Washington,  a  paper  similar 
in  character  to  the  one  I  am  about  to  present.  In  that  paper  I 
endeavored  to  give  a  fair  statement  of  what  was  then  being  done 
for  the  cause  of  Southern  history,  and  the  description  I  gave  of 
the  conditions  under  which  our  historical  scholars  had  to  work 
could  hardly  have  been  considered  cheerful.  I  ventured  to  pre- 
dict, however,  that  it  would  not  be  long  before  the  South  would 
awake  to  the  necessity  of  encouraging  the  study  of  her  own  his- 
tory, and  it  is  because  I  believe  there  are  signs  of  this  awaken- 
ing already  visible  around  us  that  I  have  ventured  to  put 
together  these  brief  and  incomplete  "  notes." 

To  one  who  is  at  all  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  South 
the  present  comparative  indifference  of  her  people  to  strictly  his- 
torical matters  is  no  matter  of  surprise.  The  paucity  and  the 
thinness  of  the  South's  contributions  to  early  American  literature 
have  been  acknowledged  by  all  competent  investigators  ;  and  the 
chief  reasons  therefor  have  been  correctly  assigned.  The  same 
reasons  that  told  so  heavily  against  the  creation  of  literature 
proper,  told  also  against  the  inception  and  completion  of  much 
sound  and  extensive  historical  work.  Here  and  there  a  gentle- 
man of  special  qualifications  or  of  leisure  and  ability  would  pro- 


50  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

duce  a  valuable  biography,  or  a  conscientious  State  history. 
Witness  for  example,  Marshall's  "Life  of  Washington,"  and 
Ramsay's  "History  of  South  Carolina."  Sometimes  a  wider, 
sometimes  a  narrower  field  than  a  single  State  would  be  at- 
tempted ;  more  rarely  a  well-trained  scholar  like  Judge  Gayarre 
would  give  up  the  best  part  of  his  life  to  gathering  materials  for 
an  exhaustive  work.  But  when  all  is  said,  it  has  to  be  confessed 
that  the  number  of  real  historical  students  in  the  old  South  was 
very  small.  The  smallness  of  their  numbers,  as  well  as  foreign 
example,  naturally  suggested  the  advisability  of  co-operation, 
and  so  the  various  State  Historical  Societies  arose,  our  own 
being  the  first.1  None  of  these  societies,  however,  did  any  very 
serious  work  before  the  war,  and  none  has  ever  approximated  a 
full  measure  of  usefulness.  The  Georgia  Society  did  induce 
Bishop  Stevens  to  write  his  history  of  that  State,  and  the  South 
Carolina  Society  early  turned  its  attention  to  the  colonial  docu- 
ments deposited  in  the  State  paper  office  in  London  ;  but  it  must 
be  owned  that  upon  the  whole  the  Southern  societies  have  col- 
lected no  very  valuable  libraries  ;  that  they  have  not  rendered 
such  collections  as  they  do  possess  thoroughly  accessible  ;  that, 
with  the  exception  of  our  own  Society  of  late  years,  they  have 
been  very  irregular  in  their  publications.  It  would  not  be  hard 
to  name  more  than  one  Northern  society  that  has  done  more  for 
historical  science  in  a  decade  than  all  the  Southern  societies  have 
done  since  their  inception. 

The  reasons  for  this  condition  of  things  are,  as  I  have  said, 
not  far  to  seek.  The  immaturity  of  the  country,  the  scattered 
nature  of  its  population,  the  absorption  of  the  leading  intellects 
in  politics,  the  free  and  easy-going  life  led  by  the  upper  classes, 
finally,  the  depressing  effects  of  the  presence  of  an  institution 
which  had  survived  its  uses  —  all  these  causes  operated  in  the 
ante-bellum  South  to  depress  literary  and  scientific  work.  But 
historical  work  was  subjected  to  further  drawbacks.  It  was  pos- 
sible for  a  gentleman  of  means  to  collect  a  sufficient  library  for 


Virginia  Society  was  founded  in  1831  (chartered  1834),  that  of 
Georgia  in  1839,  that  of  North  Carolina  in  1840  (chartered  1875).  that 
of  Tennessee  in  1847  (chartered  1877),  that  of  Alabama  in  1851,  that  of 
South  Carolina  in  1855.  The  Louisiana  Historical  Society  was  incor- 
porated in  1860. 


RECENT   WORK    IN   SOUTHERN    HISTORY.  51 

ordinary  purposes — sufficient  even  for  the  purposes  of  the  clas- 
sical scholar  or  the  literateur — but  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to 
collect  a  library  large  enough  to  serve  the  purposes  of  the  histo- 
rian, certainly  not  the  historian  of  recent  times.  This  difficulty 
might  have  been  overcome  in  part  had  the  South  possessed  cities 
with  large  public  libraries,  or  had  the  separate  States  done  their 
duty  with  respect  to  the  publication  of  their  own  archives.  But 
throughout  the  South  public  libraries  were — and  are  now — prac- 
tically non-existent,  the  public  archives  were  in  a  state  of  "con- 
fusion worse  confounded."  What  wonder,  then,  that  the  his- 
torical work  done  by  our  ancestors  was  limited  in  quantity  and 
old-fashioned  in  quality  ?  We  ought  rather  to  consider  it  a 
matter  for  congratulation  and  praise  that  they  did  any  historical 
work  at  all,  especially  when  we  remember  that  the  scientific 
study  of  history  is  not  many  years  old,  even  in  England  itself. 

I  am  of  course  far  from  denying  that  they  read  and  studied 
history — few  Americans  know  more  about  history,  at  least  about 
that  of  their  own  country,  than  Southern  men — but  I  am  afraid 
that  they  regarded  it  chiefly  as  a  study  ancillary  to  their  favorite 
pursuit  of  politics.  That  they  sometimes  made  queer  use  of 
their  historical  acquisitions  is  abundantly  evident  from  Calhoun's 
praise  of  the  Constitution  of  Poland.  But  when  all  is  said,  we 
still  owe.  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  early  Southern  historians. 
From  the  days  of  Stith  to  the  present  hour,  they  have  been  a 
much-enduring  class  of  men.  They  have  had  little  encourage- 
ment, and  they  have  always  got  their  full  share  of  criticism.  No 
one  ever  forgets  to  say  that  their  works  are,  as  a  rule,  decorously 
dull;  but  a  good  many  people  forget  to  give  them  credit  for  their 
single-hearted  zeal. 

The  evil  effects  of  the  late  war  upon  Southern  historical  studies 
cannot  be  easily  exaggerated.  Long  before  hostilities  were  actu- 
ally begun,  these  effects  were  very  visible  to  all  that  had  the  eyes 
to  see.  One  evil  effect  has  been  noted  already.  The  prevalent 
desire  to  sustain  certain  positions  held  by  the  South  in  political 
matters,  led  her  ablest  men  to  look  on  history  chiefly  as  a  study 
ancillary  to  politics.  The  steps  are  few  and  easy  from  this  nat- 
ural but  degrading  view  of  history  to  the  still  more  degrading 
view  held  by  the  pronouncedly-partisan  historian.  This  last  evil 
consequence  of  the  civil  strife  of  the  generation  just  past  is  yet 


52  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

visible  in  the  historical  writings  of  both  sections,  and  will  only 
slowly  disappear.  It  will  disappear  at  last,  but  long  after  the 
effects  that  the  poverty  and  unsettled  condition  of  the  South 
have  had  upon  her  historical  literature.  These  effects  have  natu- 
rally been  considerable.  Few  men  have  had  leisure  to  read  and 
study  in  the  South  since  the  war,  and  fewer  still  to  write.  Few 
men  have  had  time  or  opportunity  to  acquire  the  training  which 
is  now  so  requisite  in  all  intellectual  pursuits.  Few  have  had 
the  money  to  endow  chairs  of  history  in  our  colleges,  to  found 
libraries,  or  even  to  encourage  by  an  annual  subscription  the 
various  historical  societies.  Our  State  governments  have  been 
in  no  condition  to  vie  with  Northern  States  or  with  foreign  coun- 
tries in  making  their  archives  accessible.  That  they  might  have 
done  more  than  they  have  done,  that  the  little  money  they  have 
appropriated  for  the  purpose  might  have  been  better  spent,  it 
would  be  vain  to  deny;  but  they  can  at  least  plead  more  in  their 
defense  than  our  late  billion  dollar  Congress  can  for  its  derelic- 
tion in  this  regard.  In  short,  if  the  old  South's  lack  of  zeal  for 
historical  studies  is  not  surprising,  that  of  the  new  South  is  still 
less  so. 

But  it  is  time  I  was  bringing  this  introduction  to  a  close  and 
saying  something  about  the  recent  work  which  gives  my  paper 
its  title.  This  work  is  not  very  considerable  in  amount,  but  it 
plainly  represents  an  advance  over  the  state  of  things  described 
in  my  paper  of  iSSg.2  At  that  time  I  could  do  little  more  than 
point  out  the  encouraging  features  connected  with  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Louisiana  Historical  Association  at  New  Orleans, 
and  of  the  Filson  Club  at  Louisville.  I  could  also  give  a  hint 
of  Mr.  Hugh  R.  Garden's  patriotic  intention  of  presenting  the 
Southern  Society  of  New  York  with  the  nucleus  of  a  collection 
of  books  relating  to  the  South — a  collection  which  is  now  an 
accomplished  as  well  as  a  catalogued  fact,  and  which  is  destined 
to  grow.  By  a  queer  piece  of  forgetfulness  I  omitted  all  refer- 
ence to  what  was  by  far  the  most  encouraging  fact  I  could  have 
alluded  to— the  fact  that  North  Carolina  had  put  herself  in  line 
with  New  York  by  editing  and  publishing  all  the  documents 


3  Papers  of  the  American  Historical  Association,   Vol.  IV,  Part  IV, 
PP-  383-391- 


RECENT    WORK    IN   SOUTHERN    HISTORY.  53 

relating  to  her  colonial  history.  But  if  I  could  not  say  much 
that  was  favorable,  I  was  not  at  a  loss  for  subjects  that  required 
unfavorable  comment.  I  could  quote  Mr.  Brock,  for  example, 
as  writing  that  so  many  members  failed  to  answer  his  appeals 
that  he  could  not  say  how  many  live  members  the  Virginia  His- 
torical Society  had.  I  could  quote  the  President  of  the  Alabama 
Society  as  writing  that  Alabama  history  could  be  better  studied 
at  Boston  or  at  Washington  than  within  the  State.  I  could  also 
point  out  that  the  valuable  archives  kept  in  this  very  building* 
in  which  we  are  now  holding  our  session,  might  any  day  be 
destroyed  by  fire.  I  could  show,  too,  that  I  was  no  new  Cas- 
sandra, for  I  quoted  Charles  Campbell  as  referring  to  this  danger 
in  1859.  I  am  not  aware  that  we  have  yet  saved  our  Troy,  and 
if  our  archives  may  be  fitly  called  our  Palladium,  I  am  not  so 
sure  that  some  wily  Greek,  like  my  friend  Professor  Jameson, 
will  not  ere  long  leave  us  in  the  lurch  by  carrying  off  the  best 
part  of  their  contents  in  his  note-book.  But  if  1  indulged  in 
pessimistic  reflections  in  the  body  of  my  paper  I  allowed  myself, 
nevertheless,  to  become  a  genial  optimist  in  the  conclusion,  for  I 
insisted  upon  the  fact  that  the  South  would  soon  have  a  class  of 
men  having  antiquarian  tastes,  and  having  the  leisure  and  the 
wealth  requisite  to  their  pursuit.  I  showed,  also,  that  Southern 
history  offered  a  fascinating  field  of  research  to  historical  stu- 
dents of  other  sections ;  and  I  have  reason  to  know  that  several 
Northern  students  of  history  have  been  turning  their  eyes  of  late 
toward  the  South.  For  example,  a  graduate  student  of  history 
at  Cornell  is  writing  his  doctor's  thesis  on  the  Ku-Klux  move- 
ment. But  our  own  recent  work  is  growing  cold. 

Beginning  with  Maryland,  which  was  not  considered  in  my 
first  paper,  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  proposition  of  the 
Woman's  Literary  Club,  of  Baltimore,  to  found  a  library  of  the 
works  of  all  authors  who  have  lived  or  written  in  Maryland. 
This  movement  deserves  to  be  noted  for  two  reasons — first, 
because  it  indicates  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  value  of  local 
history  ;  secondly,  because  it  shows  that  women  are  able  to  sym- 
pathize with  the  scientific  as  well  as  with  the  sentimental  side  of 
historical  work.  There  is  obviously  no  reason  why  women 
should  not  aid  historians  with  their  sympathy  and  enthusiasm  ; 


;The  Capitol  at  Richmond. 


54  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

there  is  equally  no  reason  why  women  should  not  become  histo- 
rians themselves.  The  working  force  of  the  generations  to 
come  is  likely  to  be  doubled  through  the  recognition  of  woman's 
capacity  to  use  her  brains  about  other  than  strictly  household 
matters,  and  I  cannot  help  hoping  that  the  cause  of  Southern 
history  will  derive  great  future  advantage  from  two  "  emancipa- 
tions" instead  of  from  one. 

But  Maryland  has  a  still  greater  claim  to  our  attention,  from 
the  fact  that  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  of  Baltimore  is  the 
centre  of  historical  investigation  in  this  country.  It  is  no  ex- 
aggeration to  say,  that  the  work  Professor  Herbert  B.  Adams  is 
doing  with  his  graduate  classes  is  likely  to  be  the  most  important 
factor  in  the  future  development  of  historical  studies  in  the  South. 
Every  year  Dr.  Adams  sends  out  one  or  more  young  South- 
erners trained  for  historical  pursuits,  ready  to  teach  history  in 
our  colleges,  and  eager  to  prosecute  original  researches. in  the 
history  of  their  respective  States.  I  know  of  three  such  students 
sent  to  Southern  colleges  within  the  past  year.  Besides,  the 
John  Hopkins  is  itself  forming  a  valuable  library  of  materials  for 
Southern  history.  The  Scharf  collection  recently  secured,  is,  I 
am  informed,  full  of  good  things,  and  I  can  testify  from  personal 
examination  to  the  value  of  the  Birney  collection  in  all  matters 
relating  to  slavery.  Nor  should  the  essays  and  treatises  on 
topics  of  Southern  history,  written  at  the  Johns  Hopkins,  under 
Dr.  Adam's  own  eye,  be  omitted  from  this  count,  especially  the 
educational  mongraphs  which  he  has  edited.  Attention  should 
also  be  called  to  the  publications  of  the  Maryland  Historical 
Society  under  the  editorship  of  another  Hopkins  official,  Dr. 
William  Hand  Browne. 

Passing  to  Virginia,  we  find  in  this  gathering  an  evidence  of 
the  fact  that  our  venerable  society  seems  to  be  taking  a  new 
lease  of  life.  We  find  also  that  our  Virginia  women  with  their 
"  Society  for  the  Preservation  of  Virginia  Antiquities,"  are  not  a 
whit  behind  those  of  Maryland  in  their  appreciation  of  the 
neceessity  for  stimulating  interest  in  local  history.4  We  note 


*The  Virginia  Branch  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  (Mrs  William 
Wirt  Henry,  Regent)  are  making  efforts  to  raise  an  endowment  for  the 
Virginia  Historical  Society— a  most  noteworthy  object. 


RECENT   WORK    IN   SOUTHERN    HISTORY.  00 

furthermore  that  two  members  of  this  society  have  recently 
published  works  which  will  take  their  places  in  the  permanent 
historical  literature  of  the  country.  I  refer,  of  course,  to  Mr. 
Alexander  Brown's  "  Genesis  of  the  United  States,"  and  to  Mr. 
William  Wirt  Henry's  biography  of  Patrick  Henry.  Nor  do 
these  names  at  all  exhaust  the  list  of  the  Virginians  who  are 
active  in  historical  investigation.  The  work  of  Mr.  Brock, 
President  Tyler,  Dr.  Page,  Mr.  Moncure  Conway  and  many 
others  is  familiar  to  us  all.  We  must  also  remember  that  when 
our  wretched  debt  question  becomes  settled,  the  State  authorities 
will  be  deprived  of  their  perennial  excuse  for  their  backwardness 
in  publishing  our  archives.  It  will  not  be  long  before  they  will 
have  to  erect  a  fire-proof  building  for  such  documents  as  the 
teeth  of  time  and  of  mice  have  left  us;  and  in  the  meantime  we 
can  all  hope  that  they  will  appropriate  enough  money  to  have 
the  Northampton  and  other  county  records  copied. 

The  recent  activity  of  North  Carolina  with  regard  to  her 
archives  has  been  commended  already,  but  a  word  of  praise 
should  be  given  here  to  the  editor  of  the  "  Colonial  Records," 
Hon.  W.  L.  Saunders;  to  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle,  who  has  been  a 
life-long  laborer  in  local  history,  and  to  some  younger  students 
like  Drs.  Smith  and  Weeks  for  their  valuable  monographs. 
South  Carolina  up  to  last  summer  appeared  to  be  sleeping 
soundly,  but  the  activity  of  her  Northern  neighbor  seems  to  have 
awakened  her.  A  committee  of  the  State  Historical  Society 
began  in  June  to  collect  information  as  to  the  cost  of  procuring 
copies  of  all  documents  in  the  Public  Record  Office  at  London, 
not  hitherto  copied,  relating  to  the  history  of  the  province  and 
the  colony.  The  chairman  of  this  committee  was  Hon.  William 
A.  Courtenay,  who,  during  the  time  that  he  was  mayor  of  Charles- 
ton, did  much  to  encourage  historical  studies  by  the  publication 
of  the  Charleston  "  Year  Books,"  and  was  largely  instrumental 
in  having  copies  made  of  the  so-called  "  Shaftsbury  Papers," 
which  another  committee  of  the  society  is  soon  to  edit.  Mr. 
Courtenay  and  his  colleagues  having  got  their  information  into 
shape,  began  an  effective  propaganda  among  the  counties  and 
parishes,  in  order  to  force  the  Legislature  by  popular  pressure  to 
appropriate  the  small  sum  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of 
their  purpose.  A  good  deal  of  interest  having  been  aroused,  a 


56  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

public  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  project  was  held  at  Columbia  on 
December  ist.  At  the  time  of  this  writing  a  bill  drawn  up  by 
friends  of  the  movement  has  passed  the  lower  House  in  a  modi- 
fied form,  and  it  is  unlikely  that  the  Senate  will  withhold  its 
assent.6  Thus  South  Carolina  has  probably  secured  copies  of 
her  colonial  records,  but  she  has  also  had  her  people  of  all 
classes  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  local  historical  work.  If  the 
members  of  her  society  will  bestir  themselves  to  keep  the  public 
interest  from  flagging,  they  will  find  that  their  future  work  will 
be  greatly  stimulated. 

Passing  to  Georgia,  we  see  that  her  historical  work  is  still 
chiefly  connected  with  one  name,  that  of  Colonel  Charles  C. 
Jones,  Jr.,  who  has  recently  found  time  to  publish  a  volume  of 
biographical  sketches.  Georgia  has,  also,  what  is  perhaps  the 
most  valuable  archaeological  collection  in  the  Southern  States, 
that  of  Dr.  Roland  Steiner  of  Waynesboro.  It  is  further  to  be 
noted  that  a  separate  chair  of  history  has  recently  been  es- 
tablished in  the  State  University,  which  is  a  decided  step  in 
advance.  But  it  is  the  splendid  example  of  constancy  and  high 
endeavor  set  by  a  citizen  of  Alabama  that  gives  me  most  hope 
with  regard  to  the  future  of  Southern  historical  work.  I  refer 
to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Hannis  Taylor  of  Mobile,  upon  English 
constitutional  history.  When  a  lawyer  in  full  practice  can  become 
so  enamoured  of  scholarly  work  as  to  devote  both  time  and  money 
to  pursuing  researches  similar  to  those  which  Mr.  Taylor  has 
undertaken,  certainly  no  one  need  despair  of  the  future  of  his- 
torical scholarship  in  the  South. 

In  my  paper  of  two  years  ago,  the  space  devoted  to  the  States 
of  Mississippi,  Florida  and  Arkansas,  was  almost  as  short  as  the 
famous  chapter  on  snakes  in  Ireland.  There  was  practically  no 
historical  work  to  record,  not  even  a  semi-defunct  historical 
society  to  attend  to.  Recently  movements  for  the  establishment 
of  State  societies  have  taken  place  in  all  three  of  these  States, 
and,  although  it  is  too  soon  to  prophesy  any  specific  results,  it 
is  safe  to  infer  that  good  will  be  accomplished  by  the  agitation  of 
so  important  a  matter.  I  have  mentioned  already  the  work 
doing  by  the  new  Louisiana  Historical  Association.  From  a 


5The  bill  has  since  passed. 


RECENT   WORK    IN   SOUTHERN    HISTORY.  57 

newspaper  report  of  the  contributions  lately  received  by  this 
Association  I  judge  that  it  has  succeeded  in  arousing  some 
popular  interest.  When  people  come  forward  voluntarily  and 
deposit  their  antiquarian  treasures  in  a  public  museum  instead  of 
keeping  them  selfishly  at  home,  a  great  step  forward  has  been 
made. 

Lack  of  space  prevents  me  from  doing  justice  to  the  work  of  the 
Filson  Club  of  Louisville,  nor  can  I  pay  more  than  a  passing  tribute 
to  the  activity  of  the  West  Virginia  Historical  and  Antiquarian 
Society,  which,  if  it  has  not  yet  done  great  things,  is  evidently 
working  along  modern  lines.6  I  must  mention,  however,  a 
society  which,  although  just  organized,  will,  I  hope,  do  good 
work  and  set  a  good  example.  I  refer  to  the  Sewanee  Historical 
Society,  recently  founded  by  officers,  students  and  friends  of  the 
University  of  the  South  at  Sewanee,  Tennessee.  As  I  happen 
to  be  president  of  this  Society,  and  somewhat  responsible  for  its 
existence,  I  should  prefer  to  keep  silent  about  it,  but  for  the  fact 
that  it  seems  to  me  to  stand  for  one  or  two  ideas  which  may  be 
fruitful  of  good  to  the  cause  which  I  have  most  at  heart — the 
cause  of  Southern  history.  Whether  the  Sewanee  Society  will 
succeed  in  accomplishing  the  objects  it  proposes  to  itself  cannot 
now  be  determined,  but  the  ideas  it  stands  for  can  be  weighed  in 
the  balance  now,  and  if  approved  can  be  acted  upon  at  once  by 
others. 

The  first  idea  is  to  enlist  in  the  service  of  historical  research 
all  the  forces  that  go  to  make  up  a  university.  Every  student, 
alumnus  and  friend  of  Sewanee  is  to  be  appealed  to  for  contribu- 
tions ranging  from  an  Indian  arrow  head  to  a  life  member's  fee. 
Corresponding  members  have  been  selected  from  among  the 
alumni,  especially  the  clergy,  to  spread  the  historical  propaganda  in 
every  city  and  parish  in  the  South.  Some  have  already  responded 
in  a  loyal  way,  for  it  is  a  great  thing  to  touch  into  activity  two  such 
strong  feelings,  as  love  for  one's  alma  mater,  and  love  for  one's 
country.  The  law  is  said  not  to  care  for  trifles,  but  the  Sewanee 
Society  does,  for  it  believes  that  the  best  way  to  found  an  histori- 
cal library  and  museum  is  to  appeal  for  small  gifts ;  for  what 

6  It  h£S  recently  established  a  "  Magazine  of  Southern  History,"  under 
the  editorship  of  Professor  Virgil  A.  Lewis. 


58  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

most  people  would  regard  as  trifles ;  old  letters,  old  newspapers, 
odd  numbers  of  magazines,  any  book  printed  in  the  South,  be 
it  only  a  school  arithmetic.  Not  a  student  is  allowed  to  leave 
the  University  without  having  it  impressed  upon  him  that  he 
will  confer  a  personal  favor  upon  the  officers  of  the  society  if 
he  will  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  such  things.  Now  this  idea  of 
utilizing  students  and  alumni  is  not  new,  but  I  am  not  aware  that 
it  has  yet  been  applied  by  many  of  our  Southern  colleges  in 
behalf  of  local  history.  I  pass  over  the  obvious  advantages 
which  the  calm  seclusion  of  a  university  offers  for  the  study  of 
history,  in  order  to  say  a  few  words  about  another  idea  which 
this  Society  represents. 

The  Society  is  managed  by  an  executive  council  which  is 
organized  like  a  German  seminary.  It  meets  frequently,  hears 
papers  read,  and  is  responsible  for  the  proper  use  of  the  mate- 
rials gathered  by  the  Society.  Each  member  is  assigned  special 
work — genreally  by  the  president — and  it  has  been  resolved  that 
for  several  years  to  come  this  work  must  be  local  in  character. 
In  other  words,  the  council  is  pledged  to  prepare  a  careful  his- 
tory of  the  University  of  the  South,  and  if  it  does  no  more  than 
this,  it  will  at  least  do  more  than  some  older  and  more  important 
American  universities  have  yet  done  for  themselves.  The  Society, 
therefore,  stands  for  the  idea  that  minute  work  on  local  history 
must  be  prosecuted  before  any  lasting  work  can  be  done  in  the 
more  ambitious  field  of  general  Southern  history. 

Now,  why  cannot  every  college  and  university  in  the  South 
have  a  local  historical  society  working  in  a  true  seminary  style  ? 
I  believe  that  Richmond  College  already  has  one.  And  why 
should  not  every  town,  village  and  city  have  one  as  well  ?  Such 
societies  need  not  interfere  in  the  slightest  degree  with  the  State 
societies — they  should  rather  be  auxiliary  to  them.  They  can  be 
organized  by  a  dozen  earnest  persons,  and  certainly  every  college 
that  has  a  professor  of  history  ought  to  be  able  to  furnish  a  com- 
petent director  for  the  work.  It  would  seem,  by  the  way,  that 
this  historical  work  could  be  easily  fitted  in  with  the  schemes  for 
university  extension,  which  are  being  so  vigorously  discussed. 
I  know  of  no  more  fruitful  way  of  preparing  a  community  to- 
receive  the  benefits  of  university  extension — and  if  I  mistake 
not  our  Southern  universities  are  too  much  cutoff  from  the  great 


RECENT   WORK    IN   SOUTHERN    HISTORY.  59 

public  that  lives  and  moves  around  them — than  by  instituting 
preliminary  courses  in  local  history,  to  be  conducted  by  the'pro- 
fessor  of  history  in  the  nearest  college  or  other  institution  of 
learning. 

But  my  time  is  exhausted  and  I  must  bring  these  "  notes"  to  a 
conclusion.  I  trust  that  this  paper  has  shown  that  the  Southern 
people  are  beginning  to  see  the  necessity  for  encouraging  their 
historical  students,  and  that  the  work  these  students  are  doing  is 
being  done  on  right  lines.  I  believe  that  year  by  year  more 
materials  for  Southern  history  will  be  gathered  and  more  schol- 
arly work  done  on  them.  I  believe  that  the  time  will  soon  come 
when  the  self-sacrifice  and  patient  endurance  of  the  Southern 
historians  of  the  past  and  present  will  be  generally  recognized 
and  praised.  At  any  rate  I  am  certain  that  we  are  even  now  far 
removed  from  the  time  when  the  following  incident  could  occur 
in  a  Southern  State  and  among  educated  men. 

A  certain  Georgia  citizen,  whose  name  is  not  given,  wrote  an 
account  of  some  stirring  scene  in  his  State's  early  history.  He 
died  before  he  could  have  his  monograph  published.  Two  gen- 
tlemen of  high  standing,  probably  lawyers,  were  appointed  his 
executors.  They  undertook  the  delicate  task  of  apportioning 
the  estate  among  the  several  heirs,  and  things  went  on  swim- 
mingly for  a  time  until  the  testator's  manuscript  was  reached. 
Here  a  difficulty  arose.  It  could  not  be  divided.  To  publish  it 
would  be  an  unheard-of  extravagance.  It  could  not  be  left  to 
become  a  bone  of  contention  to  the  heirs.  What,  then,  did  these 
exemplary  gentlemen — men  who  could  doubtless  have  defended 
with  great  zeal  and  eloquence  the  genial  practices  of  lynching 
and  dueling — do  with  the  manuscript  ?  They  burned  it ! 7 

W.  P.  TRENT. 


"From  a  pamphlet  by  Governor  George  R.  Gilmer,  of  Georgia, 
quoted  in  The  Southern  Quarterly  Review  for  April,  1852  (Vol.  XXI, 
P-  5H). 


ANCIENT 


Epitaphs  and  Inscriptions, 


IN 


York  and  James  City  Counties, 
VIRQINIA. 


A    PAPER    READ    BEFORE    THE    VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 
MONDAY,   DECEMBER    21,  1 89 1, 

BY 

PROF.  J.  L.  HALL, 

WILLIAM  AND  MARY  COLLEGE,  VIRGINIA. 


Ancient  Epitaphs  and  Inscriptions 


IN 


York  and  James  City  Counties, 


VIRGINIA. 


The  accompanying  catalogue  of  inscriptions  is  believed  to  be 
quite  complete  for  York  and  James  City  counties.  Most  of  them 
zrefac-similes.  For  those  in  Williamsburg  and  on  the  college 
premises  I  can  personally  vouch  ;  most  of  the  others  have  been 
copied  by  very  careful  hands.  I  hope  that  this  will  prove  a  nucleus 
for  a  larger  work.  Should  the  duties  of  his  position  allow  the 
time  the  writer  of  this  paper  will  add  to  the  collection,  and  Mr. 
Lyon  G.  Tyler  has  promised  to  devote  some  of  his  enthusiastic 
attention  to  the  subject  of  inscriptions. 

With  readers  of  this  volume  it  is  no  doubt  unnecessary  to 
argue  as  to  the  value  of  such  researches  as  those  whose  results 
are  now  submitted.  We  need  only  stir  up  their  pure  minds  by 
way  of  remembrance.  We  need  only  point  them  to  the  cata- 
combs of  Rome ;  to  the  sepulchral  stones  of  Etruria  ;  to  the 
monuments  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia ;  to  the  obelisks  and 
pyramids  of  Egypt,  whose  secrets  have  so  recently  been  re- 
vealed through  the  labors  of  Champollion.  Here  among  us 
there  is  need  for  such  explorers,  for  if  there,  be  sermons  in 


64  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

stones,   there  are  also   volumes  of  history  in  the  monumental 
rocks  which  fill  the  ancient  church-yards  of  Virginia. 

May  these  few  facts  prove  the  nucleus  of  a  great  movement. 
May  some  Virginia  Champollion  use  this  paper  as  a  starting 
point,  and,  stirred  by  a  lofty  enthusiasm  and  by  untiring  devo- 
tion to  history  in  all  its  phases,  unlock  the  secrets  of  our  tombs. 
There  is  need  of  early  and  prompt  attention. 

The  hand  of  Time  and  of  the  vandal,  more  remorseless  than 
Time,  is  fast  chipping  away  our  sepulchral  marbles.  Many 
dates  have  been  lost  forever.  Since  the  days  of  Bishop  Meade 
many  inscriptions  that  he  read  have  been  partly  or  totally  ob- 
literated ;  and  at  Jamestown  itself  depredators  do  not  hesitate  to 
carry  of  large  pieces  of  the  old  tombstones. 

The  inscriptions  now  submitted  run  from  1655  to  1800.  They 
are  taken  from  private  family  lots,  from  churches  and  church- 
yards, and  from  the  chapel  of  William  and  Mary  College.  For 
convenience  of  reference  they  have  been  classified  under  eleven 
heads,  which  will  be  easily  distinguished  by  glancing  at  the 
lists. 

Year  after  year  the  monuments  are  falling  to  ruin.  Exposed, 
as  most  of  them  are,  to  extreme  heat  and  cold,  they  are  rapidly 
perishing.  There  are  persons  now  living  in  Williamsburg  who 
can  remember  when  there  were  many  more  monuments  in  Bruton 
church-yard  than  now  remain.  These  that  are  left  are  in  ex- 
cellent order.  Some  of  them  have  recently  been  raised  several 
feet  out  of  the  ground,  thanks  to  the  efforts  of  a  noble  lady  of 
antiquarian  spirit. 

Cannot  this  Society  arouse  public  interest  in  such  matters?  Is 
it  too  bold  to  propose  removing  many  of  the  old,  uncared-for 
monuments  to  some  central  point?  Can  we  not  have  a  great 
mausoleum  for  our  most  famous  colonial  dead  ?  Let  us  have  a 
veritable  Westminster  Abbey  of  Virginia.  The  State  is  about 
to  have  her  ancient  records  copied,  to  save  them  for  the  histo- 
rian. Is  it  not  equally  important  to  preserve  the  tombs  of 
our  early  dead  ?  Besides  the  ruin  already  referred  to,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  new-comers  are  selling  some  of  the  old  monu- 
ments to  relic  hunters.  How  much  better  to  gather  all  the  oldest 
to  one  place.  There  let  the  State  build  a  mausoleum — simple 
but  substantial-rlike  our  men  of  old.  A  small  outlay  every  year 


ANCIENT   EPITAPHS   AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  65 

for  ten  years  would  bring  most  of  the  old  monuments  to  the 
spot  selected.  There,  under  shelter  and  guarded  by  loving 
hearts,  let  the  sacred  ashes  repose  in  peace,,  and  the  tombs  be 
guarded  from  the  vandal  and  from  the  tempest 

From  a  careful  study  of  the  old  inscriptions  one  might  draw 
many  valuable  conclusions.  Their  naive  simplicity  and  truth 
gives  them  great  historic  value.  There  is  little  chance  of  fraud. 
Manuscripts  have  been  forged  often,  inscriptions  rarely.  As 
material  for  history,  they  may  well  rank  with  the  letter  and  the 
diary. 

One  fact  that  the  monuments  prove  is  that  human  life  has  been 
lengthened  in  this  century.  Few,  in  early  days,  were  the 
patriarchs  and  the  mothers  in  Israel.  Many  distinguished  men 
died  at  thirty-five  and  forty  ;  few  of  either  sex  reached  the  full 
three-score,  the  average  age  being  forty-three.  This  will  throw 
light  on  a  great-grandfather's  words  when  he  writes,  at  fifty, 
that  the  cares  of  age  press  heavily  upon  him. 

The  Virginia  quality  of  hospitality  comes  out  plainly  in  the 
inscriptions.  In  President.  Nelson's  epitaph  he  is  said  to  have 
excelled  in  "  the  graces  of  hospitality,  charity,  and  piety."  Of 
one  of  the  honorable  women  in  early  Virginia  it  is  said  that 
"  she  spent  an  exemplary  life  in  the  continual  exercise  of  piety, 
charity,  and  hospitality." 

Of  the  tombs  in  and  around  Williamsburg  a  large  number 
have  armorial  bearings.  Doubtless  many  others  would  have 
them  had  they  not  been  very  expensive  to  cut  in  marble. 
Many  of  the  coats-of-arms  are  still  found  among  the  noble 
houses  of  England.  Is  not  the  conclusion  forced  upon  us  that 
the  dead  armigers  and  honorables  either  belonged  to  the  higher 
gentry  or  were  sprung  from  younger  sons  of  the  nobility? 

Interesting  literary  material  is  found  in  these  inscriptions. 
They  silently  refute  the  charge  that  the  early  Virginians  were 
indifferent  to  literary  reform  and  literary  progress.  They  help 
to  prove  that  Johnson's  dictionary  revolutionized  the  spelling  of 
the  Virginia  colony.  Is  this  revolution  of  no  importance?  Is 
it  of  no  significance  that  within  five  years  after  Johnson  pub- 
lished his  book  a  marked  change  took  place  in  the  orthography 
of  the  Virginians,  and  that  within  five  more  there  are  almost  no 
important  deviations  between  that  orthography  and  the  English 


€6  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

standard  ?  More  than  that — the  most  casual  reader  can  see,  in 
most  of  the  long  inscriptions,  unmistakable  signs  of  literary  en- 
vironment. Not  only  are  verses  taken  from  the  popular  poet  of 
the  era,  but  reminiscences  of  Bolingbroke,  of  Addison,  and  of 
Samuel  Johnson  are  seen  in  almost  every  sentence.  All  this 
strengthens  our  belief  that  the  early  Virginians  were  not  all  fox- 
hunting, swearing,  illiterate  cavaliers,  but  were  a  refined  and  cul- 
tivated people.  Not  that  they  were  deeply-read  scholars  and 
literary  critics.  This  we  cannot  claim.  But  for  their  times,  as 
educational  matters  then  stood,  they  were  gentlemen  of  literary 
instincts  and  literary  polish. 

J,  L.   HALL. 


1. 
WILLIAMSBURG, 


INCLUDING 


Bruton  Church -yard,   Mural  Tablets, 
College  Chapel,  Etc. 


Here  Lyes  the  Corps  of  John 

Yuille  Merchant  Son  to  Thomas 

Yuile  of  Darleith  in  the  County  of 

D on  Scotland  who  died  at 

W  .  .  .  .  burgh  in  Virginia  upon 

the  2  ...  day  of  October  1746  years 

in  the  27th  year  of  his  Age. 

Numine  et   Virhite 
[ARMS]  1 


Here  lyes  the  Body  of 

Mr  JOHN  COLLETT 

who  departed  this  Life 

February  24'""  1749,  Aged  52  Years 


1  Burke,  "  General  Armory,"  gives  as  arms  of  Yuille,  (London),  and 
Yule,  (Darleith,  Scotland) :  Ar.  on  a  fesse  betw.  three  crescents  sa.  a  garb 
or,  branded  gu. 

Crest, — An  ear  of  wheat  ppr.  leaved  vert. 

Motto.  Numine  et  virtute. 

No  criticism  is  intended  in  the  remark  that  Professor  Hall  does  not 
describe  verbally  or  pictorially  arms  appearing  with  the  inscriptions. 
As  he  does  not,  however,  the  editor  can  be  guided  *in  annotation  only 
by  such  information  as  he  possesses  and  by  apprehension.  In  the 
daily  increasing  regard  for  family  history,  coat-armor  is  an  important 
guide  in  linking  families  with  remote  ancestry. 


68  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Here  lyes  the  corps 
of  Hugh  Orr  hammer 
man  in  Williamsburg 
who  died  Jan'ry  6th  1764 
aged  54  years. 

Here  Lies  ye 
Body  of  ANN 
CHARLTON 
wife  of  George 
Charlton  who 
Died  Sep 

in  the 

Year  of  her 
Age. 


R     [ARMS]    R 

Here  Lies  the  Body 

of  ROBERT  RAE  Merc 

hant  in  FALMOUTH 
son  of  ROBERT  RAE 
Esqr  of  Little  GOVAN 

near  GLASGOW  in 

NORTH  BRITAIN,  he 

departed  this  Life 

May  30  1753 

in  the  30  year  of  his 

Age. 


Here  lies 

the  body  of 

MARY  NICOLSON 

the  wife  of  Robert  Nicolson, 

who  departed  this  life 

Oct.  ioth  1793,* 
In  the  73d  year  of  her  age. 


7  These  were,  it  is  believed,  the  parents  of  two  worthy  sons :  Robert,  a 
surgeon  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  George  Nicolson,  who  was 
Mayor  of  Richmond  in  1790,  and  subsequently.  One  of  the  daughters 
of  the  latter  was  the  wife  of  the  late  Rev.  George  Woodbridge,  D.  D., 
so  long  the  beloved  rector  of  the  Monumental  (Episcopal)  church. — ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  69 

Here  sleeps  in  Jesus  united  to  Him 

by  Faith  and  the  Graces  of  a  Christian 

life,  all  that  was  Mortal  of  Mrs.  Ann  Burges 

once  the  tender  and  affectionate  Wife 

of  the  Revd  HENRY  JOHN  BURGES, 

of  the  ISLE  OF  WIGHT  :  She  died  25th 

December  1771  in  giving  Birth  to  an 

Infant  Daughter,  who  rests  in  her  Arms. 

She  here  waits  the  transporting  Moment 

when  the  Trump  of  God  shall  call  her 

Forth  to  Glory.  Honour  &  Immortality, 

Oh  DEATH  where  is  thy  Sting? 
Oh  GRAVE  where  is  thy  Victory? 

Here  Lyeth  the  Body  of  Ann 

the  Wife  of  Graham  Frank 3 
and  Daughter  of  the  Revd  Mr 

Theod8  Staige  who  died  on 

the  Feast  of  S'  Andrew  1759 

Aged  28  Years  * 

Here  Lyes  Interred  The 

Remains  of  Mary  Purdie  Wife  of 

Alexr  Purdie  Printer  who  departed 

This  Life  On  Saturday  ye  28,  of  March 


'Bishop  Meade  ("Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia,"  Vol.  I, 
p.  203)  mentions  Graham  Frank  as  a  merchant  of  London,  and  a  cor- 
respondent of  Rev.  Samuel  Sheild  and  of  the  Nelsons. 

4  Rev.  Theodosius  Slaige  came,  with  an  unmarried  sister,  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  was  the  rector  of  St.  George's  parish,  Spotsylvania  county, 
some  time  prior  to  November,  1728.  He  served  also  for  a  time  York- 
Hampton  parish.  Another  sister  (Letitia  Maria  Ann)  had  married 
in  London  Rev.  James  Marye.  a  native  of  Rouen,  Normandy,  France, 
the  ancestor  of  the  well-known  Virginia  family  of  the  name.  (See 
Descendants  of,  in  "  Huguenot  Emigration  to  Virginia,"  Virginia  His- 
torical Collections,  Vol.  V.)  Another  daughter  of  Mr.  Staige  married 
Samuel  Thompson,  Orange  county,  Virginia,  and  they  had  issue, 
among  others  possibly,  a  son,  William  Staige.  The  name  Staige  is 
a  favored  Christian  name  in  the  Davis  and  other  families  of  Virginia. 
A  distinguished  instance  was  the  late  Prof.  John  Staige  Davis,  M 
D.,  of  the  University  of  Virginia. — ED. 


70  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

1772  in  the  27  year  of  her  age.     She  left 

Behind  her  four  sons  Ja"  Hugh  Alexr 

and  William,  and  by  her  side  lie  Jane 

a  dear  little  Daughter  who  did  not 

quite  attain  her  second  year.     She 

was  a  virtuous  loving,  frugal  and 

discreet  wife,  an  affectionate,  though 

discerning  Mother,  one  of  the  best 

of  Mistresses.     As  Friend  and  Ac 

quaintance,  she  possesed  the  Qua 

lifications  which  fender  that  Con 

nection  valuable  for  she  was  Sen 

sible  Prudent  Generous  and 

honest  hearted  no  deceit  lay  un 

der  her  Tongue.     Her  Husband 

in  Gratitude  for  the  ardent  affection 

she  bore  him  the  genuine  esteem  he 

had  for  her  and  in  Justice  to  her 

Virtues  caused  this  stone  to  be 

placed  over  her     It  will  on 

day  serve  to  con 5 

Here  lyes  the  Bodies  of  [BUCK] 
NER  STITH 6  and  CATHERINE  STITH 

Son  and  Eldest  Daughter  of 
STITH  of  Northampton  County. 

BUCKNER  a  hopeful  Youth 

[born]  the  3d  Day  of  January  1747  [departed] 

this  Life  in  this  City  the 

of  December  1766. 

*  *  ^j  *  >1« 

died  an  Infant  Eighteen  days  old 


5  Alexander  Purdie  was  for  years  public  printer  of  the  colony,  and 
the  publisher  in  his  own  name  and  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Purdie 
&  [John]  Dixon,  of  The  Virginia  Gazette.— ED. 

•The  children  of  Griffin  and  Mary  (Blackley)  Stith.  Griffin  Stith 
was  a  son  of  Drury  and  Susannah  (Bathurst)  Stith,  nephew  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Stith,  the  historian,  and  grandson  of  Colonel  John  Stith,  who  patented 
land  in  Charles  City  county  in  1663,  and  was  High  Sheriff  in  1691. — ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS   AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  71 

Also  the  Body  of 

M"  CATHERINE  BLACKLEY  late  of  this  City 
Grandmother  of  the  above  Named  Children 

She  departed  this  Life  the  25'"  Day  of 
October  1771  Aged  73  Years  and  upwards. 


Memento  Mori 
Here   lyeth  the  Corps 

of  James  Grinley 
son  of  Alexr  Grinley 
in  Dunbar  Scotland 

Who  Departed 
this  life  the  10  Day 

of  Jully  1763 
in  the  Twentyeth 
year  of  his  Age. 


Here  lieth  the  Body  of  Mr  Joseph 

Scrivener  who  was  born  at  Oldney 

in  Buckinghamshire  in  England 

and  died  here  the  14th  of  October 

1772  in  the  Fiftieth  Year  of  his  Age. 


Here  Lies  ye  Body 

of  MICHAEL  ARCHER  Gen' 

who  was  Born  ye  29  of  Septr. 

1681  Near  RIPPON  in  YoRKshire 

And  died  ye  10  of  February  1726 

in  ye  46  year  of  his  Age. 

Also  JOANNA  ARCHER 

Wife  of  MICHAEL  ARCHER  who 

Departed  this  life 

Octor  i  1732' 


7  Michael  Archer  was  clerk  of  James  City  county  from  1719,  and  per- 
haps earlier,  until  his  death.  George  Archer,  believed  to  be  the 
ancestor  of  the  Archers  of  Henrico,  Amelia,  Powhatan  and  other 
counties,  patented  550  acres  of  land  in  Henrico  county,  June  2,  1665 
(Book  V,  p.  69,  Land  Registry). 


72  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

In  memory  of  Judith  Greenhow 

a  Sincere  Christian 
She  died  the  Seventh  day 

of  January  1765 

and  in  the  29  year  of  her  age 

How  loved  how  valued  once  avails  thee  not 

To  whom  Related  or  by  whom  begot ! 

A  heap  of  Dust  alone  remains  of  thee, 

So  all  thou  art,  and  all  the  proud  shall  be 


Here  lies  in  hopes  of  a  Blessed 

Resurrection,  the  Remains 

of  Mr  THOMAS  HORNSBY 

who  was  for  many  Years 

a  Merchant  in  this  City. 

He  was  Born  in  Lincolnshire 

in  ENGLAND, 

January  iyth  1702 

and  died  May  27th  1772 

the  Remains 

of  Mr9  MARGARET  HORNSBY 

Wife  of  Mr  THOMAS  HORNSBY 

who  died  February  2  ...    1770 

Aged  66  Years.9 


From  a  book-plate  of  William  Archer,  a  descendant,  which  has  been 
preserved,  the  family  appears  to  have  been  from  Cornwall,  England. 

Frederick  Johnston,  in  his  meritorious  "  Memorials  of  Virginia 
Clerks  "  laments  the  destruction  of  the  records  of  James  City  county, 
in  the  burning  of  the  court-house  in  Richmond,  April  3,  1865,  and 
commences  his  list  of  clerks  of  the  county  with  Leonard  A.  Henley, 
1831.— ED. 

8 Somewhat  mutilated;  but  I  have  completed  the  lines  by  reference 
to  Pope. 

9  Thomas  Hornsby  was  highly  esteemed  and  very  successful  as  a 
merchant.  Joseph  Hornsby,  probably  his  son,  was  a  vestryman  of 
Bruton  parish  in  1774 — ED. 


ANCIENT  EPITAPHS  AND  INSCRIPTIONS.  73 

[ARMS] 

Under  this  Marble  Rest  ye  Ashes 
of  His  Excellency  EDWARD  NOTT 
Late  Governor  of  this  Collony  who 
In  his  Private  character  was  a  good 
Christian  and  in  his  Public  a  good 
Governor  he  was  A  lover  of  Mankind 
And  Bountiful  to  his  Friends  By  ye 
Sanctity  of  his  Moralls  and  ye  Mildness 
Prudence  and  justice  of  his  Administra- 
tion he  was  Deservedly  Esteemed  A 
Public  Blessing  while  he  Lived '&  when 
He  Dyed  A  Public  Callamity.  he  Departed 
This  Life  the  23*  Day  of  August  1706 

Aged  49  Years. 

In  Gratefull  Remembrance  of  who 

se  many  Dutyes  the  Generall  Assembly 

of  this  Collony  have  Erected  this 

Monument.10 


SACRED 

to  the  Memory  of 
JAMES  NICOLSON 

late  steward  of 

William  and  Marys  COLLEGE 

he  was  born  in  the  town  of  Inverners 

NORTH-BRITAIN 

ANNO  1711 
and  died  the  22  of  January 

1773 
industry,  frugality,  integrity. 

simplicity,  of  manners  and 
independence  of  SOUL 


50  Edward  Nott  entered  upon  his  duties  as  Lieutenant-Governor 
August  15,  1705.  He  procured  the  passage  by  the  Assembly  of  an  act 
for  the  building  of  a  "  palace  "  for  the  Governor,  with  an  appropriation 
of  /3,ooo,  also  an  act  establishing  the  general  court;  but  the  last  was 
disallowed  by  the  British  Board  of  Trade.  During  Governor  Nott's 
administration  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  was  destroyed  by 
fire.— ED. 


74  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Adorned   his  Character  and 
procured  him  Universal  Esteem 

READER 

Learn  from  this  Example  that 

As  the  most  Exalted  station  may 

be  debased  by  VICE  so  there 

is  no  situation  in  life  on 

which  VIRTUE  will  not  confer 

DIGNITY! 


To  the  Memory  of 
Mr  CHARLES  HUNT, 
late  of  this  PARISH. 
He  died  the  nth  day 

of  Octr  1794 

Aged  41  Years. 

Regretted  by  all  who  knew  him. 


KATHERINE  THORP 

Relick  of  Cap'  THOMAS 

THORP  Nephew  to  Major 

THOMAS    THORP  Formerly 

Inhabitant  of  this  Parish 

after  a  Pilgrimage  of  Forty 

three  yeares  in  a  Troublesome 

world  Lay  Downe  here  to 

Rest  in  hope  of  a  Joyfull 

Resurection  obii'  June  6th 

1695 


Here  lyeth  in  Hope  of  a  joyfull 

Resurrection  the  Body  of  Cap' 

THOMAS  THORP  of  Bruton 

Parish  in  the  Dominion  of  Virginia 

Nephew  of  Maj.  OTHO  THORP 

of  the  same  Parish  who  Departed 

This  Life  the  7  day  of  October 

Ano  1693  Aged  48 


ANCIENT  EPITAPHS  AND  INSCRIPTIONS.  75 

[ARMS]  " 
H  S  E 

EDWARDUS  BARRADALL  ARMIGER 

Qui 

In  legum  studiis  feliciter  versatus 

Attornati  Generalis  et  Admiralitatis  ludicis 

Amplicissimus  Partes  merito  obtinuit 

Fideliter  obivit 
Collegium  GULIELMI  et  MARINE 

Cum  Gubernator 

Turn  in  Conventu  Generali  Senator 
Propugnavit 

SARAM 

Viri  Honorabilis 

GUIL.  FITZHUGH   Armigeri 

Serenissimae  Reginae  ANN^E  in  Virginia  a  Consilios 

Filiam  Natu  minimam 

Tarn  Mortis  quam  Vitae  Sociam 

Uxorem  habuit. 

Obierunt 

illeXIII   Cal   IuliiAD    MnrrxTTTT         ^f  XXXIX 
ilia  NonOctAU'*  ^ 


Hie  iuxta  situs  est 

HENRICUS    BARRADALL 

E.  B.  supra  dicti  Frater 

Qui 
Obiit  XVIII  Cal  Octob  A.  D.  MDCCXXXVII 

^Etat  XXVII 
BLUMFIELD  BARRADALL  tantum  Frater12 

11  From  a  rough  drawing  in  the  possession  of  the  editor,  the  arms  of 
Barradall  (tinctures  not  given),  a  bend,  three  pheons,  an  annulet  for 
difference,  are  impaled  with  Fitzhugh  —  Az.:  three  chevrons  braced  in 
base  of  escutcheon,  or,  a  chief  of  the  last.    William  Fitzhugh,  lawyer, 
planter,  merchant  and  shipper,  the  ancestor  of  the  well-known  family 
of  the  name,  was  born  in  Bedford,  England,  January  9,  1651  ;  settled  in 
that  portion  of  Stafford  ,  now  comprising  Prince  George  county  ;  died 
at  his  seat,  Bedford,  Virginia,  in  October,  1701.  —  ED. 

12  Last  few  lines  so  badly  worn  as  to  be  illegible. 


76  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

The  epitaph  of  Rev.  Roland  Jones,  first  rector  of  Bruton 
Parish.  Bishop  Meade  is  not  accurate  Owing  to  the  igno- 
rance of  workman  recently  employed  in  the  church-yard,  the 
epitaph  is  permanently  distorted.  The  following  is  approxi- 
mately correct : 

Hie  jacet  ROLANDUS  ZONES 

clericus  films  ROLANDI  JONES 

clerici  Natus  Swimbrook  juxta 

Burford  in  Comii  Uxoii  Collegii 

Merton  Universitate  Oxoii 
Alumnus  Parochiae  Bruton  Virginia 

Pastor  primus  &  delectissimus 

Funcnone  Pastorali  annis  14 
fideliter  d  Parochiae  quam 

maximo  de  Obiit  Ap  23 

die  ^Etatis  suae  48  Anno  D  1688 


Here  Lyes  the  Body  of 

MARGARET  BROWN  wife  to 

Doctor  JOHN  BROWN  of  WILLIAMSBURG 

late  of  COLD  STREAM  NORTH  BRITAIN 

who  died  the  22d  day  of  AUGUST  1720 

in  the  36  year  of  Her  Age 
Prob  !  Dolor  quao  fuit  Clarissime. 

Here  Lyes  the  Body  of  JANE  BROWN 

Daughter  to  the  foresaid  JOHN  BROWN 

who  died  the  30  August  1720  the 

14  day  of  Her  Age. 


[ARMS]  ls 
Under  this  Marble  lieth  the  Body 

of  THOMAS  LUDWELL  Esqr 
Secretary  of  VIRGINIA,  who  was  born 
at  Bruton  in  the  County  of  SOMERSET 


13 The  arms  upon  the  book-plate  of  Philip  Ludwell  of  "  Green  Spring  " 
are:    Gu,  a  bend  ar.,  three  eagles  displayed  sa.  between  three  towers. 
Motto — Pensieri  stretti  edil  viso  sciolto. — ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS   AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  77 

in  the  Kingdom  of  ENGLAND,  and 

departed  this  Life  in  the  Year  1678  And 

near  this  place  lye  the  Bodies  of  RICHARD 

KEMP,  Esqr  his  Predecessor  in  ye  Secretarys 

Office u  and  Sr  THOMAS  LUNSFORD  K' 

in  Memory  of  whom  this  Marble  is  placed 

by  Order  of  PHILIP  LUDWELL  Esqr 

Nephew  of  the  said  THOMAS  LUDWELL 

in  the  Year  1727 


Here  lies 

in  hopes  of  a  joyful 

Resurrection  all  that  was 

mortal  of  IOHN  GREENHOW, 

late  of  this  City,  Merchant, 

He  was  born  in  STAUNTON, 

near  KENDAL  in  Westmoreland, 

Great  Britain,  November  the  12th 

1724  &  died  the  29th  August  1787, 

after  a  very  short  Illness. 
On  his  left  side  lies  ELIZABETH 


14  Richard  Kemp  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  1642,  and 
as  its  President  in  June,  1644,  upon  the  departure  of  Sir  William  Berke- 
ley for  England,  became  the  acting  Governor  of  the  Colony.  It  is 
notable  that  during  his  incumbency  the  first  fast  and  thanksgiving  days 
in  the  Colony,  of  which  any  record  is  preserved,  were  ordered.  "  Att 
James  Cittye  the  i7lh  of  February,  1644-5,''  it  was  "enacted  by  the 
Governour,  Counsell  and  Burgesses  of  this  present  Grand  Assembly, 
for  God's  glory  and  the  publick  benefit  of  the  Collony  to  the  end  that 
God  might  avert  his  heavie  judgments  that  are  now  upon  vs,  That  the 
last  Wednesday  in  every  month  be  sett  apart  for  a  day  of  ffast  and 
humiliation.  And  that  it  be  wholly  dedicated  to  prayers  and  preach- 
ing." Also  "That  the  eighteenth  day  of  April  be  yearly  celebrated 
by  thanksgivings  for  our  deliverance  from  the  hands  of  Salvages." 
Referring  to  the  recent  massacre  by  the  Indians  (Hening' s  Statutes,  I, 
pp.  289,  290).  Sir  William  Berkeley  returning  in  June,  1645,  resumed 
the  government  of  Virginia,  but  Richard  Kemp  continued  to  serve  the 
Colony  as  a  member  of  the  Council  until  1648,  and  perhaps  later,  lat- 
terly as  the  Secretary  of  the  body.  He  died  some  time  before 
1678 — ED. 


78  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

the  Daughter  of  IOHN  TYLER  15 

his  second  Wife, 
who  was  born  in  JAMES  CITY 

the  30th  Jany  1744,  and  died 

of  the  Small  Pox  on  July  the  23rd  1781 

which  she  endured  with  the  greatest 

Christian  Fortitude  &  Resignation. 

Here  Lyeth 

Edward  Dyer 

Who  died  OcT 

ye  6  1722  agd 

i  Year  &  7  Mo 

ye  Only  Son  of 

Rob  Dyer  & 

Martha  his 

Wife 


In  the  adjoining  grave  lies  deposited 
with  her  husband  whatever  was  mortal  of 

JEAN  BLAIR, 
who  was  born  26th  Octr  1736,  O.  S. 

and  died  22nd  Novr  1792. 

Her  conduct  through  life  was  truly  exemplary  and 

amiable  in  discharging  all  the  relative  duties  of  her 

station  as  a  wife,  a  mother  and  a  friend ;  and  her  piety 

shone  forth  with  peculiar  lustre  during  a  protracted, 

painful,  and  distressing  illness,  which  she  sustained 

without  a  murmur,  with  entire  resignation  and 

acknowledgments  of  the  divine  mercy  and  goodness; 

and  fervent  prayers  to  be  released,  and,  resign  her 

spirit  to  GOD  who  gave  it. 

Here  lies  interred 

the  body  of  JAMES  BLAIR 

son  of  the  Honble  John  Blair16 


15  Marshal  of  the  Colony  and  grandfather  of  President  John  Tyler. — ED. 

"John  Blair,  son  of  Dr.  Archibald  Blair,  and  nephew  of  Rev.  James 
Blair,  D.  D.,  President  of  William  and  Mary  College  ;  member  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses  in  1736;  long  a  member  of  the  Council,  of  which 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  79 

a  youth  distinguished  for  the  uniform  purity 

of  his  morals,  accompanied  with  ingenuous  modesty 

and  the  most  winning  mildness  of  temper  and  manners. 

He  was  born  the  9th  of  June  1770 

and  died  the  25th  of  Octr  1791. 


SACRED  to  the  memory  of 
JANE,  the  youngest  daughter  of 

the  Honble  John  Blair, 

and  beloved  wife  of  James  Henderson.17 

Mournful  and  with  tears,  he  hath  erected 

this  last  gift  of  love  and  conjugal  affection. 

She  died  igth  Decr  1800. 

Aged  40  years. 

Having  been  distinguished  for  her  piety 

affection,  prudence,  and  suavity  of  manners. 

At  her  feet  are  deposited  the  bodies 

of  her  three  infant  children, 
James  Blair,  born  29th  Oct  1795, 

and  lived  only  21  days. 

John  Blair,  born  25th  Febyy  1797 

and  died  17th  April  following,  and 

Blair  Munroe,  born  3Oth  July,  1800 

and  died  4th  May  1801. 


[ARMS]18 

Here  Lyeth  the  Body  of 

COLONEL  DAVID  BRAY 

of  this  Parish 


as  President,  he  was  acting  Governor  of  Virginia  for  a  time  in  1758. 
His  son,  Archibald  Blair,  was  Secretary  of  the  Virginia  Convention  of 
1776;  and  another  son,  John  Blair,  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States.  A  daughter,  Jane,  was  the  first  wife  of  James  Hen- 
derson.— ED. 

17  James  Henderson  married  secondly ,  and  had  issue :  i.  James; 

2.  Walter;   3.  Elizabeth.     He  died  in  1818,  and  William  Brown  and 
Alexander  Brown  were  his  executors. — ED. 

18  Az.  a  chevron  between  three  eagles'  legs  erased  a  la  cuisse  sa. 
armed  gu.     Crest — An  ounce  ppr. — ED. 


80  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

who  died  on  ye  21  of  Octr  1717 
in  the  52*  Year  of  His  Age 

and  Left 

his  Wife  JUDITH  &  Son  DAVID  BRAY 
by  whom  this  Monument  was  Erected 

in  Memory  of  Him 

Under  this  tomb  with  her  husband 

Lieth  M™  JUDITH  BRAY  who 

Departed  this  Life  the  26  Day 

of  October  MDCCXX  in  the 

45th  Year  of  her  Age.19 

[ARMS] 

Here  Lyeth  In     .     . 
of  IAMES  BR    .     . 

AS  BRAY  by  whom 
this  Monument  was  Erected 

JAMES  BRAY 

1690 

Another  Bray  monument — marble  pyramidal  shaft  on  a  mar- 
ble die,  the  latter  having  handsome  armorial  bearings  on  two 
sides  and  Latin  inscriptions  on  the  other  two.20 

19  James l  Bray  was  the  first  of  the  name  in  Virginia  of  whom  record  is 
preserved.  He  was  living  in  James  City  county  in  1666  ;  was  sworn  a 

member  of  the  Council  March  4,  1674-^5  i  married  Angelica ,  and 

had  issue  :  i.  Thomas;2  2.  James,2  J.  P.  of  James  City  county,  1710, 
and  later ;  vestryman  of  Bruton  parish;  sheriff,  I7i7-'i8;  married  in 
or  before  1698  Mourning,  widow  of  Colonel  Thomas  Pettus.  He  had 
(with,  perhaps  other  issue;  a  son,  Thomas,3  J.  P.  of  James  City  county, 
1738,  who  had  an  only  child,  Elizabeth,4  who  married  Colonel  Philip 
Johnson,  of  King  &  Queen  county,  and  died  in  1675.  3.  Colonel 
David,2  supra,  vestryman  of  Bruton  parish,  and  J.  P.  of  James  City 
county,  1710.  He  had  issue:  i.  David,3  infra,  born  1699;  member  of 
the  Council ;  died  1731  ;  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Page  of 
Gloucester  county.  4.  Angelica,'  married  Mungo  Inglis  of  Williamsburg, 
the  first  Master  of  the  Grammar  School,  William  and  Mary  College 
(1693-1719).  His  descendants  intermarried  with  the  Armisteads,  Pages 
and  Sheildses. 

The  widow  of  Thomas  Bray  established  a  scholarship  at  William  and 
Mary  College. — ED. 

s°The  arms  of  Bray  with  an  inescutcheon  bearing  the  Page  arms. — ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  81 


H.  S.   E. 

DAVID  BRAY  Armiger 

Vir 

Forma  Ingenio  Morum  Suavitate  et  Comitate  Praetor 
Serenissimo  Regi  GEORGIO  Secundo 

Conciliis  in  Virginia  constitubus 

Tamen  ante  Munus  Susceptum  florente  ^tate 

Morte  abreptus. 

ELISABETHAM 

IOHANNIS  PAGE,  Arminger21  Filiam  Natu  primam 

Sibi  Matrimonio  conjunctam  habuit 

Mutuo  Affectus  conjunctissimam. 

et  sine  Prote  maerentem  reliquit 

Octob  5°  1731  ^Etat  32 

Ilia  Amoris  Conjugalii  Extremum  Pignus 

Hoc  Monumentum  posuit 


Hie  Depositum 
Quicquid  habuit  Mortale  Elizabetha  Bray 

Una  cum  Marito  desideratissimo. 

Quae  languenti  morbo  consumpta  Animam 

Resignavit  22°  Die  Aprilis  Anno  1734 

^Etatis  32° 
^quanimiter,  Fortiter,  Pie. 


Here  lieth  the  Body  of  IAMES  WHALEY 

of  Yorke  County  in  Virginia  who 
departed  this  life  the  16  day  of  May 
Anno  Domini  1701  and  in  the  fiftieth 

yeare  of  his  Age 
His  Body  lyes  to  be  Consumed  to  Dust 

Till  the  Resurrection  of  the  Just 

Amongst  Which  Number  He'll  in  hopes  Appeare 

His  blessed  Sentence  at  doomsday  to  heare 

21  Errors  in  cutting. 


82  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

22  MATHEW  WHALEY  lyes  Interred  here 
Within  this  Tomb  upon  his  FATHER  dear. 

Who  Departed 

this  Life  the  26th  of 

September  1705  Aged 

Nine  years  only  child 

of  IAMES  WHALEY 

and  MARY  his  wife 


Fragment  of  Colonel  John  Page's  tombstone,  lying  near  the 
west  door  of  Bruton  Parish  church,  within  the  building. 

[ARMS]  2S 

Here  lieth  in  hope  of  a  Joyfull  Resurrection 

the  Body  of  Colonel  IOHN  PAGE  of 

Bruton  Parish  Esquire  one  of  their 

Majesties  Council  in  the  Dominion 

[of]  Virginia  w  o  Departed  this 

[life  t]he  23  of  [Ja]nuary  in  the  year 

[of  our]  Lord  69^2  Aged  65 


Wife  of  Colonel  John  Page. 
[ARMS]  " 

Here  lyeth  the  Body  of  ALICE  PAGE 

wife  to  IOHN  PAGE  of  ye  county  of  York 

in  Virginia  aged  73  yeares  who 

departed  this  life  the  22  day  of  June 

Anno  Domini  1698 


21  Square  piece  of  marble  on  the  front  face  of  the  monument. 

23 Arms:  Ar.,  a  fesse  dancette  between  three  martlets;  azure,  a 
bordure  of  the  last.  Crest :  A  demi-horse  forcene  (rearing). — ED. 

"Colonel  John  Page  married,  about  1656,  Alice  Luckin,  of  county 
Essex,  England.  In  the  "Page  Family  of  Virginia,"  by  Dr.  R.  C.  M. 
Page,  New  York,  1883,  it  is  stated  (p.  41)  that  the  arms  on  this  tomb 
were  those  of  Luckin:  Sable,  a  fesse  indented  between  two  leopard's 
faces  or.  Crest — A  demi-griffin  or.,  issuing  out  of  a  tower  paly  of  six 
of  the  last  and  sable. — ED. 


ANCIENT  EPITAPHS  AND  INSCRIPTIONS.  83 

[ARMS] 

Here  lieth  in  hope  of  a  Joyfull  Resurrection 

the  Body  of  Captain  FRANCIS  PAGE  of 

Bruton  Parish  in  the  Dominion  of  Virginia 

Eldest  Son  of  Colonel  IOHN  PAGE  of  the 

Same  Parish,  Esquire,  Who  Departed 

this  life  the  tenth  Day  of  May 

in  the  Year  of  our  Lord 

1692 :  Aged  35 

Thou  wast  while  living  of  Unspotted  Fame 
Now  being  Dead,  no  man  Dares  Soil  thy  name 
For  thou  wast  One  whom  Nothing  here  Could  Stain 
ither  Force  of  honour  nor  Love  of  Gain 

spheres  thou  hast  well  Discharg'd  thy  trust 
most  truly  Pious,  Loyal  lust 

slant  Goodness  my  Penn  Cannt  Express 
Vertues  my  tongue  Cannt  Rehearse 
steem'd  by  all  the  wise  and  Sage 
thy  country  in  thy  age 

we  Cannt  Now  Speak  of  the 
eet  to  all  Posterity 
Did  to  Yoursef  Create 
erlasting  Date 
your  most  happy  wife 
other  Life 


[ARMS]  K 

Here  lieth  in  the  hope  of  a  Joyfull  Resurrection 
the  body  of  MARY,  the  wife  of  Captain 

FRANCIS  PAGE  of  Bruton  Parish  in 

the  Dominion  of  Virginia,  Daughter  of 

EDWARD  DIGGS  of  Hampton  Parish  in 

the  Same  Dominion,  Esquire  who  Departed 

this  life  the  Eighteenth  Day  of  March  in 

the  year  of  Our  Lord  169°,  Aged  $[2  ?] 


"The  editor  has  no  information  as  to  these  arms,  whether  of  Page 
alone  or  impaled  with  those  of  Digges.  The  latter  are  :  Gu.  on  a  cross 
ar.,  five  eagles  displayed  sa.  armed  of  the  field. — ED. 


84  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Thy  Modest,  meek  and  Pious  Soule  did  Shine 

With  well-Tempered  Nature  and  Grace  Divine 

One  to  Excell  in  beauty  few  Could  Finde 

yet  thy  Rarest  Features  were  of  the  minde 

thou  wast  a  Faithful  and  Vertuous  wife 

thou  Greatly  Loved  peace  and  hated  strife 

thou  wast  a  prudent  and  tender  Mother 

a  true-loving  sister  to  Each  Brother 

a  Choice  Friend  a  Kind  Nighbour 

a  good  Christian  ready  at  God's  call 

thou  lived  and  dy'd  upon  Christ  Relying 

thou  Dy'd  to  Sin  and  now  Livest  by  Dying 

thy  Faith  Doth  yield  thy  Piety  Doth  Give 

Restoratives  to  make  thee  Ever  live 
thrice  blest  Friend  this  Epitaph  is  thy  due 
when  Saints  arise  thy  Lord  will  say  'tis  true. 


[ARMS] 

Here  lyeth  the  body  of  ELIZABETH  PAGE  decd 

late  wife  to  IOHN  PAGE  of  Yorke  [co]unty  Gent. 

and  Daughter  of  [C]ap*  FRANCIS  PAGE  late  of  the 

same  County  deceased  she  blest  her  sa[id] 

Husband  w[ith]  A  Sonn  and  Daughter  &  departed 

this  life  the  12  day  of  November  Anno  Dom  1702 

And  in  the  20  yeare  of  her  age. 


MURAL  TABLETS  IN  CHRIST'S  CHURCH, 


MDLCCLII 

Inscribed  to  the  Memory  of 

Doctor  WILLIAM  COCKE, 

An  English  Physician,  Born  of  reputable  Parents 

MDCLXXII 
at  Sudbury  in  SUFFOLK, 

and  Educated  at  Queen's  College,  CAMBRIDGE, 
He  was  learned  and  polite, 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  85 

of  indisputed  Skill  in  his  profession, 

of  unbounded  Generosity  in  his  practice  : 

which  multitudes,  yet  alive,  can  testify. 

He  was,  many  years,  of  the  Council 

and  Secretary  of  State,  for  this  Colony 

In  the  Reign  of  QUEEN  ANNE  &  of  KING  GEORGE 

He  died  Suddenly,  sitting  a  Judge  upon  the  Bench 

of  the  General  Court  in  the  Capitol: 

MDCCXX 

His  Hon:  Friend  ALEX*  SPOTSWOOD,  Esqr  then  Govr 
with  the  principal   Gentlemen  of  the  Country, 

attended  his  Funeral, 

and,  weeping,  saw  the  Corps  Interred 

at  the  West  side  of  the  Alter, 

in  this  Church.26 


MURAL  TABLET  TO  HON.  DANIEL  PARKE. 


Near  this  Marble  Lyes 

ye  HoNble  DANIEL  PARKE 

of  ye  County  of  Essex  Esq  who 

was  one  of  his  Ma:ties  Counsellers 

and  some  time  Secretary  of  the 

Collony  of  Virg:a  he  Died  ye  6th  of 

March  Anno  1679 

His  other  Felicityes  ware  Crowned  by 

his  happy   Marridg  with  REBBECKA 

the  Daughter  of  GEORGE  EVELYN 

of  the  County  of  Surry  Esq  she  dyed 


26  Dr.  Cocke  married  Elizabeth,  sister  of  Mark  Catesby,  the  naturalist, 
and  had  issue,  whose  descendants  include  the  names  of  Archer,  Bat- 
taile,  Buckner,  Dudrey,  Gregory,  Hansford,  Holliday,  Jones,  Laughlin, 
Montgomery,  Taliaferro,  Taylor,  Washington  and  others.  His  widow 
married  secondly  Colonel  John  Holloway,  an  eminent  lawyer  of 
Williamsburg,  Virginia.  She  died  March  4,  1755,  aged  74  years. — ED. 


86  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

the  2d  of  January  Anno  1672  at  Long 

Ditton  in  ye  County  of  Surry  and 

left  behind  her  a  most 

hopefuil  progeny27 


Stone  on  the  Floor  of  the  Church  near  East  Door. 

Here  lies  in  hope  of  a  Blessed  Resurrection 
the  Body  of  Mr  ORLANDO  IONES  Son  of  M 

ROWLAND  IONES,  some  time  Minister  of 

this  Parish,    he  was  born  December  ye  31"'  1681 

and  Died  lune  ye  12th  1719  in  ye  38th  year  of  his 

Age.     he  was  twice  Married  his  first  Wife  wa[s] 

Mra  MARTHA  MACON  2S  Daughter  of  Mr  GIDEON 

MACON  of  New-Kent  by  whom  he  left  one 

Son  Named  LANE  &  one  Daughter  Named 

FRANCES,  his  Second  Wife  was  Mrs  MARY 

WILLIAMS,  Daughter  of  IAMES  WILLIAMS 

of  King  &  Queen  County,  who  Erected  this 

Monument  to  his  Memory. 

27  Colonel  Daniel  Parke  had  issue :  two  daughters — Francis,  who 
married  John  Custis  ;  and  Lucy,  the  first  wife  of  Colonel  William  Byrd 
of  "  Westover,"  the  second  of  the  name.  Colonel  Parke  went  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  was  appointed  an  aid-de-camp  to  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough  ;  was  with  him  at  the  battle  of  Blenheim,  and  was  selected  to 
convey  the  news  of  that  memorable  victory  to  Queen  Anne.  He  was 
subsequently  appointed  Governor  of  the  Leward  Islands,  and  was  slain 
in  an  insurrection  there. — ED. 

28She  was  married  January  31,  1703  ;  died  May  n,  1716,  and  is  buried 
at  the  Macon  homestead  in  New  Kent  county.  Her  daughter  Frances  is 
said  to  have  been  the  wife  of  Colonel  John  Dandridge  and  the  mother  of 
Martha  (Dandridge-Custis)  Washington.  Gideon  Macon,  by  tradition, 
was  at  one  time  the  Secretary  of  Sir  William  Berkeley.  He  was  for  a 
time  an  Indian  interpreter.  The  Christian  name  of  his  wife  was 
Martha.  Colonel  John  Dandridge  died  in  1756,  aged  fifty-six  years. 
His  tomb  is  in  St.  George's  church-yard,  Fredericksburg,  Virginia. — 
ED. 


ANCIENT   EPITAPHS   AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  87 

MURAL  TABLET  TO  THE  TYLERS. 


In  Memoriam. 

HENRY  TYLER,  SR.  &  HENRY  TYLER,  JR. 
Vestrymen  &  Wardens  of  Bruton 

Church  &  Parish. 

JOHN  TYLER  &  ELIZABETH  Low,  parents  of 

JOANNA  TYLER-MCKENZIE  &  JOHN  TYLER, 

the  Marshall  of  the  Colony  of  Va.: 

&  ANNE  CONTESSE,  parents  of 

JOHN  TYLER, 

Patriot,  Gov'r,  Judge  of  the  Admiralty, 
Supreme  &  U.  S.  Courts  of  Va. : 

&  MARY   ARMISTEAD, 
of  Buck-Rowe,  parents  of 

JOHN  TYLER, 
Student,  Visitor,  Rector  &  Chancellor 

of  Wm.  &  Mary  College  : 

Gov'r,  Member  of  Congress,   Senator, 

Vice  President  &  President  of  the  United 

States,  Member  of  Confederate  Congress  : 

&  LAETITIA  CHRISTIAN,  parents  of 
ROBERT  TYLER,  Poet,  Philosopher,  States- 
man, Gentleman,  SAMUEL  TYLER,  A.  B.,  LL.  D. 
Chancellor  of  the  State  of  Va., 

Grandson  of  the  Marshall. 

This  tablet  is  erected  by  some 

of  their  Descendants : 

JUNE  1888,  A.  D. 

These  are  all  the  inscriptions  now  to  be  found  in  and  around 
Bruton  Parish  church.  No  doubt  many  monuments  have  been 
destroyed.  Old  citizens  say  that  many  have  disappeared  in 
their  day. 

Under  the  church,  doubtless,  were  buried  many  to  whom  no 
stone  was  erected  Governor  Fauquier  was  buried  under  the 


88  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

church,  and  no  monument  to  him  remains.  His  death  and 
obsequies  are  described  in  the  Virginia  Gazette  of  March  3, 
1768,  as  follows: 

"  Early  this  morning,  died  at  the  palace,  after  a  tedious  illness, 
which  he  bore  with  the  greatest  patience  and  fortitude,  the  Hon. 
Francis  Fauquier,  Esq.,  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Colony,  over  which  he  has  presided  near  ten 
years,  much  to  his  own  honor,  and  the  ease  and  satisfaction  of  the 
inhabitants.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  the  most  amiable  disposi- 
tion, generous,  just  and  mild,  and  possessed,  in  an  eminent 
degree,  of  all  the  social  virtues.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  and  died  in  his  65th  year." 


WILLIAM  AND  MARY  COLLEGE  CHAPEL. 


Hoc  juxta  marmor  S.  E. 

Johannes  Randolph,  Eques. : 

Hujus  collegii  dulce  ornamentum,  alumnus: 

Insigne  praesidium  gubernator, 

Grande  calumen  Senator, 

Gulielmum  patrem  generosum, 

Mariam  ex  Ishamorum  stirpe. 

In  agro  Northamptoniensi  matrem 

Praedaris  dotibus  honestavit, 

Filius  natu  Sextus 

Literis  humanoribus 

Artibusque  ingenuis  fideliter  instructus  : 

(Illi  quippe  fuerat  turn  eruditionis, 

Turn  doctrinae  sitis  nunquam  explenda.) 

Hospitium  Graiense  concessit, 

Quo  in  domicilio 

Studiis  unice  deditus, 

Statim  inter  legum  peritos  excelluit, 

Togamque  induit; 
Causis  validissimus  agendis. 

In  Patriam 
Quam  semper  habuit  charissimam  reversus, 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  89 

Considici 
Senatus  primam  clerici  deinde  prolventoris 

Thesaurarii 

Legati  ad  angles  semel  atque  iterum  missi, 

Glocestriae  demum  curiae  judicis  primarii, 

Vices  arduos  honestasque  sustinuit 

Perite,  graviter,  integre; 

Quibus  in  munus, 

Vix  parem  habuit 

Superiorem  certe  neminem. 

Hos  omnes  quos  optime  meruit  honores 

Cum  ingenua  totius  corpori  pulchritude, 

Et  quidam  senatorius  decor, 
Turn  eximium  ingenii  acumen 

Egregie  illustravunt. 
At  yEquitas  summi  juris  expers, 

Clientum  fidele  omnium 

Pauperiorum  sine  mercede  patrocinium, 

Hospitium  sine  luxu  splendidum, 

Veritas  sine  fuco, 

Sine  fastu  charitas. 

Ceteris  animi  virtutibus 

Facile  praeluxerunt. 

Tandem 

Laboribus  vigiliisque  fractus, 

Morboque  lentissimi  confectus 

Cum  sibi  satis,  sed  amicus,  sed  Reip:  pavum  vixisset, 

Susannam 

Petri  Beverley  Armigeri 

Filiam  natu  minimam, 

Conjugem  delectissimam, 

(Ex  qua.tres  filius  filiamque  inimicam  susceperat,) 
Sui  magno  languentem  desiderio 

Reliquit 

Sexto  Non:  Mar:  Anno  Dom:  1736-7 
44.** 


29  The  mural  tablet  to  Sir  John  Randolph  was  destroyed  in  the  fire  of 
1859- 


90  VIRGINIA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

[CROWN] 

NORBORNE30 
BARON  DE  BOTETOURT 

OB.  XV  OCT  : 
A:  D:  MDCCLXX 
LIII. 


COLLEGE  GREEN. 


Statue  to  Lord  Botetourt. 

[Inscription  in  front.] 

The 

Right  Honourable 
Norborne  Berkeley 
Baron  De  Botetourt 

His  Majesty's 

Late  Lieutenant;  and 

Governor  General  of  the 

Colony  and  Dominion 

of  Virginia. 

30  Inscription  on  the  coffin  plate  of  Lord  Botetourt.  This  plate  was 
carried  off  during  the  Civil  War,  and  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  after- 
wards found  its  way  back  to  the  College,  where  it  is  now  carefully  pre- 
served. 

In  addition  to  Lord  Botetourt,  the  following  distinguished  men  were 
buried  under  the  College  chapel :  John  Randolph,  Attorney-General  of 
the  Colony  ;  Peyton  Randolph,  first  President  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress; Rt.  Rev.  James  Madison,  bishop  of  Virginia  and  president  of 
the  College  ;  and  Chancellot  Robert  Nelson.  No  epitaphs  are  found. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS   AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  91 

[On  right-hand  side  of  die.] 

Deeply  impress'd  with  the  warmest  sense 

of  gratitude  for  his  excellency  the 

Right  Honble  Lord  Botetourt's  prudent 

and  wise  administration,  and  that  the 

remembrance  of  those  many  public  and 

social  virtues,  which  so  eminently 

adorn' d  his  illustrious  character  might 

be  transmitted  to  latest  posterity, 

the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia 

on  the  XX  day  of  luly  Ann:  Dom:  MDCCLXXI 

resolved  with  one  united  voice,  to  erect 

this  statue  to  his  Lordship's  memory. 

Let  wisdom  and  iustice  preside  in  any  country: 

the  people  will  rejoice  and  must  be  happy. 


[On  left-hand  side  of  die.] 

America!  behold  your  friend  ! 

who,  leaving  his  native  country, 

declin'd  those  additional  honours,  which 

were  there  in  store  for  him,  that 
he  might  heal  your  wounds,  and  restore 

tranquillity  and  happiness  to  this 

extensive  continent :  with  what  zeal 

and  anxiety  he  pursued  these  glorious 

objects,  Virginia,  thus  bears  her 

gratefull  testimony 


Richard  Hayward 

London  MDCCLXXIII 


92  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

OLD  CHURCH-YARD, 

JAMESTOWN. 

Fragment  of  Lady  Frances  Berkeley's  tombstone,  now  at 
Captain  F.  Brown's  residence  on  the  island.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  she  always  called  herself  Lady  Berkeley,  even  after 

she  married  again.81 

yeth  the  Bod 

Lady  FRANC 
KLEY 


Fragment  of  a  Ludwell  Slab,  perhaps  that  of  the  Elder  Lud- 
well. 

interred 
WELL  ES 

is  M 


The  Fragments  of  Commissary  Blair' s  tombstone  are  scat- 
tered through  the  church -yard.  They  were  deciphered,  as  follows, 
by  the  late  Hugh  Blair  Grigsby : 

H.   S.   E.  (Hie  sepultus  est) 

Vir  Reverendus  et  Honorabilis 

Jacobus  Blair,  A.  M. 

Qui 

In  Scotia  natus 

In  Academia  Edinburgensi  nutritus, 
Primo  Angliam  deinde  Virginiam 

Venit: 

Qua  Parte  Tenarum 

Annos  LVIII,  Evangelii  Preconis 

LIV,  Commissarii 


31  Her  maiden  name  was  Culpeper.  She  was  thrice  married.  Her 
first  husband  was  Samuel  Stephens,  her  second  Sir  William  Berkeley 
(by  whom  she  had  no  issue),  and  her  third  Philip  Ludwell  (Secretary  of 
the  Colony,  and  for  some  time  Governor  of  North  Carolina),  by  whom 
she  had  issue — ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  93 

Gulielmi  et  Mariae  praesidis, 
e  Britanniae  Principum 

Consilarii 

Concillii  Praesidis, 
Coloniae  Prefecti 
munera  sustinuit : 

ornavit 

um  oris  venusti  Decus, 
ate  hilari  sine  (?)  hospital! 

munificent 

issimo  egenis  largo. 

omnibus  corni 

superavit. 
Collegio  bene  devioram 

fundaverat 

ens  Bibliothecam  suam 

id  alendum  Theologiae  studiosum 

juventutum  pauperiorum  instituendam 

Testamento  legavit 

Cal.  Maii  in  die32 

MDCCXLIII 
aetat:  LXXXVIII 
am  desideratissimi 

Senis  Laudem 

is  nepotibus  commendabunt 

pene  marmore  perenniora. 


Fragment  of  what  would  seem  to  be  the  tombstone  of  Sarah 
Blair,  the  wife  of  the  Commissary. 

AH 

Commissa 
of  this  Parish 

M  HANNAH  H 
1670     Married 

32  Bishop  Meade  corrects  this  to  "August,"  but  the  learned  bishop  is 
wrong.  In  Perry's  collections,  we  find  an  official  letter  from  Governor 
Gooch  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  announcing  the  death  of  Commissary 
Blair  as  having  occurred  in  April.  By  recalling  the  Latin  construction 
so  many  days  before  the  Calends  of  May,  we  shall  see  that  the  epitaph 
is  right,  as  we  should  naturally  expect. 


94  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

[The  editor  is  enabled  to  supply  in  part  the  epitaph  of  Mrs. 
Blair,  through  the  kind  and  opportune  attention  of  Hon.  Wil- 
liam F.  Spotswood,  Petersburg,  Virginia,  in  sending  him  a 
clipping  from  The  Constellation,  September  17,  1835,  giving 
an  account  of  a  visit  to  Jamestown,  copied  from  the  Norfolk 
Beacon.  ] 

Memoriae  Sacram. 
Here  lyes  in  the  hope  of  a  Blessed  Resurrection 

ye  Body  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Blair,  Wife  of 

Mr.  James  Blair,  Commissary  of  Virginia 

Sometime  Minister  of  this  Parish. 

She  was  daughter  of 

Col.  Benjamin  and  M's  Hannah  Harrison  of 
Surry.     Born  Aug.  ye  14th  1678,  Married  Ja 

[Here  the  inscription  was  hidden  by  being  imbedded  in  a  tree 
which  had  grown  about  it.] 

died  May  ye  5,  1713  exceeding  beloved  and 
lamented 

[Then  follows  a  long  Latin  inscription,  partly  concealed  by 
the  tree  which  clasps  it.  The  grave-yard  is  stated  in  this  ac- 
count to  be  about  one  hundred  feet  square,  and  that  it  enclosed 
a  portion  only  of  tombs  near  the  church.  In  one  corner  of  the 
yard  was  the  tomb  of  William  Lee  of  "  Greenspring,"  who  died 
June  27,  1795,  aged  fifty-eight  years.] 


HERE  Lyeth  [the] 

Body  of  [the  Rev.] 

IOHN  GOUGH  [late  Minister] 

of  This  PLACE  WHO  [departed] 

THIS  LIFE  [January  15th  168^] 

And  WAITETH  [in  hopes] 
A  IOYFULL  REs[urrection] s3 


33 Restored  from  Bishop   Meade's  "Old  Churches  and  Families  of 
Virginia"  (I,  p.  113).— ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  95 

[HJere  Lyeth   WILLIAM  34  SHERWOO[D] 
That  Was  Born  in  the  parish 

of  White  Chappell  Near 

London.     A  Great  Sinner 

Waiting  For  a  loyfull 

Resurrection 


Under  this  Stone  lies  interred 

The  Body  of 
Mrs  HANNAH  LuowELL35 

Relict  of 
The  Hon  PHILIP   LUDWELL  Esq 

By  whom  She  has  left 

One  SON  and  Two  DAUGHTERS 

After  a  most  Exemplary  Life 

Spent  in  chearful  Innocence 

And  The  continual  Exercise  of 

Piety  Cnarity  and   Hospitality 

She  Patiently  Submitted 

Death  on  the  4th  Day  of  April  1731  in  the  52" 
Year  of  Her  Age 


Here  lyeth  the  Body  of 

Mary  the  Wife  of  IOHN 

KNIGHT  who  departed 

this  life  Febry  nth  1732-3  ir* 

the  59th  Year  of  her  Age 

Waiting  for  a  loyfull 

Resurrection 


John  Ambler,36  Esquire,  Barrister-at-Law, 

Representative  in  the  Assembly  for 
Jamestown,  and  Collector  of  the  District 


34  William  Sherwood,  the  famous  lawyer. 

35  She  was  the  daughter  of  Benjamin  Harrison  of  "  Wakefield." — ED. 

36  The  tombstone  of  John  Ambler  has  been  destroyed.    This  is  an 
approximately  correct  copy  of  the  inscription  which  it  bore.     [It  may 
be  assumed  that  the  stone  bore  arms.     On   the   monument  to  John 


VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

of  York  River,  in  this  Province. 
He  was  born  the  3i8t  of  December,  1735, 
and  died  at  Barbadoes,  27'"  of  May,  1766. 
In  the  relative  and  social  duties — as  a 
son,  and  a  brother  and  a  friend — few 
equalled  him,  and  none  excelled  him. 
He  was  early  distinguished  by  his  love 
of  letters,  which  he  improved  at  Cambridge 
and  the  Temple,  and  well  knew  how  to  adorn 
a  manly  sense  with  all  the  elegance  of  lan- 
guage.    To  an  extensive  knowledge  of 
men  and  things  he  joined  the  noblest  sen- 
timents of  liberty,  and  in  his  own  exam- 
ple held  up  to  the  world  the  most  stri- 
king picture  of  the  amiableness  of  reli- 
gion. 


II. 


TRAVIS  BURYING-GROUND, 


ON 


JAMESTOWN  ISLAND. 


Here  lyeth  the   Body  of  Edward  Travis 

who  departed  this  life  the  12th  day  of 
November  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1700 


Ambler  in  Shockoe  Hill  Cemetery,  Richmond,  Virginia,  born  April  25, 
1762;  and  died  April  8,  1836,  the  arms  of  Ambler  are  quartered  with 
those  of  Jaquelin  :  Ambler — sa.  on  a  fesse  or.  between  three  pheons  ar. 
a  lion  passant  guard,  gu.  Crest — Two  dexter  hands  conjoined  sus- 
taining a  mural  coronet. — ED.] 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  97 

[ARMS]  3T 

Here  lyeth  in  the  hope  of  A  glorious  Resurrection 

the  body  of  John  Champion  who  was  borne 

the  ioth  day  of  Novembr  in  the  yeare  of  our 

Lord  1660  and  departed  this  life  the  i6th 

day  of  December  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 

1700 

And  likewise  John  Champion  the  son  of  lohn 

Champion  who  was  borne  the  nth  day  of  Decr 

in  the  yeare  of  our  Lord  1695  and  departed 

this  life  the  i  Ith  day  of  September  in  the  yeare 

of  our  Lord  1700 


Susanna  TRAVIS  wife  of 
EDWARD  CHAMPION  TRAVIS  and 

Daughter  of  John  Hutchings 

of  the  Borough  of  NORFOLK  Merc" 

and  Amy  his  Wife  who  Departed 

this  life  October  the  28:  1761  in  the 

33rd  Year  of  her  Age  much  Lamented 

by  all  her  Acquaintance 

And  leaving  Issue  three  Sons  and 

one  Daughter 

Nigh  this  Place  are  also  Interred 

The  Following  Children  of  the  said 

Edward  and  Susannah  his  wife 

Elizabeth  who  was  born  August 

24th  1748  and  Died  September  22nd  1749 

AMY  who  was  born  October  9th  1752 

and  Died  October  2nd  1755 

John  who  was  Born  December  9*  1755 

and  Died  November  25th  1759. 


37  Burke  ("  General  Armory  ")  gives  no  less  than  ten  different  coats  of 
arms  as  of  Champion.  Champion  Travis  was  a  member  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Conventions  of  1775  and  1776,  from  Jamestown. — ED. 


98  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

III. 

GREENSPRING. 


Here  lyeth  ye  body  of  Eliz.  Drummond 88 

who  departed  this  Life  ye  2d  day  of 
lune  Anno  Dmi  1699  Aetatis  (suae)  28 


IV. 

CUSTIS  BURYING-GROUND, 

ON 

WALLER'S  FARM,  YORK  COUNTY. 


Here  lyeth  the  Body  of  Daniel 

Park  Custis,  son  of  Col° 

Daniel  Park  Custis  of  New 

Kent  County  who  Departed  this  Life 

on  the  19th  February  1754 

Aged  two  years  and  three 

Months 

Under  this  Stone  lies  interred 

the  Body  of  Frances  Park 

Custis  daughter  of  Daniel  Park 

Custis  Esqr<and  Martha  his  wife  Born 

April  12  1753  Dyed  April  i  1757 

Aged  4  Years 89 


88  Perhaps  the  daughter  of  the  famous  William  Drummond  [who  was 
executed  by  Governor  Sir  William  Berkeley  for  participation  in  "  Bacon's 
Rebellion." — ED.] 

39  Children  of  Martha  Washington's  first  marriage. 


ANCIENT   EPITAPHS   AND   INSCRIPTIONS.  99 

Here  lies  the  Body  of  Mrs 

Frances  Custis,40  daughter  of  Daniel  Park  Esq 

who  departed  this  Life  March  the 

14th  17}!  in  the  29th  year 

of  her  Age. 


V. 

TRAVIS'S  POINT, 


Here  Lyes  Interr'd  the  Body  of 

Anna  Maria  Timson  Daughter 

of  John  and  Elizabeth  Timson 

who  was  born  December  the  17th  day 

1732  and  Departed  this  Life  July  the  23d 

1734 

Also  the  Body  of  William  Timson 

son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Timson 

who  was  born  October  the  2ist  day 

1734  and  Departed  this  life  July 

the  23rd  1736. 

Here  Lyes  Interr'd  the  Body  of 

Mrs  Elizabeth  Timson,  wife  of 

Mr.  John  Timson  who  Departed 

this  Life  August  the  26th  1735  (?)  in 

the  22nd  year  of  her  age. 


Here  Lyeth  inter  of  a 

j  Resurrection  the  Body  of 

Willm  Timson  one  of  his  Majestys 
Justices  of  the  Peace  in  ye  Colony 

of  Virginia  who 
May  ye  3rd  1678,  and  Died  in 
year  of  our  Lord  175!  A 
year  of  his  age 


"Widow  of  John  Custis,  who  was  appointed  to  the  Council  in  1705, 
and  died  about  Jan.,  i7ff — ED. 


100  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Here  lyeth  the  Body  of 

Mr.  Samuell  Timson  March'  who 

Departed  this  Life  in  January  ye 

23d  1694 

Here  also  lies  Interd  ye  Body 
of  Mrs  Mary  Timson  late  wife 

of  Mr  Samuell  Timson  who 

Departed  this  life  Octbr  ye  ioth 

1702 


FRAGMENT  OF  A  THORNTON  SLAB. 

Interred  ...  of Thornton 

ohn  Thornton  ....  parted 

this  life  .  .  .  August  1760  .  .  .  76(?) 
year  of  her  age. 


VI. 

YORK-HAMPTON. 


[ARMS]  41 

Hie  jacet,  spe  certe  resurgendi  in  Christo, 

THOMAS  NELSON,   Generosis,  Filius 

Hugonis  et  Sariae  Nelson  de  Penrith, 

in  Comitatu  Cumbriae,  natus  2omo 

die  Februarii  Anno  Domini  1677, 

vitae  bone  gestae  finem  implevit 

7  mo  die  Octobris  1745,  aetatis 

suae  68. 


41  Nelson  arms  :   Per  pale,  argent  and  sable,  a  chevron  between  three 
fleur  de  lis  counterchanged.     Crest — A  fleur  de  lis. — ED. 


ANCIENT  EPITAPHS  AND  INSCRIPTIONS.  101 

[ARMS] 

Here  lies  the  body  of  the  Hon.  William  Nelson, 

late  president  of  his  Majesty's  council  in  this 
Dominion,  in  whom  the  love  of  man  and  the  love 
of  God  so  restrained  and  enforced  each  other,  and 
so  invigorated  the  mental  powers  in  general,  as 
not  only  to  defend  him  from  the  vices  and  follies 
of  his  age  and  country,  but  also  to  render  it  a  mat- 
ter of  difficult  decision  in  what  part  of  laudable 
conduct  he  most  excelled ;    whether  in  the  tender 
and  endearing  accomplishments  of  domestic  life, 
or  in  the  more  arduous  duties  of  a  wider  circuit; 

whether  as  a  neighbor,  gentleman,  or  a  magis- 
trate;   whether  in  the  graces  of  hospitality,  charity, 
or  piety.     Reader,  if  you  feel  the  spirit  of  that 
exalted  ardor  which  aspires  to  the  felicity  of 
conscious  virtue,  animated  by  those  stimulating  and 
divine  admonitions,  perform  the  task  and  expect 
the  distinction  of  the  righteous  man.     Obit  19th  of 
Nov.  Anno  Domini  1772,  aetatis  61." 


Here  lieth  the  Body 

of  Mrs  MARY  GIBBONS 

who  departed  this  Life 

the  22a  of  Septr  1792 

Aged  75  Years 

With  a  Character  unblemishe'd 
She  pass'd  thro  Life 

A  tender  parent 
And  affectionate  wife 


Here  lieth  interred  the 

Body  of  MARY  SANSUM 

Who  departed  this  life 

the  23:  of  October  1785 

Aged  23  Years. 


42  The  above  is  taken  almost  exactly  from  Howe's  History  of  Vir- 
ginia.    Bishop  Meade  (I,  p.  214)  has  some  slight  differences. 


102  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

[ARMS] 
43  Underneath  this  Marble  lies  the  Body  of 

MILDRED  JAMESON  : 
Wife  of  DAVID  JAMESON  : 4* 

and  Daughter  of 
EDMUND  and  AGNES  SMITH 

of  York  County 

She  Departed  this  Life 

the  ioth  Day  of  December  1778 : 

in  the  Forty  sixth  Year  of  Her  Age, 

45  In  Memory  of 

JOHN  TURNER 

who  departed  this  Life 

October  the  13th 
in  the  Year  of  our  LORD 

1781 

Aged  30  Years. 

Ah  cruel  ball  so  sudden  to  disarm 
And  tare  my  tender  husband 

from  my  Arms 
How  can  I  grieve  too  much 

what  time  shall  end 

By  mourning  tor  so  good 

so  dear  a  friend. 


[ARMS]  46 
MAIOR  WILLIAM  GOOCH  OF  [T]HIS  " 

[Parish] 
DYED  OCTOB  29  1655 


43  Lying  by  itself  in  the  corner  of  a  field  on  Temple  Farm. 

"David  Jameson  served  as  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Council  and  in 
other  positions  of  trust  during  the  Revolution: — ED.] 

45  A  fugitive  stone  lying  in  Temple  Farm.     Place  of  grave  is  unknown. 

46Gooch  arms :  Per  pale,  ar.  and  sa.  a  chevron  between  three  talbots 
pass,  counterchanged ;  on  a  chief  gu.  as  many  leopards'  heads  ar. 
Crest— A  talbot  pass,  per  pale,  ar.  and  sa.  Motto — Fide  et  virtute. 
The  inscription  is  restored  from  a  copy  made  before  the  mutilation  of 
the  stone.  It  was  originally  within  the  enclosed  Temple  burying-ground 
which  was  in  area  about  twenty-five  by  forty  feet. — ED.] 

47  Mutilated  by  relic-hunters.    See  Century  for  October,  1881. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  103 

Within  this  tomb  there  doth  interred 

[Lie] 

No  shape  but  substance  true  [nobility] 
Itself  though  young  in  years  just  t[wenty] 

[nine] 

Yet  grac'd  with  vertues  morall  and  [divine] 

The  church  from  him  did  good  participate] 

In  counsell  rare  fit  to  adorn  a  s[tate] 

Underneath  this  Stone 

are  deposited  the  Remains  of  the  Late 

John  Henry  of  Richmond  in  Virginia 

A  Citizen  of  America  born  at  Janview 

near  Castledaersor  in  Ireland  on  the  n  Nov 

1761 

who  departed  this  Life  on  the  21  Aug 
1807.  by  his  death  his  Brothers  and  Sisters 
have  to  lament  the  loss  of  the  most  affec- 
tionate of  Brothers  his  Country  A  useful 
member  of  the  Commonwealth  and  his 
Acquaintance  a  much  valued  friend 

This  Stone  was  placed  here  by  James  Henry 

of  Fairview  as  a  small  tribute 

of  Gratitude  to  the  Memory  of 

the  most  disinterested  and  affectionate 

of  Brothers. 


VII. 

KING'S  CREEK. 


[ARMS] 

48  Here  lieth  interred  the  Body  of  Mr  Joseph 
Ring  of  the  county  of  York  in  ye  Collony  of 
Virginia  Gent  who  departed  this  life  the  26th 
day  of  February  Anno  Dom  170^  in  the  57 
Yeare  of  his  Age. 


48  These  three  Ring  monuments  are  found  on  the  east  side  of  King's 
Creek,  at  a  place  called  Ringfield. 


104  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

[ARMS] 

Here  lyeth  ye  Body  of  Edmund  Ring 

son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Ring  who 

departed  this  Life  ye  13th  day  of  Septemr 

Ano  Dom  1703  in  the  Eleventh 

yeare  of  his  age. 


Here  lyeth  ye  Body  of  Isaack  Ring 

son  of  Joseph  &  Sarah  Ring  who 

departed  this  life  ye  24th  of  Septemr 

Ann0  Dom   1701  in  ye  Eighth 

yeare  of  his  Age. 


Tombstone  of  Colonel  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Sr.,  now  in  the  same 
lot  with  the  Ring  slabs,  but  found  years  ago  in  the  Glebe  field 
on  the  same  farm,  and  probably  removed  from  his  farm  on  the 
other  side  of  the  creek. 

[ARMS]" 

Here  lieth  interred  ye  body  of  Nathaniel 

Bacon  Esq  whose  descent  was  from  the 

Ancient  House  of  ye  Bacons  (one  of  whom  was 

Chancellor  Bacon  &  Lord  Verulam)  who  was 

Auditor  of  Virginia  &  President  of  ye  Honourable 

Councell  of  State  &  Commander  in  chief  for  the 

County  of  York,  having  been  of  the  Councell 

for  above  40  years  &  having  always  discharged 

ye  office  in  which  he  served  with  great 

Fidelity  and  Loyalty  to  his  Prince,  who  departed 

this  life  ye  16  of  March  1692  in  ye  73* 

year  of  his  Age. 


<9The  arms  are  quartered  with  others.  First  and  fourth  Bacon  :  Gu. 
on  a  chief  ar.,  two  mullets  purced  sa.  Second  and  third  :  Ar.  two  bars, 
a  bend.  Crest— A.  boar  passant  ermine.  The  grave  was  opened  in  the 
summer  of  1850  by  Rev.  Henry  Stafford  Osborn,  D.  D.,  and  portions 
of  the  skeleton  and  coffin  were  found  preserved.  The  slab  is  of  blue 
slate,  four  inches  in  thickness,  and  dimensions  three  and  one-half  by 
six  feet.— ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  105 

Tombstone  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  Bacon. 
This  slab  is  now  in  the  church-yard  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Nor- 
folk, Virginia,  but  was  originally  on  the  west  side  of  King's  Creek. 

[ARMS]  60 

Here  lyeth  the  Body  of 

ELIZABETH  wife  to  the 

Honorable  NATHANIEL 

BACON,  E/qr  who  departed 

this  Life  the  Second  Day  of 

November  one  Thou/and 
Six  Hundred  Ninety  one  in 
the  Sixty  Seventh  Yeare 
of  her  age. 


[ARMS] 

In  memory  of  Mr  James 51 
Burwell  Son  of  Majr  Lewis 

Burwell  who  Departed 

this  Life  October  ye  6th  1718 

in  ye  29th  year  of  His  Age. 


50  I  have  been  informed  that  the  arms  of  Kingsmill  probably,  she 
being  the  daughter  of  Richard  Kingsmill,  are  impaled  with  others,  not 
those  of  Bacon,  but  no  drawing  has  been  furnished  me. — ED. 

61  Slab  found  on  west  side  of  the  creek.  The  ancient  name  of  the 
plantation  was  Utimaria,  named  in  honor  of  Captain  John  Utie,  of  the 
Colonial  Council,  and  Mary  his  wife.  It  was  afterwards  the  residence 
of  Colonel  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Sr.,  by  whom  it  was  devised  to  Major 
Lewis  Burwell, 

[The  Burwell  arms  are :  A  cross  saltier  between  four  eagles'  heads 
erased.  Crest — An  eagle's  head  With  a  branch  in  its  beak,  above  an 
esquire's  helmet. — ED.] 


106  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

VIII. 

HICKORY  NECK  CHURCH, 

JAMES  CITY  COUNTY. 


52  Here  lies  the  body  of 
Laurence  Taliaferro  Son  of 

Colonel  John  Taliaferro 

of  Snow  Creek  in  Spotsylvania  County 

who  Departed  this  Life  the  First  day 

of  May  1748  in  the  Twenty-Seventh 

Year  of  his  Age 

He  Married  Susanna  Power 

Daughter  of  Major  Henry  Power 

of  James  City  County,  and  left  Issue 

by  her  one  Daughter. 


82  Here  lies  Interr'd  the  Body  of 

Colonel  John  Taliaferro 

of  Snow  Creek  in  ye  County  of  Spotsylvania 
who  Departed  this  Life  the  Third 

Day  of  May  Anno  Domini 

one  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  &  Forty 

Four  in  the  Fifty  Seventh  Year 

of  his  Age. 

He  left  Issue  two  Sons 

and  three  Daughters 

52  These  two  slabs  above  are  so  fresh  and  so  well  preserved  in  the  midst 
of  ruins  and  decay,  that  dne  is  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are  not 
near  so  old  as  their  dates  would  indicate. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  107 

IX. 

BELLFIELD. 


s 

To  the  memory  of 

Edward  Digges  Esq 
sonne  of  Dudley  Digges  of  Chilham  in 
Kent  Kn*  &  Bar' 

Master  of  the  Rolls  in  the  reign  of 

K.  Charles  the  First. 

He  departed  this  life   15th  of  March  167! 

in  the  LV  year  of  his  age,  one  of  his 

Magty  Councill  for  this  his  Collony  of 

Virginia 

A  gentleman  of  most  commendable  parts 

and  Ingenuity,  the  only  introducer  and 

promoter  of  the  SILK  Manufacture 

in  this  Colonie,  And  in  every 

thing  else  a  pattern  worthy  of  all 

Pious  Imitation.     He  had  issue 

6  sonne8  and  7  daughters  by  the 

body  of  ELIZABETH  his  wife  who  of 

her  Conjugal  affection  hath 
dedicated  to  him  this  Memorial.53 


[ARMS] 
Sub  hoc  marmore  Requiesct  in  Pace 

Dudleius  Digges  Armiger 
Susannae  Digges  Juxta  Depositae  Maritus 


53  He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Council  November  22,  1654,  and 
was  elected  by  the  Assembly  Governor  of  Virginia  March  30,  1655,  to 
succeed  Richard  Bennet,  and  served  until  March  13,  1658,  when  he  was 
sent  to  England  as  one  of  the  agents  of  the  Colony.  Several  of  his 
sons  were  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  Colony,  one  of  them  (Dudley) 
being  long  a  member  of  the  Council,  as  was  his  grandson,  Cole 
Digges — ED. 


108 


Amantissimus 
Vir  et  Virtute  et  Pro  sapia  vere  Inclytus 

Qui  hujusce  Coloniae 
Prime  Consiliarii  Dein  ad  Auditoris 

Dignitatem  erectus  est. 

Obiit  omnibus  desideratus  XVIII  Jan. 

Anno  Dom  MDCCX 

JEtei  Suae  XLV 
Justorum  Animae  in  Manu  Dei  sunt.54 

This  Monument  was  Erected 

by  Colonel  Edward  Digges  to  ye 

Memory  of  a  most  indulgent  Father 

the  Honble  Cole  Digges  Esquire 

who  having  been  many  Years  one 

of  his  Majestys  Honorble  Council  for  this 

Colony  sometime  President  of  ye  same 

Died  in  the  LIId  Year  of  his  Age 
in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  MDCCXLIV. 

Digges  ever  to  Extremes  untaught  to  bend 

Enjoying  Life  yet  mindful  of  his  end 

In  thee  the  World  an  happy  meeting  saw 

of  sprightly  humour  and  religious  awe. 

Chearful  not  wild,  facetious  yet  not  mad 

Tho  grave  not  sour  though  serious  never  sad 

Mirth  came  not  called  to  banish  from  within 

Intruding  pangs  of  unrepented  sin. 

And  thy  religion  was  no  Studied  Art 

To  varnish  guilt  but  purify  the  Heart 

What  less  then  a  felicity  most  rare 

Need  spring  from  such  a  temper  &  such  care 

Now  in  the  city  taking  great  delight 

To  vote  new  laws  or  old  interpret  right 

Now  crowds  &  Business  quitting  to  receive 


54  Dudley  Digges  married  Susanna,  daughter  of  William  Cole  of 
Denbigh,  born  1674,  died  1708.  The  Cole  arms  are:  Ar.  a  cross 
lozengy.  Crest— Out  of  a  coronet  a  dexter  hand  holding  a  rod  en- 
twined with  two  serpents. — ED. 


ANCIENT    EPITAPHS    AND    INSCRIPTIONS.  109 

The  joys  content  in  Solitude  can  give 

With  equal  praise  then  shone  among  the  great 

And  graced  the  humble  pleasures  of  Retreat 

Displayed  thy  Dignity  in  every  Scene 
And  tempted  or  betrayed  to  nothing  mean 
Whate'er  of  thee  was  mean  beneath  it  lies, 
The  rest  unstained  is  claimed  by  the  skies. 


Hie  Subtus  inhumatum  Corpus 
Susannae  Digges  Filiae  Gulielmi 

Cole  Armigeri 
Nee  Non  Dudlei  Digges 

Armigeri 

Conjugis  Fidelissimae  Quae  ex  hoc 

Vita  decessit  IX°  Kal  Decembr  Anno 

Salutis  MDCCVIII  ^tatis  suae  XXXIV. 


X. 

Carter's  Grove  and  Martin's  Hundred, 


55  Here  Lies 

the  Body  of 

Mrs.  Susanna  Burwell, 

Wife  of 
Nathaniel  Burwell  Esqr 

and  daughter  of 
Philip  and  Mary  Grymes 

of  Brandon, 

in  the  county  of  Middlesex. 
She  departed  this  Life 
on  the  24th  of  July  1788  . 
in  the  37th  Year  of  her  Age. 


55  Carter's  Grove. 


HO  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

56  Here  Lies 

the  Body  of 

Lewis  Burwell 

fourth  Son  of 

Nathaniel  &  Susanna  Burwell. 
He  was  born 
of  January 

17 

and  died 


57  Here  Lies 

The  Body  of 

William  Burwell, 

fifth  Son  of 
Nathaniel  &  Susanna  Burwell. 

He  was  born 
on  the  14*  of  July 

1782 

and  died 

on  the  2nd  of  October, 
in  the  same  Year. 


58  Here  Lieth  in  the  hope  of  a  joyful 

Resurrection,  the  body  of 

Samuel  Pond  of  Martin's 

Hundred,  parish,  in  james 

City  County,  in  the  Dominion 

of  Virginia,  Physician. 

Departed  this  life  the  26th  of 

October  in  the  year  of  our 

Lord  1694,  aged  48. 


56 Carter's  Grove. 

57  Carter's  Grove. 

58  Martin's  Hundred.    This  stone  is  in  such  unusually  good   order, 
that  it  is  probably  not  so  old  by  far  as  its  date  would  indicate. 


ANCIENT  EPITAPHS   AND   INSCRIPTIONS.  Ill 

XI. 
NOT  CLASSIFIED. 


BURYING-GROUND  ON  CARR'S  HILL. 


Here  lies  in  hopes  of  a  Joyful 

Resurrection  the  Body  of  Mrs  Annabel 

the  Wife  of  Benjamin  Powell  Esq. 

of  Yorke  County  who  departed  this 

Life  the  4th  of  January  1782 

in  the  5oth 
Year  of  her  Age. 


59  In  Memory  of  Judith  wife  of 

Mr  Jacob  Bruce,  who  Died  Jan. 

31,  1763  Aged  27  Years. 


SUSANNA,60 

Wife  of  Hamlin  Wilcox, 

and  Daughter  of  Coln.    James  Shields  of 

York  County  Virginia. 

Died  Feby   27,  1857,  in  the  68   year  of  her  age. 
A  mother  to  the  motherless  and  a  friend  to  the  friendless. 


EUGENIA, 
Daughter  of 

James  M.  &  Mary  A.  S.  Wilcox, 

and  granddaughter  of  the  above  Susanna  Wilcox, 

Born  Nov.  15,  1857,   Died  June  27,  1858. 


69  Slab  found  at  Mr.  Whitaker  Lee's,  in  James  City  county. 

60  This  tombstone  does  not  come  strictly  within  the  province  of  this 
paper,  but  it  is  included  for  two  reasons :  First,  it  is  found  at  the  old 
Chickahominy  church,  which  ought  to  be  identified  in  as  many  ways 
as  possible ;  Second,  it  connects  this  generation  with  Colonel  James 
Shields,  a  prominent  character  of  the  closing  era  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 


THE 


First  Election  of  Washington 


TO   THE 


House  of  Burgesses. 


A    PAPER    READ    BEFORE    THE    VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 
TUESDAY,   DECEMBER    22,   1891, 


BY 


MR.  R.  T.  BARTON,  WINCHESTER,  VA. 


The  First  Election  of  Washington 

TO   THE 

HOUSE  OF  BURGESSES. 


Men  are  generally  proved  to  be  great  by  a  happy  conjunction 
of  opportunity  and  fitness.  This  detracts  nothing  from  their 
fame,  only  there  are  many  other  men  quite  as  great,  to  whom 
the  happy  conjunction  does  not  occur.  Those  are  the  men  who 
are  born  to  blush  unseen.  But  the  common  events  of  men's 
lives  are  very  nearly  the  same,  whether  they  are  great  or  not. 
When  they  are  recognized  as  great,  however,  we  judge  them 
almost  wholly  by  their  great  deeds,  and  lose  sight  of  the  inci- 
dents that  prove  their  common  mortality.  There  is  even  a 
prejudice  against  uncovering  the  facts  that  show  our  idols  to 
have  been  mortal.  The  realistic  spirit  of  this  age,  however, 
which  disregards  this  prejudice,  has  a  healthy  influence,  provided 
it  is  not  inspired  by  mere  iconoclastic  rage. 

It  is  in  this  modified  spirit  that  I  have  ventured  to  put  together, 
for  this  occasion,  the  results  of  some  investigations  made  years 
ago,  aided  by  discoveries  made  by  others  more  recently,  on  a 
subject  which  has  received  but  little  attention  from  history.  I 
mean  the  first  election  of  George  Washington  to  the  House  of 
Burgesses,  the  predecessor  of  the  body  which  sits  now  in  this 
historic  hall. 

This  election  occurred  in  the  year  1758,  and  Washington's 
first  appearance  in  the  role  of  statesman  was  in  his  capacity  as 
representative  for  the  county  of  Frederick,  of  which  my  own 
town  of  Winchester  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  county  seat. 


116  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

In  1758,  Frederick  county  consisted  of  what  is  now  the  terri- 
tory embraced  within  the  limits  of  the  counties  of  Frederick, 
Clarke,  Warren,  Shenandoah  and  Page,  in  Virginia,  and  Berke- 
ley, Jefferson  and  Morgan,  in  West  Virginia,  comprising  the 
whole  of  what  is  known  as  "  the  Lower  Valley." 

Braddock's  defeat  on  the  Monongahela  occurred  in  1755,  and 
after  that  Washington,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Virginia  troops  at  Winchester.  In  the  spring  of 
1756  he  built  for  the  protection  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  town 
and  of  the  frontier  generally,  Fort  Loudoun,  then  at  the  north 
end  of  a  very  straggling  village,  and  through  the  centre  of  which 
the  main  street  of  the  present  town  (called  from  the  fort,  Loudoun 
street)  now  runs ;  and  even  at  this  day  the  well-defined  and 
greenly  sodded  bastions  of  Washington's  fort  are  the  play- 
grounds for  the  pretty  girls  of  a  prosperous  female  school. 

In  the  summer  of  1757,  George  Washington  was  one  of  three 
candidates  for  a  seat  from  Frederick  county  in  the  House  of 
Burgesses.  It  has  been  sometimes  said  that  he  was  not  then 
really  a  candidate,  but  a  well  preserved  local  tradition  hath  it 
that  he  was  genuinely  ambitious  to  serve  the  people,  but  that 
having  opposed  the  granting  of  a  license  to  keep  an  ordinary  to 
one  Lindsay,  as  the  records  in  truth  show  that  he  did,  the  said 
Lindsay  successfully  revenged  himself  by  defeating  his  candi- 
dacy. The  Lindsays  have  been  ordinary  keepers  in  that  town 
up  to  within  my  own  recollection,  and  the  tradition  of  the  fight 
of  Lindsay  against  Washington  has  ever  been  a  cherished 
memory  in  the  line  of  Lindsay. 

The  opponents  of  Washington  in  that  contest  were  Hugh 
West  and  Thomas  Swearingen,  and  these  two  were  duly  elected. 
The  poll  stood  as  follows  : 

Hugh  West,  271 

Thomas  Swearingen,1  270 

George  Washington,  40 

Total  vote,   -  581 


'Thomas  Swearingen  was  probably  an  ancestor  of  Thomas  Van 
Swearingen,  a  representative  in  Congress  from  Virginia  from  1819  until 
his  death  in  1822.— ED. 


THE    FIRST    ELECTION    OF   WASHINGTON    IN    1758.          117 

On  October  4,  1757,  the  records  of  the  county  court  show  the 
following  entry:  "On  motion  of  George  Washington,  Esq., 
ordered  that  his  tithables  be  set  on  the  list,"  from  which  it  may 
be  inferred  that  the  redoubtable  Lindsay  may  have  urged  the 
non-residency  of  the  gallant  young  colonel  as  an  objection  to  his 
election,  and  in  anticipation  of  another  appeal  to  popular  favor 
he  was  determined  to  remove  this  obstacle  to  the  gratification 
of  his  ambition. 

In  May,  1758,  Washington  became  engaged  to  be  married  to 
the  widow  Custis,  who  had  worn  her  weeds  a  full  twelve  months, 
but  as  he  was  then  just  about  to  start  on  the  second  expedition  to 
Fort  Duquesne  the  marriage  did  not  immediately  take  place, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  succeeding  January  that  the  old  church 
in  New  Kent  county  witnessed  the  brave  spectacle  of  the  stalwart 
warrior  as  a  bridegroom  in  a  suit  of  blue  cloth  "  lined,"  says  the 
detailed  account,  "with  red  silk  and  ornamented  with  silver 
trimmings,  a  waistcoat  of  embroidered  white  satin,  knee-buckles 
of  gold,  and  powdered  hair."  That  this  contemplated  marriage 
had  something  to  do  with  our  hero's  so  quickly  repeated  can- 
didacy is  a  surmise  that  is  not  far  to  seek. 

The  next  election  for  the  House  of  Burgesses,  after  Washing- 
ton's unsuccessful  venture,  took  place  on  the  24th  day  of  July, 
1758,  and  the  poll  stood  as  follows  : 


Colonel  George  Washington,  310 

Colonel  Thomas  Bryan  Martin,  -                      240 

Hugh  West,  199 

Thomas  Swearingen,  45 


Total  vote,  -  -  794 


So  Washington  largely  defeated  his  opponents  who  the  year 
before  had  defeated  him.  It  is  with  this  election  that  we  have 
now  to  do,  and  to  show  the  increase  in  the  voting  population  it 
is  interesting  to  observe  that  at  the  next  election,  which  took 
place  on  May  18,  1761,  the  vote  stood  as  follows  : 


118  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

George  Washington,  5°5 

George  Mercer,2     -  399 

Adam  Stephen,8     -  294 

Total  vote,  -  -      1,198 

Before  considering  the  incidents  of  Washington's  first  election, 
let  us  very  briefly  enquire  who  were  the  men  who  had  been  thus 
preferred  to  Washington,  and  to  whom  in  turn  he  was  himself 
preferred  ? 

Of  Hugh  West  no  record  remains,  except  that  he  was  thus 
connected  with  the  name  of  Washington.  He  is,  perhaps,  neither 
better  nor  worse  off  in  this  respect  than  many  another  local  light 
who  had  shined  for  a  time  in  this  and  even  much  higher  places. 

Of  Thomas  Swearingen,  who  did  not  make  even  so  good  a 
fight  in  the  last  list  as  did  the  forgotten  West,  we  find  that  much 
more  has  been  preserved. 

He  lived  near  what  is  now  Shepherdstown,  in  the  county  of 
Jefferson.  The  published  Acts  show  that  in  1766  the  House  of 
Burgesses  ordered  the  privilege  of  establishing  a  ferry  over  the 
Potomac  river,  which  in  1765  had  been  accorded  to  Thomas 
Shepherd,  to  be  discontinued,  because  it  was  "  at  a  very  small 
distance  from  the  lands  of  Thomas  Swearingen  on  the  Potomac 
river  in  Maryland." 

In  May,  1772,  Thomas  Swearingen  was  made  by  Lord  Dun- 
more  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Berkeley  county,  which  was  in 
that  year  cut  off  from  Frederick.  He  is  mentioned  in  the 


2  George  Mercer  (born  June  23,  1733.)  served  as  lieutenant  and  captain 
in  the  regiment  of  Washington  in  the  French  and  Indian  War.     He 
went  to  England  in  1763  as  the  agent  of  the  Ohio  Company,  of  which 
his  father,  John  Mercer,  of  Marlboro',  Virginia,  was  secretary ;  returned 
to  Virginia  in  1765  as  collector  for  the  Crown  under  the  Stamp  Act, 
but  found  the  measure  so  obnoxious  that  he  declined  to  act.    Going  to 
England  again  he  was  appointed  (September  17,  1768),  through  the  in- 
fluence of  Lord  Hillsborough,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
but  soon  relinquished  this  office.     He  returned  to  England  prior  to  the 
Revolution;  and  died  there  in  April,  1784. — ED. 

3  Colonel  Adam  Stephen,  who  served  with  Washington  in  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  and  as  Brigadier  and  Major-General  in  the  American 
Revolution. — ED. 


THE    FIRST   ELECTION    OF   WASHINGTON   IN    1758.          119 

records  of  the  court  as  one  of  those  appointed  to  take  the  titha- 
bles,  and  on  August  18,  1772,  he  figures  in  the  list  of  justices 
of  Berkeley  county,  who,  at  that  term  of  the  court,  tried  one 
Richard  Lewis  for  forgery,  and  he,  pleading  guilty,  was  ordered 
to  receive  "thirty-nine  lashes  well  laid  on  upon  his  bare  back." 
This  was  the  first  criminal  conviction  in  the  new  county. 

On  November  15,  1772,  Thomas  Swearingen  appears  as  one 
of  the  Justices  directing  the  building  of  the  first  court-house  of 
Berkeley  county. 

These  prosaic  facts  are  all  that  are  known  of  Swearingen,  and 
only  saved  from  the  oblivion  of  commonplaceness  by  his  associ- 
ation with  the  name  of  Washington,  he  sinks  finally  out  of  sight 
just  as  the  star  of  Washington  was  about  to  rise,  to  shine  for- 
ever. 

Of  his  colleague  in  his  first  service  in  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
Colonel  Thomas  Bryan  Martin,  much  more  is  known,  for  he  was 
a  somewhat  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Valley  part  of  the  Colony, 
and  even  afterwards  when  it  became  a  State,  throughout  his  whole 
life.  But  because  so  much  is  known,  or  may  so  readily  be  learned 
about  him,  it  is  necessary  to  tell  but  little. 

Colonel  Martin  was  a  nephew  of  Lord  Fairfax  and  intimately 
connected  with  him  in  his  affairs.  He  lived  at  "  Greenway 
Court,' '  and  was  there  when  his  uncle  died — a  death  hastened,  tra- 
dition says,  by  chagrin  at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis. 

Martin  was  Colonel  of  the  county  militia  and  a  justice  of  the 
peace  under  the  old  regime.  In  1776  he  was  re-appointed  by 
Governor  Patrick  Henry,  but  his  heart  was  too  much  with  the 
cause  of  George  III  to  permit  him  to  serve  under,  or  to  recog- 
nize rebel  authority.  He  served  one  term  with  Washington  in 
the  House  of  Burgesses,  but  does  not  seem  to  have  offered  for 
re-election. 

On  the  death  of  Lord  Fairfax,  he  became,  with  Gabriel  Jones, 
one  of  his  uncle's  executors.  Thenceforth  his  name  figured 
extensively  in  the  litigation  which  resulted  about  Lord  Fairfax's 
estate.  The  lawyers  of  the  present  day  even  are  familiar  with 
the  case  of  Martin's  Adm'r  vs.  Tucker,  &c.,  in  which  the 
devisees  in  England  of  Denny  Fairfax,  the  elder  brother  of 
Colonel  Martin  and  of  himself,  were  the  plaintiffs. 


120  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

But  we  must  return  now  to  the  main  topic  of  this  paper — the 
election  in  the  summer  of  1758. 

There  was  only  one  precinct  in  the  county,  and  that  was  at 
the  court-house  at  Winchester.  To  that  point  the  voters  had 
to  come  to  exercise  their  right  of  suffrage.  Considering  the 
bad  roads  and  the  danger  of  the  times,  it  seems  remarkable  that 
as  many  as  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four  voters  should  have 
come  to  the  poll. 

The  qualification  of  a  voter  was  that  he  should  be  a  freeholder 
of  one  hundred  (shortly  after  reduced  to  fifty)  acres  of  unim- 
proved land,  or  twenty- five  acres  with  a  building  thereon  at  least 
twelve  feet  square,  or  of  a  lot  in  a  city  or  town  with  a  similarly 
pretentious  building  thereon,  provided  however,  that  "  no  free 
negro,  mulatto,  or  Indian,  altho  a  freeholder,  should  be  per- 
mitted to  vote." 

The  presence  of  this  proviso,  so  unhappily  eliminated  now 
from  the  law,  made  wholly  unnecessary  the  shuffling  slippery 
secret  ballot  system,  with  its  opportunities  for  box-stuffing,  tissue 
ballots,  and  fraudulent  miscounts,  the  fruits  of  a  later  civilization, 
but  the  voter  declared  his  choice  openly  viva  voce,  without  con- 
cealment or  chance  of  subsequent  false  pretences.  Nor  was  the 
aspirant  for  popular  favor  ashamed  to  openly  acknowledge  his 
appreciation  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  elector ; 
but  it  was  the  custom  of  the  day  for  the  candidate  or  his  repre- 
sentative, in  his  necessary  absence,  to  take  his  seat  at  the  poll, 
and  when  the  voter  called  out  his  name  to  rise  and  thank  him 
for  the  honor  done  him. 

At  the  election  of  1758  the  principal  public  interest  was  in  the 
effort  to  obtain  regular  and  sufficient  allowances  and  supplies  for 
the  militia  and  volunteers  who  for  some  years  had  been  constantly 
engaged  in  the  protection  of  the  frontier  setttlements.  The 
French  war  was  flagrant,  and  the  French  and  Indians  were  a 
constant  menace  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  people  of  Fred- 
erick county.  But  a  short  time  before  the  whole  country  had 
been  overwhelmed  by  the  disastrous  defeat  of  Braddock,  and  at 
the  very  time  of  this  election  the  forces  were  gathering  again  at 
Fort  Cumberland  for  another  move  on  the  same  line  upon  Fort 
Duquesne. 

Washington  was  not  then  twenty-six  years  of  age,  but  his  gal- 


THE   FIRST   ELECTION    OF    WASHINGTON    IN    1758.          121 

lant  and  successful  conduct  of  affairs  on  the  retreat  after  Brad- 
dock's  death  had  given  him  a  military  reputation  of  a  high  order 
and  a  strong  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the  people  of  Frederick, 
who  were  nearest  to  and  most  interested  in  those  army  move- 
ments so  essential  to  their  safety,  although,  as  we  have  seen, 
Colonel  Washington's  distinguished  military  services  had  not 
been  sufficient  to  overcome  the  wiles  of  the  subtle  Lindsay,  who 
kept  an  ordinary  and  sold  whiskey  to  the  Colonel's  soldiers. 

Washington  was,  of  course,  acquainted  with  the  principal  peo 
pie  of  the  sparsely  settled  county,  for  the  construction  of  the 
Fort  and  his  command  there  brought  him  in  constant  contact 
with  them,  and  then  besides  there  were  two  trading  fairs  held 
annually  at  Winchester,  which  brought  the  people  up  from  the 
outlying  settlements  and  gave  occasion  to  more  or  less  social 
interchange. 

Washington's  correspondence  at  this  time  shows  that  he  had 
become  wearied  with  military  life  and  somewhat  disgusted  with 
the  discriminations  made  against  the  Colonial,  in  favor  of  the 
imported  British  officer,  and  he  had  determined  at  the  end  of 
the  then  pending  campaign  to  retire  from  the  service  into  pri- 
vate life. 

But  it  is  not  a  strained  inference  that  other  considerations  than 
political  ambition  or  a  desire  to  taste  once  more  the  sweets  of  a 
quiet  bucolic  life  influenced  Washington  to  forego  his  military 
aspirations.  As  we  have  seen,  he  had  become  engaged  to  the 
charming  widow  Custis,  and  his  marriage  to  her  was  only  await- 
ing the  end  of  the  military  campaign.  A  winter  then  in  the  gay 
Capital  at  Williamsburg  was  a  delightful  way  of  spending  the 
honeymoon,  and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  the  young 
woman  herself  suggested  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  as 
adding  something  to  dignity,  making  retirement  from  military 
service  graceful,  and,  indeed,  as  being  altogether  such  a  nice 
thing — under  the  circumstances. 

Possibly  the  habit  was  begun  with  Washington's  candidacy, 
and  for  that  reason  has  been  kept  up  ever  since,  but  the  good 
people  of  Frederick  dislike  to  award  to  aspirants  for  their  favor 
what  is  known  in  modern  phrase  as  a  "  walk-over." 

We  have  seen  that  the  year  before  the  Colonel  sustained  what 
may  be  considered  a  rather  bad  defeat.  This  time,  however,  he 


122  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

had  the  powerful  support  of  Colonel  James  Wood,4  the  clerk  oi 
the  county  court,  and  it  may  be  even  that  the  hostile  Lindsay 
had  been  converted  or  silenced,  but  of  this  tradition  saith  not. 
The  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant,  however,  has  handed  it 
down  that  Colonel  James  Wood  was  a  good  deal  of  a  political 
"Boss,"  but  the  sturdy  and  honorable  character  borne  by  his 
descendants  leave  me  no  room  to  doubt  that  he  deserved  the 
influence  he  evidently  possessed  with  the  frontier  voter. 

Colonel  Wood  appears  to  have  managed  without  difficulty  his 
own  promotion  to  office,  but  it  was  at  one  time  thought  that  the 
effort  to  pull  Colonel  Washington  through  would  prove  too 
much  even  for  his  sagacity  and  pluck.  So  anxious,  indeed,  were 
the  friends  of  Washington  about  this  election,  and  so  fearful  of 
his  defeat,  that  they  importuned  the  Colonel  to  leave  his  military 
command  and  come  back  to  the  county  and  see  the  voters  in 
person.  Colonel  Bouquet,  Washington's  immediate  military 
superior,  wrote,  giving  him  leave  of  absence,  and  on  July  19, 
1758,  Washington  replied,  thanking  him  for  his  courtesy  and 
saying:  "Although  my  being  there,  under  any  other  circum- 
stances, would  be  very  agreeable  to  me,  yet  I  can  hardly  per- 
suade myself  to  think  of  being  absent  from  my  more  immediate 
duty,  even  for  a  few  days."  And  again  some  days  later  he  wrote  : 
"  I  had,  before  Colonel  Stephen  came  to  this  place,  abandoned  all 
thoughts  of  attending  personally  the  election  at  Winchester, 
choosing  rather  to  leave  the  management  of  that  affair  to  my 
friends  than  be  absent  from  my  regiment  when  there  is  a 
probability  of  its  being  called  to  duty.  I  am  much  pleased  now 
that  I  did  so." 

The  letter  of  congratulation  upon  the  result  of  the  election , 
preserved  in  a  note  to  the  collection  of  Mr.  Jared  Sparks,  affords 
but  a  meagre  glimpse  of  what  actually  occurred,  but  a  story, 
partly  tradition  and  in  part  history,  throws  some  light  upon  the 
opposition  to  Washington's  candidacy.  Supposing  the  offended 
Lindsay  to  have  been  appeased,  or  his  influence  at  least  over- 
weighed  by  that  of  Colonel  James  Wood,  it  is  yet  said  that 
Colonel  Washington  had  to  overcome  the  decided  opposition  of 


*  He  was  the  father  of  Colonel  James  Wood,  a  patriot  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  and  Governor  of  Virginia,  1796- '99.— ED. 


THE    FIRST    ELECTION   OF   WASHINGTON   IN    1758.          123 

certain  dealers  in  live  stock  along  the  Potomac.  When  Brad- 
dock  marched  from  Alexandria  to  fort  Cumberland  he  had  to 
tarry  at  the  latter  place  until  he  could  collect  horses  enough  to 
pull  his  wagons  in  the  long  and  rough  expedition  that  he  then 
contemplated.  Certain  enterprising  speculators  undertook  to 
supply  this  need,  and  in  course  of  time  arrived  at  the  Fort  with 
several  hundred  horses.  It  was  Washington's  duty  to  inspect 
them,  and  when  with  his  fine  idea  of  what  an  animal  ought  to 
be,  to  do  the  hard  duty  which  this  occasion  required  of  it,  he  found 
instead  a  herd  of  thin,  infirm  and  aged  horses,  which  had  out- 
lived or  overworked  their  usefulness  on  the  Valley  farms,  he  is 
said  to  have  expressed  himself  in  language  the  exact  meaning  of 
which  there  could  be  no  sort  of  difficulty  in  understanding.  The 
noble  band  of  patriots  who  had  thus  undertaken  to  supply  their 
country's  need  of  horses  is  said  to  have  borne  his  remarks  and 
their  results  in  mind  when  so  soon  after  he  offered  himself  for 
their  suffrages,  and  to  have  exhibited  their  energy  and  enmity  in 
determined  opposition  to  his  election. 

It  is  not  at  all  improbable,  therefore,  all  things  considered, 
that  it  was  more  politic  for  the  Colonel  to  have  stayed  away  from 
the  county,  and  to  have  left,  as  he  says,  "  the  management  of 
that  affair  to  my  friends."  With  Colonel  Wood  for  a  manager  he 
was  probably  safer  in  the  line  of  conciliation  than  if  he  had  been 
present  in  person;  for  Washington,  while  he  knew  well  how  to 
keep  his  tongue  in  his  head,  yet  when  he  let  it  out  was  disposed 
to  be  rather  frank. 

As  we  have  seen,  Colonel  Wood  sat  at  the  poll  as  Washing- 
ton's representative,  a  very  large  vote  was  cast  and  Washington 
was  triumphantly  elected.  That  night,  when  the  vote  was 
counted,  the  Winchester  boys  took  Colonel  Wood  on  their 
shoulders  and  gave  him  a  vicarious  ride  for  Washington  around 
the  town,  "in  the  midst,"  says  a  contemporaneous  writer,  "of 
a  general  applause  and  huzzahing  for  Colonel  Washington." 

It  is  not  unlikely  that,  after  the  fashion  of  the  day  on  all  occa- 
sions of  public  rejoicing,  bon-fires  were  built,  and  it  is  altogether 
certain  that  "fire  water"  was  plenty,  and  a  lively  party  must 
have  waked  the  echoes  of  the  village  on  that  summer  night. 
For  while  the  gallant  Colonel  was  kept  by  duty  at  his  military 
post,  he  was  yet  sufficiently  alive  to  the  necessities  of  the  occa- 


124  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

sion  to  supply  the  means  of  conducting  his  canvass.  After  the 
election  the  bill  for  its  expenses  was  sent  to  him  and  he  paid  it, 
after,  no  doubt,  as  was  his  wont,  a  careful  inspection  of  its  items. 
The  bill  was  ^39.  6s,  (about  $195),  and  the  following  were 
among  the  items  :  "  A  hogshead  and  a  barrel  of  punch,  thirty- 
five  gallons  of  wine,  forty-three  gallons  of  strong  cider,  and 
dinner  for  his  friends." 

In  the  "  good  old  times"  people  were  probably  no  better  than 
they  are  now,  and  it  is  not  a  little  comfort  to  us  of  this  day  and 
generation  to  reflect  that  Washington  was  himself  but  a  human 
being,  and  "stood  treat"  just  like  any  ordinary  candidate  for 
the  Legislature  finds  himself  compelled  to  do  sometimes  in  these 
so-called  degenerate  days. 

That  Frederick  county  was  not  an  exception  in  the  way  of 
conducting  elections  on  other  than  strictly  temperance  principles 
is  shown  by  the  law  passed  by  the  House  of  Burgesses  soon 
after  the  election  of  1758,  which  provides  that  no  one  should  be 
qualified  to  hold  a  seat  in  that  house,  who  should,  "  before  his 
election,  either  himself  or  by  any  other  person  or  persons  on 
his  behalf  and  at  his  charge,  directly  or  indirectly  give,  present 
or  allow  any  person  or  persons  having  voice  or  vote  in  such  elec- 
tion any  money,  meat,  drink,  entertainment  or  provision,  or 
make  any  present,  gift,  reward,  or  entertainment,  &c.,  &c.,  in 
order  to  be  elected." 

It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  this  law  was  aimed  at  the 
worthy  delegate  from  Frederick,  but  it  fit  his  case  so  exactly 
that  had  it  been  in  force  prior  to  his  election  he  would  certainly 
have  been  ineligible  to  his  seat.  For  seven  years  Wash- 
ington continued  to  represent  Frederick  county,  but  there  is  no 
record  of  any  incident  of  interest  connected  with  his  subsequent 
elections.  As  a  law-abiding  citizen  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
thereafter  meat  and  drink,  except  in  the  ordinary  way  of  hospi- 
tality, were  not  among  the  means  resorted  to  by  Washington 
and  his  friends  to  secure  popular  favor. 

When  the  pessimists  of  to  day,  justly  resenting  the  ways  that 
are  dark  which  so  often  prevail  in  what  is  known  as  politics,  pre- 
dict therefrom  the  speedy  downfall  of  the  Republic,  it  is  well  to 
remember  how  very  old  these  ways  are,  and  from  what  respecta- 


THE   FIRST   ELECTION   OF    WASHINGTON    IN    1758.          125 

ble  antecedents  many  of  them  have  come,  and  while  not  approv- 
ing them,  yet  to  bear  in  mind  that  in  spite  of  them  and  of  very 
many  other  imperfections  in  these  institutions  of  ours,  the  land 
continues  to  flourish  the  equal  in  valor  and  in  virtue  of  any  other, 
and  in  material  prosperity  outstripping  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth. 

R.  T.  BARTON. 


THE 

OLD  BRICK  CHURCH, 


NEAR 


Smittifield,  Virginia. 


BUILT    I3ST    1632. 


A   PAPER    READ    BEFORE    THE   VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 
TUESDAY,  DECEMBER    22,  1891, 

BY  R.  S.  THOMAS,  A.  M.,  LL.B., 

Smithfield,  Virginia, 


THE  OLD  BRICK  CHURCH, 

NEAR  SMITHFIELD,  VIRGINIA. 


IIDT    1632. 


It  is  my  object  to  prove  that  this  Church  was  built  in  1632,  and 
I  shall  prove  it, 

1.  By  the  existence  at  that  early  day,  of  such  a  strong,  re- 
ligious, sentiment,  as  demanded  a  house  of  worship  to  the  living 
God. 

2.  By  tradition. 

3.  By  lately  existing  records  ;  and — 

4.  By  the  bricks  and  mortar  of  the  Church  itself. 

This  last  proof  is  absolutely  conclusive,  and  I  might  rely  on  it 
solely  and  alone,  but,  in  one  or  two  hundred  years  hence,  its  gen- 
uineness might  be  questioned;  and  hence,  whilst  priceless  records 
are  still  extant,  and  important  witnesses  still  live,  it  is  a  matter  of 
the  gravest  moment,  and  of  the  highest  duty,  to  preserve  their 
concurrent  testimony. 

i  st.    The  Existence  of  the  Sentiment. 

The  existence  of  a  temple  to  the  God  to  be  worshipped  proves 
the  belief  in  that  God,  for,  without  a  belief  in  him,  there  would  be 
no  temple  for  his  worship.  The  stronger,  and  more  enthusiastic, 
the  belief,  the  surer,  and  more  certain,  it  is  to  manifest  itself  in  a 
house  of  worship.  Did  our  ancestors,  then,  bring  with  them  a 
strong,  potent,  courageous,  belief  in  the  God  of  Calvary,  and  a 
strong  evangelical  zeal  in  His  behalf  ? 


130  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

This  question  cannot  be,  correctly,  answered,  without  some 
slight  glance  at  antecedent  history — enough  only  to  arouse 
thought  to  action,  and  to  enable  you  to  bring,  before  yourselves,  a 
mirror  of  the  times. 

In  1483,  Hans  Luther,  a  German  miner,  a  citizen  of  the 
county  of  Mansfield,  a  slate-cutter  by  trade,  had  born  unto  him 
a  son,  who,  displaying  uncommon  activity  of  mind,  was,  by  man- 
ifold sacrifices  of  the  father,  placed  at  the  Latin  school  of  Eisle- 
ben  in  that  county.  The  brightness  of  the  boy,  and  the  ambition 
of  the  father  that  the  son  should  rise  above  his  station  in  life, 
induced  him  to  undergo  still  further  privations  and  hardships, 
so  that  he  might  place  the  boy  in  the  larger  school  at  Eisnach. 
Poverty  pressed  hard  on  that  father  and  son,  and  drove  the  son 
to  go  into  the  streets  of  Eisnach,  and  sing  songs  for  alms  that  he 
might  eke  out  a  miserable  existence.  God  had  given  him  a 
sweet  tenor  voice,  and  that  voice  fell  enchantingly  upon  the  ears  of 
Ursula  Cotta,  the  wife  of  the  burgomaster  of  Eisnach,  who, 
learning  the  history  of  the  talented  boy,  sent  him  to  Urfurst, 
where,  in  1505,  he  took  his  master's  degree  and  graduated  with 
distinguished  honors. 

At  Urfurst,  the  bold  and  earnest  preaching  of  Weinmann 
arrested  his  attention,  stung  and  awakened  his  conscience,  and 
sent  him  to  a  diligent  and  protracted  study  of  the  scriptures. 

In  1507,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  appointed  him  a  professor  in 
the  recently  (1505)  founded  university  of  Wittenburg,  which  he 
soon  made  famous  by  the  severity  of  studies,  the  brilliancy  of  his 
chair,  the  perfect  mastery  of  the  early  fathers  of  the  Church, 
the  profound  knowledge  of  the  scriptures,  and  the  burning  elo- 
quence of  his  pulpit. 

In  1517,  John  Tetzel  sought  to  replenish  the  Papal  exchequer 
by  the  sale  of  indulgences,  and  Martin  Luther,  shocked  at  the 
sale  of  the  mercies  of  heaven  for  the  money  of  man,  nailed  his 
ninety-five  theses  to  the  doors  of  Castle  church,  bade  defiance  to 
the  Pope  of  Rome,  summoned  the  world  to  denounce  the  errors 
of  the  Papal  Church,  and  to  correct  and  reform  its  creed. 

The  disputations  of  Luther  at  Augsburg  with  Cajetan,  and 
at  Leipsic  with  John  Eck,  ended  with  the  Diet-at- Worms,  Nurem- 
berg and  Spires,  and  the  attention  of  the  world  was  arrested  and 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  131 

centered  upon  the  grandeur  of  the  preacher,  and  the  sublimity 
of  the  truths  he  boldly  announced,  and  bravely  defended. 

Melancthon,  Bucer  and  Oecolampadius  rallied  around  the 
hero,  and  grandly  aided  in  spreading  the  revived  gospel. 

Zwingli  from  the  mountain  heights  of  Switzerland,  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  new  religion,  and  held  up  the  torch  to  Calvin,  of 
France,  whose  long,  subsequent,  residence  at  Geneva  banishes 
from  the  general  recollection  his  birth  and  manhood  in  France, 
and  his  ecclesiastical  training  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 

John  Knox  heard  the  voice  of  Zwingli  and  of  Calvin,  and 
aroused  all  Scotland  with  his  stubborn  zeal  and  burning  enthu- 
siasm. 

The  new  learning,  and  the  new  religion,  crossed  the  Scottish 
border  and  the  English  Channel,  and  the  English  champions  of 
the  cross  kept  step  with  those  of  Germany,  Switzerland,  France 
and  Scotland,  and  Rogers  and  Hooper,  and  Farrar  and  Ridley, 
and  Latimer  and  Cranmer,  in  fire  and  in  faggot,  attested  the 
divine  truths,  protested  against  the  enormities  of  Rome,  pro- 
claimed the  gospel,  that  founded  in  Judea,  consecrated  on  Cal- 
vary, hidden  in  the  darkness  of  the  mediaeval  times,  was  resur- 
rected, by  Luther,  and  proclaimed,  anew,  to  the  world  by  his 
gathering  hosts  of  enthusiastic  followers. 

But  Clement  V,  of  Rome,  did  not  yield  the  indulgences,  the 
penances,  the  annates  that  supplied  the  coffers  of  his  Church; 
the  masses  that  appealed  to  the  imaginations  of  the  multitude; 
the  auricular  confessions  that  made  the  minister  of  the  flock  the 
priest  of  the  household ;  the  prayers  for  the  dead ;  the  actual 
corporal  presence  of  God  in  the  wine ;  and  the  traditions  that 
hedged  about  and  upheld  his  Church. 

Charles  V  oi  Spain  the  Netherlands  Naples  and  of  Austria; 
Francis  I,  of  France,  Philip  II,  of  Spain,  Torquemada,  Ximenes. 
the  Inquisition,  Catherine  de  Medici,  the  massacre  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew, the  reign  of  Bloody  Mary,  the  persecutions  of  the  Luther- 
ans in  Germany,  the  Huguenots  in  France,  and  the  Protestants 
in  England,  all  show  the  terrible  rage  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  the  equally  resolute  energy  of  the  revived  faith  Jo  escape 
from  the  thraldom  that  had  so  long  enslaved  it,  and  its  grand 
determination  to  plant  the  standards  of  the  cross  upon  the  ram- 
parts of  a  nobler  and  a  higher  religion,  that  appealed  from  the 


132  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

fallibility  of  man  to  the  infallibility  of  God,  and  from  a  faith  in  . 
the  Pope  to  a  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

This  energy,  awakened  in  England  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII, 
intensified  in  that  of  Edward  VI  and  Bloody  Mary,  was  power- 
fully augmented  by  the  two  editions  of  the  book  of  Common 
Prayer  in  1548  and  1552,  and  the  rapid  multiplications  of  the 
Bible. 

The  edition  of  Wickliffe  of  1384  had  been  enlarged  and 
enriched  by  the  editions  of  Tyndall  in  1530  and  of  Coverdale 
in  1535,  whose  labors  and  sufferings,  in  poverty  and  in  alien 
lands,  were  crowned  with  such  success,  that  from  foreign  and 
from  native  presses  came  the  editions  of  1538,  the  version  of 
1539,  the  Geneva  edition  of  1560,  the  Bishop's  Bible  of  1568,  and 
the  authorized  version  of  1611. 

Whilst  some  of  these  editions  were  issuing  from  the  press, 
Bloody  Mary,  in  1588,  passed  from  the  scenes  of  life,  and  Eliza- 
beth ascended  the  throne  of  England. 

Then  Protestantism,  bruised,  mangled,  and  burnt,  rose  from 
the  ground,  nobler  for  its  sufferings,  and  more  resolute  for  its 
afflictions. 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth,  and  good  will 
to  man,"  was  its  paean,  and  "  Go  ye  unto  all  the  world  and  preach 
my  gospel  to  every  creature,"  was  accepted  as  its  divine  mission. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  feelings,  Christopher  Newport, 
John  Smith,  Edward  Maria  Wingfield,  Bartholomew  Gosnold, 
John  Ratcliffe,  John  Martin,  George  Kendall,  and  their  associ- 
ates, set  sail  on  the  igth  of  December,  1606,  from  Blackwall, 
England,  in  the  ship  Susan  Constant,  of  one  hundred  tons,  in 
charge  of  Newport  with  seventy-one  men  ;  in  the  Godspeed,  of 
forty  tons,  in  charge  of  Gosnold,  with  fifty-two  men,  and  in  the 
pinnance,  the  Discovery,  of  twenty  tons,  in  charge  of  Ratcliffe 
with  twenty  men,  and  landed  at  Jamestown  on  the  I3th  of  May, 
1607,  bringing  with  them  the  sentiments  of  Englishmen,  the 
laws  of  England,  the  Church  of  England  in  its  minister,  the  Rev. 
Robert  Hunt,  and  their  charter,  written  by  Sir  Edward  Coke 
and  Sir  John  Doddridge.  That  charter  declares,  "  their  desires 
for  the  furtherance  of  so  noble  a  work,  which  may,  by  the  provi- 
dence of  Almighty  God,  hereafter  tend  to  the  glory  of  His 
divine  majesty,  in  propagating  the  Christian  religion  to  such 


THE   OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  133 

people  as  yet  live  in  darkness  and  miserable  ignorance  .of  the 
true  knowledge  and  worship  of  God,  and  may  in  time  bring 
infidels  and  savages  living  in  those  parts  to  human  civility,  and 
to  a  settled  and  quiet  government,"  and  the  adventurers  are 
instructed  "  to  provide  that  the  true  word  and  service  of  God 
and  Christian  faith  be  preached,  planted,  and  used,  not  only 
within  every  of  the  said  colonies  and  plantations,  but  also  as 
much  as  they  may  amongst  the  savage  people  which  do  or  shall 
adjoine  unto  them,  or  border  upon  them,  according  to  the  doc- 
trine, rights,  and  religion  now  professed  and  established  within 
our  realme  of  England." 

In  the  second  charter  of  May  23,  1609,  written  by  Sir  Francis 
Bacon  and  Sir  Henry  Hobart,  it  is  declared  in  its  2gth  article  : 
"And  lastly,  because  the  principle  effect  which  we  can  desire,  or 
expect  in  this  action,  is  the  conversion  and  seduction  of  the  peo- 
ple in  those  parts  unto  the  true  worship  of  God  and  Christian 
religion,  in  which  respect  we  should  be  loath  that  any  person 
should  be  permitted  to  pass  that  we  suspected  to  effect  the  super- 
stitions of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  we  do  hereby  declare  that  it  is 
our  will  and  pleasure  that  none  be  permitted  to  pass  in  any  voy- 
age, from  time  to  time  to  be  made  into  the  said  country,  but  such 
as  shall  have  taken  the  oath  of  supremacy,"  that  the  King  of 
England  was  the  head  of  the  Church,  and  not  the  Pope  of  Rome. 

Again,  in  the  third  charter  of  March  12,  1611,  prepared  by  the 
same  parties,  <;  the  power  and  authority  was  given  to  minister 
and  give  the  oath  and  oaths  of  supremacy  and  allegiance,  or 
either  of  them  to  all  and  to  every  person  and  persons  which 
shall  at  any  time  or  times  hereafter  go  or  pass  to  the  said  colony 
in  Virginia." 

And  they  brought  with  them  not  only  the  charter,  but  a  mag- 
nificent letter  of  advice  written  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Hakluyt, 
prebendary  of  Westminster,  historiographer  of  the  East  India 
Company,  and  the  last  sentence  is  in  these  words :  "  Lastly  and 
chiefly,  the  way  to  prosper  and  achieve  good  success  is  to  make 
yourselves  all  of  one  mind  for  the  good  of  your  country  and 
your  own,  and  to  serve  and  fear  God,  the  giver  of  all  goodness, 
for  every  plantation  which  our  Heavenly  Father  hath  not 
planted  shall  be  rooted  out."1 

1  Brown's  "  Genesis  of  the  United  States." 


134  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Just  as  soon  as  these  adventurers  landed  at  Jamestown,  they 
offered  up  prayer,  and  extemporized  a  church,  which,  Captain  Smith 
informs  us,  was  only  an  "  awning  or  old  sail  which  we  hung  to 
three  or  four  trees  to  shadow  us  from  the  sun ;  our  walls  were 
rails  of  wood ;  our  seats  unhewn  trees  till  we  cut  planks  ;  our 
pulpit  a  bar  of  wood  nailed  to  two  neighboring  trees.  In  foul 
weather  we  shifted  into  an  old  rotten  tent,  for  we  had  few  better, 
and  this  came  by  way  of  advertising  for  new." 

And  there,  in 

"  A  wild  and  lonely  region,  where,  retired 
From  little  scenes  of  art,  great  Nature  dwelt 
In  ample  solitude," 
these  men  worshipped  as  primeval  man  worshipped  when 

"  The  groves  were  God's  first  temples.     E'er  man  learned 

To  hew  the  shaft  and  lay  the  architecture, 

And  spread  the  roof  above  them.     E'er  he  framed 

The  lofty  vault  to  gather  and  roll  back 

The  sound  of  anthems  ;  in  a  darkling  wood 

Amid  the  cool  and  silence  he  knelt  down 

And  offered  the  Mightiest,  solemn  thanks 

And  supplication." 

"Compared  with  this,  how  poor's  religious  pride, 

In  all  the  pomp  of  method  and  of  art, 
When  mere  display  to  congregations  wide, 

Devotion's  every  grace  but  the  heart." 

Their  next  church,  Captain  Smith  informs  us,  was  "  a  homely 
thing  (the  log  church)  like  a  barn  set  in  crochets,  covered  with 
rafts,  sedge  and  earth,  and  so  were  the  walls."  Others  followed, 
from  time  to  time,  as  circumstances  dictated,  until  the  one  was 
built,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  at  Jamestown  in  an  utterly 
abandoned  condition. 

Captain  Smith,  describing  the  habits  of  the  adventurers,  says  : 
"First  they  enter  into  the  church  and  make  their  prayers  unto 
God,  next  they  return  to  their  houses  and  receive  their  propor- 
tion of  food."  (Vol.  II,  p.  5,  of  Smith's  History.) 

In  1611  they  built  a  "  new  towne,"  which  they  called  Henrico 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  135 

after  Prince  Henry,  "  a  handsome  church,  and  the  foundation  of 
a  better  laid  to  be  built  of  bricke,"  and  near  it  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river  "  a  faire  framed  parsonage"  for  Master  Whitaker. 

In  building  churches  they  were  stimulated  not  only  by  the  zeal 
of  the  individuals  and  of  the  nation,  but  by  the  injunctions  of 
King  James  I. 

As  early  as  1617  he  addressed  a  letter  to  George  Abbott,  the 
then  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  which  he  said :  "  You  have 
heard  ere  this  time  of  the  attempt  of  diverse  worthie  men  an' 
subjects  to  plant  in  Virginia  (under  the  warrant  of  our  Letters- 
Patent)  people  of  this  Kingdom,  as  wdl  as  for  enlarging  of  our 
Dominion  as  for  the  propagating  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Infi- 
dels, wherein  there  is  good  progress  made  and  hope  of  further 
increase ;  so  as  the  undertakers  of  that  plantation  are  now  in 
hand  with  the  erecting  of  some  churches  and  schools  for  the 
education  of  the  children  of  those  barbarians,  which  cannot  but 
be  to  them  a  very  great  charge,  and  above  the  expense  which  for 
the  civil  plantation  doth  come  to  them.  In  which  we  doubt  not 
but  that  you,  and  all  others  who  wish  well  to  the  increase  of 
Christian  Religion,  will  be  willing  to  give  all  assistance  and 
furtherance  you  may,  and  therein  to  make  experience  of  the  zeal 
and  devotion  of  our  well-minded  subjects,  especially  those  of  the 
clergy. . 

"Wherefore,  we  do  require  you,  and  hereby  authorize  you,  to 
write  your  letters  to  the  several  Bishops  of  the  Dioceses  in  your 
Province,  that  the)'  do  give  order  to  the  ministers  and  other 
zealous  men  of  their  Diocese,  both  by  their  own  example  in  con- 
tribution, and  by  exhortation  to  others,  to  move  our  people 
within  their  several  charges  to  contribute  to  so  good  a  work  in  as 
liberal  a  manner  as  they  may,  for  the  better  advancing  whereof 
our  pleasure  is  that  these  collections  be  made  in  the  particular 
parishes  for  several  times  within  these  two  years  next  coming ; 
and  that  the  several  accounts  of  each  parish,  together  with  the 
money's  collected  be  returned  from  time  to  time  to  the  Bishop  of 
the  Dioceses,  and  by  him  be  transmitted  half-yearly  to  you,  and 
so  to  be  delivered  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Plantation  to  be  em- 
ployed for  the  Godly  purposes  intended,  and  no  other." 

With  such  sentiments  animating  king,  bishops  and  people  in 
the  mother  country  and  in  the  Colony,  the  first  legislative  assem- 


136  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

bly  held  on  this  continent  was  convened  at  Jamestown,  in  "  the 
Quire  of  the  Church,"  on  Friday,  June  30,  1619,  and  the  second 
sentence  in  the  record  is  this  :  "  But  forasmuche  as  men's  affaires 
do  little  prosper  where  God's  service  is  neglected,  all  the  Bur- 
gesses took  their  places  in  the  Quire  till  prayer  was  said  by  Mr. 
Bucke,  the  Minister,  that  it  would  please  God  to  guide  and  sane- 
tifie  all  our  proceedings  to  his  own  glory  and  the  good  of  this 

• 

plantation." 

That  assembly  enacted  "  that  for  laying  a  surer  foundation  of 
the  conversion  of  the  Indians  to  Christian  Religion  cache  town, 
citty,  Burrough  and  plantation  do  obtaine  unto  themselves  by 
just  means  a  certaine  number  of  natives'  children,  to  be  educated 
by  them  in  true  religion  and  civil  course  of  life." 

That  "  all  ministers  shall  duly  read  devine  service,  and  exer- 
cise their  ministerial  functions,  according  to  the  Ecclesiastical 
laws  and  orders  of  the  Churche  of  Englande,  and  every  Sunday, 
in  the  afternoon,  shall  catechise  suche  as  are  not  yet  ripe  to  come 
to  the  communion.  And  whosoever  of  them  shall  be  found 
negligent  and  faulty  in  this  kinde  shall  be  subject  to  the  censure 
of  the  Governor  and  Counsul  of  Estate." 

That  "  the  Ministers  and  Church  Wardens  shall  seek  to  pre- 
sente  all  ungodly  and  disorders,  the  committees  whereof,  if  upon 
goode  admonitions  and  mild  reprooff  they  will  not  forbeare  the 
said  skandalous  offences,  as  suspicions  of  whoredomes,  dishonest 
company,  keeping  with  women,  and  suche  like,  they  are  to  be 
presented  and  punished  accordingly." 

That  "  if  any  person,  after  two  warnings,  does  not  amende  his 
or  her  life  in  point  of  evident  suspicion  of  Incontincy,  or  of  the 
commission  of  any  other  enormous  sinnes,  that  then  he  or  she  be 
presented  by  the  Church  wardens  and  suspended  for  a  time 
from  the  church  by  the  minister.  In  which  Interim,  if  the  same 
person  do  not  amende  and  humbly  submit  him  or  herself  to 
the  churche,  he  is  then  fully  to  be  excommunicate,  and  soon 
after  a  writ  or  warrant  to  be  sent  from  the  Governor  for  the 
apprehending  of  his  person  ande  seizing  on  all  his  goods,  &c. " 

That  "  for  reformation  of  swearing  every  freeman  and  Mr. 
of  a  family,  after  thrife  admonition,  shall  give  53.  or  the  value 


2 Senate  Document,  Colonial  Records  of  Virginia,  1874. 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHPIELD.  137 

upon  present  demande  to  the  use  of  the  church  where  he 
dwelleth  ;  and  every  servant,  after  the  like  admonition,  excepte 
his  Mr.  dischardge  the  fine,  shall  be  subject  to  whipping." 

That  "  all  persons,  whatsoever,  upon  the  Sabbath  daye  shall 
frequente  devine  service  and  sermons  both  forenoon  and  after- 
noon, and  suche  as  beare  armes,  shall  bring  their  pieces,  swordes, 
poueder  and  shotte." 

That  "  against  excesse  in  apparell  that  every  man  be  cessed  in 
the  churche  for  all  publique  contributions,  if  he  be  unmarried 
according  to  his  owne  apparell,  if  he  be  married,  according  to 
his  owne  and  his  wives,  or  either  of  their  apparel."  3 

And  the  very  first  act  in  the  published  statutes  of  Virginia  is: 

ist.  "  That  there  shall  be  in  every  plantation,  where  the  people 
use  to  meet  for  the  worship  of  God,  a  house  or  room  seques- 
tered for  that  purpose,  and  not  to  be  of  any  temporal  use  what- 
soever, and  a  place  empaled  in,  sequestered  only  to  the  burial 
of  the  dead."4 

Such  were  a  part  of  the  laws  relating  to  religion  that  were 
enacted  by  the  very  first  legislative  assembly  that  ever  convened 
in  this  country — an  assembly  that  convened  seventeen  months 
before  the  eternally  lauded  pilgrims  ever  landed  upon  Plymouth 
Rock,  and  ten  years  before  the  Colony  of  Salem  and  of  Boston 
increased  their  meagre  numbers  beyond  one  hundred.  And  yet, 
the  historians  of  that  Colony  are  forever  parading  before  the 
world  for  its  worship  the  names  of  a  Cotton,  a  Hooker,  and  an 
Eliott,  who  never  set  foot  upon  this  continent  until  the  Colony 
at  Jamestown  had  for  twenty-seven  years  blazed  the  way  and 
taught  them  wisdom  by  their  sad  experience  ;  who  never  from 
Puritanical  lips  proclaimed  the  glories  of  their  Maker,  until 
Hunt  and  Whitaker  and  Thorpe  had  laid  down  their  lives  as  a 
sacrifice  to  their  duty.  The  State  and  the  Church  that  can 
boast  of  the  evangelical  services  of  a  Robert  Hunt,  Richard 

Bucke, Glover,  Greville  Poole,  William  Wickham,  Alexander 

Whitaker,  William  Mease  or  Mays, Macock,  Thomas  Bar- 
grave,  Robert  Paulet,  David  Sandis,  William  Bennett,  Robert 
Bolton,  Jonas  Stockton,  Thomas  White,  Haul  Wyatt, Hop- 

3  Senate  Document,  1874. 

4  Hening,  Vol.  I,  p.  122. 


133  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

kinS)  Pemberton,   William  Cotton,  and  others,  who  came 

between  1607  and  1622,  animated  by  as  pure  a  zeal  as  ever 
fired  the  breast  of  a  Peter  or  a  Paul,  permits  them  to  rest 
not  only  in  oblivion,  but  covered  with  all  the  opprobrium 
that  Puritanism  can,  by  direction  or  indirection,  heap  upon 
them — ministers  of  the  Cross  of  Christ,  who  by  their  lives  and 
their  speech  said  as  did  the  brave  and  undaunted  Whitaker, 
"  Why  is  it  that  so  few  of  our  English  ministers  that  were  so 
hot  against  the  surplice  and  subscription  come  hither  where 
neither  is  spoken  of.  Doe  they  not  wilfully  hide  their  talents, 
or  keep  themselves  at  home  for  fear  of  losing  a  few  pleasures  ; 
be  there  not  among  them  of  Moses  his  minde,  and  of  the  Apos- 
tles, that  forsook  all  to  follow  Christ.  But  I  refer  them  to  the 
Judge  of  all  hearts  and  to  the  King  that  shall  reward  everyone 
according  to  his  talent."  "Awake  you  true-hearted  English- 
men, you  Servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  remember  that  the  plantation 
is  God's  and  the  reward  your  countries.  .  .  .  And  you,  my 
brethren,  my  fellow  labourers,  send  up  earnest  prayers  to  God 
lor  his  Church  in  Virginia,  that  since  his  harvest  heere  is  great, 
but  the  labourers  few  he  would  thrust  forth  his  labourers  into  his 
harvest  :  and  pray  also  fox  me,  that  the  ministration  of  his 
Gospel  may  be  powerfull  and  effectuall  by  me  to  the  salvation  of 
many,  and  to  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdome  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  whom,  with  the  Father,  and  the  holy  Spirit,  bee  all  honour 
and  glorie  forever  more,  Amen." 

Such  were  the  sentiments  that  animated  the  missionaries  of 
the  early  church,  whom  it  is  now  fashionable  to  deride,  and 
whose  true  Christian  zeal  is  aspersed  by  the  Puritans  of  the 
North,  who,  as  early  as  1629  shipped  John  Morton5  and  John 
and  Samuel  Brown6  back  to  England  for  no  crime  save  that  of 
eating  Christmas  pies  and  using  the  book  of  Common  Prayer  ; 
who,  in  1630,  took  away  the  citizenship  of  the  Rev.  William 
Bloxton,7  and  compelled  him  to  sell  his  property  at  an  enormous 
sacrifice  and  move  away  because  he  was  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England  ;  who,  by  1680,  had  exiled  every  Episcopal  minister 


5McConnell's  Hist,  of  American  Episcopal  Church,  p,  36. 
"Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States.,  p.  349. 
7  McConnell,  p.  39. 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  139 

in  all  New  England  but  one — old  Father  Jordan,  who  was  too 
poor  and  too  "  broken  in  fortune  and  in  spirit  to  move  ;  " 8  who 
in  1644,  in  the  very  depths  of  winter,  drove  Roger  Williams 9  from 
his  church  in  Salem,  through  the  ice  and  snows  of  Massachu- 
setts, to  the  Indian  wilderness  of  Rhode  Island,  so  that  he  did 
not  "  for  fourteen  weeks  know  what  bed  or  bread  did  mean," 
and  "had  no  house  but  a  hollow  tree;"  who,  in  1657,  exiled 
Ann  Breden,  and  whipped,  imprisoned  and  mutilated  her  com- 
panions by  slitting  first  one  ear,  then  the  other,  and  then  "bored 
their  tongues  with  red  hot  irons;"  who,  in  1659,  imprisoned 
Wenlock  Christison  and  twenty-seven  of  his  companions,  and 
rounded  the  catalogue  of  crimes  by  hanging  Marmaduke 
Stephenson,  William  Robinson,  William  Seddra  and  Mary 
Dyer.10 

Hang  the  Culpeper  brick  on  the  gallows  of  Mary  Dyer,  and 
let,  at  least,  the  Puritan  press  close  his  mouth  on  the  subject  of 
intolerance,  and  the  irreligious  character  of  the  early  colonial 
ministers  of  Virginia  ! 

And  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  State  of  Virginia  never, 
even  in  the  slightest  manner,  punished  one  of  her  citizens,  save 
and  except  for  a  premeditated  and  defiant  violation  of  the  law — 
a  law  that  since  1689  only  required  the  place  of  worship  to  be 
designated,  and  then  only  by  a  fine  of  a  few  shillings — let  that 
brick  be  encircled,  not  with  animosities,  but  with  all  the  chari- 
ties that  ought  to  be  extended  to  those  who  flagrantly  violate, 
as  well  as  to  those  who  enforce  her  ancient  and  time-honored 
statutes. 

The  spirit  that  animated  the  early  colonial  ministers  was  the 
zeal  of  Hunt,  Bucke  and  of  Whitaker,  which  demanded  churches 
for  the  worship  of  the  God  whom  they  adored,  and  these 
they  built  at  Jamestown  and  everywhere  else  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible. 

In  1621,  if  not  before,  they  built  a  church  on  the  Pembroke  farm, 
in  Elizabeth  City  county,  the  brick  foundation  of  which  was  found 
by  the  Rev.  John  Collins  McCabe,  D,  D.,  about  the  year  1850. 


8McConnell,  p.  39. 

"Bancroft,  p.  367-77. 

10  Bancroft,  pp.  452  to  458. 


140  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

I  come  now  to  the  date  of  the  erection  of  the  Old  Brick 
Church,  and  I  expect  to  prove  that  it  was  built  in  1632. 

2d.    The  Tradition. 

The  universal  tradition  everywhere,  and  at  all  times,  universally, 
prevalent,  in  my  county,  is,  that  the  Old  Brick  Church  alluded  to 
was  built  under  the  care  and  superintendence  of  one  Joseph 
Bridger,  the  father  of  General  Joseph  Bridger,  who  lies  buried  on 
the  farm  now  owned  by  James  Davis,  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
distant  from  the  old  church — a  farm  that  was  called  by  General 
Joseph  Bridger  in  his  will  in  1683,  "The  White  Marsh  Farm," 
and  is  so  known,  and  so  called,  to  this  day. 

This  General  Joseph  Bridger  was  in  his  day  the  most  promi- 
nent man  in  his  county. 

He  was  born  in  1628,  and  in  1657,"  at  the  age  of  (29)  twenty- 
nine,  he,  with  John  Brewer,  represented  this  county  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  Virginia.  In  i663,12  he  is  again  a  member,  and 
this  year  appears  as  Captain  Joseph  Bridger,  and  is  a  member  of 
every  important  committee,  but  one. 

In  1664,  ne  's  a  commissioner  to  adjust  the  boundary  line  of 
Virginia  and  Maryland.13 

In  1666,"  he  is  one  of  the  commissioners  of  this  State  to  confer 
with  the  commissioners  of  Maryland  and  of  North  Carolina,  rela- 
tive to  their  tobacco  interests. 

In  this  year15  he  is  also  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  appears  there  as  Adjutant-General  Bridger. 

In  1675, 16  he  is  a  member  of  the  Council  of  State,  and  a  colonel 
in  the  Indian  wars. 

In  1676-' 77,"  he  is  a  member  of  the  court  at  Green  Spring. 

In  1676,  his  surrender  is  demanded  by  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Jr.,18 
characterized  as  "  the  rebel." 


11  Hening.  Vol.  I,  p.  431. 

12  Hening,  Vol.  II,  p.  197. 
13Neill's  Virginia  Carolorum  p.  303. 
14  Neill's  Virginia  Carolorum,  p.  303. 
15 Hening,  Vol.  II,  p.  225,  II.  249. 

18 Hening,  Vol.  II,  p.  328,  and  Neill's  Virginia  Carolorum,  p.  348-9. 
"Hening,  Vol.  II,  p.  548  and  551-7,  60. 
18  Neill's  Virginia  Carolorum,  p.  363. 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  141 

In  1677,  he  is  a  member  of  the  court  at  the  Middle  Planta- 
tions, and  is  a  witness  to  the  will  of  Sir  William  Berkeley.18 

In  1680,  he  is  a  Councillor  of  State  and  Commander- in-Chief  of 
the  forces  in  Isle  of  Wight,  Surry,  Nansemond  and  Lower  Nor- 
folk; and  Colonel  Arthur  Smith,  of  Isle  of  Wight,  and  Colonel 
John  Lear  and  Major  Milner,  of  Nansemond,  are  under  his  com- 
mand.20 

In  1683,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Council  of  State  and  of  the 
General  Court,  along  with  his  Excellency,  Thomas,  Lord  Cul- 
peper,  Governor,  &c.,  Mr.  Secretary  Spencer,  Mr.  Auditor 
Bacon,  Major-General  Smith,  Colonel  Philip  Ludwell,  Colonel 
William  Cole,  Ralph  Wormley,  Esq.,  Colonel  Richard  Lee,  Col- 
onel John  Page,  and  Colonel  William  Byrd.21 

The  last  codicil  to  his  will  bears  date  April  Qth,  1685,  and  it  is 
acknowledged  in  open  court,  which  was  then  held  at  The  Glebe, 
about  a  mile  from  Smithfield,  where  the  court-house  was  located 
until  1752,  when  it  was  moved  to  Smithfield.  In  his  will  he 
makes  special  mention  of  his  friends,  Lieutenant- Colonel  John 
Pitt,  Mr.  Thomas  Pitt,  and  Colonel  Arthur  Smith,  and  of  his 
brick  house  on  the  White  Marsh  farm,  where  he  resided,  the 
brick  basement  of  which  still  exists  to  this  day.  And  though 
the  field  has  been  constantly  cultivated,  from  time  immemorial, 
right  up  to  the  house,  and  right  up  to  the  very  edge  of  the 
grave,  yet,  the  innumerable  bricks  still  lying  scattered  every- 
where around,  attest  the  largeness  and  the  magnificence  of  that 
house.  In  1890,  Mr.  Edward  Pitt,  a  descendant  of  the  Pitts 
above-mentioned,  and  a  firm  believer  in  the  truth  of  the  old 
tradition  we  are  considering,  now  an  aged  man,  a  resident 
for  many  and  many  a  long  year  on  that  White  Marsh  farm,  as 
owner  and  as  tenant,  showed  me  the  tomb  of  General  Bridger, 
the  basement  of  his  house,  and  told  me  he  had  frequently  picked 
up  bricks  with  the  prints  of  the  feet  of  fowls  and  of  dogs  on 
them,  made  whilst  they  were  soft,  showing  that  they  had  been 
burnt  on  or  near  the  farm. 

19Hening,  Vol.  II,  p.  548-51-7,  60. 

20  Colonial  Papers,  No.  63,  in  Record  office,  London,  as  published  in 
the  Richmond  Dispatch,  July  6,  1890 

21  Hening,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  557. 


142  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

General  Bridger  died  on  the  I5th  day  of  April,  1686,  the 
owner  of  a  very  large  amount  of  personal  property,  and  more 
than  twelve  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Isle  of  Wight  county, 
besides  an  unknown  amount  in  Surry,  James  City,  and  in  Mary- 
land. He  was  buried  in  the  field  near  his  house,  and  on  his 
marble  slab  there  is  this  inscription,  which  is  still  perfectly 

legible: 

SACRED 

TO  Ye  MEMORY    OF 

THE  HoNble  JOSEPH  BRIDGER 

Esq.   COTJNCEL'r    OF.    STATE.   iN   VIRGINIA 

To  KiNG  CHARLES  Ye  2.d 

DYiNG  AFRiL  Ye  15:  A:  D:   1689 

AGED  58  YEARES  MOURNFULLY  LEFT 

His  WiFE  3  SONS  &  4  DAUGHTERS 

Does  Nature  silent  mourn  &  can.  dumb,  stone 
Make  his  true  worth  to  future  Ages  knowne 

Excels  exprefsion  Marble  fure  will  keep 

His  Mem'ry  best  y*  ever.  on.  his  grave  fhall  weep 

Here  lies  ye  late  great  Minifter.  of  State 

That  Royal  virtues  had  &  Royal  fate 

To  Charles  his  Councels  did.  fuch.  honrs  bring 

His  own  exprefs  fetchd  him  t'  attend  ye  king 

His  Soul  y*  evr  did  wth  vigour  move 

Nimbly  took  wing,  soared  like  it  felfe  above 

For  ye  bright  stars  ner'e  layfily.  decline 

But  in  an  inftant  shoot  y.*  ceafe  to  shine 

His  wife,  Hester,  was  living  as  late  as  1698,  and  as  Madame 
Bridger  witnessed  the  will  of  Colonel  John  Lear  of  Nansemond. 
His  son,  William,  died  in  1704.  His  son,  Joseph,  died  in  1712. 
His  son,  Samuel,  died  in  1713. 2'2 

"  I  am  indebted  to  W.  G.  Stanard,  Esq.,  for  the  following  informa- 
tion relative  to  the  Bridgers : 

Colonel  Samuel  Bridger,  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1691 ;  William 
Bridger,  Burgess.  1718;  Joseph  Bridger,  Sheriff  of  Isle  of  Wight,  1732; 
James  and  Joseph  Bridger,  Burgesses,  1758, 1761;  James  Bridger,  Burgess, 
1765;  James  Bridger,  Justice  Isle  of  Wight,  1769;  Joseph  Bridger,  Bur- 
gess, 1772;  Joseph  Bridger,  Burgess,  i773-'4 — vacated  seat  in  1774  to 
accept  the  office  of  sheriff. 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  143 

His  daughters  were  Martha  Godwin,  Mary,  Elizabeth  and 
Hester;  and  Elizabeth  died  in  1717. 

I  am  particular,  in  giving,  with  some  minuteness,  the  history  of 
General  Bridger,  because  the  tradition  of  the  building  of  the 
Old  Brick  Church  is  immediately  associated  with  him  and  his 
father,  and  is  handed  down  directly  through  many  of  their  de- 
scendants and  associates,  who  have  always  been  of  the  very 
highest  social  and  intellectual  prominence  in  the  Church  and  in 
State,  in  peace  and  in  war.  No  tradition  could  possibly  descend 
through  them,  which  was  not  founded  on  an  absolute  fact. 

The  names  of  many  of  these  descendants  and  associates,  whose 
families  still  reside  in  the  county  of  Isle  of  Wight,  appear  upon 
an  old  Vestry  book  of  the  Church  now  in  the  clerk's  office  of 
this  county,  which,  commencing  in  1723 — only  six  years  after 
the  death  of  Elizabeth  Bridger — was,  until  1733,  the  Vestry 
book  of  the  Bay  Church  alone,  and  afterwards,  of  it,  and  of  the 
Old  Brick  Church,  until  its  final  entry  in  1777.  In  the  first  entry 
in  this  book  relative  to  the  church  it  is  then  and  there  called 
"The  Old  Brick  Church."  .  It  was  hoary  with  age  then;  even 
then  its  white  hair  floated  in  the  breeze.  Treating  this  Vestry 
book,  for  manifest  reasons,  as  an  entirety,  it  shows  that  William 
Bridger,  a  grandson  of  General  Bridger,  was  a  vestryman  from 
1724  to  1730;  that  Major  Joseph  Bridger,  another  grandson,  was 
a  vestryman  from  1735  to  1747;  that  Joseph  Bridger,  a  great 
grandson,  was  a  vestryman  from  1747  to  1749;  that  Colonel 
Joseph  Bridger,  another  great  grandson,  was  a  vestryman  from 
1757  to  1769;  and  that  James  Bridger,  a  grandson  or  great 
grandson,  was  a  vestryman  from  1766  to  1777. 

This  Colonel  Joseph  Bridger,  the  next  most  important  per- 
sonage in  the  tradition,  was  the  associate  and  friend  of  Arthur 
Smith  and  William  Hodsden,  who  were  co-vestrymen  of  the  old 
church,  and  co-trustees  of  the  town  of  Smithfield  in  1752. 

It  is  a  matter  of  absolute  impossibility  for  any  one  to  read  the 
Acts  of  February,  1752,  docking  the  entail  of  the  Arthur  Smith 
lands,  and  the  Act  of  1754,  docking  the  entail  of  the  Joseph 
Bridger  lands,  without  instantly  perceiving,  that  whoever  drew 
those  acts,  were  perfectly  familiar  with  the  entire  history  of  both 
families. 


144  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Colonel  Joseph  Bridger  died  intestate  in  1769,  and  left  sur- 
viving him  his  widow  Mary,  and  his  daughters,  Judith  and 
Catherine. 

Mary  and  her  father,  Thomas  Pierce,  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1770,  qualified  as  the  personal  representatives  upon  his  estate, 
and  Robert  Tynes  and  William  Davis  were  the  appraisers  of  that 
estate. 

Mary,  the  widow,  on  the  I7th  of  June,  1773,  married  Josiah 
Parker,  who  was  a  member  of  all  of  the  Conventions  of  the 
State  in  1775,  afterwards  a  distinguished  colonel  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  lived  till  1810;  and  their  daughter,  Ann  Pierce 
Parker,  in  1802,  married  Captain  William  Cowper,  United  States 
Navy,  of  Nansemond,  the  gallant  commander  of  the  Baltimore, 
and  the  son,  I  think,  of  that  Captain  John  Cowper  of  the  same 
county,  who  nailing  his  flag  to  the  masts  of  the  brig  Dolphin, 
sailed  out  of  the  waters  of  the  Nansemond  river  into  those  of 
the  Chesapeake,  with  a  vow  that  he  would  attack  the  first  enemy 
that  he  met,  regardless  of  her  size  and  armament,  and  never 
surrender,  and  went  down  at  sea  in  a  death  grapple  with  two  of 
the  enemy,  in  full  sight  of  Fortress  Monroe,  in  that  heroic  manner 
so  graphically  portrayed  in  William  Wirt  Henry's  spendid 
memoir  of  his  glorious  grandsire,  Patrick  Henry  (Vol.  I,  p.  480). 

Mrs.  Cowper  died  in  March,  1849.  She  was  a  woman  of  ex- 
traordinary endowments  and  of  superior  cultivation,  and  had 
enjoyed,  when  her  father  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  1789 
to  1801,  all  the  advantages  that  the  best  schools  in  Philadelphia 
could  give.  Dr.  John  R.  Purdie,  one  of  our  oldest  citizens,  and 
always  one  of  its  most  intelligent  and  distinguished,  called  by 
the  late  Rev.  Philip  Slaughter  "  the  venerable  Dr.  Purdie,  the 
most  antique  pillar  of  the  parish,"  now  in  the  eighty-thirdtyear 
of  his  age,  knew  her  well,  was  her  family  physician,  said  of 
her  :  "  Her  intelligence  possessed  a  State  if  not  a  national  repu- 
tation.23 She  was  proud  of  her  family,  and  thoroughly  conver- 
sant with  all  of  its  history.  I  have  in  my  possession  her  copy 
of  the  inscription  on  the  tombstone  of  General  Bridger.  It  is 
endorsed  "Inscription  on  the  tomb  of  the  Honorable  Joseph 
Bridger,  Paymaster-General  to  the  British  troops  in  America 

23  Suffolk  Sun,  1872. 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  145 

during  Bacon's  rebellion,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second  of 
England.  General  Bridger  was  the  son  and  heir  of  the  Joseph 
Bridger,  who  superintended  the  building  of  St.  Luke's  Church, 
in  Newport  Parish,  Isle  of  Wight  county." 

Mr.  N.  P.  Young,  now  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age, 
who,  since  1841,  has  been  the  clerk  of  the  courts  of  this  county, 
says  of  her  :  ' '  She  was  a  lady  of  great  intelligence  and  varied 
information,  I  was  always  delighted  with  her  conversations.  She 
irequently  spoke  of  the  Old  Church,  and  of  its  ancient  date, 
which  she  always  fixed  as  in  1632." 

Her  copy  of  the  inscription  was  made  after  1827,  for  the  Old 
Brick  Church  was  never  called  Si..  Luke's  until  it  was  so  called 
by  the  Rev.  William  H.  G.  Jones,  its  first  rector  after  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  in  his  report  of  that  year  to  the  Council  of  his 
Church  ;  and  her  copy,  therefore,  has  all  the  force  and  sanction 
that  could  possibly  be  given  to  it  by  family  pride,  by  personal 
investigation,  not  only  in  the  bloom  but  in  the  full  maturity  of 
her  splendid  powers.  And  the  full  weight  of  this  sanction  can- 
not be  appreciated  without  the  knowledge  that  Colonel  Parker, 
by  virtue  of  his  marriage  with  the  widow  Bridger,  became  the 
custodian  of  a  large  quantity  of  very  valuable  papers  that  related 
to  the  family,  and  to  the  Old  Church,  the  majority  of  which  were 
seized  and  destroyed  by  Tarleton's  men  in  1781,  when  they  en- 
deavored to  capture  Colonel  Parker  at  his  home,  and  the  balance 
were  lost  in  the  war  of  1812.  Mrs.  Cowper  was  perfectly  familiar 
with  these  papers,  cherished  them  as  the  jewels  of  her  household, 
and  verbally,  and  in  writing,  transmitted  the  substance  of  them 
to  posterity. 

Judith  Bridger,  her  half-sister,  who  had  the  same  pride  and 
the  same  facilities  for  knowing  the  contents  of  these  papers, 
married  Richard  Baker ;  and  Catherine,  her  sister,  married  Blake 
Baker — the  sons  of  Benjamin  Baker  of  Nansemond. 

Richard  Baker  was  the  father  of  the  late  Richard  H.  Baker, 
who  was  born  in  1788,  and  died  in  1871,  in  the  eighty-third  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  from  1834  (with  the  slight  interruption 
occasioned  by  the  late  war)  until  his  death,  a  period  of  thirty- 
seven  years,  the  very  distinguished  judge  of  this  the  second 
judicial  circuit.  He,  too,  was  proud  of  his  descent,  and  had  every 
opportunity,  in  the  eighty-three  years  of  constant  association 


146  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

with  his  kindred  and  people  of  this  section,  to  apply  his  judicial 
mind  to  the  traditions  of  his  family,  and  of  the  church,  in  which 
he  had  an  ancestral  right  to  be  interested.  His  mother,  Judith 
Bridger  Baker,  survived  until  1840  or  1841,  and  he  had  every 
opportunity  of  learning  from  her  all  that  she  knew  of  these 

matters. 

The  present  Richard  H.  Baker,  the  son  of  the  late  judge,  took 
especial  pains  to  learn  from  his  father  and  mother  all  that  they 
had  learned  from  his  grandmother  relative  to  the  Bridgers,  and 
the  traditions  of  the  Old  Church,  and  committed  to  writing, 
during  their  lives,  notes  of  the  conversations  he  had  with  them, 
which  notes  (now  before  me)  say,  "  My  grandmother  Baker  was 
Judith  Bridger  of  Macclesfield  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  county, 
great-granddaughter  of  the  Sir  Joseph  Bridger  who  built  St. 
Luke's  Church  in  1632."  This  statement,  then,  has  all  of  the 
endorsement  which  it  is  possible  to  derive  from  the  great  names 
of  Judge  Richard  H.  Baker,  and  of  his  mother,  Judith  Bridger 
Baker. 

In  the  will  of  the  Elizabeth  Bridger,  who  died  in  1717,  mention 
is  made  of  her  daughter  Patience  Milner,  and  of  her  grand- 
daughters Elizabeth  and  Martha  Norsworthy. 

The  third  George  Norsworthy,24  who  died  in  1724 — the  year 
after  the  commencement  of  the  old  Vestry  book  alluded  to — 
married  Elizabeth  Bridger,  the  daughter  of  the  Elizabeth  Bridger 
just  above  spoken  of. 

Joseph  Norsworthy,  a  descendent  of  this  George,  was  born  in 
1771,  and  died  in  March,  1859. 

Mr.  Joseph  C.  Norsworthy,  a  grandson  of  this  Joseph,  who 
Dr.  Purdie  says,  "  was  remarkable  for  his  integrity,  his  memory 
and  his  intelligence,"  writes  me  that  "  he  told  me  many  times 
that  the  Old  Brick  Church  was  built  in  1632  ;  that  in  1666  a 
Miss  Norsworthy  was  buried  in  the  aisle  of  the  church,  close  to 
the  chancel.  He  showed  me  the  spot,  and  mentioned  ^5  as  the 
burial  fee.  He  also  gave  me  a  history  of  the  re-shingling  of  the 
church  as  he  received  it  from  his  father  and  grandfather;  and  he 
stated  that  there  never  was  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  any  of  them 
that  the  Old  Church  was  built  in  1632." 

"Letters  of  J.  C.  Norsworthy  and  family  tree. 


THE   OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  147 

The  history  of  this  re-shingling,  as  received  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Norsworthy  from  his  father  and  grandfather,  and  imparted  by 
him  to  his  son,  Nathaniel,  to  his  grandson,  Joseph  C.,  to  his 
friend,  Dr.  Purdie,  and  others,  was  that  the  Old  Church  was  not 
re-shingled  from  1632  to  1737.  And  the  old  Vestry  book,  to 
which  allusion  has  been  made,  which  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
Mr.  Norsworthy  never  saw  (for  the  vestry  was  dissolved  in  1777, 
and  the  courthouse  moved  to  its  present  location  in  1800),  and 
if  he  did,  never  read,  contains  an  important  entry  bearing 
directly  on  this  point,  and  strongly  confirmatory  of  it. 

It  says  that  at  a  vestry  meeting  held  on  the  nth  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1737,  it  was  ordered  "  That  Peter  Woodward  do  the  shing- 
ling of  the  church  with  good  cypress  shingles,  of  good  sub- 
stance, and  well  nailed,  for  700  pounds  of  tobacco  ;  300  pounds 
being  now  levied;  to  be  finished  at  or  before  the  next  parish 
levy,  and  the  church  wardens  to  take  bond  and  security  for  the 
payment  of  the  same." 

The  credit  of  the  discovery  of  this  entry  is  entirely  due  to  the 
indefatigable  research  of  Dr.  Purdie,  who,  in  an  article  in  the 
Southern  Churchman  in  1882,  commenting  on  this  entry,  says: 
"as  the  best  cypress  shingles  are  known  to  resist  the  elements 
more  than  one  hundred  years,  the  date  of  the  building  of  the  Old 
Brick  Church,  as  derived  from  tradition,  must  receive  support 
from  this  record."  And  Bishop  Meade,  in  the  second  volume  of 
his  Old  Churches  and  Families,  p.  119,  alluding  to  Christ 
Church,  Lancaster  county,  Virginia,  says:  "  the  offer  was  cheer- 
fully accepted,  and  the  present  house  was  completed  about  the 
time  of  Mr.  Carter's  death — that  is,  about  the  year  1732 — and 
exhibits  to  this  day  (1838)  one  of  the  most  striking  monuments 
of  the  fidelity  of  ancient  architecture  to  be  seen  in  our  land. 
Very  few,  if  any,  repairs  have  been  put  upon  it;  the  original 
roof  and  shingles  now  cover  the  house,  and  have  preserved  in  a 
state  of  perfection  the  beautiful  arched  ceilings,  except  in  two 
places,  which  have  within  a  few  years,  been  a  little  discolored 
by  rain,  which  found  its  way  through  the  gutters  where  the 
shingles  have  decayed."  When,  in  a  few  years  afterwards  the 
church  was  repaired,  "  the  shingles,  except  in  the  decayed  gut- 
ters, were  so  good  that  they  were  sold  to  the  neighbors  around, 


148  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

and  will  probably  now  last  longer  than  many  new  ones  just 
gotten  from  the  woods." 

In  confirmation  of  these  observations,  it  may  be  added  that 
the  Old  Brick  Church  was  not  again  re-shingled  until  1821, 25 
when  a  vestry— the  first  that  was  organized  after  the  war— had  it 
done,  and  made  some  material  alterations  in  the  interior  arrange- 
ments of  the  church. 

During  all  that  period  of  profound  silence  and  absolute  dis- 
use, from  1777  to  1821,  save  very  rare  and  occasional  services, 
the  grand  Old  Church  was  left  the  prey  to  all  the  elements  and 
to  every  despoiler  who  cjiose  to  raise  his  sacrilegious  hands 
against  it. 

In  i642,26  only  ten  years  after  the  church  was  built,  Mr.  Falk- 
ner  had  charge  of  all  the  churches  in  the  county  of  Isle  of 
Wight.  In  that  year  the  county  was  divided  into  two  parishes, 
the  Upper  and  the  Lower ;  and  the  Old  Brick  Church  was  in 
the  Lower  Parish. 

In  i68o,27  William  Hodsden  was  the  minister  of  the  church  in 
the  Lower  Parish,  and  also  of  the  church  in  Chuckatuck  Parish. 

In  1746,  William  Hodsden,  a  descendant  of  this  William,  was 
a  vestryman  of  this  Old  Church,  and  so  continued  until  1752* 
He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Colonel  Joseph  Bridger;  and  was 
with  him,  a  co-trustee  of  the  town  of  Smithfield.  He  married 
Sarah  Bridger,  and  died  in  1797.  He  was  the  father  of  the 
Joseph  Bridger  Hodsden,  who  was  born  in  1776,  and  died  in 
1815;  and  he  was  the  father  of  the  Joseph  Bridger  Hodsden, 
who  was  born  in  1811,  and  died  in  1877 ;  and  he  was  the  father 
of  the  Joseph  Bridger  Hodsden,  who  gave  me  these  dates.  Like 
the  Norsworthys,  they  were  the  neighbors  of  the  Bridgers, 
intermarried  with  them,  resided  in  the  same  neighborhood,  and 
have  received  and  transmitted  from  father  to  son  the  same  tra- 
dition of  the  construction  of  the  Old  Church. 

Arthur  Smith  was  a  vestryman  of  the  Old  Church  from  1736  to 
1740;  and  Thomas  Smith,  his  nephew  and  heir-at-law,  was  a 
vestryman  from  1745  to  1751. 


25Joseph  Norsworthy  and  Dr.  John  Robinson  Purdie. 

26  Hening,  Vol.  I,  p.  279. 

27  Senate  Document,  1874. 


THE   OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  149 

They  were  the  descendants  of  the  Arthur  Smith,  who  with 
George  Hardy,  represented  the  county  in  the  General  Assembly 
of  i644-28  He  claimed  descent  from  the  Sir  Thomas  Smith,29 
who  was  so  long  the  treasurer  of  the  Virginia  Company  of 
London. 

The  first  Arthur  Smith  died  in  i645,30  the  friend  of  the  first 
Joseph  Bridger.  He  left  a  son,  Colonel  Arthur  Smith,  who  died 
in  1696,  the  friend  of  General,  the  second  Joseph  Bridger,  and 
was,  together  with  Lieutenant- Colonel  Pitt  and  Thomas  Pitt,  the 
adviser  by  his  will  of  his  widow,  and  like  them,  the  recipient  of 
a  legacy  for  a  memorial  ring. 

The  second  Colonel  Arthur  Smith,  who  died  in  1696,  left  a 
son  (Arthur)  who  died  in  1755,  and  was  the  guardian  of  Colonel 
Joseph  Bridger,  under  the  will  of  his  father. 

The  third  Arthur  Smith,  who  died  in  1755,  left  the  nephew 
Thomas,  spoken  of  above,  who  was  the  father  of  the  fourth 
Arthur,  the  Colonel  Arthur  Smith,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  Virginia  in  1819,  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  State  in  1809  and  i8i6,81  and  a  member  of  Congress  from  1821 
to  1825.  He  died  in  1854,  and  the  date  of  the  construction  of 
the  Old  Church  was  received  by  him  from  ancestors,  who  were 
the  contemporaries  of  all  of  the  Bridgers,  and  he  transmitted 
the  tradition  as  he  received  it. 

Richard  Hardy,  the  vestryman  of  the  church  from  1769  to 
1777,  was  a  descendant  of  the  George  Hardy  of  1644,  and  was 
the  father  of  George,  William,  and  Samuel,  and  of  Nancy,  Han- 
nah and  Sarah. 

Sam  Hardy,  as  he  was,  and  still  is,  familiarly  called,  was,  per- 
haps, the  most  brilliant  man  that  the  county  of  Isle  of  Wight 
ever  produced,  and  as  everything  but  his  name  has  been  allowed 
to  fade  into  oblivion,  I  will  crave  your  indulgence  for  putting  on 
record  something  more  than  the  mere  mention  of  his  name.  He 
was  at  William  and  Mary  in  I776,32  during  the  presidency  of  the 


28Hening,  Vol.  I,  p.  283. 

29  Miss  Eliza  Cocke's  Genealogical  Tree. 

'OHening,  Vol.  VI,  p.  308. 

"Furnished  by  R.  A.  Brock. 

32  Catalogues,  pp.  97,  80,  50;  Vestry  Book,  p.  117. 


150  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Rev.  John  Camm,  who  was  the  rector  of  the  Old  Brick  Church 
in  1745.  He  was,  with  Spencer  Roane  and  John  Page  and  John 
Marshall  and  Bushrod  Washington,  among  the  original  members 
of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  that  College.  Hugh  Blair 
Grigsby33  speaks  of  him  as  "  the  amiable  and  lamented  Hardy," 
"  one  of  the  most  popular  and  beloved  of  our  early  statesmen," 
"brilliant,  profound,  and  suddenly  snatched  away,"  and  Lyon 
G.  Tyler34  calls  him  "the  eloquent  Hardy,  whose  early  death 
extinguished  the  most  brilliant  expectations."  He  entered  the 
House  of  Delegates  about  the  close  of  the  war,  and  remained  an 
active  member  until  he  was  sent  to  Congress  in  1783.  He  died 
in  Philadelphia  whilst  a  member  of  Congress,  on  Monday,  the 
i7th  of  October,  1785.  His  death  was  announced  in  Congress 
the  same  day,  which  resolved  "  that  the  members  as  a  body 
would  attend  the  funeral  the  following  day  with  crepe  around  the 
left  arm,  and  will  continue  in  mourning  for  one  month."  Mr. 
Grayson,  Mr.  Read,  and  Mr.  Kean  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  superintend  the  funeral,  and  they  were  ordered  "  to  invite  the 
Governor  of  the  State,  the  Ministers  of  Foreign  Powers,  the 
Mayor  of  the  city,  and  other  persons  of  distinction  to  attend  the 
funeral."  35  The  funeral  expenses  were  ^114  93.,  and  they  were 
paid  by  William  Grayson.  who  brought  the  matter  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  State.  On  the  5th  of  December,  1785,  Judge  Tyler36 
addressed  a  tender  and  loving  letter  to  Patrick  Henry,  the  Gov- 
ernor, in  which  he  said  "  his  father  has  been  much  injured  by  the 
war  ;  his  family  is  large,  and  such  a  sum  as  ,£150  would  distress 
him  greatly,  as  I  know  he  would  most  certainly  encounter  any 
difficulty  rather  than  not  pay  it; "  and  it  was  paid  by  the  State.37 


3}  History  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  Vol.  II  (Va.  Hist.  Colls.  X), 
1788,  pp.  137,  226,  and  copy  of  Journal  of  1785,  furnished  me  by  Senator 
John  W.  Daniel. 

"Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  Vol.  I,  p.  191. 

85  Virginia  Convention  of  1788,  Vol.  II,  pp.  137,  226. 

36 Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  Vol.  I,  p.  191. 

87  On  page  342,  of  the  third  volume  of  W.  W.  Henry's  Life  of  P.  Henry 
is  the  letter  of  P.  Henry,  of  December  12, 1875,  to  "The  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Delegates,  urging  the  Legislature  to  pay  the  funeral  expenses 
of  the  late  Hon'ble  Mr.  Hardy,  because  of  the  merits  of  the  deceased 
gentleman,  and  of  the  circumstances  which  make  an  application  to  his 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  151 

His  associates  in  Congress  were  Thomas  Jefferson,  William 
Grayson,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Arthur  Lee,  and  James  Monroe. 
"  Monroe  and  Hardy  were  about  the  same  age,  were  in  the 
Assembly  together,  were  on  terms  of  strictest  intimacy,  and 
boarded  with  Mrs.  Ege  in  Richmond.  When  Monroe  made  his 
Southern  tour,  as  President,  he  called  to  see  his  old  landlady, 
who  presently  appeared,  and  though  thirty-odd  years  had  passed 
since  the  death  of  Hardy,  as  she  threw  her  arms  about  the  neck 
of  Monroe,  she  sobbed  forth  "Poor  Hardy."  His  remains  rest 
in  Philadelphia,  where  those  of  Henry  Tazewell,  James  Innes, 
Stevens  Thomson  Mason,  Isaac  Read,  and  other  gallant  and 
patriotic  Virginians  still  repose." 

On  hearing  of  his  death,  Judge  Tyler38  wrote  the  following 
beautiful  tribute  to  his  memory  : 

Ah,  why  my  soul  indulge  this  pensive  mood, 

Hardy  is  dead:  the  brave,  the  just  the  good. 

Careless  of  censure,  in  his  youthful  bier 

The  muse  shall  drop  a  tributary  tear. 

His  patriot  bosom  glowed  with  warmth  divine, 

And  Oh!  humanity  !  his  heart  was  thine. 

No  party  interest  led  his  heart  astray : 

He  chose  a  nobler,  though  a  beaten  way. 

Nor  shall  his  virtues  there  remain  unsung — 

Pride  of  the  Senate,  and  their  guide  and  tongue. 

That  tongue,  no  more,  can  make  even  truth  to  please — 

Polite  with  art,  and  elegant  with  ease. 

Fain  would  the  muse  augment  the  plaintive  strain; 

Tho'  the  most  flattering  panegyric  vain, 

When  the  brief  sentence,  youthful  Hardy's  dead, 

Speaks  more  than  poet  ever  thought  or  said  ! 


surviving  friends  improper."  These  circumstances  are  mentioned  in 
Judge  Tyler's  letter. 

So  the  funeral  expenses  of  the  budding  statesman  were  ultimately 
borne  by  the  State  as  the  last  tribute  it  could  pay  to  his  worth  and  to 
his  genius. 

38  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  Vol.  I,  p.  191. 


152  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

The  elegy  of  Hardy 39  on  the  death  of  Michael  Young,  on 
March  26,  1782,  the  sole  known  product  of  his  pen,40  shows  that 
he  possessed  great  poetic  powers. 

"  The  curtain's  drawn — the  awful  scene  is  past — 
My  once  respected  friend  has  breathed  his  last. 
Exhausted  nature  sinks  into  repose, 
A  long,  long  sleep  his  feeble  eyelids  close. 
Terrific  death  with  all  its  dire  parade, 
A  conquest  of  his  mortal  part  has  made. 
Cold  are  those  hands  that  tuned  the  pleasing  lyre, 
That  rais'd  the  hero's  ardor,  and  the  patriot's  fire, 
That  made  old  age  awhile  forget  its  years, 
And  eased  the  restless  mind  from  anxious  cares; 
That  soothed,  enraptured,  or  distressed  the  mind, 
Brightened  the  genius,  and  the  soul  refined; 
Harmonious  numbers  never  more  to  sound. 
Alas  !  he's  gone  ;  he  moulders  in  the  ground. 
Pale  is  the  cheek  that  wore  the  blooming  youth, 
Silent  the  tongue  that  spoke  the  voice  of  truth. 
Dried  are  those  tears  that  ne'er  refused  to  flow 
In  tender  sympathy  for  anothers  woe — 
Breathless  the  breast  that  glowed  with  filial  love 
For  earthly  parents  and  his  God  above. 
Nor  need  we  end  the  patriot  here : 
He  was  the  tender  brother,  and  the  friend  sincere. 
From  virtuous  precepts  to  virtuous  arts  inclined, 
His  thoughts  exalted,  and  serene  his  mind. 
But  death  tyrannic  aimed  the  fatal  dart — 
It  flew  unerring,  and  it  reached  the  heart. 
He  fell  beneath  the  cruel  tyrant's  power, 
Nipped  in  his  bloom,  like  some  fair  vernal  flower. 

39  Furnished  by  John  R.  Purdie  and  N.  P.  Young. 

40  Since  the  above  was  written  the  third  volume  of  W.  W.  Henry's  Life 
of  P.  Henry  has  been  published,  and  on  p.  268. 1  find  a  letter  from 
Hardy,  dated  New  York,  January   17,  1785,  to   P.   Henry,  Governor, 
"enclosing  a   memorial  of  some   citizens   of  Virginia   praying  to   be 
indulged  with  a  separate  government,"  and  on  pp.  273-7,  I  find  a  joint 
letter  from  Samuel  Hardy  and  James  Monroe,  dated  February  13,  1785, 
relative  to  the  location  of  the  Federal  Capitol. 


THE   OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  153 

But  why  lament?     Why  draw  the  far-fetched  sigh? 

We  all  are  mortal,  and  we  all  must  die. 

His  mortal  part  has  felt  the  tyrant's  sway ; 

To  happier  climes  his  soul  has  winged  its  way. 

On  seraph  wings  he  took  a  rapid  flight, 

And  seraph  like  now  revels  in  delight. 

Why  then  dread  death?     Why  fear  to  pass  o'er 

The  gulf  that  parts  from  that  happy  shore  ? 

Where  death  stalks  not  in  horrible  array, 

Enrobed  in  terrors  that  produce  dismay, 

But  through  verdant  fields  the  kindred  spirits  glide, 

And  flowery  landscapes  charm  on  every  side, 

Whilst  youth  immortal  blooms  on  every  cheek 

With  endless  joy,  and  happiness  complete." 

Mr.  Monroe,  during  the  Convention  of  1829,  pronounced  Mr. 
Hardy  the  most  brilliant  man  of  his  age  that  he  ever  knew." 

The  State  of  Virginia,  in  1786,  cherishing  his  memory,  named 
the  county  of  Hardy,  now  in  West  Virginia,  after  him,  and 
Hardy's  Bluff,  and  Hardy  District,  in  the  county  of  Isle  of 
Wight,  show  how  his  name  and  family  have  impressed  them- 
selves on  her  heart  and  on  her  memory. 

Archer  Carroll  married  Agnes  Hardy  of  this  family,  and  their 
son,  George  Carroll,  married  Miss  Wrenn.  N.  P.  Young  mar- 
ried Virginia  Carroll. 

The  traditions  of  the  Old  Church  are  fondly  cherished  in  all 
the  branches  of  this  family. 

Robert  Tynes,  the  vestryman  from  1746  to  1777,  served  with 
every  vestryman  whom  we  have  or  shall  mention,  except  William 
Bridger,  and  could,  therefore,  repeat  to  John  Day  what  he  learnt 
from  Lawrence  Baker.  He  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  appraiser 
of  the  estate  of  Colonel  Bridger.  Henry  Tynes,  a  descendant 
of  his,  died  in  Chuckatuck  in  1874,  and  Robert  Tynes,  his  son, 
died  there  in  1891.  I  knew  both  of  them  well,  but  I  do  not  re- 
member to  ever  to  have  conversed  with  either  on  this  subject. 
But  as  they  were  intelligent  gentlemen,  and  lived  only  five  miles 
from  the  Church,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  have  been  ignorant 
of  its  history. 

41  Dr.  John  R.  Purdie,  from  his  father,  John  H.  Purdie. 


154  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Nicholas  Parker  was  a  vestryman  from  1760  to  1777.  He  was 
born  in  1722,  and  died  in  1789.  He  married  Ann  Copeland, 
who  was  born  in  1723,  and  died  in  1786.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Joseph  Copeland  and  Mary  Woodley,  the  daughter  of  Andrew 
Woodley.  Joseph  Copeland  was  probably  a  descendant  of  the 
Rev.  Patrick  Copeland,  who  was  chaplain  on  the  Royal  James  in 
1617,  and  when  near  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  collected  from  her 
officers  and  men  ^70  "for  the  good  of  Virginia."  He  also,  on 
the  i8th  of  April,  1622,  preached  before  the  Virginia  Company  t 
of  London,  and  "  urged  the  promotion  of  the  noble  plantation 
that42  tended  so  highly  to  the  advancement  of  the  Gospel,  and 
the  honoring  of  our  dread  sovereign."  He  spent  fully  ^1,000 
sterling  in  Bermuda  for  a  school  for  the  training  of  Indian  chil- 
dren, and  died  between  1649  and  1655.  The  frequency  of  the 
intercourse  between  Bermuda  and  Virginia  suggests  the  migra- 
tion of  the  family  to  this  country. 

Nicholas  Parker  and  Ann  Copeland  were  the  parents  of  the 
Colonel  Josiah  Parker,  who  married  the  widow  Bridger. 

Thomas  Woodley,  the  vestryman  from  1728  to  1755,  was  the 
brother  of  Mary  and  the  son  of  Andrew  Woodley,  who  came 
to  this  country  in  1691  with  his  wife,  Mary,  and  his  sons,  Thomas 
and  Henry,  and  had  born  unto  him  here  John,  who  married 
Francis  Wilson,  and  Mary,  who  married  Joseph  Copeland. 

Thomas  had  a  son  John,  who  married  Catherine  Boykin,  the 
widow  of  Major  Francis  Boykin,  who  was  Catherine  Bryant,  of 
Northampton  county,  North  Carolina.  They  had  a  son  Andrew, 
who  married  Elizabeth  Hill  Harrison,  and  their  daughter 
Frances  was  my  mother. 

Jordan  Thomas,  the  vestryman  from  1746  to  1755,  was  a 
descendant  of  the  Richard  Thomas  whose  will  bears  date  in 
1681.  He  was  the  county  surveyor  and  laid  off  the  town  of 
Smithfield  in  1752  for  Arthur  Smith.  He  lived  to  a  green  old 
age  and  died  in  1807. 

My  mother  knew  Mrs.  Cowper  intimately,  and  like  her  pos- 
sessed a  masculine  mind  and  a  fondness  for  genealogy.  They 
were  archaeologists  of  highest  order.  I  knew  Frederick  P.  P. 

42  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  p.  251,  253,  254,  372,  374;  Neill, Virginia 
Vetusta,  p.  134,  193,  194,  195 ;  Brown's  Genesis,  973. 


THE    OLD    BRICK   CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  155 

Cowper,  the  son  of  Mrs.  Cowper,  intimately,  and  from  him,  and 
from  my  mother,  I  have  heard,  repeatedly,  the  history  of  the 
Old  Church,  and  in  all  the  branches  of  our  family  ihe  tradition 
of  its  construction  is  confidently  believed. 

Lawrence  Baker,  the  vestryman  from  1724  to  1757  was  the 
father  of  Richard  Baker,  who  was  a  vestryman  from  1760  to 
1777,  and  clerk  of  the  county  from  1754  to  1770. 

It  is  believed  that  Benjamin  Baker,  of  Nansemond,  is  a  de- 
scendant of  the  Isle  of  Wight  branch  of  this  family. 

John  Day  is  the  ancestor  of  Colonel  C.  F.  Day,  of  Smithfield, 
and  his  wife  is  a  granddaughter  of  General  John  Scarsbrook 
Wills,  who  was  a  member  of  all  of  the  conventions  of  1775  and 
and  1776,  and  prominent  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

The  traditions  of  the  Old  Church  are  preserved  in  this  family. 

From  the  vestrymen  of  the  Old  Church,  and  from  every  per- 
son and  family  who  has  ever  had  any  official  or  unofficial  con- 
nection with'  it,  has  descended  the  same  invariable  tradition. 
And  the  pregnant  fact  must  be  considered,  that  it  has  never  been 
contradicted.  It  would  have  been  contradicted,  if  contradiction 
had  been  possible.  As  everyone  knows,  Nansemond  county  was 
the  early  and  the  congenial  home  of  the  non-conformist.  Its 
boundary  line  is  only  five  miles  distant;  and  it  would  have  been 
perfectly  natural  and  inevitable  for  them  to  have  furnished  willing 
witnesses  against  the  tradition,  if  any  witnesses  at  all,  could  by 
any  possibility,  have  been  found.  Then,  besides,  Benn's  church, 
the  most  famous  Methodist  church  in  this  section,  has  grown 
upon  the  ruins  of  the  Old  Church,  and  antagonistic  as  it  was  in 
its  early  days,  it  has  never  furnished  a  person  to  suggest  a  doubt 
of  the  correctness  of  the  ancient  tradition.  On  the  contrary,  all 
of  its  members,  like  the  Norsworthys  and  the  Hodsdens  are 
zealous  supporters  of  that  tradition. 

The  tradition,  then,  is  the  tradition  of  friends  and  of  foes ;  is 
universal ;  is  coeval  with  the  Church;  has  always  been  asserted, 
never  denied,  and  must  be  accepted  as  true.  And  it  has  been 
accepted  as  true  by  Dr.  Hawks,  by  Bishop  Meade,  by  Philip 
Slaughter,  by  the  whole  county  of  Isle  of  Wight,  and  by  every 
person  who  has  given  to  this  subject  the  consideration  that  its 
importance  demands. 


156  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

3d.    The  Lately  Existing  Records. 

Francis  Young  was  deputy  clerk  of  the  county  of  Isle  of 
Wight  from  1768  to  1787;  and  clerk  from  1787  to  1794.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  son,  James,  from  1794  to  1800;  by  his  son, 
Francis,  from  1800  to  1801;  and  by  his  son,  Nathaniel,  from  1801 
to  1841;  and  Nathaniel  P.  Young,  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and 
grandson  of  Francis,  has  held  the  office  from  1841  to  the  present 
time,  with  the  slight  interval  of  the  days  when  Virginia  was  a 
military  district. 

In  1781,  when  the  courthouse  of  the  county  was  in  the  town 
of  Smithfield  (Nathaniel  Burwell,  the  clerk,  having  left  this  sec- 
tion of  the  State),  the  custody  of  the  records  of  the  county  was 
in  the  hands  of  Francis  Young,  his  deputy  clerk.  He  being  in 
the  regiment  of  General  John  Scarsbrook  Wills,  was  absent  from 
the  county;  but  his  faithful  wife,  learning  that  Tarleton  intended 
to  make  a  raid  on  Smithfield  to  destroy  the  records,  took 
and  buried  them  on  what  is  now  the  farm  of  John  F.  Scott,  near 
the  mill-pond,  in  a  trunk  that  is  now  in  the  clerk's  office.  They 
remained  buried  for  a  long  while. 

Dr.  John  R.  Purdie,  the  brother-in-law  of  the  late  Nathaniel 
Young,  in  an  article  in  the  Southern  Churchman  of  October  igth, 
1882,  alluding  to  these  facts,  writes:  "I  have  heard  him  (Na- 
thaniel Young)  say  that  when  a  boy  there  was  in  the  office  an 
old  record  book  containing  vestry  proceedings,  in  which  he 
noticed  entries  relating  to  the  Old  Brick  Church,  and  his  recol- 
lection was  clear  that  they  were  of  the  date  of  1632.  At  the 
time  these  entries  were  discovered  the  book  containing  them  was 
in  an  advanced  stage  of  decay,  caused  by  the  dampness  whilst 
they  were  buried,  as  I  have  stated,  and  soon  yielded  to  the  tooth 
of  time.  Mr.  Young  was  remarkable  for  the  strength  of  his 
memory  and  accuracy  of  statement." 

Dr.  Purdie  has  always  been  remarkable  for  his  antiquarian 
research,  for  the  love  of  his  section  and  State,  for  the  strength  of 
his  memory,  and  for  the  accuracy  of  his  statements. 

Mr.  N.  P.  Young,  the  present  clerk,  now  in  the  seventy-fifth 
year  of  his  age,  writes  me:  "He  (my  father)  said  that  for  many 
years  after  he  went  into  the  clerk's  office  there  were  two  old  books 
the  rerelative  to  the  Church  and  the  proceedings  of  the  vestry,  and 
that  the  older  of  the  two,  being  greatly  damaged  by  having  been 


THE   OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  157 

buried  in  1781,  was  destroyed  by  worms.  In  this  book  was,  as 
stated  by  him,  the  proceedings  relative  to  the  erection  of  the  Old 
Church.  When  I  entered  the  office  in  1836,  nothing  was  left  of 
this  old  book  but  the  back  and  small  portions  of  the  leaves,  so 
eaten  by  the  worms  that  it  was  perfectly  illegible." 

The  existence,  then,  of  this  old  book,  and  the  substance  of 
its  entries,  relative  to  the  Old  Church  must,  upon  the  testimony 
of  these  living  witnesses,  and  of  the  one  so  lately  deceased,  be 
accepted  as  an  unquestionable  fact. 

4th.    The  Bricks  and  the  Mortar  of  the  Church. 

In  June,  1887,  the  Rev.  David  Barr,  rector  of  Christ  Church, 
attended  a  convocation  held  at  Old  St.  John's  Church,  Smithfield, 
near  Chuckatuck.  On  the  Sunday  of  that  convocation  a  very 
severe  storm  of  wind  and  rain  came  up,  which,  with  its  thunder, 
shook  all  that  neighborhood.  On  Monday,  as  he  was  returning 
home,  when  he  came  in  sight  of  the  Old  Brick  Church,  he  observed 
that  the  storm  had  so  shaken  that  Old  Church  that  its  roof  had 
fallen  in,  and  that  a  large  part  of  the  eastern  wall  had  fallen  on 
that  roof.  With  a  sad  heart  he  stopped  and  surveyed  the  dis- 
tressing scene,  but,  plucking  courage  from  disaster,  he  resolved, 
then  and  there,  that  the  Old  Church  should  be  rebuilt,  and  that 
the  most  ancient  building  in  all  America  of  European  construc- 
tion should  be  preserved  to  the  State  and  to  the  Church  which 
had  erected  it. 

Mr.  Emmet  W.  Maynard,  formerly  a  citizen  of  Surry,  had 
recently  moved  into  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  Mr.  Barr 
at  once  engaged  him,  as  chief  workman,  to  remove  the  fallen 
roof  and  the  encumbering  bricks.  Mr.  Maynard  entered  promptly 
upon  the  work,  and  after  he  had  removed  the  debris  of  the  roof, 
he  then  began  upon  that  of  the  fallen  wall  and  the  scattered 
bricks.  Whilst  so  engaged,  he,  one  day,  found  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  Church,  where  the  wall  had  chiefly  fallen,  a  curious 
brick,  which  upon  examination  seemed  to  have  something  cut 
into  it,  which,  by  accident  or  design,  was  filled  with  mortar. 
With  a  sharp-pointed  stick  he  removed  the  mortar  until  first 
dimly,  and  then  clearly,  and  then  still  more  clearly,  was  seen  the 
figures  1632.  Mr.  Maynard  had  so  recently  become  a  citizen  of 
the  county,  that  I  doubt,  if  he  knew  the  significance  of  that 


158  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

brick;  but  as  it  came  from  that  portion  of  the  eastern  wall  that 
had  fallen  in  the  Church,  was  peculiar  in  its  character  and  shape, 
and  had  some  figures  on  it,  which,  probably,  were  made  whilst  the 
brick  was  soft  and  before  it  had  been  burnt,  he  saved  it,  and 
when  Mr.  Barr  next  came  to  the  Church  he  showed  it  to  him  and 
informed  him  when  and  where  and  how  he  found  it.  Mr.  Barr 
told  him  rapidly  and  excitedly  something  of  the  ancient  history 
of  the  Church  and  of  the  importance  of  the  brick,  and  then,  they 
both,  with  the  zeal  of  the  antiquary,  fired  by  the  discovery  of  the 
buried  city  or  lost  treasure— the  proof  of  his  faith — began  a 
search  inside  and  outside  of  the  Church  to  see  what  further  they 
could  find.  Presently  they  came  upon  a  piece  of  broken  brick 
inside  of  the  Church,  and  not  far  from  the  spot  where  the  whole 
brick  had  been  found,  with  a  figure  i  upon  it.  Being  still  more 
excited  by  this  discovery,  they  increased  the  energy  of  the 
search,  and  after  some  hours  of  scrutiny  and  toil,  they  found  on 
the  southeast  side  of  the  Church,  on  the  outside  of  it  and  near 
the  tower,  another  piece  of  brick  with  a  figure  2  on  it.  On  put- 
ting these  two  pieces  of  broken  brick  together  they  were  delighted 
to  see  that  they  fitted  perfectly.  The  brick  had  been  broken  in 
two.  On  one  part  was  the  figure  i,  on  the  other  part  was  the 
figure  2,  and  the  middle  figures  was  destroyed  by  the  violent 
separation  of  the  brick  in  its  fall.  These  broken  pieces  that 
belonged  to  the  middle  of  the  brick  were  two  small  to  be  then 
found,  for  nearly  the  whole  of  the  rubbish  had  been  removed 
and  thrown  away.  But  here  were  the  pieces  of  the  second  brick, 
in  its  make  and  shape  exactly  like  the  first,  with  the  same  figures 
upon  either  end.  The  conviction  was  then,  and  is  now,  absolute, 
on  inspection,  that  the  middle  figures  were  6  and  3,  making  1632, 
like  its  companion  brick.  Both  had  been  made  by  the  same  par- 
ties, at  the  same  time,  from  the  same  clay,  burnt  in  the  same  kiln, 
put  in  the  same  wall  near  the  same  place  by  the  same  workman, 
and  both  had  been  deeply  and  firmly  concealed  from  all  human 
sight  and  knowledge  from  1632  to  1887,  when  they  were,  simul- 
taneously, disclosed  to  the  world  by  the  voice  of  God  speaking 
in  the  storm. 

And  thus  the  Church,  by  its  very  brick  and  mortar,  confirms 
the  ancient  tradition  of  the  people,  the  truth  of  the  crumbkd 
record,  and  of  the  Vestry  book  still  extant,  and  they  all  join  in 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  159 

one  consistent  and  harmonious  acclaim  that — The  Old  Brick 
Church  was  Built  in  1632. 

The  ministers  of  the  Old  Brick  Church,  besides  Falkner  and 
Hodgen,  so  far  as  known,  were : 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Bailey,  prior  to  and  during  1724. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Barlow,  from  March  3Oth,  1725,  to  October, 
1726. 

The  Rev.  John  Gammill,  from  March  gth,  1729,  to  November 
25th,  1743. 

The  Rev.  John  Camm,  from  March  4th,  1745,  to  a  few  months 
only. 

The  Rev.  John  Reid,  from  March  8th,  1746,  to  April,  1757. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Milner,  from  February,  1766,  to  May  3d,  1770. 
He  was  a  descendant  of  that  Colonel  Thomas  Milner,  who  was 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Colonel  in  1680,  who  was  clerk  to  the 
Assembly  in  1684,  and  its  Speaker  in  1691,  and  probably  the 
son  of  that  Milner  who  married  Patience,  the  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Elizabeth  Bridger. 

The  Rev.  I.  H.  Burgess,  for  the  years  1773-' 74,-' 75,  and  '76. 

The  Rev.   Hubard,  died  on  the  Glebe  in  1802. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Butler,  occasionally,  1780. 

The  Rev.  William  G.  H.  Jones,  from  1826  to  1832. 

Bishop  Richard  C.  Moore  confirmed  a  class  of  four  in  1820 — 
viz:  Colonel  Brewer  Godwin,  Parker  Wills,  Mrs.  Ann  P.  P. 
Cowper,  and  Margaret  S.  Purdie. 

The  last  marriage  in  the  Church  was  that  of  George  W.  Pur- 
die  and  Evelina  Belmont  Smith,  on  April  26th,  1836. 

LIST    OF   VESTRYMEN    FROM    1724. 

Lawrence  Baker,  vestryman  from  1724  to  1757. 

William  Bridger,  "  "  1724  to  1730. 

Thomas  Woodley,  "  "  1728  to  1755. 

Major  Joseph  Bridger,  "  "  1735  to  1747. 

Arthur  Smith,  "  "  1736  to  1740. 

Thomas  Smith,  "  "  1745  to  1751. 

Jordan  Thomas,  "  "  1746  to  1755. 

Robert  Tynes,  "  "  1746  to  1777. 

William  Hodsden,  "  "  1746  to  1757. 


160  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Joseph  Bridger,  vestrymen  from  1746  to  1749. 

Colonel  Joseph  Bridger,  "  1757  to  1769. 

Nicholas  Parker,  "  1760  to  1777. 

Richard  Baker,  "  1760  to  1777. 

James  Bridger,  clerk  in  1753,        "  "  1766101777. 

Richard  Hardy,  "             "  1769101777. 

John  Day,  "  IJ77- 

There  was  no  election  of  a  vestry  from  1756  to  1777.  It  was 
then  on  the  petition  of  "sundry  inhabitants"  of  the  parish  of 
Newport,  in  the  county  of  Isle  of  Wight,  dissolved." 

The  names  of  the  other  vestrymen  appearing  in  the  old  Vestry- 
book  are  Samuel  Davis,  Mathew  Jones,  Thomas  Walton,  Wil- 
liam Kinchin,  William  Grumpier,  James  Day,  George  Riddick, 
Mathew  Wills,  Reuben  Proctor,  Nathaniel  Ridley,  John  Good- 
rich, George  Williamson,  James  Ingles,  John  Person,  John 
Davis,  John  Simmons,  William  Wilkinson,  Joseph  Godwin, 
Henry  Lightfoot,  John  Monroe,  Thomas  Parker,  Hardy  Council, 
Henry  Pitt,  Richard  Wilkinson,  Henry  Applewhaite,  Thomas 
Day,  John  Lawrence,  Hugh  Giles,  Thomas  and  John  Apple- 
whaite, Thomas  Tynes,  John  Eley,  John  Darden,  Dolphin  Drew, 
John  Wills,  William  Salter,  Robert  Barry,  Charles  Tilghman, 
Robert  Burwell,  Miles  Wills,  and  Edmund  Godwin. 

One  grand  historic  landmark  of  the  old  church-yard  has 
recently  yielded  to  the  scythe  of  time,  but  its  exact  spot  and  its 
memory  ought  for  many  reasons  to  be  perpetuated. 

A  grand  old  oak  stood  by  the  side  of  the  road  right  between 
what  is  now  the  burial  lots  of  William  Gale  and  Walter  B.  Jor- 
dan Under  that  oak  Tarleton  and  his  officers  rested  when  they 
made  a  dash  for  Colonel  Josiah  Parker  in  1781.  Under  that  oak 
Lorenzo  Dow  preached,  Joseph  Norsworthy  and  others  were  con- 
verted, and  he  and  they  there  joined  the  Methodists,  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  now  famous  Benn's  church.  Under  that 
oak  elections  were  held,  and  under  it  Samuel  Hardy,  Josiah 
Parker,  James  Johnson,  Arthur  Smith,  Joel  Holleman,  Archer 


43  See  Journal  of  the  Convention,  June,  1776,  p.  40;  See  Journal  of 
the  Convention,  December,  1776,  p.  80  ;  See  Hening,  IX.,  chapter 
XX,  p.  317. 


THE    OLD    BRICK    CHURCH,  SMITHFIELD.  161 

Atkinson  and  Robert  Whitfield — all  members  of  Congress  from 
this  county — discussed  the  engrossing  issues  of  their  day. 

Dr.  Purdie,  in  an  article  in  the  Southern  Churchman  in  No- 
vember, 1882,  speaking  of  that  oak,  says:  "oaks  of  gigantic 
proportions  and  of  great  age  stand  near  this  venerable  Christian 
temple.  One  of  them,  the  oldest  and  perhaps  the  largest  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom  family  in  the  county,  if  not  in  Eastern  Vir- 
ginia, was  more  than  twenty  years  ago  measured  by  myself  in 
company  with  the  Rev.  Silas  Totten,  D.  D. ,  of  the  faculty  of 
William  and  Mary  College,  and  its  circumference  five  feet  from 
the  ground  was  more  than  eighteen  feet.  Under  its  expansive 
boughs  men  now  old  gamboled  in  childhood  and  in  youth.  In  its 
extensive  shade  the  past  and  the  present  generations  have  lunched 
on  protracted  religious  occasions.  On  its  grassy  carpet  Virginia 
militia  have  formed  ranks  and  performed  simple  and  eccentric 
movements.  And  the  loud  harangues  of  legislative  aspirants 
and  political  declaimers  were  ofttimes  heard  from  its  rugged 
roots.  On  the  afternoon  of  a  calm  autumnal  Sabbath  in  1875, 
this  vegetable  giant,  this  patriarch  of  the  forest,  succumbed  to 
nature's  laws,  and  its  mighty  fall  never  to  be  revived,  and  not  to 
be  replaced  in  ages,  it  became  a  huge  mass,  if  may  I  say.  sacred 
timber  and  fire  fuel." 

Not  only  was  this  grand  old  oak  loved  for  the  reasons  given, 
but  because  it,  more,  perhaps,  than  any  of  its  fellows,  was  in  the 
universal  heart  intimately  associated  with  the  tenderest  senti- 
ments. On  its  huge  knees,  purposely  designed  by  nature,  many 
sat,  who,  "Like  Juno's  swans,  still  went  coupled  and  insepar- 
able," and  those  knees  were  so  diverged  and  distant  that  what 
was  said  in  love's  low  tones  on  the  one  side  of  the  faithful  tree 
did  not  reach  the  engaged  ear  on  the  other.  Grand  old  oak, 
how  we  miss  you  !  Under  that  old  oak, 

"  Whose  boughs  were  massed  with  age, 
And  high  top,  bald  with  antiquity," 

how  often  have  we  gathered  and  carved  names,  and  kissed  the 
bark,  and  hugged  its  huge  circumference,  believing  it  to  be 
inspired  with  the  touch  and  feeling  of  her  who  had  just  left  it. 
Broader  than  that  which  stood  sentinel  in  Sumner- chase,  it  was 


162  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

enshrined  in  sweeter  memories,  for  as  that  had  only  one  Walter 
and  one  Olivia,  this  had  its  hundreds. 

And  this  whole  grove,  abandoned  by  the  service  of  the  Church, 
revered  and  loved  for  its  ancient  memories  and  its  multitudinous 
dead  here  buried,  its  dense,  extensive  and  sacred  shade,  its 
solemn  hush  and  silence  was  our  forest  of  Eden,  where  our 
melancholy  Jacques  and  passionate  Orlandos,  "Sighing  every 
minute  and  groaning  every  hour,"  hung  "odes  on  hawthornes 
and  elegies  on  brambles,"  saying — 

"  O  Rosalind,  these  trees  shall  be  my  books, 

And  in  their  barks  my  thoughts  I'll  character; 
That  every  eye  which  in  this  forest  looks 

Shall  see  thy  virtues  witnessed  everywhere." 

And  now,  having  completed  the  history  of  this  grand  old 
church  so  far  as  it  is  known  to  me — not  even  having  ignored  its 
sentimental  associations,  let  me  express  the  hope  that  it  will 
soon  be  restored  to  its  pristine  condition,  and  once  again  unite 
in  harmony  and  in  love  with  all  other  churches  in  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world. 

R.  S.  THOMAS. 


MINISTERS   WHO    CAME    FROM    1607    TO    l622.  163 


A  PARTIAL  LIST  OF  MINISTERS  WHO  CAME  FROM  1607  TO  1622. 

Robert  Hunt  came  in  1607,  died  at  Jamestown,   1609. 

Richard  Bucke  came  in  1610,  died  at  Jamestown,    1624. 
»     Glover  came  prior  to  1611. 

Poole  came  prior  to  1611. 

William  Wickham  came  prior  to  1611,  died  at  Henrico,  1638. 

Alexander  Whitaker  came  prior  to  1611,  died  at  Henrico, 
1617. 

William  Mease  or  Mays  came  prior  to  1611,  died  at  Henrico 
after  1623. 

William  Macock  came  prior  to  1616,  died  at  Henrico  after 
1626. 

Thomas  Bargrave  came  prior  to  1618,  died  at  Isle  of  Wight, 
1621. 

Robert  Paulet  came  prior  to  1620. 

David  Sandis  came  prior  to  1620. 

William  Bennett  came  prior  to  1621,  died  at  Isle  of  Wight, 
1624. 

Robert  Bolton  came  prior  to  1621,  lived  in  Accomac  and 
Jamestown. 

Jonas  Stockton  came  prior  to  1621,  lived  in  Elizabeth  City 
and  Henrico. 

Thomas  White  came  prior  to  1621. 

Haul  Wyatt  came  prior  to  1621,  lived  in  Jamestown. 

Hopkins  came  prior  to  1622. 

Pemberton  came  prior  to  1622. 

Greville  Pooley  came  prior  to  1622. 

William  Cotton  came  about  1622. 

The  letter  of  the  London  Company  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  of  Virginia,  dated  September  n,  1621,  speaking  of  books 
for  the  ministers,  says  :  "  As  for  books  we  doubt  not  you  will  be 
able  to  supply  them  out  of  the  libraries  of  so  many  that  have 
died." 

R.  S.  T. 


RICHMOND'S  FIRST  ACADEMY, 


PROJECTED    BY 


M.  QUESNAY  DE  BEAUREPAIRE, 


IIDsT     1786. 


A    PAPER    READ    BEFORE    THE    VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 
TUESDAY,   DECEMBER    22,   1891, 

BY  RICHARD  HEYWARD  GAINES, 

Richmond,  Virginia. 


Richmond's  First  Academy, 


PROJECTED    BY 


M.    QUESNAY   DE   BEAUREPAIRE. 


Last  winter,  while  attending  a  reception  at  the  Authors  Club  in 
New  York,  given  the  artists  of  that  city,  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  Mr.  Moncure  D.  Conway,  who,  after  some  general  con- 
versation, mentioned  a  letter  that  he  had  just  received  from  Paris, 
asking  him  to  try  and  find  any  traces  or  records  of  the  Chevalier 
Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire,  in  Virginia. 

After  returning  to  Richmond,  Mr.  Conway  applied  to  me  to 
assist  him  in  collecting  any  information  obtainable  concerning 
the  subject  of  which  he  had  spoken.  This  worthy  Frenchman, 
as  some  of  you  perhaps  may  know,  proposed  to  establish  at 
Richmond  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  an 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  The  descendants  of  this  inter- 
esting man  form  a  distinguished  family  in  France  just  now. 
The  present  Procureur  General,  M.  de  Beaurepaire,  is  grandson  of 
the  Chevalier  Quesnay,  and  wishes  to  write  a  m<§moire  of  his 
ancestor. 

Desirous  to  render  Mr.  Conway  any  assistance  in  my  power, 
who  in  turn  was  anxious  to  communicate  with  his  friend  in  Paris, 
I  found  after  some  weeks  of  search  and  inquiry  several  rare 
volumes  from  which  a  brief  account  of  our  subject  could  be 
gleaned. 

In  the  State  Library  of  Virginia,  I  discovered  a  curious  and 
interesting  volume  in  French,  published  in  Paris  in  1788,  entitled 


168  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

"Memoir  and  Prospectus  concerning  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
and  Fine  Arts  of  the  United  States  of  America,  established  at 
Richmond,  the  capital  of  Virginia,  by  the  Chevalier  Quesnay  de 
Beaurepaire"  (Founder  and  President). 

From  this  memoir  and  other  data  collected  from  a  variety  of 
sources,  including  a  contribution  to  Virginia  Educational  History 
by  Prof.  Adams,  I  have  been  enabled  to  prepare  the  following 
sketch  : 

The  Chevalier  Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire  was  grandson  of  Dr. 
Quesnay  the  famous  French  philosopher,  economist  and  court 
physician  of  Louis  the  XVI ;  a  man  eminent  for  his  talents,  his 
universal  information  and  public  spirit. 

The  grandson  belonged  to  the  cavalry  of  the  guard  of  Louis 
the  XVI,  when  this  troop  was  disbanded.  At  this  time  the  con- 
vulsions of  the  war  of  Revolution  were  agitating  a  portion  of 
the  New  World.  The  chevalier  was  one  of  the  enthusiastic 
Frenchmen  who  like  de  la  Fayette  came  over  to  aid  America. 
Attracted,  he  says  in  his  memoirs,  by  the  brilliant  hope  of  dis- 
tinguishing himself  in  arms,  he  served  in  Virginia,  with  honor, 
in  the  rank  of  captain,  during  the  years  of  1777  and  1778.  The 
loss  of  his  accoutrements,  also  of  his  letters  of  introduction, 
which  were  mislaid  in  the  office  of  Patrick  Henry,  the  then 
Governor  of  Virginia,  and  finally  a  severe  illness  and  a  want  of 
pecuniary  resources,  at  so  great  a  distance  from  home,  compelled 
him  to  abandon  the  profession  of  arms.  In  Gloucester  county, 
Virginia,  after  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  army,  Sir  John  Pey- 
ton, touched  with  his  destitute  condition,  kindly  invited  him  to 
to  his  house,  and  insisted  on  his  remaining  there  while  he  was 
awaiting  assistance  from  his  own  country,  and  restoration  of 
health.  For  nearly  two  years  he  bestowed  on  him  every  mark 
of  kindness  and  treated  him  as  his  own  son.  After  being  restored 
to  health,  the  chevalier  having  occasion  to  travel  through  the 
country,  conceived  the  idea  of  improving  it  by  the  introduction 
of  French  culture  and  the  fine  arts.  He  says  that  the  first  idea 
of  founding  an  academy  in  America  was  suggested  to  him  in 
1778,  by  Mr.  John  Page,  of  Rosewell,  subsequently  Governor  of 
Virginia,  who  urged  him  to  procure  professors  from  Europe, 
promising  to  secure  their  appointment  and  make  Quesnay  the 


RICHMOND'S  FIRST  ACADEMY,  1786.  169 

president  of  the  academy.  He  saw  a  good  opportunity  of  multi- 
plying the  relations  between  France  and  America,  or  as  he  says 
in  a  letter  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  "  of  uniting  it 
with  his  country  by  new  ties  of  gratitude,  of  conformity  of  taste 
and  of  a  more  intimate  connection  between  the  individuals 
of  the  nations."  Thus  originated  a  remarkable  attempt  to 
establish  an  institution  for  the  higher  education,  on  a  grand  scale 
in  this  country.  It  was  an  effort  growing  out  of  the  French 
alliance  with  the  United  States,  to  plant  in  Richmond,  the  new 
capital  of  Virginia,  a  kind  of  French  Academy  of  the  Arts  and 
Sciences,  with  branch  academies  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and 
New  York.  The  institution  was  to  be  at  once  national  and 
international.  It  was  to  be  affiliated  with  the  royal  societies  of 
London,  Paris,  Brussels,  and  with  other  learned  bodies  in  Europe. 
The  general  plan  of  the  academy  was  one  of  the  greatest  magni- 
tude. It  was  to  be  composed  of  a  president,  a  vice-president, 
six  counsellors,  a  treasurer-general,  a  secretary,  a  recorder,  an 
agent  for  taking  European  subscriptions,  French  professors, 
masters,  artists-in- chief  attached  to  the  academy,  twenty-five 
resident  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  non-resident  associ- 
ates, selected  from  the  best  talent  of  the  Old  World  and  the 
New. 

The  academy  proposed  to  publish  yearly  from  its  own  press 
in  Paris,  an  almanac,  announcing  to  the  academic  world  not  only 
the  officers  and  students  of  the  Richmond  institution,  with  their 
distinguished  associates,  but  also  the  work  projected  by  the 
academy  from  year  to  year — such  work  when  completed  was  to 
be  published  in  the  memoirs  of  the  academy,  and  distributed  to 
the  learned  societies  of  Europe  and  to  the  associates  and  patrons 
of  the  institution.  The  academy  was  to  show  its  active  zeal  for 
science  by  communicating  to  France  and  other  European  coun- 
tries, a  knowledge  of  the  natural  products  of  North  America. 
The  museums  and  cabinets  of  the  Old  World  were  to  be  enriched 
by  specimens  of  the  flora  and  fauna  of  a  country  as  yet  undis- 
covered by  men  of  science;  experts  of  every  class  were  to  be 
sent  out  to  the  new  academy,  where  they  were  to  teach  the 
American  youth  and  at  the  same  time  serve  on  scientific  com- 
missions fof  governments,  corporations  and  stock  companies. 
Special  stress  was  laid  upon  the  importance  of  introducing  into 


170  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

America,  French  Mineralogists  and  Mining  Engineers,  who  were 
to  fully  develop  the  natural  resources  of  the  United  States. 

The  projector  of  this  brilliant  scheme  appears  to  have  made 
diligent  propaganda  not  only  throughout  Virginia,  but  the  whole 
country  in  the  interest  of  his  novel  academic  idea.  He  even  suc- 
ceeded in  raising-  by  subscription  the  sum  of  60,000  francs, — a 
fact  which  indicates  that  the  scheme  was  seriously  entertained. 
He  gives  in  his  memoir  a  list  of  the  original  subscribers,  embrac- 
ing nearly  one  hundred  names — nine-tenths  of  the  subscribers 
were  Virginians,  with  the  rest  from  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and 
New  York.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  mention  a  few  of  the  follow- 
ing names  of  the  patrons  of  liberal  culture  in  Richmond  during 
the  last  century  :  John  Harvie,  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  Register 
of  the  Land  Office,  Colonel  Thomas  Mann  Randolph  of  Tuckahoe, 
Edmund  Randolph,  Governor  of  the  State,  Colonel  Archibald 
Gary,  Speaker  of  the  Senate;  and  among  private  citizens,  Francis 
Dandridge,  William  Foushee,  Robert  Greenhow,  Dr.  James 
McClurg  and  a  long  list  of  others.  In  Petersburg  he  enumerates 
Mrs.  Boiling,  Dr.  Shore,  Mayor  of  the  town,  Colonel  Banister, 
Dr.  Robert  Walker  and  Major  Gibbon.  In  Norfolk,  Colonel 
Parker,  in  Williamsburg,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Madison,  president  of  the 
William  and  Mary  College,  Thomas  Carter,  General  Gibson;  and 
at  Alexandria,  Colonel  Semmes  and  others.  In  order  to  convince 
the  French  public  that  he  had  the  strongest  social  support  in 
America,  the  chevalier  referred  to  a  great  number  of  distinguished 
people  in  various  American  cities  who  had  shown  him  encour- 
agement. 

His  local  lists  of  first  families  affords  an  interesting  criterion 
of  the  cultivated  society  of  the  period  immediately  following  the 
American  Revolution.  This  clever,  diplomatic  Frenchman  evi- 
dently had  the  social  entree  wherever  he  went  on  his  academic 
mission.  He  mentions  among  his  friends  in  Philadelphia  the 
Reeds,  the  Willings,  the  Rittenhouses,  General  Wayne  and 
others  of  high  respectability;  in  New  Jersey,  the  Coxes,  the 
De  Harts  and  the  Ogdens;  in  New  York,  Governor  Clinton, 
General  Courtland,  the  Livingstons,  the  Hoffmans  and  the 
Halletts.  General  Baron  Von  Steuben,  an  educated  German, 
was  the  first  citizen  of  New  York  who  gave  his  support  to- 
the  project.  The  Chevalier  Quesnay's  idea  was  clearly  for  some- 


RICHMOND'S  FIRST  ACADEMY,  1786.  171 

thing  above  the  average  college.  He  had  in  mind  the  highest 
special  training  of  American  students  in  the  arts  and  sciences. 
The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  to  Franklin  (then  in 
Paris)  by  his  daughter  shows  how  the  proposed  Academy  was 
viewed  by  educated  people  at  the  time.  The  letter  is  here 
given  in  English,  translated  from  the  French  version  published 
in  the  memoir: 

PHI  LA  ,  Febrtiary  27, 1783. 
MY  DEAR  AND  HONORED  FATHER  : 

With  this  letter  you  will  receive  a  project  for  a  French  Academy 
which  is  to  be  established  here.  It  is  a  very  extensive  plan  and  will  do 
honor  to  the  gentleman  who  has  designed  it  as  well  as  to  America. 
If  it  can  be  executed,  it  will  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  plans  of  the 
colleges;  it  will  be  solely  for  the  completion  of  the  education  of  young 
men  after  they  have  graduated  from  college.  Monsieur  Quesnay  re- 
gards you  as  the  father  of  science  in  this  country,  and  appreciates  the 
advice  and  instruction  which  you  have  never  failed  to  give  those  whose 
talents  are  worthy  of  recognition.  Money  is  the  one  thing  needful,  but 
you  will  be  informed  how  you  can  be  most  serviceable.  I  can  conceive 
how  occupied  you  must  be  in  this  important  crisis ;  but  as  a  mother 
who  desires  to  give  her  children  a  useful  and  polite  education  and  who 
will  be  especially  proud  to  have  them  trained  in  her  own  country  and 
under  her  own  eyes,  I  pray  you  to  give  M.  Quesnay  all  the  assistance 
that  may  lie  in  your  power.  I  will  only  add  the  love  and  respect  of  the 
family." 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

SARA  BACHE. 

The  name  of  Franklin  was  greatly  revered  in  France  at  this 
time,  and  it  was  known  that  his  influence  with  the  French  people 
in  the  interest  of  the  scheme  would  have  been  very  powerful. 

Quesnay  says  in  his  memoir  that  he  decided  to  establish  his 
Academy  at  Richmond  because  his  earliest  associations  and  best 
friends  were  in  this  capital.  The  exact  site  of  the  Academy  was 
long  ago  recorded  by  Samuel  Mordecai,  the  Richmond  anti- 
quary, who  probably  saw  the  building  with  his  own  eyes.  He 
says  in  his  charming  medley  of  Richmond  history,  the  site 
chosen  by  M.  Quesnay  is  the  square  on  which  the  Monumental 
Church  and  Medical  College  now  stand,  the  grounds  extending 
from  those  lower  points  up  Broad  and  Marshall  to  Twelfth  street. 

The  proceedings  connected  with  laying  the  corner-stone  are 
described  in  the  memoir  and  by  the  Virginia  Gazette  for  July  i, 


172  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

1786.  On  the  24th  of  June  1786,  Quesnay  had  the  satisfaction 
of  witnessing  the  laying  of  the  foundation  with  imposing  cere- 
monies in  the  presence  of  a  great  concourse  of  citizens.  The 
mayor  of  the  city,  the  French  consul  and  deputies  of  the  French 
nation,  were  there  to  honor  the  occasion.  Mordecai  records  that 
two  silver  plates  were  deposited  in  the  corner-stone.  On  one 
was  an  inscription  in  Latin,  on  the  other  in  French — the  Latin 
translated  reads  thus:  In  the  year  of  our  Lord  1786,  the  loth  of 
the  Republic,  VIII  calends  of  July,  Patrick  Henry  being 
Governor  of  Virginia,  the  plan  of  an  academy  projected  by  Alex- 
ander Maria  Quesnay  and  assisted  by  the  liberality  of  many 
meritorious  citizens,  is  at  length  consummated,  the  corner-stone 
was  laid.  John  Harvie  being  mayor  of  the  city. 

The  inscription  on  the  other  plate  in  French,  contains  the 
following :  Corner-stone  of  an  academy  in  the  city  of  Richmond, 
Alexandria  Maria  Quesnay,  president,  laid  by  the  officers  and 
brethren  of  Lodge  No.  I3,1  on  the  festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist, 


xThe  corner-stone  of  the  State  Capitol  (August  18,  1785),  that  of  the 
Masons'  Hall  at  Richmond  (October  12,  1785,  the  oldest  standing  build- 
ing erected  for  Masonic  purposes  in  North  America),  and  of  other 
public  buildings  were  laid  by  this,  the  pioneer  lodge  of  Richmond. 
It  was  first  chartered  December  28,  1780,  as  Richmond  Lodge  No.  13, 
and  re- chartered  in  1786  as  No.  10,  which  designation  it  has  since  most 
honorably  borne. 

The  capital  of  the  State  having  been  removed  from  Williamsburg  to 
Richmond  in  1779,  hither  was  transferred  the  headquarters  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons,  and  Richmond  Lodge,  No.  13,  became  the  most  influ- 
ential in  the  State  in  the  sustenence  and  extension  of  the  beneficent 
order.  Its  early  membership  of  more  than  one  hundred  embraced 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  Virginia,  including  many 
gallant  officers  of  the  Revolution.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  for 
independence  many  of  these  last  removed  to  the  bounty  lands 
awarded  them  for  their  patriotic  services,  and  became  the  founders  of 
Masonry  in  the  South  and  West.  Among  the  membership  of  Rich- 
mond Lodge,  No.  10,  may  be  enumerated  Grand  Masters — Alexander 
Montgomery,  Edmund  Randolph,  John  Marshall,  Thomas  Mathews, 
Samuel  Jones,  and  Sidney  S.  Baxter  ;  Grand  Secretaries — Leighton 
Wood,  W.  Waddill,  John  Burke,  Basil  Wood,  Nathaniel  W.  Price, 
John  G.  Williams  and  John  Dove.  It  has  also  been  numerously  repre- 
sented in  the  remaining  offices  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Virginia.  In 
the  host  of  heroes  of  the  Revolution  it  has  held  on  its  rolls  is  the  re- 


RICHMOND'S  FIRST  ACADEMY,  1786.  173 

in  the  year  of  Light,  5786,  and  of  the  Vulgar  Era,  1786.  John 
Groves,  Master;  James  Mercer,  Grand  Master;  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, Past  Grand  Master. 

Having  founded  and  organized  the  Academy  under  the  most 
distinguished  auspices,  the  Chevalier  de  Beaurepaire  returned  to 
Paris,  and  began  an  active  social  and  scientific  propaganda  in 
the  interest  of  his  grand  project  for  uniting  intellectually  America 
and  France.  He  called  upon  the  savants  of  Paris.  He  visited 
the  studios  of  artists.  He  consulted  every  one  whose  opinion, 
good  will  or  active  co-operation  was  worth  having.  He  was 
certainly  successful  in  awakening  the  interest  of  the  most  influ- 
ential people  in  the  idea  of  establishing  a  French  Academy  in 
Richmond.  As  grandson  of  a  distinguished  scholar,  and  as  a 
returned  soldier  of  France,  he  was  able  to  obtain  access  to  the 
highest  circles.  His  project  was  presented  to  the  king  and 
queen  and  to  the  royal  family  in  a  memoir  published  with  the 
sanction  of  the  royal  censor.  The  most  cultivated  men  of  the 
time  appear  to  have  favored  the  undertaking.  A  commission  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  signed  by  de  La  Lande, 
Lavoisier  and  others,  and  certified  to  by  its  secretary,  the  Marquis 
de  Condorcet,  reported  favorably  upon  the  memoir,  as  did  also  a 
similar  commission  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Painting  and 
Sculpture,  signed  by  Vernet  and  other  eminent  artists. 

The  published  list  of  foreign  associates  of  the  Richmond 
Academy  embraces  the  most  distinguished  French  names  of  the 
time  in  art,  science,  literature,  politics,  together  with  represen- 
tative men  from  England  and  the  United  States.  French  influ- 
ence, however,  predominated.  Among  the  celebrities  whose 
names  are  given  in  the  memoir  as  associates  of  the  Richmond 
Academy  were  the  Marquis  de  Beaumarchais,  the  secretary  .of 
the  king;  Condorcet  and  Dacier,  secretaries  respectively  of  the 


vered  name  of  La  Fayette,  and  besides  four  Governors  of  Virginia — 
John  Tyler,  Sr.,  Edmund  Randolph,  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  and  the 
unfortunate  George  William  Smith  (who  perished  in  the  burning  of  the 
Richmond  Theatre,  December  26,  1811),  many  others  distinguished 
in  the  annals  of  Virginia  and  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 

A  history  of  the  lodge  is  in  preparation  by  a  member,  the  present 
writer,  for  the  publication  of  which  it  is  hoped  means  will  soon  be  pro- 
vided—ED. 


174  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Royal  Academies  of  Science  and  Art;  the  Abbe  de  Bevi,  his- 
toriographer of  France;  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  then  a  marshal 
of  the  armies  of  the  king;  Houdon,  the  sculptor;  Malesherbes, 
the  minister  of  State;  Lavoisier,  the  great  chemist  (the  father  of 
modern  chemistry)  ;  Comte  de  La  Luzerne,  Secretary  of  State, 
Minister  to  United  States;  Marquis  de  La  Luzerne,  the  royal 
ambassador  to  Great  Britain ;  the  Marquis  de  Montalembert, 
the  Due  de  La  Rochefoucauld,  and  many  others.  Conspicuous 
as  representatives  of  England  and  America  were  many  names 
distinguished  in  science,  art  and  letters.  Jefferson  who  was 
living  in  Paris  at  this  time  as  American  Minister  to  France,  is 
very  prominently  mentioned  in  the  memoir  as  a  supporter  of  the 
proposed  academy.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Jefferson  was 
thoroughly  in  favor  of  introducing  the  higher  forms  of  French 
culture  into  Virginia.  This  was  proved  in  1795  by  his  corre- 
pondence  with  Washington  as  to  the  feasibility  of  removing 
bodily  to  Virginia  the  Swiss  faculty  of  the  College  of  Geneva. 

It  was  in  the  polished  circle  of  learned  men  of  Paris  that  the 
Chevalier  de  Beaurepaire  and  Jefferson  moved  that  the  latter's 
ideas  of  university  education  assumed  cosmopolitan  form. 

In  1788,  provisional  arrangements  were  made  by  Quesnay  for 
instituting  the  following  schools  in  the  Virginia  Academy  : 
Foreign  languages,  mathematics,  design,  architecture  civil  and 
military,  painting,  sculpture,  engraving,  experimental  physics, 
astronomy,  chemistry,  mineralogy,  botany,  anatomy  and  natural 
history.  The  selection  of  suitable  professors,  masters  and  artists 
was  intrusted  to  a  committee  of  correspondence,  established  at 
Paris,  and  consisting  of  Quesnay,  founder  and  president  of  the 
academy,  of  a  permanent  secretary,  a  treasurer-general  and  nine 
commissioners,  elected  from  prominent  members  of  the  academy. 
The  committee  of  correspondence  was  organized,  but  when  it 
met  appointed  only  one  professsor.  His  name  was  Dr.  Jean 
Rouelle,  and  he  is  described  as  a  profound  scholar  and  an 
experienced  traveller,  having  a  wide  acquaintance  with  the  natu- 
ral sciences.  He  was  assigned  to  the  chair  of  chemistry  and 
natural  history,  and  instructed  to  form  cabinets  and  collections 
for  distribution  in  America  and  Europe.  Dr.  Rouelle  was 
elected  September  28,  1788,  and  was  to  have  sailed  for  America 
the  next  month  in  October.  At  this  time  the  prospect  of  appoint- 


RICHMOND'S  FIRST  ACADEMY,  1786.  175 

ing  a  numerous  faculty  became  suddenly  darker  with  the 
approach  of  the  French  Revolution.  In  the  latter  months  of 
1788,  France  was  in  no  condition  financially  or  socially  for  push- 
ing this  grand  scheme  in  Virginia,  the  brilliant  enterprise  failed, 
but  how  or  under  what  circumstances  is  not  now  to  be  discovered, 
unless  among  the  court  records  of  Louis  XVI.  The  project 
attracted  brief  admiration  and  then  sank  into  oblivion  in  the 
political  maelstrom  in  which  everything  in  France  went  down. 

Had  circumstances  favored  the  establishment  of  the  academy 
at  Richmond,  on  the  scale  conceived  by  Quesnay,  this  city  would 
have  become  not  only  the  intellectual  centre  of  the  South  and  a 
great  part  of  the  North,  but  perhaps  of  the  whole  country. 
Supported  by  French  capital,  to  which  in  a  large  measure  we 
owe  the  success  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  strengthened  by 
French  prestige,  by  literary,  scientific  and  artistic  associations 
with  Paris,  then  the  intellectual  capital  of  the  world,  the  academy 
at  Richmond,  as  Adams  truly  says,  might  have  become  an  edu- 
cational stronghold  comparable  in  some  degree  to  the  Jesuit 
influence  in  Canada,  which  has  proved  more  lasting  than  French 
dominion,  more  impregnable  than  the  fortress  of  Quebec. 

But  the  worthy  chevalier  was  far  ahead  of  his  times — more  than 
a  hundred  years,  as  the  absence  of  such  an  institution  at  this  day 
proves. 

The  academy  building  in  Richmond,  according  to  that  quaint 
antiquary  Samuel  Mordecai,  became  the  property  of  some  English 
actors,  who  converted  it  into  a  theatre.  Here  the  tragic  and  the 
comic  muse  first  excited  the  tears  and  smiles  of  a  Richmond 
audience.  But  greater  actors  performed  and  a  more  glorious 
work  was  rehearsed  in  that  theatre  than  in  any  other,  either  in 
this  country  or  in  Europe.  It  served  a  purpose  which  entitles  it 
to  a  monumental  place  in  the  history  of  Virginia  architecture. 

Therein  assembled  that  rare  constellation  of  talent,  of  wisdom 
and  of  pure  patriotism,  the  convention  of  sages  and  statesmen, 
who  met  to  discuss  the  question  of  Federal  Union,  and  who  rati- 
fied the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

RICHARD  HEYWARD  GAINES. 


SOME  UNPUBLISHED  FACTS 


RELATING   TO 


BACON'S  REBELLION 


ON   THE 


EASTERN  SHORE  OF  VIRGINIA, 


GLEANED  FROM  THE  COURT  RECORDS  OF 
ACCOM  AC  COUNTY. 


A    PAPER    READ    BEFORE    THE   VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 
TUESDAY,  DECEMBER    22,  1891, 

BY  PROFESSOR  FRANK  P.  BRENT, 
Onancock  Academy,  Virginia. 


Some  Unpublished  Facts  Relating  to 

BACON'S   REBELLION 

ON  THE  EASTERN  SHORE  OF  VIRGINIA. 


By  general  consent,  the  most  important  event  in  the  history 
of  the  Colony  of  Virginia  prior  to  the  American  Revolution  was 
the  rebellion  led  by  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Jr.,  against  Sir  William 
Berkeley,  the  Royal  Governor  of  the  Colony.  It  was  the  first 
armed  resistance  offered  by  Americans  to  the  constituted  authori- 
ties of  the  mother  country,  and  interest  in  the  movement  is  still 
further  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  it  occurred  just  one  hundred 
years  before  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  ideas  prevailing  at  that  time  among  the  English  people 
were  not  very  favorable  to  the  heroic  enterprise  of  the  dauntless 
young  rebel  and  his  liberty-loving  followers ;  yet  the  doctrine  of 
the  divine  right  of  kings,  so  prevalent  in  the  days  of  James  the 
First,  had  received  a  rude  shock  in  the  execution  of  Charles  the 
First,  and  in  the  iron  rule  of  Cromwell  and  the  Roundheads. 
Bacon's  Rebellion  occurred  in  Virginia  at  a  time  when  the  reac- 
tion against  Puritanism  was  at  its  height,  and  when  the  withering 
invective  and  merciless  ridicule  heaped  upon  the  Puritans  by 
Samuel  Butler  in  Hudibras  was  in  the  mouth  of  every  cavalier 
in  America  as  well  as  in  England.  The  great  principle  had, 
however,  been  boldly  proclaimed  and  successfully  established 
that  the  English  people  would  not  again  submit  to  the  arbitrary 
and  tyrannical  rulers,  and  that  the  divine  right  to  rule  is  inherent 
not  in  kings,  but  in  the  people. 


180  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Bacon's  Rebellion  was  not  an  attempt  to  establish  a  new  or 
independent  form  of  government.  It  was  an  armed  opposition 
to  the  policy  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  his  Sacred  Majesty's 
Governor  and  Captain  General  of  Virginia,  having  for  its  object 
the  redress  of  certain  pressing  grievances  under  which  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Colony  were  then  suffering.  The  Indian  massacres 
on  the  frontiers  and  the  governor's  persistent  refusal  to  take 
measures  to  punish  the  savages  fanned  into  the  flame  of  rebel- 
lion the  discontent  felt  by  the  colonists  in  consequence  of  the 
oppressive  navigation  laws,  by  which  England  had  created  for 
herself  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  all  the  Anglo-American 
colonies.  With  these  two  causes  of  discontent  removed,  the 
Rebellion  of  1676  would  have  found  but  few  adherents  in  any 
section  of  Virginia.  There  was  one  part  of  the  Colony,  which 
by  reason  of  its  remote  and  isolated  situation  and  its  peculiar 
geographical  conditions  suffered  but  little  annoyance  from  the 
navigation  laws  and  was  entirely  free  from  Indian  incursions 
and  massacres.  This  was  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,  fre- 
quently called  by  the  old  chroniclers  "  The  Kingdom  of  Acco- 
mack."  The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  show  by  extracts  from 
the  early  records  of  Accomac  county  court  the  part  played  by 
the  people  of  that  county  in  Bacon's  Rebellion. 

Our  Virginia  historians,  following  the  highly- colored  contem- 
poraneous account  of  the  Rebellion  contained  in  the  famous 
"  T.  M."  manuscript,1  have  without  exception  misconceived  and 
mis-stated  the  attitude  of  the  Eastern  Shore  in  this  stirring  epi- 
sode of  our  colonial  history.  It  is  known  that  Sir  William  Ber- 
keley, during  the  short  period  of  the  Rebellion,  was  twice  driven 
from  Jamestown,  then  the  seat  of  government  in  the  Colony, 
and  forced  to  take  shelter  among  his  friends  in  Accomac,  which 
he  considered  the  last  refuge  of  the  loyal  cause  in  Virginia.  All 
the  historians  of  Virginia  agree  in  stating  that  Sir  William  Ber- 
keley on  arriving  in  Accomac,  found  all  the  people  disaffected 
towards  him  except  a  few  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,  'longshore- 
men and  adventurers,  whom  a  desire  for  plunder  drew  to  follow 


'The  writer,  who  states  "my  dwelling  was  in  Northumberland,"  has 
been  held  to  be  Thomas  Matthews  of  "  Cherrystone,"  in  that  county — 
ED. 


BACON'S    REBELLION    IN   ACCOM  AC    COUNTY.  181 

the  fortunes  of  the  impetuous  old  governor;  and  even  Mr. 
George  Bancroft,  evidently  following  our  Virginia  authorities, 
informs  us  in  his  monumental  work  that  "  Sir  William  Berkeley 
collected  in  Accomac  a  crowd  of  base  and  cowardly  followers, 
allured  by  the  passion  for  plundering,  promising  freedom  to  the 
servants  and  slaves  of  the  insurgents  if  they  would  rally  to  his 
banner"  (  Vide  Bancroft's  Hist.,  Vol.  I,  p.  465).  An  examina- 
tion of  the  records  of  Accomac  county  court,  covering  the 
periods  of  Bacon's  Rebellion,  and  the  subsequent  year  will  con- 
trovert the  foregoing  view  and  convince  any  unbiased  mind  that 
the  people  of  Accomac  received  the  Royal  Governor  with  open 
arms,  and  hazarded  their  lives  and  fortunes  for  the  success  of 
his  cause. 

From  these  ancient  records  we  learn  that  when  the  news  cf  the 
Rebellion  reached  Accomac,  steps  were  taken  to  increase  the 
military  forces  of  the  county,  and  commissaries  were  commis- 
sioned and  sent  out  to  collect  supplies  for  maintaining  the  gover- 
nor's troops.  The  men  engaged  in  these  operations  were  among 
the  best,  wealthiest  and  most  influential  in  the  Colony,  and  the 
readiness  with  which  the  people  responded  to  their  demands 
shows  how  loyal  the  people  of  the  Eastern  Shore  were  to  their 
governor,  who,  in  their  eyes  at  least,  was  more  sinned  against 
than  sinning.  With  the  exception  of  the  orders  for  the  raising 
of  troops  and  the  impressment  of  provisions,  no  mention  is  made 
of  the  Rebellion  in  the  records  that  cover  the  period  of  hostili- 
ties. As  Sir  William  Berkeley  was  present  in  Accomac  the 
greater  part  of  the  time,  he  evidently  took  affairs  into  bis  own 
hands,  and  adopted  such  measures  as  he  deemed  best  adapted 
to  insure  his  own  safety  and  the  ultimate  triumph  ot  his  fortunes. 
Hence  we  find  that  during  the  Rebellion  the  court  records  of 
Accomac  are  scanty.  Of  the  proceedings  of  Sir  William  Ber- 
keley and  his  council  while  on  the  Eastern  Shore  no  record  has 
been  preserved,  and  it  is  not  probable  that  any  was  made.  As 
soon,  however,  as  the  Rebellion  collapsed  by  reason  of  Bacon's 
untimely  and  mysterious  death,  and  the  civil  courts  resumed 
their  duties,  the  old  county  records  of  Accomac  teem  with 
entries  that  fix  the  attitude  of  the  Accomackians  in  the  great 
struggle  and  attest  the  services  rendered  by  them  to  the  royal 
cause. 


182  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

From  a  great  number  of  similar  items  the  following  are  ex- 
tracted: 

•(  At  a  court  held  for  Accomac  county  July,  1677,  it  is  ordered 
upon  the  peticon  of  John  Sturges  that  a  certificate  be  awarded 
him  to  the  next  assembly  for  fforty-six  pounds  of  Butter  and 
fforty-two  pounds  of  Cheese,  which  was  delivered  for  the  coun- 
tries service  against  the  late  Rebells,  as  appears  by  the  attestation 
of  Majr  Jn°  West." 
******  *** 

"Whereas  Majr  Edmund  Bowman  hath  made  it  appeare  to 
the  court  by  ye  attestation  of  Major  Jn°  West,  that  he  had 
killed  and  founde  salt  and  caske  for  thirteen  hundred  and  twelve 
pounds  of  Beefe.  It  is,  therefore,  ordered  that  this  be  a  certificate 
thereof  to  the  next  assembly." 
********* 

It  is  ordered  upon  the  peticon  of  Majr  Jn°  West  for  the  sume 
of  twelve  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  tob°  and 
cask,  for  the  public  service  against  .the  late  rebells.and  he  having 
made  oath  to  the  same  in  open  court,  certificate  thereof  is 
accordingly  granted  him  to  the  next  assembly." 

##*>(:;};**** 

"Whereas,  Mr.  John  Stratton  hath  made  it  appeare  to  this 
court  by  the  oathe  of  cap"  Nath :  Walker  that  hee  the  sd 
Walker  did  command  a  shallop  belonging  to  the  sd  Stratton  by 
the  honor"16  gover",  order  in  his  majesties  service  against  the 
late  rebells;  which  shallop  was  cast  away  in  a  storm  in  Warricks 
creek  bay:  It  is,  therefore,  ordered  that  this  be  a  certificate 

thereof  to  the  next  assembly." 

• 
**#*###** 

"These  may  certify  that  I,  the  subscriber,  whom  [sic]  are 
impowered  by  the  right  honble  Sir  William  Berkeley  Govr,  and 
Capn  general  of  Virginia  to  procure  and  impresse  such  provisions 
as  shall  be  needful  for  his  present  service. 

"  These  may  certify  that  I  have  killed  from  Morris  Dennis  one 
Barren  cow  for  which  I  give  this  certificate." 

"JOHN  STRATTON,  Commissary" 


BACON'S   REBELLION  IN   ACCOMAC   COUNTY.  183 

"  At  a  court  held  and  continued  for  Accomack  county,  -Septem- 
ber 14.  1677,  upon  the  peticon  of  Majr  Jn°  West  in  behalfe  of 
himself  and  fforty-ffour  men,  more  which  were  thirty-ffour  daies 
under  the  command  of  the  Govern1"  Sir  Wm  Berkeley  in  his 
Majties  service  to  James  Citty,  and  having  made  oath  to  the  same 
in  open  court  certificate  thereof  is  accordingly  granted  to  ye  next 
Assembly." 


"Ye  humble  peticon  of  Jn°  Cropper 

"To  ye  Worful  court  of  Accomack  county  showeth  that  your 
peticonr  being  commanded  and  empowered  by  Coll.  Southey 
Littleton,  to  impresse  and  provide  Beefe  for  the  countries  use  in 
qtr  anno  1676,  ye  peticonr  with  his  horse,  &c,  was  employed  and 
expended  time  to  the  number  of  fforty-two  daies  or  thereabout 
which  time  trouble  and  service  hath  not  bin  got  paid  or  any  part 
thereof  except  two  hides  and  offell  he  made  use  of  Mr  Richd 
Dayly  ye  peticon'  doth  pray  ye  worshps  order  for  certificate  to  the 
Assembly  to  have  satisfaction  for  sd  time  and  trouble  according 
to  nature  thereof,  and  he  will  pray,  &c." 

Many  other  similiar  certificates  were  granted  by  the  county 
court  to  prove  the  services  rendered  by  Accomac  soldiers  in  de- 
fence of  Berkeley's  cause  under  such  distinguished  leaders  as  Cap- 
tain William  Whittington,  Captain  Daniel  Jenifer,  Major  John 
West,  Major  Edmund  Bowman,  Colonel  Southey  Littleton  and 
Colonel  Edmund  Scarburgh,  all  of  whom  were  leading  men  in 
Accomac  and  some  of  them  among  the  most  prominent  men  in 
the  Colony. 

Another  entry  in  these  old  records,  about  the  same  time,  reveals 
the  fact  that  during  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1676  a  hospital  was 
established  at  the  house  of  Henry  Reade  in  the  lower  part  of 
Accomac,  where  the  sick  and  wounded  from  Berkeley's  forces 
were  received  and  carefully  treated.  After  the  Rebellion  was 
ended,  Sir  William  Berkeley,  according  to  all  our  historians,  left 
nothing  undone  to  punish  those  who  had  taken  sides  with  Bacon; 
and  the  following  extract  taken  from  the  old  county  court  records 
of  Accomac,  will  show  that  he  in  punishing  his  enemies,  he  did 
not  forget  to  reward  his  friends  : 

"  By  his  Majesties  Govern'  and  Captain  Generall  of  Virginia. 


184  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

"Whereas,  Capt.  Daniel  Jenifer  of  Accomac  county  of  Virginia 
hath  fully  approved  himself  a  good  and  loyall  subject  of  his 
Most  Sacred  Majties  Govr,  being  always  ready  to  serve  and  obey 
me  his  Majties  Govr  in  suppressing  the  present  Rebellion,  and 
understanding  the  said  Capt.  Jenifer  was  added  to  the  Commision 
for  the  peace  for  the  sd  County,  I  doe  appoint  the  sd  Capt.  Jenifer 
to  be  the  next  Court  held  for  the  sd  County,  admitted  to  the  same 
place  he  was  put  in  the  sd  Commission,  he  first  taking  the  oathe 
of  allegiance  and  the  oathe  of  a  justice  of  the  peace/' 

"  Given  under  my  hand  this  ye  8th  day  of  December,  in  the 
eighth  and  twentieth  yeare  of  the  raigne  of  our  Sovereigne  Lord 
King  Charles  the  Second,  Annoque  Dom.,  1676." 

"WILLIAM  BERKELEY." 

An  entry  made  at  the  next  term  of  the  court  shows  that  Captain 
Daniel  Jenifer,  in  addition  to  his  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  was 
still  further  rewarded  by  being  appointed  high  sheriff  of  Accomac 
county  by  Sir  William  Berkeley,  and  as  Jenifer  was  a  Catholic, 
the  governor  directed  that  in  assuming  the  duties  of  the  offices 
to  which  he  had  appointed  him,  he  should  not  be  required  to 
take  the  oath  of  supremacy,  which  was  accordingly  done.  He 
was  also,  together  with  Col.  Southey  Littleton,  of  Berkeley's  court 
martial,  for  trying  persons  for  participation  in  the  Rebellion. 
Vide  Hening,  Vol.  II,  p.  545. 

Jenifer  married  Miss  Annie  Toft,  who  was  reputed  to  have  been 
the  wealthiest  and  prettiest  woman  then  living  on  the  Eastern 
Shore  of  Virginia.  She  owned  an  immense  landed  estate  in  the 
northeastenrpart  of  Accomac.  They  had  a  numerous  family  of 
children,  among  whom  were  three  daughters  named  Arcadia, 
Annabella  and  Atalanta.  Soon  after  the  retirement  and  death 
of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  Captain  Jenifer  removed  from  Accomac 
to  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland,  where  many  of  his  descend- 
ants are  said  to  be  now  living.  He  was  the  first  of  that  name  to 
come  to  America,  and  was  the  progenitor  of  Daniel  of  St. 
Thomas  Jenifer,  who  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Maryland  to 
the  convention  that  framed  the  Federal  Constitution. 

Berkeley's  endorsement  on  the  following  petition  shows  that 
the  Rebellion  had  not  entirely  transformed  him  into  a  brute. 


BACON'S    REBELLION   IN  ACCOMAC    COUNTY.  185 

"  To  the  Right  Honorable.  S'r  Wm.  Berkeley,  Knt.,  Gov'r  & 
Capt.  Gener'llof  Virginia: 

"  The  humble  peticon  of  lone  Occahone,  the  widdow  of  Phillip 
Occahone,  late  of  Accomack  County,  dec'd,  Humbly  Sheweth: 
That  Phillip  aforenamed  marrying  ye  peticonr  with  a  good  and 
reasonable  estate  left  by  her  former  husband,  of  Watt's  Island, 
in  the  aforesaid  county,  by  name  Walter  Taylor,  did  in  his  life- 
time wholly  waste  and  conferred  the  same  moreover  and  about, 
running  himself  farr  into  debt  to  the  utter  ruine  of  ye  peticonr 
and  her  poore  childring. 

"  Howsoe  it  is,  may  it  please  ye  Honour"8  the  sd  Phillip  for 
his  felonious  and  rebellious  account  having  justly  suffered  death 
by  the  law,  whereby  what  estate  he  should  be  possest  withal  at 
the  committing  the  fact  were  forfeited  to  his  Majestic,  when  in 
truth  he  were  not  at  the  time  of  committing  the  fact  or  any  time 
sithence  invested  or  possest  wth  any  visible  estate  whatsoever, 
yet  notwithstanding,  ye  poore  peticon1  is  prosecuted  and  sued  by 
the  creditors  of  the  sd  Phillip  to  the  ruine  of  herselfe  and  poore 
children. 

"The  premises  considered,  ye  peticonr  doth  humbly  pray  and 
implore  ye  Honour1"63  favorable  clemency  in  requiring  and  com- 
manding all  persons  whatsoever  to  desist  and  forbeare  to  sue 
or  molest  ye  petr  for  any  debt  whatsoever  contracted  in  the  life- 
time of  the  aforesaid  Phillip  Occahone,  her  late  dec'd  husband, 
and  ye  poore  petr  shall  as  in  duty  bound  ever  pray." 

The  petition  is  recorded  with  the  following  endorsement: 

"  The  aforesaid  petition  is  granted,  and  I  doe  hereby  forbid 
all  persons  from  suing  or  molesting  the  aforesaid  lone  Occahone 
in  the  prosecuting  and  recovery  of  any  debt  contracted  during 
the  lifetime  of  the  sd  Phillip  Occahone,  as  they  will  answer  the 
contrary. 

"  Dated  this  nth  day  of  January,  i6yf 

"WM.  BERKELEY." 

"The  Right  Honour"6  the  Govern'  further  declared  at  the 
signing  hereof  that  the  aforesaid  Peir  lone  Occahone  should 
freely  enjoy  all  such  estate  as  is  in  her  present  possession  to  her 


186  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

own  proper  use,  which  I  can  testify  upon  oath  when  thereunto 
required. 
"  Witness  my  hand  the  day  and  year  aforesaid. 

"  DANIEL  JENIFER." 

The  foregoing  petition  contains  the  only  mention  to  be  found 
in  the  Accomac  records  of  anyone  being  put  to  death  for  par- 
ticipation in  Bacon's  Rebellion,  though  all  the  Virginia  His- 
torians agree  in  saying  that  the  brave  old  Carver,  who  was 
captured  with  Giles  Bland,  was  executed  somewhere  on  the 
Accomac  shore,  and  that  Colonel  Hansford,  after  his  arrest,  was 
carried  to  Accomac  and  hanged  as  a  rebel  and  traitor. 

The  document  which  above  all  others  fixes  beyond  a  doubt 
the  attitude  of  the  Eastern  Shore  people  in  Bacon's  Rebellion 
is  the  memorial  addressed  to  Sir  William  Berkeley  by  the  jus- 
tices of  the  peace  and  other  leading  citizens  of  Accomac  shortly 
after  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  asking  for  certain  favors  he  had 
promised  them  in  consideration  of  their  loyalty: 

"Wee  his  Majesties  Justices  here  underwritten,  and  others, 
the  Inhabitants  of  Accomack  County,  in  obedience  to  his  most 
sacred  Majesties  command  directing  us  to  send  over  to  them 
sealed  all  grievances  and  pressures,  especially  such  as  have  been 
the  grounds  of  the  late  troubles  and  disorders  among  us,  being 
deeply  sensible  of  the  Late  Rebellion  hatched  and  acted  on  the 
Western  Shoare  by  Nath.  Bacon,  dec'd,  and  complices,  to  our 
great  prejudices,  expenses  and  losse  of  many  men  and  crops  by 
watching  and  warding  on  all  parts  of  the  Shoare  to  hinder  the 
Landing  and  invasion  of  the  said  Rebells  on  our  coast,  where  we 
had  received  into  our  protection  the  bodies  of  the  Right  Hon- 
ourbie  gr  Wm.  Berkeley  and  severall  other  good  and  Loyall  sub- 
jects of  his  Majty,  fled  to  our  parts  from  the  fury  and  rage  of  the 
said  Bacon  &  Complices,  doe 

"  First,  hereby  acknowledge  that  we  nor  any  of  us  knew  any 
reason  for  any  such  Rebellion,  &  some  or  all  of  us  did  protest 
against  his  actions  as  rebellions. 

"  Secondly,  We  humbly  desire  his  Majty  to  continue  Sr  Wm. 
Berkeley  Goverr  in  Virginia  as  long  as  God  shall  spare  him  life. 

"Thirdly,  Whereas  the  Right  Honour"6  Sr  Wm.  Berkeley, 
upon  his  first  coming  to  us  and  our  readinesse  to  assist  him  to 


BACON'S    REBELLION    IN  ACCOMAC    COUNTY.  187 

the  hazard  of  our  own  lives  and  fortunes  against  the  said  Rebell 
Bacon  &  complices,  did  promise  as  well  our  county  of  Accomack 
as  the  rest  of  the  Eastern  Shoare  in  Virginia  should  bee  free 
from  all  county  tax  for  these  twenty-one  years  ensuing. 

"  Wee  humbly  therefor  pray  ye  Honourbles  to  be  a  means  the 
same  may  be  confirmed  first  in  Virginia  and  afterwards  by  his 
Majties  Royall  grant. 

"Fourthly,  Whereas  wee  are  deeply  sensible  of  the  vast 
charge  this  unhappy  warr  and  Rebellion  hath  put  the  country  to, 
and  it  may  be  expected  to  be  defrayed  out  of  the  country:  Wee 
desire  wee  may  be  excluded  from  all  and  every  part  of  the  same, 
wee  being  in  no  way  the  cause  of  it. 

"  Lastly,  Whereas  we  have  been  informed  that  his  Royall 
Majty  hath  or  was  about  to  give  the  country  their  Quit  Rents  for 
many  yeares  to  come,  wh:  wee  doubt  this  unhappy  warr  hath 
now  broke  off,  we  humbly  desire  it  may  still  remaine  good  to  us, 
as  being  in  no  way  the  cause  or  knowing  of  the  same,  to  wh:  wee 
subscribe  or  hands  in  open  court,  and  pray  for  his  Majtie"  and  ye 
Honourble  Govern"  health  long  to  continue. 

[Signed] 

EDM'D  BOWMAN,  JNO.  WISE, 

ROBT.  HUTCHINSON,  THO.  RlDING, 

WILLLIAM  WHITTINGTON,     RICH.   HILL, 

EDM'D  SCARBURGH, 
JNO.  WALLOP, 
OBEDIENCE  JOHNSON, 
&  many  others." 

The  names  attached  to  the  foregoing  memorial  afford  a  suffi- 
cient guarantee  for  the  truth  of  all  the  statements  it  contains. 
They  are  the  names  of  the  foremost  men  then  living  on  Ihe 
Eastern  Shore.  The  limits  assigned  this  paper  will  permit  a 
brief  mention  of  only  two  of  them — John  Wise,  Esq.,  and 
Colonel  Edmund  Scarburgh. 

John  Wise,  the  first  of  that  name  who  came  to  Virginia,  was 
the  progenitor  of  an  illustrious  line  of  descendants,  of  whom 
the  late  Governor  Henry  A.  Wise  was  one.  He  owned  a  vast 


188  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

landed  estate,  much  of  which  he  is  said  to  have  obtained  from 
an  Indian  king  for  the  consideration  of  two  common  blankets. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  indomitable  energy,  dauntless 
courage,  and  strict  integrity.  His  will,  preserved  in  one  of  the 
old  record  books  of  the  county  court  of  Accomac,  is  a  curious 
and  novel  document,  the  greater  portion  of  it  being  devoted  to 
the  disposition  of  his  "immortal  soul." 

The  most  unique  and  picturesque  personage  on  the  Eastern 
Shore  at  the  time  of  Bacon's  Rebellion  was  Colonel  Edmund 
Scarburgh.  He  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Governor's  Council  and  Surveyor  General  of  the 
Colony.  His  stout  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  Charles  the  First  and 
the  English  Church  had  gotten  him  into  trouble  with  the  Vir- 
ginia Colonial  Government  during  the  times  of  the  Common- 
wealth, and  Bennett  who  was  Governor  of  Virginia  at  the  time, 
came  to  the  Eastern  Shore  with  an  armed  force  to  suppress  the 
disturbances  which  Scarburgh  had  caused  among  the  adherents 
to  the  royal  cause.  Later  on  when  Charles  the  Second  came  to 
the  throne  Colonel  Scarburgh  was  reinstated  in  the  position  of 
Surveyor-General  of  the  Colony,  and  made  commander  of  his 
majesty's  forces  on  the  Eastern  Shore.  In  1663,  shortly  after  the 
Eastern  Shore  had  been  divided  into  the  two  counties  of  Accomac 
and  Northampton,  Colonel  Scarburgh  by  order  of  Sir  William 
Berkeley  and  the  House  of  Burgesses,  made  an  expedition  against 
the  recalcitrant  and  rebellious  Quakers  in  the  northern  part  of 
Accomac.  His  report  of  his  proceedings  on  that  occassion  is  to 
be  found  in  the  oldest  record  book  of  Accomac  county  court, 
and  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  remark- 
able documents  of  our  early  Colonial  history.  He  appears  to 
have  impressed  his  strong  personality  on  his  generation  more 
than  any  other  man  of  his  day.  In  every  part  of  the  Eastern 
Shore  traditions  of  his  remarkable  performances  survive  among 
all  classes  of  people.  He  was  the  first  of  his  name  to  come  to 
Virginia,  and  from  him  have  descended  some  of  the  most  eminent 
men  of  the  State. 

Strange  to  say,  no  trace  of  any  tradition  touching  Bacon's 
Rebellion  survives  among  the  people  of  the  Eastern  Shore.  It 
is  not  even  known  where  Berkeley  had  his  headquarters  while 
sojourning  there,  though  indications  seem  to  point  to  the  ancient 


BACON'S    REBELLION    IN   ACCOMAC  COUNTY.  189 

village  of  Pungoteaque,  which  was  then  the  seat  of  the  county 
government.  If,  as  Virginia  historians  tell  us,  the  gallant  and 
heroic  Hansford  paid  the  penalty  of  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
liberty  on  the  scaffold  in  Accomac,  every  tradition  of  the 
horrid  deed  has  perished  from  the  memory  of  living  men. 

FRANK  P.  BRENT. 
Onancock  Academy,   Virginia. 


THOMAS  HANSFORD, 


A  paper  read  before  the  Virginia  Historical  Society 
Tuesday,  December  22,  1891, 


BY 


MRS.  ANNIE  TUCKER  TYLER, 
Williamsburg,  Virginia. 


THOMAS  HANSFORD, 


THE 


First  Native  Martyr  to  American  Liberty. 


In  a  list  prepared  by  Sir  William  Berkeley,  and  preserved 
among  the  Harleian  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  enumerating 
the  persons  who  were  executed  by  him  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury for  participating  in  Bacon's  Rebellion,  occurs  the  name  of 
one  Thomas  Hansford,  who  is  described  by  Sir  William  as  "a 
valiant,  stout  man,"  and  "a  most  resolved  rebel."  The  few 
other  references  to  Hansford  in  the  current  accounts  *  of  the  times 
are  in  harmony  with  this  description,  and  justify  a  natural  desire 
to  be  still  further  acquainted  with  him. 

Thus  are  we  told  that  he  commanded  at  Jamestown,  under 
a  commission  as  major  from  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Jr.,  and  was  there 
when  Berkeley  returned  from  his  exile  to  the  Eastern  Shore  at  the 
head  of  six  hundred,  or,  as  another  account  has  it,  one  thousand 
followers.  It  is  said  that  he  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  in- 
surrection, brilliant  as  it  was  brief,  and  when  he  was  captured 
after  Bacon's  death,  he  supplicated  no  other  favor  than  that  "he 
might  be  shot  like  a  soldier,  and  not  hanged  like  a  dog."  We 
are  also  told  that  during  the  short  respite  allowed  him  after  his 
sentence,  "  he  professed  repentance  and  contrition  for  all  the 
sins  of  his  past  life,  but  refused  to  acknowledge  what  was 


1  Neill's  Virginia  Carolorum. 

2  Accounts  by  "T.  M.,"  Anne  Cotton,  &c. 


194  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

charged  against  him  as  rebellion  to  be  one  of  those  sins,  desiring 
the  people  present  to  take  notice  that  he  died  a  loyal  subject  and 
lover  of  his  country,  and  that  he  had  never  taken  up  arms  but 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Indians,  who  had  murdered  so  many 
Christians." 

St.  George  Tucker,  my  revered  father,  trusting  to  the  state- 
ment found  in  one  of  the  quaint  old  tracts  rescued  from  oblivion 
by  the  indefatigable  antiquarian,  Peter  Force,  which  ascribes 
his  arrest  to  the  fact  that  "  although  a  son  oi  Mars,  he  did  some- 
times worship  at  the  shrine  of  Venus,"  made  Thomas  Hansford 
the  hero  of  a  romance3  in  which  the  gentle  Virginia  Temple  was 
the  innocent  cause  of  his  undoing. 

When  I  recite  the  personal  history  of  Hansford,  and  disclose 
the  fact  that  he  was  a  married  man,  it  will  probably  occasion 
some  surprise  that  he  should  have  been  represented  as  an  ardent 
suitor  at  the  time  of  his  execution,  but  the  truth  is.  that  until  a 
recent  date  there  was  very  little  reality  surrounding  Hansford' s 
career.  Nor  was  he  an  exception  among  the  characters  of  the 
period  in  which  he  figured.  How  few  and  scant  are  the  pub- 
lished facts  concerning  another  of  Bacon's  officers,  Major  Ed- 
mund Chisman,  and  his  noble  wife,  who  took  upon  herself  the 
entire  blame  of  his  sedition  ;  or  of  Major  Thomas  Whaley  and 
"thoughtful  Mr.  Lawrence,"  who  when  the  cause  was  abandoned 
plunged  into  the  snows  of  the  unknown  backwoods  and  were  lost 
to  the  knowledge  of  their  fellow  men.  The  old  published  chron- 
iclers tell  us  very  little  of  Bacon  himself,  and  yet,  thanks  to  re- 
cent investigations  in  the  county  records  and  the  British  archives, 
the  material  is  now  abundant  for  a  full  account. 

In  the  same  manner  careful  research  has  added  many  new  facts 
to  the  current  account  of  Thomas  Hansford,  and  the  only  merit 
of  this  paper  is  that  it  will  attempt  to  present  these  facts  in  a 
connected  narrative. 

In  1651,  Richard  Hansford  was  granted  a  patent  for  lands  at 
West's  creek,  in  York  county,  and  among  the  head  rights  were 
John  and  Elizabeth  Hansford.  In  1658,  Mr,  John  Hansford 
entered  land  in  the  same  locality ;  and  in  1662,  Thomas  Hansford 

3  Thomas  Hansford  :  A  tale  of  Bacon's  Rebellion,  published  by  Geo. 
M.  West,  Richmond,  Va.,  1857 ;  republished  after  the  war  by  a  Phila- 
delphia firm,  under  the  title  "The  Devoted  Bride." 


THOMAS    HANSFORD.  195 

obtained  a  re-grant  for  the  same.  In  1653,  John  Hansford 
obtained  a  grant  for  950  acres  in  Gloucester  county,  north  of 
the  narrows  of  Mattaponi,  and  among  the  head  rights  were  John 
and  Elizabeth  Hansford.  The  probability  is  that  Richard  Hans- 
ford  was  a  brother  of  John  Hansford,  who  was  the  father  of 
Thomas,  mentioned  as  taking  out  the  patent  in  1662  for  John 
Hansford's  land  on  West's  creek.4 

John  Hansford  might  have  been  a  son  of  the  merchant  tailor 
of  London  of  the  same  name  mentioned  by  Mr.  Alexander 
Brown  in  his  "  Genesis,"  as  entered  in  a  list  of  the  Virginia 
Company  in  1620,  and  who  was  probably  brother  of  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Hanford,  Handford,  or  Hanforth,  as  the  name  is  variously 
written. 

There  is  no  question,  however,  that  the  John  Hansford  of  the 
patents  and  the  John  Hansford  who  was  father  of  the  Hansford 
of  history,  were  one  and  the  same  person.  He  lived  on  the 
same  creek  and  in  the  same  county,  and  was  for  many  years 
active  in  the  affairs  of  York  county,5  and  in  1655  occupied  a  seat 
on  the  Justices'  Bench.  His  will  was  proved  November  24,  1661, 
and  judging  from  the  number  of  servants  and  the  amount  of  silver 
plate,  and  other  property  mentioned  in  his  inventory,  recorded 
June  24,  1668,  he  was  a  man  of  both  wealth  and  position. 
According  to  his  will  he  left  four  sons — John  and  William,  to 
whom  he  devised  a  plantation  in  Gloucester  county,  upon  the 
"  Clay  bank  "  on  the  north  side  of  York  river,  and  Thomas  and 
Charles,  to  whom  he  left  650  acres  at  the  head  of  Felgate's 
creek,  in  York  county.  He  had  also  three  daughters — Eliza- 
beth, who  married  first  Mr.  Christian  Wilson  and  afterwards  Mr. 
Randolph  Holt,6  of  Surry  county  ;  Mary,  who  married  Dr. 
Thomas  Robins,  of  Robins'  Neck,  in  Gloucester  county,  and 
whose  family  history  is  given  by  Mr.  Stanard  in  the  "  Richmond 
Critic"  for  August,  1889;  and  Margaret,  who  is  supposed  to 
have  been  dead  before  October,  1667. 


4  See  Register  in  Land  Office. 

5John  Hansford  appears  as  an  inhabitant  of  Chiskiack,  subsequently 
called  Hampton  Parish,  in  York  county,  as  early  as  1647. 

6  See  Randolph  Holt's  receipt  to  Mr.  Lockey,  October  20,  1663,  York 
Records.  [The  name  is  sometimes  rendered  Randall  Holt— ED.] 


196  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

By  the  will  of  Mr.  Hansford  we  are  shown  another  important 
fact,  which  is  that  one  Robert  Jones  was  the  instructor  of  his 
children;  and  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  a  man  of  that 
name  is  mentioned  by  Hening  as  among  those  executed  with 
Thomas  Hansford  for  rebellious  proceedings.7 

Thomas  Hansford,  the  third  son  of  Mr.  John  Hansford,  was 
born  about  1646,  as  I  infer  from  his  deposition,  dated  January 
9,  167^,  which  states  that  he  was  then  twenty-five  years  old. 
He  came  into  possession  of  his  property,  both  real  and  personal, 
November  12,  1667,  and  the  order  states  that  "he  was  then  of 
age." 

After  his  father's  death  he  was  under  the  guardianship  of  Mr. 
Edward  Lockey,  a  rich  merchant  of  Virginia,  largely  interested 
in  the  tobacco  trade,  who  had  married  Mrs.  Hansford,  the 
mother  of  Thomas,  on  October  10,  1661.  Both  were  dead 
before  the  disturbances  under  Bacon  arose.  Mr.  Lockey  died 
before  February  24,  1667,  and  Mrs.  Lockey  before  January  24, 
167  5-6,  these  being  the  respective  dates  of  the  recording  of 
their  wills.8 

Notwithstanding  the  testimony  of  Romance,  which  represents 
Thomas  Hansford  as  a  single  man  at  the  time  of  his  execution, 
we  find  the  court,  on  April  10,  1667,  entering  an  order  against 
Mr.  John  Roberts,  guardian  of  Mistress  Elizabeth  Jones,  daugh- 
ter of  Richard  Jones,9  deceased,  to  deliver  his  ward's  estate  in 
kind  to  Thomas  Hansford  as  intermarrying  with  the  said  Eliza- 
beth." This  Elizabeth  had  two  brothers,  Gabriel10  and  Rich- 
ard, but  they  soon  died  without  issue  and  she  became  sole  heir- 
ess of  her  father's  property,  thus  bringing  a  considerable  fortune 
to  her  husband. 

Hansford' s  marriage  occurred  nine  years  before  Bacon's 
Rebellion,  and  his  family  at  that  time  was  of  considerable  figure, 
consisting  of  a  wife  and  five  children. 

During  these  nine  years  we  catch  an  occasional  glimpse  of 
him  in  the  courts.  A  deposition,  in  June,  1668,  declares  that 


'Hening,  Vol.  II,  p.  550. 

8  York  county  records. 

9 Richard  Jones'  will  proved  12  November,  1660. 

10  Will  proved  January  10,  1670. 


THOMAS    HANSFORD.  197 

passing  by  the  cow-pen  he  tauntingly  bid  "  Ann  Huddlestone's 
Dame  "  to  go  and  rob  the  onion  patch  again.  "  Can  you  prove 
your  words?"  she  indignantly  said.  "Yes,"  was  the  reply. 
He  was  sued  for  defamation  of  character.  After  the  same  man- 
ner, he  accused  Dr.  William  Townsend  of  purloining  from 
Squire  Digges's  old  field  a  foal  which  he  himself  had  branded 
for  Digges.  In  another  suit  he  won  200  pounds  of  tobacco  from 
Abraham  Ray  for  damages  done  his  (Hansford's)  horse.  And 
Thomas  Reade,  his  servant,  who  ran  away,  was  required  by  the 
court  to  make  equivalent  service  for  the  cost  and  trouble  of  his 
capture. 

The  uprising  of  the  people  at  the  call  of  Nathaniel  Bacon, 
Jr.,  summoned  Hansford  to  more  serious  controversies;  but 
here,  I  regret  to  say,  we  cannot  add  much  to  what  is  already 
familiarly  known.  We  are  aware  that  many  of  the  leading  gentry 
adhered  to  Governor  Berkeley,  but  not  all,  as  in  York  county 
both  Thomas  Hansford  and  Major  Edmund  Chisman  were 
trusted  officers  of  Bacon,  who  was  himself  of  the  ancient  house 
of  Francis  Bacon,  Lord  Verulam.  Certain,  it  is,  that  both 
sides  plundered  and  pillaged  private  estates,  and  a  guerrilla  war- 
fare prevailed  through  all  the  colony.  Hansford,  according  to 
Robert  Beverley,"  was  commander-in-chief  of  four  counties 
and  president  of  the  Court  of  Sequestrations.  Probably  it  was 
while  engaged  one  day  in  looking  up  the  sequestered  estate  of  a 
Royalist  that  he  met  up  with  the  gallant  Captain  William  Digges, 
eldest  son  of  Colonel  Edward  Diggs,  of  Bellfield,  in  York 
county,  and  in  a  single  handed  fight  with  him  was  so  unfortunate 
as  to  lose  one  of  his  fingers.  Digges  forced  him  to  fly,  but  the 
tables  were  turned  shortly  after,  and  Digges  had  himself  to 
flee  to  Maryland  for  safety.  The  writer  of  the  MS."  from 
which  this  fact  is  gleaned  adds  that  "for  her  son's  loyalty  his 
mother  (Mrs.  Elizabeth  Digges)  suffered  considerably  in  her 
estate." 

I  do  not  propose  to  give  a  history  of  the  Rebellion.  Just  at 
the  time  when  Virginia  acknowledged  no  other  authority  than 
Bacon's,  he  was  taken  ill  and  died,  and  thus  the  cause  which  he 

11  Hening's  Statutes,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  567. 

12  In  Virginia  State  Library. 


198  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

represented  received  a  fatal  blow.  Berkeley  re-established  his 
authority  as  rapidly  as  he  had  lost  it.  Some  of  the  lieutenants 
of  Bacon  were  hanged,  others  died  in  prison,  and  others  left  the 
colony.  Hansford  was  one  of  those  who  suffered  the  first-men- 
tioned fate,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  native  Virginian 
that  perished  in  that  ignominious  form,  and  the  first  martyr  that 
fell  in  defending  the  rights  of  the  people.  His  execution  took 
place  in  Accomac.18 

From  June,  1676,  the  beginning  of  the  conflict,  to  March, 
1677,  when  the  end  had  came,  there  appears  to  have  been  no 
court  held  in  York  county,  as  far  as  the  records  testify.  Bacon 
had  compelled  the  justices,  in  the  celebrated  meeting  at  the  Mid- 
dle Plantation,  to  administer  to  the  people  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  his  cause;  and  in  a  letter  dated  February  17,  1677,  they  now 
besought  the  Governor  to  "  indemnify  "  them  by  name  for  obey- 
ing the  mandate,  and  to  indicate  "  who  should  be  justices  for 
York  county." 

The  Governor,  on  March  23d,  immediately  re-appointed  all 
except  John  Scarsbrooke,  whose  case  was  reserved  for  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Council  on  account  of  suspicions,  connecting  him 
with  the  rebellion.  And  on  March  3ist,  he  further  ordered  that 
the  sessions  of  the  county  court  should  be  held  "  in  the  house 
lately  belonging  to  Thomas  Hansford,  whose  estate  for  his  rebel- 
lion and  treason  is  forfeited  to  his  sacred  Majesty."1*  So  said 
Governor  Berkeley,  but  it  appears,  however,  that  the  property  of 
Thomas  Hansford  was  not  confiscated.  In  spite  of  a  formal 
petition  (addressed  to  the  commissioners  sent  over  from  Eng- 
land to  enquire  into  the  late  disturbances)  by  the  justices  of  York 
county,  John  Page,  John  Scarsbrooke  (lately  restored),  James 
Vaulx,  Otho  Thorpe  and  Isaac  Clopton,  that  the  property  of 
Hansford  should  be  seized  for  a  courthouse,  the  want  of  which 
in  the  county  had  annually  imposed  a  heavy  burden  in  the  way  of 
rent  upon  the  people,  the  commissioners,  with  a  humanity  which 
did  them  credit,  reported  to  the  king  in  favor  of  bestowing  the 


13  He  was  captured  by  Major  Robert  Beverley,  at  the  house  of  Colonel 
George  Reade,  deceased,  situated  where  Yorktown  now  is.  Colonel 
Reade  had  been  a  member  of  the  Council. 

"York  county  records. 


THOMAS    HANSFORD.  199 

property  of  Hansford  and  "those  other  wretched"  men  lately 
associated  with  him  upon  "their  poor  wives  and  children."15 
And  this  was  doubtless  the  explanation  why,  on  November  13, 
1678,  "a  commission  of  administration  on  the  estate  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Hansford  was  granted  to  Mr.  Charles  Hansford  and  Mr. 
David  Condon  in  behalf  of  ye  decedent's  children,  &c." 

Previous  to  this  the  same  parties  had  qualified  on  the  estate  of 
Mrs.  Thomas  Hansford,  who  within  a  year  had  followed  her 
martyred  husband  to  the  grave. 

An  agreement,  dated  February  26,  1677-' 78,  was  made  between 
the  administrators  and  the  justices  representing  the  county,  by 
which  the  house  "  lately  belonging  to  Mrs.  Hansford "  was 
leased  to  the  county  for  one  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  per 
annum — an  arrangement  which  continued  until  January  20, 
1679-' 80,  when  the  place  of  adjournment  was  changed  to  the 
"French  Ordinary,"  not  far  distant  on  the  York  road,  half  way 
between  Williamsburg  and  Yorktown. 

15  The  petition  of  the  Justices  ran  as  follows  :  "  And  whereas  Thomas 
Hansford  suffered  death  as  a  traitor  and  thereby  forfeited  his  Land 
to  the  King,  the  Court  humbly  prays  the  seventy  acres  of  Land  given 
him  by  his  fifather's  will  to  build  a  courthouse  for  the  use  of  the  said 
county  forever,  having  been  formerly  forced  to  pay  4000  Ib.  of  Tob 
yearly,  w'ch  hath  been  very  burthensome  to  the  county. 

(Signed,)  "JOHN  PAGE, 

"JOHN  SCARSBROOKE, 
"JAMES  VAULX, 
''  OTHO  THORPE, 
"  ISAAC  CLOPTON." 

On  which  the  commissioners  reported  : 

"  We  humbly  hope  that  his  Majesty  will  be  gratuitously  pleased  to 
give  the  Estate  of  these  wretched  men  to  there  poore  wives  and  chil- 
dren, w'ch  will  be  an  act  of  great  mercy." 

A  petition  from  the  inhabitants  of  another  county  prayed  that  "this 
present  grand  assembly  would  make  an  act  of  oblivion  that  no  person 
may  be  Injured  by  the  provoking  names  of  Rebells,  Traitors  and 
Rogues."  To  which  the  commissioners,  Sir  John  Berry,  Colonel  Her- 
bert Jeffreys  and  Colonel  Francis  Morrison,  added  :  "  We  Joyne  w'th 
the  Petitioners  herein  to  his  Majesty  that  noe  pretence  may  obstruct  the 
obtaining  and  good  effect  of  it,  and  thus  wee  have  layd  it  most  humbly 
before  his  Ma'ty  as  a  most  likely  means  to  secure  the  quiet  of  his  s'd 
Colony."  MSS.  in  Virginia  State  Library. 


200  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Of  the  children  of  Thomas  Hansford,  John  was  afflicted  and 
died  in  1681.  Elizabeth  married  Richard  Burt,  Mary  married 
William  Hewitt,  and  Thomas  and  William  married  and  died  in 
York  county  leaving  descendants. 

The  will  of  Thomas  Hansford' s  son,  William  Hansford,  was 
recorded  July  24,  1709,  and  mentions  a  wife,  Mary,  who  seems 
to  have  been  a  sister  of  David  Morce,  called  in  the  will  "  brother- 
in-law,"  and  three  sons,  William,  Thomas,  and  David,  and  one 
daughter,  Elizabeth,  all  under  age. 

The  will  of  the  other  son,  Thomas,  was  recorded  June  20, 
1720,  and  his  children  were  Thomas  and  William,  Elizabeth, 
Sarah,  Mary,  and  Martha  Hansford.  William  died  in  1733,  and 
left  a  wife,  Mary,  and  son,  Lewis  who  had  four  sons  living  in 
I765-16  Mary  Steele,  in  her  will  proved  in  York  county  court, 
July  20,  1767,  calls  Lewis  Hansford  her  son-in-law.  Thomas 
was  living  in  1736. 1T 

Charles  Hansford,  youngest  brother  of  Major  Thomas  Hans- 
ford,  married  Elizabeth  Moody,  daughter  of  Rev.  Edward 
Foliott,  of  Hampton  Parish,  and  relict  of  Josias  Moody,  son  of 
Dr.  Giles  Mode,  a  Frenchman,  whose  name  was  corrupted  into 
Moody,  and  who  is  the  founder  of  that  family  in  Virginia.  He 
left,  in  1702,"*  three  sons,  Charles,  William  and  John,  and  four 
daughters,  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Hansford,  Lydia  Duke,  wife  of 
"Mr.  Henry  Duke,"  and  Martha,  who  married  Samuel  Hill. 
Of  these  John  long  kept  an  ordinary  at  the  half-way  house  be- 
tween Williamsburg  and  Yorktown.  Charles  Hansford,  the 
second  19  of  that  name,  had  issue,  a  daughter  Lucy,  who  mar- 
ried John  Hyde,  and  a  son  also,  named  Charles.  The  third 
Charles  lived  till  1778,  and  on  the  2ist  December,  1778,  his 


16  Dr.  Lewis  Hansford,  of  Norfolk,  was  alive  in  1805. 

"Thomas  Hansford,  of  Elizabeth  City,  married  Hannah,  daughter  of 
John  Davis,  and  a  granddaughter  of  John  R.  Davis  (who  died  in  1784), 
a  lieutenant  in  the  State  navy  during  the  Revolution.  On  i8th  Decem- 
ber, 1784,  a  Thomas  Hansford  obtained  a  license  in  York  county  to 
marry  "  Elizabeth  Lilburne,  widow." 

18  Charles  Hansford's  will  was  proved  July  24,  1702. 

19  Charles  Hansford's   will   was   proved  June  15,   1761.     The   York 
county  records  mention    Charles    Hansford  and    Susannah  his  wife 
executors  of  Joseph  Wade. 


THOMAS    HANSFORD.  201 

will  was  proved  in  York  county  court.  He  left  two  sons, 
Richard  and  Benjamin,  and  three  daughters — Elizabeth  or  Betsy, 
who  in  1769  married  20  John  Camm,  the  treasurer  of  the  College 
of  William  and  Mary,  and  afterwards  president  of  the  same ; 
Mary,  who  in  July,  1775,  married21  Rev.  Samuel  Sheild,  minister 
of  Drysdale  parish,  in  Caroline  county,  and  Martha,  who 
married  Edward  Harwood,  and  subsequently  Robert  Sheild,  of 
York  county,  brother  of  said  Samuel,  and  great-grandfather  of 
William  H.  Sheild,  M.  D.,  assistant  physician  at  the  Eastern 
Lunatic  Asylum. 

As  to  the  Gloucester  branch  of  the  Hansford  family,  William, 
elder  brother  of  Major  Thomas  Hansford,  had  a  son  William 
living  there  in  i7o6.M 

The  Hansford  blood  mingles  with  that  of  the  Pattesons, 
Camms,  Hydes,23  Hills,  Custises,  and  many  other  well  known 
families  in  Virginia  to-day.24 

This  ends  my  paper.  Genealogical  investigations,  though 
necessarily  personal,  are  nevertheless  valuable.  A  people  with- 
out pride  in  their  past  are  no  people  at  all.  And  I  cordially 
echo  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Professor  Garnett  in  his  excel- 
lent paper  read  last  night :  "  Perish  the  day  when  the  son  forgets 
the  father." 

ANNIE  TUCKER  TYLER. 


20  Virginia  Gazette. 

21  Ibid. 

22  York  county  records.     Petsoe  Parish  Vestry-Book. 

23 Dr.  John  Hansford  Hyde  died  in  Lexington,  Va.,  April  i.  1851. 
Captain  Robert  Hyde  served  in  the  Revolutionary  army  as  an  artificer ; 
came  to  Richmond  in  1788. 

2*  Charles  Hansford,  at  present  living  in  Williamsburg,  is  descended 
from  Charles,  brother  of  Major  Thomas  Hansford.  His  father  was 
Benjamin  Hansford,  who  married  Sarah  Wynne  ;  grandfather,  Richard 
Hansford,  who  married  Lucy  Dudley  Haynes. 


JOURNAL 


OF 


CAPTAIN  CHARLES  LEWIS 


OF 


The  Virginia  Regiment, 


COMMANDED  BY 


Colonel  George  Washington 


IN   THE 


EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE  FRENCH, 

October  10 — December  27, 

1755- 


JOURNAL 


OF 


CAPTAIN  CHARLES  LEWIS 


OCTOBER  10 — DECEMBER  10,  1755. l 


October  loth,  7755 — Left  Fredericksburg  under  the  command 

1  The  original  of  the  "Journal  "  is  in  the  possession  of  Thomas  War- 
ing Lewis,  Esq.,  of  "Mansfield,"  Essex  county,  Virginia,  who  thus 
states  his  descent  from  its  writer,  Captain  (subsequently  known  as  Col- 
onel) Charles  Lewis :  "  I  am  a  great-grandson  of  Colonel  Charles  Lewis, 
of  '  Cedar  Creek,'  Caroline  county,  Virginia,  who  was  the 'brother  of 
Colonel  Fielding  Lewis,  of  Fredericksburg,  and  the  son  of  John  Lewis, 
of  '  Warner  Hall,'  Gloucester  county,  and  of  Frances  nee  Fielding,  and 
who  was  a  grandson  of  John  Lewis  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  a  daughter  , 
of  the  Hon.  Augustine  Warner,  of  Gloucester  county,  who  was  a  Mem- 
ber of  the  Council  and  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  His 
daughter,  Mildred  Warner,  was  the  wife  of  Lawrence  Washington,  and 
General  George  Washington  was  thus  the  cousin  of  Fielding,  Colonel 
Charles,  and  Warner  Lewis,  of  '  Warner  Hall.'  Colonel  Charles  Lewis 
was  a  vestryman  of  St  Mary's  parish,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  a  Bur- 
gess for  Caroline  county.  He  was  with  Washington  at  Braddock's 
defeat.  He  died  just  before  'the  glorious  Revolution  of  1776.'  " 

A  copy  of  the  original  was  kindly  made  for  the  editor  in  April,  1891, 
by  Mr.  William  L.  Lewis,  a  son  of  its  present  owner.  The  original  com- 
mander of  the  Virginia  forces  in  the  expedition  against  the  French  in 
1754  was  Colonel  Joshua  Fry,  who,  dying  May  3ist,  whilst  conducting 
it  to  the, Ohio  river,  was  succeeded  in  the  command  by  the  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  George  Washington. 

A  special  value  of  the  paper  is  in  the  list  given  of  the  officers  of  the 
Virginia  regiment,  for  which  there  has  been  repeated  inquiry  by  histor- 
ical students*  If  in  print,  the  publication  containing  it  seems  not  to  be 
known. 


206  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

of  Major  Andrew  Lewis,2  with  eighty  men.  Crossed  the  Rap- 
pahannock  at  the  falls.  The  men  being  most  of  them  drunk. 
We  marched  but  seven  miles  to  Pickets;  very  bad  entertain- 
ment ;  no  water  to  be  had  for  the  soldiers.  This  night  two  of 
my  company  deserted.  The  expenses,  45.  5^d.  Seven  miles. 

October  nth — This  day  I  was  ordered  to  march  before  the 
company  to  one  Martin  Hardin's,  to  provide  provisions.  I  shot 
a  bullock  and  provided  a  plenty  of  bread  in  the  evening.  The 
company  came  up  in  high  spirits.  Here  we  had  good  enter- 
tainment, a  merry  landlady  and  daughter.  Expenses,  6>^s. 
Eighteen  miles. 

October  1 2th — This  day  Major  Lewis  and  Captain  H.  Wood- 
ward,3 went  before  to  provide  for  the  company  and  left  me  the 


2 Andrew  Lewis,  son  of  John  and  Margaret  (Lynn)  Lewis,  pioneer 
settlers  of  Augusta  county,  Virginia,  was  born  in  Ulster,  Ireland,  in 
1720  ;  with  Washington  at  the  surrender  of  Fort  Necessity,  July  3,  1754; 
in  the  company  of  his  brother,  Samuel,  at  Braddock's  defeat;  com- 
manded the  Sandy  Creek  Expedition  in  1756,  and  in  the  unfortunate 
expedition  of  Major  Grant  in  1758,  was  made  prisoner  and  taken  to 
Montreal.  In  the  same  year  he  was  a  commissioner  to  treat  with  the 
Six  Nations  at  Fort  Stanwix ;  made  a  brigadier-general  in  1774,  and 
commanded  the  Virginia  troops  at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  Octo- 
ber loth,  gaining  a  victory  over  the  most  formidable  Indian  force  which 
ever  opposed  the  whites  in  Virginia ;  a  representative  of  Botetourt 
county  in  the  Virginia  Assembly,  and  a  member  of  the  Conventions  of 
March  and  June,  1775;  commissioned  colonel  and  promoted  brigadier- 
general,  but  declined  April  5,  1777.  He  drove  Lord  Dunmore  from 
Gwynn's  Island,  and  was  on  duty  in  the  lower  part  of  the  State,  where 
he  contracted  a  fever  of  which  he  died  September  25,  1781,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Captain  Talbott,  in  Bedford  county,  and  was  interred  on 
Thursday  following,  the  27th  instant,  ''  beside  his  younger  brother, 
Charles,"  in  the  burial-ground  on  his  farm,  "  Dropmore,"  on  Roanoke 
river  near  Salem,  Roanoke  county. 

Samuel,  Thomas,  and  Charles,  brothers  of  General  Andrew  Lewis, 
were  severally  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  Virginia,  and  have  been 
worthily  represented  in  succeeding  generations. 

3  Henry  Woodward,  was  an  Englishman,  who  was  first  appointed 
lieutenant  upon  the  recommendation  of  James  Abercromby,  and  sub- 
sequenty  promoted.  He  was  voted  thanks  and  a  gratuity  of  ^30  by 
the  Assembly  for  gallantry  at  Fort  Necessity.  He  was  present  at  the 
defeat  of  Braddock. 


JOURNAL    OF    CAPTAIN    CHARLES    LEWIS.  207 

command  of  the  men.  Took  on  the  march  a  deserter  and  a 
drunken  schoolmaster.  Arrived  in  the  evening  at  Nevils. * 
Bread  very  scarce.  Lieutenant  Lowry  sent  out  to  purchase 
meal  and  potatoes.  We  made  a  good  shift.  Eighteen  miles. 

October  /jM— Marched  from  Nevil's,  and  crossed  the  Ridge 
at  Ashby's  Gap.  I  was  this  day  sent  forward  to  provide  for  the 
men.  Provision  plenty.  This  day's  march  was  very  tedious, 
being  cold  and  rainy,  and  the  men  very  ill-clothed.  They  came 
up  with  me  about  8  o'clock  at  night  very  much  fatigued,  having 
marched  this  day  twenty-five  miles. 

October  I4th — This  day  we  marched  cheerfully,  having  but 
eighteen  miles  to  Winchester.  We  arrived  about  3  o'clock,  and 
joined  the  Hon'ble  George  Washington,  Commander  of  the 
Virginia  Regiment,  and  Captain  George  Mercer,  A.  D.  C. ,  with 
other  officers  and  about  forty  men.  Eighteen  miles. 

From  Fredericksburg,    7  .         .  miles  to  Picket's. 

"  Picket's,  18  .  "      Hardin's. 

"  Hardin's,  18  "     Nevil's. 

"  Nevil's,  25  ..  "     Woods'. 

"  Wood's,  1 8  .  "     Winchester. 

86  miles  from  Fred'b'rg  to  Winchester. 

October  i^th — Viewed  the  town. 

October  i6th— Rested. 

October  f/th — Rainy,  and  very  unpleasant  weather. 

October  i8th — Orders  to  make  ready  for  marching  to  Fort 
Cumberland. 

October  iqth — Made  ready.  This  day  we  had  a  remarkable 
battle  between  two  of  our  servants. 

October  2oth — We  left  Winchester  under  the  command  ol 
Major  Andrew  Lewis,  and  marched  ten  miles  to  Captain 
Smith's,  a  very  remarkable  man.  I  was  this  day  appointed  cap- 
tain over  forty-one  men  of  different  companies.  A  remarkable 
dispute  between  Lieutenant  Steenberger  and  an  Irish  woman. 
Ten  miles. 

4  Neville's. 


208  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

October  2ist—  Marched  from  Captain  Smith's,  and  crossed 
great  Cape  Capon.  A  beautiful  prospect,  and  the  best  land  I 
ever  yet  saw.  We  encamped  this  night  on  the  top  of  a  moun- 
tain. The  roads  were  by  far  the  worst  this  day,  and  our  march 
was  for  that  reason  but  thirteen  miles.  Our  men,  nevertheless, 
were  in  high  spirits.  About  8  o'clock  this  night  a  soldier's 
musket  went  off  in  the  middle  of  our  encampment  without  any 
damage.  I  think  I  saw  this  day  some  of  the  most  delightful 
prospects  I  ever  did.  Thirteen  miles. 

October  22d — This  day  we  marched  from  Sandy  Top  Moun- 
tain to  little  Cape  Capon.  The  land  very  good.  We  encamped 
this  night  at  a  poor  man's  house,  entirely  forsaken,  and  the 
people  driven  off  by  the  Indians.  We  found  here  a  plenty  of 
corn,  oats,  and  stock  of  all  kinds  ;  even  the  goods  and  furniture 
of  the  house  were  left  behind.  This  night  about  9  o'clock  we 
were  joined  by  the  Hori'ble  Colonel  George  Washington  and 
Captain  George  Mercer,  A.  D.  C.  Fifteen  miles. 

October  2^d — Very  bad  weather  ;  snow  and  rain.  We 
marched  very  slow  to-day,  and  arrived  at  the  South  Branch, 
where  we  encamped  at  a  house  on  the  branch,  having  come  up 
with  Colonel  George  Washington  and  Captain  Mercer,  A.  D.  C. 
Nine  miles.  Very  ill-natured  people  here. 

October  2^.th — A  very  wet  day.  We  marched  to  Patterson' s 
Creek,  on  which  we  encamped,  in  a  house  deserted.  We  found 
here  good  corn,  wheat,  and  pasturage.  Before  we  marched  we 
discharged  our  pieces,  being  wet,  and  charged  them,  in  expecta- 
tion of  seeing  the  enemy.  Colonel  Washington  marched  before 
with  Captain  Ashby's  company  of  Rangers.  Fourteen  miles. 

October  2$th — Marched  from  Patterson's  Creek.  Passed 
many  deserved  houses.  I  was  this  day  very  curious  in  the  ex- 
amination of  the  mischief  done  in  the  houses,  and  was  much 
shocked  at  the  havoc  made  by  the  barbarous,  cruel  Indians  at 
one  Mecraggin's.  I  found  the  master  of  the  family,  who  had 
been  buried  but  slightly  by  his  friends  after  his  assassination, 
half  out  of  the  grave,  and  eaten  by  the  wolves ;  the  house  burnt, 
the  corn-field  laid  waste,  and  an  entire  ruin  made.  At  half-past 
6  we  arrived  at  Fort  Cumberland,  cold  and  hungry.  We  had 
this  day,  by  Major  Lewis's  order,  two  women  ducked  for  rob- 
bing the  deserted  houses.  Twenty  miles. 


JOURNAL    OF   CAPTAIN    CHARLES    LEWIS.  209 


From  Winchester,     81  miles  to  Fort  Cumberland. 
"      Fred'b'rg,       86  "  Winchester. 


167  "    Fort  Cumberland. 

October  26th — This  day  Lieutenant  Walter  Stewart 8  showed 
me  the  fort. 

'Tis  a  Quadr  fort,  with  four  Bastns ;  about  one  hundred  feet  in 
the  square  ;  has  eleven  four  pounders  and  two  smaller,  mounted. 
'Tis  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  Potomack,  in  Maryland, 
on  a  hill  ;  very  pleasant  :  more  so,  I  think,  than  advantageous  ; 
has  a  romantick  prospect  from  the  mountains,  and  is  very  healthy. 
I  was  this  day  ordered  to  return  to  Fredericksburg,  but  my 
horses  being  tired,  I  was  excused. 

October  2jth,  28th,  2<^th,  ^oth — Nothing  remarkable. 

October  jist — An  Irishman  arrived  at  the  fort  with  two 
scalps.  It  seems  he  was  the  Sunday  before  taken  prisoner  by  a 
party  of  fifty-two  Indians,  and  being  left  in  custody  of  two  while 
the  party  proceeded  towards  the  inhabitants,  he  with  his  guard 
arrived  at  the  Shenandoah  camp,  and  encamped  in  a  house  de- 
serted. About  ii  o'clock  he  was  ordered  to  make  up  the  fire, 
but  denying  to  do  so,  was  threatened  the  tomahawk  ;  but  acci- 
dentally casting  his  eyes  on  an  axe  in  the  house  very  convenient 
to  him,  he,  with  it,  beat  out  the  brains  of  the  Indian  next  to  him, 
and  with  his  gun,  shot  the  other  through  the  body.  Having 
scalped  them,  he  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  Fort  Cumberland 
with  their  scalps,  guns  and  horses,  &c. 

I  bought  one  of  the  guns  for  fifty  shillings,  Maryland  cur- 
rency, being  a  French  piece,  very  handsome  and  equally  good. 
This  same  day  a  party  of  volunteers  was  detached,  consisting  <?f 
one  hundred  men,  rank  and  file  and  officers. 

The  Indians  having  discovered  their  designs,      * 

'Tis  not  doubted  the  party  will  cut  them  off. 

November  i,  2,  3 — Nothing  remarkable. 

5  Lieutenant  Walter  Stewart  was  voted  by  the  Virginia  Assembly, 
August,  1755,  thanks  and  a  gratuity  of  £30,  for  his  gallant  conduct  in 
the  action  on  the  Monongahela.  He  was  wounded  at  the  defeat  of 
Braddock. 


210  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

November  4th — The  volunteers  returned  without  success,  the 
Indians  being  supposed  to  be  returned. 

November  i$th — Colonel  Stevens 6  arrived  this  day-evening 
with  about  one  hundred  recruits,  with  their  proper  officers — 
Captain  Robert  Spotswood,7  Captain  William  Peachy,8  Lieu- 
tenant John  Hall,  Lieutenant  King,  and  two  volunteers. 

November  14,  75,  16,  77,  18,  19— Nothing  remarkable. 

November  2oth — Ensign  Bacon  arrived  at  the  fort  from  Patter- 
son's Creek,  where  he  had  been  to  erect  a  fort.  On  his  way  he 
heard  the  Indian  Hallow,  and  saw  many  tracks  of  Indians  in  the 
woods.  This  alarmed  the  fort,  but  being  late  'twas  not  possible 
to  send  out  a  party;  but  orders  were  given  for  a  hundred  men 
to  parade  in  the  morning  under  Captain  Waggoner. 

November  2ist — A  very  bad  morning,  wet  and  continuing  to 
rain.  A  party  of  one  hundred  men  paraded  under  Captain 
Waggoner,9  to  search  for  the  Indians  on  Patterson's  Creek, 
according  to  Ensign  Bacon's  information  of  the  day  before. 
Major  Andrew  Lewis  and  myself  went  as  volunteers  on  this 
command.  We  returned  the  same  day  with  the  party.  No 
Indians  or  tracks  of  Indians  to  be  seen. 

November  22d — A  very  cold  day  and  windy. 

November  23,  24,  23 — Nothing  remarkable. 

November  26th — I  went  out  this  day  in  company  with  Major 

6  Lieutenant-Colonel  Adam  Stephen — ED. 

7  The  younger  son  of  Governor  Alexander  Spotswood.     He  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  slain  by  the  Indians  near  Fort  Duquesne  in  1757 — 
ED. 

8 Subsequently  promoted  to  Major  of  the  Second  Virginia  Regiment, 
Colonel  William  Byrd,  and  was  in  the  campaign  under  Forbes  in  1758 — 
ED. 

9 Thomas  Waggener  was  at  the  defeat  and  death  of  Jamonville, 
May  28,  1754,  and  was  slightly  wounded.  He  had  previously  served 
under  Governor  William  Shirley  of  Massachusetts,  in  the  projected 
Canada  expedition  of  1746.  He  received  the  thanks  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses  for  his  gallantry  at  Fort  Necessity.  Others  of  the  name  also 
served  during  this  period.  Ensign  Edward  Waggener  was  killed  at 
the  defeat  of  Braddock,  and  Captain  Andrew  Waggener  received 
lands  under  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Dinwiddie  of  1754 — ED. 


JOURNAL    OF    CAPTAIN   CHARLES   LEWIS.  211 

James  Livingston,  Lieutenant  Stark,  one  sergeant,  a  corporal 
and  three  privates  to  Nicholas'  Fort  on  a  party  of  pleasure. 
'Tis  about  five  miles  from  Fort  Cumberland,  well  built,  with 
four  bastions.  About  i  o'clock  we  left  this  fort  and  marched 
one  mile  below,  where  we  crossed  the  Potomack  river  in  a  canoe. 
I  went  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  into  a  house,  where  was  a 
weaver's  loom,  and  a  small  quantity  of  shavings  of  a  wood  the 
people  in  these  parts  dye  with.  Some  distance  from  this  house 
we  found  in  the  Indian  path  about  two  pounds  of  swan  shot, 
supposed  by  our  guide  to  be  dropped  there  by  the  Indians  in 
some  hurry  when  they  massacred  the  inhabitants  about  these 
plantations.  We  crossed  a  small  mountain  not  far  from  this,  on 
whose  top  you  might  drop  a  stone  four  hundred  feet  into  the 
Potomack  river.  We  passed  another  mountain  something  higher; 
had  much  the  same  prospect,  a  fine  landscape.  From  the  top 
of  this  mountain  you  might  drop  a  stone  above  five  hundred 
feet  perpendicular  into  the  Potomack  river.  We  found  here  an 
Indian  cap  made  of  bear  skin,  and  then  we  proceeded  on  our 
march  to  the  new  store,  built  by  the  Ohio  Company,  from  whence 
we  crossed  the  Potomack  river,  and  before  night  got  into  Fort 
Cumberland.  This  march  fatigued  me  very  much,  being  above 
fifteen  miles,  and  a  great  part  of  it  over  the  mountains. 
November  2jth — A  very  fine  warm  day. 

An  exact  list  of  officers  and  their  ranks,  belonging  to  the  Vir- 
ginia regiment,  commanded  by  the  Hon'ble  George  Washington: 

The  Hon'ble  George  Washington, 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Adam  Stevens, 

Major  Andrew  Lewis. 

Captains  Peter  Hogg,10  i 

George  Mercer,  2 

Thomas  Waggoner,  3 


10  Peter  Hog  (as  he  spelled  his  name)  was  born  in  Edinburgh,  Scot- 
land, in  1703,  and  immigrated  to  Virginia  with  his  brothers,  James  and 
Thomas,  about  1745,  and  located  in  Augusta  county,  Virginia,  where 
he  married  Elizabeth  Taylor;  was  commissioned  captain  March  9, 
1754;  delegated  July  21,  1756,  to  contract  a  line  of  frontier  forts; 
served  also  in  Sandy  Creek  Expedition  in  the  same  year ;  licensed  to 
practice  law  May  10,  1759 ;  appointed  by  Lord  Dunmore  April  10,  1772, 
deputy  to  the  Attorney-General  for  the  county  of  Dunmore  (formed 


212  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Captains  Robert  Stewart,11  4 

Thomas  Cock,12  5 

John  Savage,13  6 

William  Branough,14  7 

John  Mercer,15  8 

Joshua  Lewis,  9 

Henry  Woodward,  10 

Robert  Spotswood,  1 1 

Carter  Harrison,16  12 

Charles  Lewis,  13 

William  Peachy,  14 


February,  1772,  from  Frederick,  and  re-named  Shenandoah  county  by 
act  of  October,  1777,  Hening,  VIII,  pp.  597-579)-  He  died  April  20, 
1782.  Under  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Dinwiddie  he  received 
2347  acres  of  land.  His  descendants  in  the  names  of  Hoge,  Hogg, 
Hall,  Blair,  Blackley.  Hawkins,  McPherson,  Ott,  and  others,  are  held 
in  high  social  esteem. 

"Subsequently  promoted  major;  was  engaged  in  the  action  on  the 
Monongahela,  and  in  August,  1755,  was  voted  by  the  Virginia  Assem- 
bly thanks  and  a  gratuity  of  ^"100  for  gallantry. 

12  Thomas  Cocke,  commissioned  captain  December  13,  1754.     He 
appears  to  have  been  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the  family  of  Colonel 
George  William  Fairfax. 

13  Served  through  the  French  and  Indian  war,  receiving,  in  1771,  his 
allotment  of  lands  under  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Dinwiddie. 

"Captain  William  Bronaugh  received  6,000  acres  of  land  in  1771  for 
his  services. 

15  His  full  name  was  John  Fenton  Mercer,  a  younger  brother  of  Cap- 
tain George  Mercer.  He  was  born  August  31,  1735  ;  was  killed  and 
scalped  by  the  Indians  April  18,  1756,  at  Edwards's  Fort,  on  the  Warm 
Springs  mountains  whilst  in  command  of  a  scouting  party  of  one  hun- 
dred men. 

18  Carter  Henry  Harrison,  second  son  of  Benjamin  and  Anne  (daugh- 
ter of  Robert  "King"  Carter)  Harrison  (the  second  of  the  name  in 
Virginia),  of  "Berkeley,"  James  river;  brother  of  Benjamin  "the 
Signer,"  and  uncle  of  President  William  Henry  Harrison.  He  resigned 
his  commission  (probably  because  of  ill-health)  in  favor  of  his  brother, 
Charles,  subsequently  colonel  in  the  Revolution  and  commissioned 
Brigadier- General  United  States  Army,  December  24,  1794,  but  who 
was  found  murdered  in  bed  soon  after.  He  married,  in  1763,  Mary, 
daughter  of  Colonel  Augustine  and  Mary  (Herbert)  Claiborne,  who 
was  fourth  in  descent  from  Colonel  William  Claiborne,  "  the  rebel." 


JOURNAL    OF   CAPTAIN    CHARLES   LEWIS.  213 

Captains  David  Bell,  15 

Robert  McKenzie,  16 

Lieutenants  John  McNiel,  i 

William  Stark,  2 

Thomas  Bullet,"  3 

Walter  Stewart,  4 

John  Blagg,18  5 

Hancock  Eustice,19  6 

George  Frazer,  7 

John  Edward  Lomax,  8 

Peter  Steenburger,  9 

John  Williams,  10 
Augustine  Brockenbrough,*0  n 

John  Campbell,  12 

John  Hall,  13 

John  Lowry,  14 

John  King,  15 

James  Baker,  16 

Ensigns  Mordecai  Buckner,  i 

John  Poison,21  2 

William  Dangerfield,  3 

Edward  Hubbard,  4 

John  Dean,  5 

Nathaniel  Milner,  6 

"Thomas  Bullett  received  lands  in  1771  under  the  proclamation  of 
1754;  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  and  deputy  adjutant-general 
February  22,  177.7,  afid  died  in  service  during  the  Revolution. 

18  Lieutenant  John  Blagge  was  present  as  a  member  of  a  court-martial 
held  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  May  2,  1756. 

19  Hancock  Eustace  was  subsequently  promoted  captain. 

20  Augustine,  or  Austin,  Brockenbrough,  eldest  son  of  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Brockenbrough,  from  England,  who  settled  in  Richmond  county, 
Virginia,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century ;  was  present  at  Braddock's 
defeat ;  remained  in  London  neutral  during  the  Revolution  ;  returned 
to  Virginia  after  peace  was  declared  and  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
Champe,  of  King  George,  and  had  issue. 

"John  Poulson  was  probably  a  younger  brother  of  Captain  William 
Poulson. 


214  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Ensigns  William  Flamming,2"  7 

Leonard  Price,  8 

Nathaniel  Thompson,  9 

Thomas  Carter,  10 

Charles  Smith,  n 

Lee  Hussis  Dekizer,23  12 

George  Gordon,  13 

George  Weeden,2*  14 

— ,  15 
,  16 

November  ^olh — This  day  a  man  unfortunately  falling  down 
the  bank  of  Potomack,  opposite  to  ye  Fort,  his  gun  fired  and 
shot  a  soldier  thro'  the  leg,  who  was  crossing  the  river  in  a  canoe. 

December  2nd — Captain  Spotswood  and  self  went  volunteers 
with  a  party,  commanded  by  Ensign  Walter  Lowrie,  to  gather 
corn  from  the  deserted  fields.  We  arrived  about  2.  o'clock  at  a 
plantation  of  one  Cussips,  most  delightfully  situated  on  land  that 
gave  me  great  pleasure.  'Twas  a  piece  of  low  ground  entirely 
surrounded  by  the  mountains,  the  prospects  very  romantic  ; 
high  rocks  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  some  hundred  feet 
perpendicular  to  the  River  Potomack.  Here  we  lodged  this 
night  in  a  comfortable  house. 

December  $d — This  morning  we  took  our  guns,  and  after 
directing  our  men  (in  number  thirty)  to  gather  the  corn,  we  took 

"William  Fleming  migrated  to  Virginia  in  early  manhood.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  of  noble  lineage.  He  was  a  physician,  and  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant  subsequently  acted  as  surgeon.  He  served  in  the 
Sandy  Creek  Expedition  of  1756.  He  was  one  of  the  first  justices  of 
the  peace  for  Botetourt  county  in  1769.  In  1774  he  raised  a  regiment 
which  he  commanded  at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant.  He  was  long  a 
member  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  and  in  June,  1781,  as  the  only  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  at  Richmond,  the  remaining  members  with  Gover- 
nor Jefferson  and  the  Legislature  having  fled  before  the  invading  traitor 
Arnold,  he  was  for  a  time  the  acting  Governor  of  Virginia.  His  acts 
were  subsequently  legalized  by  the  Assembly.  He  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  Israel  Christian,  and  one  of  his  daughters  was  the  wife  of  Rev. 
George  A.  Baxter,  D.  D. 

23  In  the  Dinwiddie  Papers  the  name  is  spelled  De  Keyser. 
"George  Weedon, subsequently  brigadier-general  in  the  Revolution. 


JOURNAL   OF    CAPTAIN    CHARLES   LEWIS.  215 

different  courses  to  hunt  for  deer  and  such  game  as  the  place 
afforded.  This  evening  Captain  Spotswood  went  with  a  soldier 
to  the  plantation  of  one  Williams,  where  the  houses  were  burnt 
by  the  savages.  The  body  of  a  woman  layed  near  one  of  the 
houses,  her  head  being  scalped,  and  also  a  small  boy  and  a  young 
man.  This  horrid  scene  gave  us  a  terrible  shock,  but  I  hope, 
with  the  leave  of  God,  we  shall  still  overcome  the  cruel,  bar- 
barous, and*  inhuman  enemy. 

December  qth — This  morning  we  intended  to  hunt  again,  but 
soon  after  day  we  heard  three  distinct  guns  under  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  wherefore  we  were  particularly  cautious  not  to  ven- 
ture too  far  to  hunt,  lest  we  should  be  outwitted  by  our  ever 
cautious  enemy. 

December  ^th — This  morning  we  marched  for  Fort  Cumber- 
land, and  met  about  five  miles  from  Cussips  a  relief,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  Lynn,  of  twelve  men.  We  accepted  of  his  relief, 
and  gave  up  our  command  to  Mr.  Lynn,  according  to  order. 

December  6th — Five  deserters  were  this  day  punished,  each 
receiving  one  thousand  lashes.  In  this  last  command  I  may, 
with  the  greatest  truth,  aver  that  I  saw  the  most  horrid,  shock- 
ing sight  I  ever  yet  beheld.  At  a  house  adjoining  to  the  corn- 
field, in  which  our  soldiers  were  employed  in  gathering  corn,  we 
saw  the  bodies  of  three  different  people  who  were  first  massacred, 
then  scalped,  and  after  thrown  into  a  fire.  These  bodies  were 
not  yet  quite  consumed,  but  the  flesh  on  many  parts  of  them. 
We  saw  the  clothes  of  these  people  yet  bloody,  and  the  stakes, 
the  instruments  of  their  death,  still  bloody  and  their  brains  stick- 
ing on  them,  the  orchards  cut  down,  the  mills  destroyed,  and  a 
wast  of  all  manner  of  household  goods.  These  people  were,  in 
my  opinion,  very  industrious,  having  the  best  corn  I  ever  saw, 
and  their  plantations  well  calculated  for  produce  and  every  other 
conveniency,  suitable  to  the  station  of  a  farmer. 

December  24th — Being  Christmas,  we  were  invited  to  spend 
the  evening  with  Colonel  Stephen,  where  we  spent  the  time  in 
drinking  loyal  healths  and  dancing  'till  1 1  o'clock, and  then  parted 
in  the  most  amicable  manner. 

December  2$th — Were  invited  to  dine  with  Colonel  Stephens, 
where  we  had  the  most  sumptuous  entertainment.  After  dinner 
drank  the  Royal  Healths  and  sung  some  entertaining  songs  with 


216  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

3  Huzzas  and  rolls  of  Drums  to  every  health  and  song.  Then 
took  partners  and  spent  the  evening  in  dancing,  about  12  o'clock 
broke  up  well  pleased  with  our  generous  entertainment. 

December  26th — Sociably  spent. 

December  27th — I  was  ordered  to  march  with  one  lieutenant, 
one  sergeant,  one  corporal  and  twenty  men  to  take  the  command  of 
Ashby's  Fort  ;  arrived  about  5  o'clock,  met  Captain  Ashby  near 
the  barracks,  inquired  his  number  of  men  and  desired  to  see  his 
list.  He  informed  me  he  did  not  know  the  number,  and  that  his 
lieutenant  had  the  list  and  was  absent.  I  ordered  the  drum  to 
beat  to  arms,  when  with  much  difficulty  we  got  together  twenty- 
one  men.  I  appointed  Lieutenant  John  Bacon  adjutant,  had  the 
articles  of  war  read  to  the  men,  and  let  them  know  I  was  to 
command  them.  Mr.  Bacon  made  a  most  affectionate  speech  to 
them  and  then  discharged  them  for  this  night.  They  seemed  to 
be  mutinous,  but  were  soon  convinced  after  reading  orders  from 
Colonel  Adam  Stephen  that  I  was  their  commander.  I  gave 
orders  for  a  parade. 

CHARLES  LEWIS. 
December  27,  7755. 


A  copy  of  the  original  journal. 

W.  L.  LEWIS. 
University  of  Virginia,  April  29,  1891. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE 
VIRQINIA  REQIMENT  IN  1762. 


The  following  paper  in  the  possession  of  the  editor,  and 
labelled  "  For  Mr.  James  Cocke,  An  Account  of  the  Year's 
Pay  paid  the  Officers  of  the  Virginia  regiment,  1762,"  is  ap- 
pended to  the  Journal  of  Captain  Charles  Lewis,  for  the  further 
information  it  presents: 


JOURNAL   OF   CAPTAIN    CHARLES  LEWIS.                    217 

"  A  Account  of  Cash  paid  the  Officers  of  the  Virginia  Regi- 
ment for  their  presents,  allowed  by  Act  of  Assembly,  Disbanded 
March  i,  1762." 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Adam  Stephen,  ^319     76 

Major  Andrew  Lewis,   -                  -  273  15  o 

Captains  Robert  Stewart,       -         -  182   10  o 

Mordecai  Buckner,  182   10  o 

Thomas  Bullitt,       -         -  182  10  o 

Nathaniel  Gist,25      -  182  10  o 

John  Blagg,    -  182  10  o 

Lieutenants  John  Lawson,                   -  91  05  o 

John  Cameron,                  -  91  05  o 

Thomas  Gist,  91  05  o 

Reuben  Voss,  91  05  o 

George  Weedon,    -  91  05  o 

Walter  Cunningham,      -  91  05  o 

Alexander  Minzie,  91  05  o 

David  Kennedy,     -  91  05  o 

Joseph  Pent,  91  05  o 

Jethro  Sumner,       -  91  05  o 

William  Daingerfield,     -  91  05  o 

Robert  Johnston,  -  91  05  o 

John  Sallard,  91  05  o 

Larkin  Chew,                   -  91  05  o 

William  Hughes,   -  91  05  o 

Alexander  Boyd,    -  91  05  o 

William  Fleming,  -         -  91  05  o 

William  Cocke,      -  91  05  o 

Ensigns  Barton  Lucas,         -  73  oo  o 

Alexander  McClannahan,  73  oo  o 

George  McKnight,  73  oo  o 

David  Long,-  73  oo  o 

John  Seayers,  73  oo  o 

Henry  Timberlake,  73  oo  o 

Surgeon  John  Stuart,  182  10  o 

Captain  John  McNeill,  182   10  o 

£3.951  02  6 

^Subsequently  served  in  the  Revolution  as  Colonel  of  the  Second 
Virginia  regiment. 


218  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Col°  Wm.  Byrd,  Credit  given  him  in  his  Ace*,  Virginia 
Ledger,  ^547  oo. 

Capt.  Henry  Woodward,  Paid  by  the  Treasurer,  ^182,   10. 

Lieut.  Leonard  Price,  Credit  given  him  in  his  Ace*,  Virginia 
Ledger,  ^91,  05. 

Lieutenant  Charles  Smith,  paid  by  the  Treasurer,  ^91,  05. 

1762,  Sept. — Lieut.  William  Woodford,  Paid  by  Alex'r  Boyd, 
Pay  Mr,  after  deducting  his  account  with  the  Country — Bal- 
ance, ^84,  8,  ii. 


OF 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GAMBLE 


OF  THE 


SECOND  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT, 

COMMANDED  BY 

COLONEL    CHRISTIAN   FEBIGER, 

August  2i — November  16, 

1779. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  original  of  the  fragment  of  the  Orderly  Book  of  Captain 
Robert  Gamble,  herewith  published,  was  presented  to  the  Vir- 
ginia Historical  Society  by  Hon.  Joseph  Addison  Waddell,  Staun- 
ton,  Virginia,  some  years  ago.  Mr.  Waddell  obtained  it  from 
William  H.  Gamble,  Esq.,  a  descendant  of  Captain  Gamble,  and 
gave  some  extracts  from  it  in  his  "  Annals  of  Augusta  County, 
Virginia,"  to  which  valuable  work  the  editor  acknowledges  his 
indebtedness. 

The  grandfather  of  Captain  Gamble  (also  named  Robert)  was 
a  native  of  Londonderry,  Ireland  (in  the  famous  seige  of  which  in 
1689,  a  Gamble  is  said  to  have  lost  his  life),  and  was  an  immi- 
grant to  Augusta  county,  Virginia,  about  the  year  1735.  He 
brought  with  him  his  wife  and  a  son,  James,  born  in  1729.  Mr. 
Waddeli  mentions  another  son,  Joseph,  who,  he  states,  was  pro- 
bably the  ancestor  of  the  Gambles  of  Ohio  and  Missouri.  James 
Gamble  had  issue  two  sons,  Robert  and  John,  and  three  daughters, 
Agnes,  Elizabeth  and  Esther,  who  married,  severally,  Davis,  Mof- 
fett  and  Bell. 

Robert,  the  elder  son,  was  born  September  3,  1754,  and  was 
educated  at  Liberty  Hall  Academy,  the  initial  of  the  admirable 
Washington-Lee  University.  He  is  stated  to  have  entered  the 
service  of  the  Revolution  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  first  company 
raised  in  Augusta  county.  He  soon  succeeded  to  the  command 
of  the  company.  He  was  in  active  service  during  the  entire 
period  of  the  war  and  participated  in  many  battles,  including 
those  of  Princeton  and  Monmouth.  It  is  claimed  by  his  de- 
scendants that  he  led  a  pioneer  assault  in  the  storming  of  Stony 
Point.  This  memorable  event  has  been  peculiarly  impressed  on 


222  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

the  imagination  of  the  goodly  people  of  Richmond,  in  that  the 
historic  and  socially  excellent  metropolis  was  favored  in  the 
worthy  citizenship  of  two  invincible  leaders  in  the  reduction  of 
Stony  Point,  Captain  Robert  Gamble  and  Major  James  Gibbon.1 
Lossing  gives  the  following  account  of  the  memorable  achieve- 
ment: "On  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  July,  1779,  all  the 
Massachusetts  light  infantry  were  marched  to  the  quarters  of 
Wayne  at  Sandy  Beach,  fourteen  miles  from  Stony  Point.  At 
meridian  on  that  exceedingly  sultry  day,  the  whole  body  moved 
through  narrow  defiles,  over  rough  crags  and  across  deep 
morasses  in  single  file,  and  at  eight  in  the  evening  rendezvoused 
a  mile  and  a  half  below  Stony  Point.  There  they  remained 
until  General  Wayne  and  several  officers  returned  from  recon- 
noitreing  the  works  of  the  enemy,  when  they  were  formed  into 
column,  and  moved  silently  forward  under  the  guidance  of  a 
negro  slave  belonging  to  a  Captain  Lamb,  who  resided  in  the 
neighborhood.  The  position  of  the  fortress  was  such  that  it 
seemed  almost  impregnable.  Situated  upon  a  huge  rocky  bluff, 
an  island  at  high  water,  and  always  inaccessible  dry-shod,  except 
across  a  narrow  causeway  in  the  rear,  it  was  strongly  defended 
by  outworks  and  a  double  row  of  abatis.  Upon  three  sides  of 
the  rock  were  the  waters  of  the  Hudson,  and  on  the  fourth  was 
a  morass,  deep  and  dangerous.  But  Wayne  was  not  easily 
deterred  by  obstacles;  and  tradition  avers  that  while  conversing 
with  Washington  on  the  subject  of  this  expedition,  he  remarked 
with  emphasis:  "General,  I'll  storm  hell  \iyou  will  only  plan 
it."  He  possessed  the  true  fire  of  the  flint,  and  was  always 
governed  by  the  maxim,  "Where  there's  a  will  there's  a  way." 


Lieutenant  Gibbon,  of  the  Sixth  Pennsylvania  Infantry,  and 
subsequently  promoted  major.  He  was  appointed  collector  of  the 
Port  of  Richmond  in  1802.  Having  been  admitted  a  member  of  the 
New  York  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  he  transferred  his  membership  to 
the  Virginia  Society,  of  which  he  was  the  last  treasurer.  He  died  July 
i,  1834,  in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age,  and  is  buried  in  Shockoe 
Hill  Cemetery  at  Richmond.  A  son,  Lieutenant  James  Gibbon,  United 
States  Navy,  lost  his  life  in  the  burning  of  the  Richmond  Theatre,  De- 
cember 26,  181  1.  Rev.  Charles  Minnegerode,  D.  D.,  so  long  the  beloved 
rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  married  a  granddaughter  of  Major  James 
Gibbon.  A  fine  portrait  of  him,  by  John  B.  Martin,  is  among  the  pictures 
owned  by  the  Virginia  Historical  Society. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    CAPTAIN    ROBERT    GAMBLE  223 

He  resolved  to  storm  the  fort  at  all  hazards,  and  only  waited 
for  the  ebbing  of  the  tide  and  the  deep  first  slumber  of  the  gar- 
rison to  move  toward  the  fortress.  It  was  half  past  eleven 
o'clock  at  night  when  the  Americans  commenced  their  silent 
march  toward  the  fort.  All  the  dogs  in  the  neighborhood  had 
been  killed  the  day  before,  that  their  barking  might  not  give 
notice  of  strangers  near.  The  negro,  with  two  strong  men  dis- 
guised as  farmers,  advanced  alone.  The  countersign  was  given 
to  the  first  sentinel  on  the  high  ground  west  of  the  morass,  and 
while  he  was  conversing  with  Pompey,  the  men  seized  and 
gagged  him.  The  silence  of  the  sentinel  at  the  causeway  was 
secured  in  the  same  manner,  and  as  soon  as  the  tide  ebbed 
sufficiently,  the  whole  of  Wayne's  little  army,  except  a  detach- 
ment of  three  hundred  men  under  General  Muhlenburg,  who 
remained  in  the  rear  as  a  reserve,  crossed  the  morass  to  the  foot 
of  the  western  declivity  of  the  promonotory,  unobserved  by  the 
enemy.  The  troops  were  now  divided  into  two  columns;  the 
van  of  the  right,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  volunteers, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  De  Fleury,2  and  that  of  the  left,  of 
one  hundred  volunteers  under  Major  Stewart,  each  with  un- 
loaded muskets  and  fixed  bayonets.  An  avant-guard  of  twenty 
picked  men  for  each  company,  under  Lieutenants  Gibbon  and 
Knox,  preceded  them  to  remove  the  abatis  and  other  obstruc- 
tions. These  vans  composed  the  forlorn  hope  on  that  memo- 
rable night.  At  a  little  past  midnight  the  advanced  parties 
moved  silently  to  the  charge,  one  company  on  the  southern  and 
the  other  on  the  northern  portion  of  the  height. 

They  were  followed  by  the  two  main  divisions  ;  the  right 
composed  of  the  regiments  of  Febiger  and  Meigs,  being  led  by 
General  Wayne  in  person.  The  left  was  composed  of  Colonel 

2  Louis  de  Fleury,  a  descendant  of  Hercule  Andre  de  Fleury,  a 
French  nobleman,  who  was  the  preceptor  of  the  grandson  of  Louis 
XIV.  He  was  afterwards  made  Cardinal  and  Prime  Minister.  De 
Fleury  came  to  America  early  in  the  Revolution  ;  was  received  kindly 
by  Washington,  who  gave  him  a  commission.  Educated  as  an  engi- 
neer, his  talents  were  soon  brought  into  requisition.  He  acted  in  that 
capacity  at  Fort  Mifflin.  For  his  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine 
Congress  voted  him  a  horse.  He  returned  to  France  soon  after  the 
capture  of  Stony  Point. 


224  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Butler's*  regiment  and  two  companies  under  Major  Murfey.* 
The  Americans  were  undiscovered  until  within  pistol  shot  of 
the  pickets  upon  the  heights,  when  a  skirmish  ensued  between 
the  sentinels  and  the  advance  guards.  The  pickets  fired  sev- 
eral shots,  but  the  Americans,  true  to  orders,  relied  entirely 
on  the  bayonet,  and  pressed  forward  with  vigor.  The  garrison 
was  aroused  from  their  slumbers,  and  instantly  the  deep  silence 
of  the  night  was  broken  by  the  roll  of  the  drum,  the  loud  cry 
of  To  Arms  /  To  Arms  /  the  rattle  of  musketry  from  the  ram- 
parts and  behind  the  abatis,  and  the  roar  of  cannon  charged 
with  deadly  grape-shot  from  the  embrasures.  In  the  face  of 
this  terrible  storm  the  Americans  forced  their  way,  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  through  every  obstacle,  until  the  van  of  each 
column  met  in  the  centre  of  the  works,  where  each  arrived  at 
the  same  time.5  At  the  inner  abatis  Wayne  was  struck  upon  the 
head  by  a  musket  ball,  which  brought  him  upon  his  knees. 
His  two  brave  aids,  Fishburne  and  Archer  raised  him  to  his 
feet,  and  carried  him  gallantly  through  the  works.6 

Believing  himself  mortally  wounded,  the  General  exclaimed 
as  he  arose,  "  March  on!  carry  me  into  the  front,  for  I  will  die 

'Richard  Butler  was  appointed  major  of  the  Eighth  Pennsylvania 
regiment  July  20,  1776  ;  promoted  lieutenant-colonel  March  12,  1777  ; 
transferred  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  Morgan's  Riflemen  June  9,  1777 ; 
is  promoted  colonel  of  the  Ninth  Pennsylvania,  dating  from  June 
7, 1777;  by  an  alteration  subsequent  to  March  12,  1777,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  command  of  the  Seventeenth  Pennsylvania,  January 
i,  1783,  he  was  in  command  of  the  Third  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
second  in  command  under  General  Arthur  St.  Clair  in  his  ill-fated 
expedition,  and  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  November  4,  1791,  which 
terminated  in  the  defeat  of  St.  Claire's  army.  (Pennsylvania  in  the 
Re-volution.  Edited  by  John  Blair  Lynn  and  William  H.  Egle,  M.  D. 
Vol.  I.)  The  editor  is  further  indebted  to  this  valuable  work. 

4  It  will  be  found  that  a  Major  Murfey  is  mentioned  in  the  Orderly 
Book  of  date  August  21,  1779,  and  subsequently,  but  the  editor  has 
been  unable  to  identify  him  with  any  special  command.     Watson,  in 
his  Annals  of  New  York  (p.  65),  mentions  "  the  celebrated  Murphy,  a 
man  who  had  belonged  to  Morgan's  Rifle  Corps." 

5  Major  (afterwards  General)  Hall  states  in  his  memoir :  "  Each  of  our 
men  had  a  white  paper  in  his  hat,  which  in  the  darkness  distinguished 
him  from  the  enemy ;  and  the  watch-word  was  '  The  fort's  our  own.'  " 

•Wayne's  official  dispatch,  dated  Stony  Point,  July  17,  1779. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  225 

at  the  head  of  my  column!"  But  the  wound  was  not  very 
severe,  and  he  was  able  to  join  in  the  loud  huzzas  that  arose 
when  the  two  columns  met  as  victors  within  the  fort.  Colonel 
De  Fleury  first  entered  the  works,  and  struck  the  British 
standard  with  his  own  hands.7  The  garrison  surrendered  at 
discretion  as  prisoners  of  war,  and  that  brilliant  achievement  was 
rendered  the  more  glorious  for  the  clemency  which  the  victors 
exercised  toward  the  vanquished.  Not  a  life  was  taken  after 
the  flag  was  struck  and  the  garrison  had  pleaded  for  quarters. 
Wayne  had  but  fifteen  killed  and  eighty-three  wounded ;  the 
British  had  sixty-three  killed,  and  Johnson,  the  commander, 
with  five  hundred  and  forty- three  officers  and  men  were  made 
prisoners.  The  ships  of  the  enemy,  lying  in  the  river  in  front 
of  Stony  Point,  slipped  their  cables  and  moved  down  to  a  place 
of  security.  Before  daylight.  '  Mad  Anthony '  sent  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  this  brief  and  comprehensive  reply  : 

STONY  POINT,  i6th  July,  1779. 

2  o'clock  A.  M. 
DEAR  GENERAL : 

The  fort  and  garrison,  with  Colonel  Johnston,  are  ours. 
Our  officers  and  men  behaved  like  men  who  are  determined  to 
be  free.  Yours  most  sincerely, 

ANT'Y  WAYNE. 
General  Washington. 

At  dawn  the  next  morning  the  cannons  of  the  captured  fort 
were  turned  upon  the  enemy's  works  at  Verplanck's  Point, 
under  Colonel  Webster,  and  a  desultory  bombardment  was 
kept  up  during  the  day.  Major-General  Robert  Howe  had 
been  sent  to  attack  Fort  Fayette,  but  on  account  of  delays  and 

T  Waddell  states  that  Captain  Gamble  led  one  of  the  assailing  par- 
ties, and  that  "  he  with  his  men  mounted  the  wall  in  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  deafened  by  the  concus- 
sion. 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  De  Fleury  observed  it  and 
pulled  it  down.  At  this  stage  the  Pennsylvania  troops  entered  the 
fort" — Annals  of  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  p.  188. 

15 


226  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

some  misconception  of  Washington's  orders,  he  did  not  make 
the  attack  in  time  to  dislodge  the  garrison. 

News  of  Webster's  critical  situation  and  the  capture  of  Stony 
Point  was  speedily  communicated  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  he 
immediately  sent  relief  to  the  menaced  garrison  at  Verplanck's. 
Howe  withdrew,  and  the  enterprise  was  abandoned. 

The  British  repossessed  themselves  of  Stony  Point  on  the 
20th,  but  they  had  little  of  value  left  them  but  the  eligible  site 
for  a  fortification.  The  storming  and  capture  of  Stony  Point, 
regarded  as  an  exhibition  of  skill  and  indomitable  courage,  was 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  events  of  the  war.  General  Wayne, 
the  leader  of  the  enterprise,  was  everywhere  greeted  with  rap- 
tuous  applause.  Congress  testified  their  grateful  sense  of  his 
services  by  a  vote  of  thanks  '  for  his  brave,  prudent  and  sol- 
diery conduct.'  It  was  also  resolved  that  a  medal  of  gold, 
emblematic  of  this  action,  should  be  struck  and  presented  to 
General  Wayne.  Thanks  were  also  presented  by  Congress  to 
Lieutenant-Colonel  De  Fleury  and  Major  John  Stewart,  and  a 
medal  of  silver  was  ordered  to  be  struck  and  presented  to  each. 

The  conduct  of  Lieutenants  Gibbon8  and  Knox9  was  warmly 
applauded,  and  brevets  of  Captain  were  given  to  each,  and  to 
Mr.  Archer,  the  volunteer  aid  of  Wayne,  who  was  the  bearer 
of  the  General's  letter  to  Washington  on  the  occasion.  Pursu- 
ant to  the  recommendation  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  in 
fulfilment  of  promises  made  by  Wayne  before  the  assault,  with 
the  concurrence  of  Washington,  Congress  resolved,  '  That  the 
value  of  the  military  stores  taken  at  Stony  Point  be  ascertained 
and  divided  among  the  gallant  troops  by  whom  it  was  reduced, 
in  such  manner  and  proportions  as  the  commander-in-chief 
shall  prescribe.'  l 

From  the  following,  which  is  labelled  "  Captain  Gamble's 
Company,  Prize  Roll  for  Stony  Point,"  it  would  appear  that  the 
company  commanded  by  him  on  the  occasion  was  composed  of 
volunteers.11 

8  Lieutenant  Gibbon  lost  seventeen  men,  killed  and  wounded,  in  the 
attack. 

9  George  Knox,  of  the  Ninth  Pennsylvania  regiment. 

10  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,  Vol.  II,  pp.  744,  750. 
"Furnished  by  Dr.  Gary  B.  Gamble,  Baltimore  Md. 


ORDERLY   BOOK   OF   CAPTAIN   ROBERT   GAMBLE.  227 

A  Return  of  the  Men  of  Captain  Gamble' s  Company  when  Stony 
Point  was  taken  from  the  Enemy,  i$th  July,  1779. 

Robert  Gamble,  Captain. 
David  Williams,  Lieutenant. 

William  Spencer,  Sergeant  Eighth  Volunteer  Regiment. 
George  Grimes,  Sergeant  First  State  Volunteer  Reg't. 
Richard  Piles,  Sergeant  Eighth  Volunteer  Regiment. 
Randolph  Death,  Corporal  Eighth  Volunteer  Regiment. 
Samuel  Glen,  Corporal  Seventh  Volunteer  Regiment. 
Jesse  Page,  Corporal  Eighth  Volunteer  Regiment. 
John  Farrell,  Drummer  Seventh  Volunteer  Regiment. 

Belonging-  to  the  Seventh  Virginia  Regiment  : 

Joshua  Haycraft,  William  Gibbs. 

Mathias  Martin,  William  Hinds, 

Alexander  Dresdal,  Daniel  Rich, 

John  Malvin,  Aaron  Redmond, 

Peter  Sherriden,  Thomas  Miller, 

Joseph  Fox,  William  Campbell, 

Daniel  Burcher,  Moses  Plain, 

Thomas  Roberts,  Peter  Barret, 

Sylvester  Hurly,  Alexander  Strickling. 
Charles  Steward. 

Belonging  to  the  Eighth  Virginia  Regiment: 

George  Ward,  Michael  Moore, 

John  Bray,  James  L.  Masters, 

James  Balls,  Richard  Barlow, 

Henry  Denny,  Steven  Smythers, 

Henry  Normond,  John  Bland, 

Jacob  Roads,  Marshall  Burton, 

William  McCollum,  Peter  Warren, 

Henry  Denny,  John  O'Harroh, 

John  Trotter,  Patrick  Lyons, 

George  Sell,  William  Steward, 
John  Hanson. 


228  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

James  Flanherty,  Sergeant-Major,  ought  to  have  been  included 
in  the  company.  Lieutenant  Lind  will  have  him  put  in  the 
field  and  staff. 

ROBERT  GAMBLE, 

Colonel  Febiger's  Regiment.  Captain. 

CAPTAIN  GAMBLE. 

i  Captain,        6  shares  each  78^,    -  -       $  472 


i  Lieutenant,  4 

4  Sergeants,    6  472 

i  Drummer,     i& 
3  Corporals,    ^  259^ 

40  R.  &  File,  40  - 


Captain  Gamble  for  goods, 

Ballance  paid,  -       $4734^ 

Captain  Gamble  married  Catharine,  daughter  of  John  Grattan,12 
and  lived  for  a  time  on  a  farm  given  him  by  his  father.  Here 
his  children  were  born  in  a  house,  still  standing.  A  short  time 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  war  he  removed  to  Staunton  and  em- 
barked in  merchandising  with  his  brother-in-law,  Robert  Grattan, 

12  He  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  is  said  to  have  been  of  the  same 
family  as  the  distinguished  leader  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  Henry  Grat- 
tan. He  married  in  Scotland,  Catharine  -  and  immigrated  to  Penn- 
sylvania, but  subsequently  settled  near  Staunton,  Virginia,  and  engaged 
in  merchandising.  He  had  issue  : 

I.  Catharine,  married  Colonel  Robert  Gamble. 

II.  Elizabeth,  married  Colonel  Samuel  Brown,  of  Greenbrier  county. 

III.  Agnes,  married  Colonel  Elijah  Page  and  moved  to  Kentucky. 

IV.  Margaret,   married    Samuel    Miller,  proprietor  of   Miller's    Iron 
Works. 

V.  John,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  who  died  in  service  near  Sun- 
bry,  Georgia. 

VI.  Robert,  who  was  for  a  time  a  partner  of  Colonel  Gamble  ;  com- 
manded a  company  of  cavalry  in  the  Whiskey  Insurrection  of 
Pennsylvania  ;  subsequently  a  farmer.  He  was  the  father  of  the 

late  Peachy  R.  Grattan,  of  Richmond. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  229 

under  the  firm  name  of  Gamble  &  Grattan.  In  1787,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Gamble  appears  of  record  as  a  member  of  a  court  martial 
held  in  Staunton.  By  this  title,  derived  from  a  command  in  the 
militia,  he  was  henceforth  known. 

About  1792  Colonel  Gamble  moved  to  Richmond,  where  he 
prospered  greatly  in  business  and  became  a  highly  influential 
citizen.  His  residence  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Byrd  streets, 
a  commodious  square  building  of  brick,  stuccoed,  was  demol- 
ished only  a  few  years  ago.  It  was  commenced  to  be  built  by 
Colonel  John  Harvie,13  who  lost  his  life  in  a  fall  caused  by  the 
breaking  of  a  ladder  which  he  had  ascended  to  inspect  the  progress 
of  the  work.  Colonel  Gamble  purchasing  the  property,  completed 
it.  The  elevation  on  which  it  stood  is  still  known  as  Gamble's  Hill. 
The  place  of  business  of  Colonel  Gamble  was  a  large  building  which 
stood  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Fourteenth  streets.  His  two 
sons  John  Grattan  Gamble  and  Robert  Gamble  were  associated 
with  him  in  business  under  the  firm  name  of  Robert  Gamble  & 
Company.  After  his  death  they  continued  the  business.  They 
both  served  as  officers  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  both  removed  to 
Florida  in  1827,  where  they  became  prominent  and  influential. 
John  Grattan  Gamble  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  a 
Miss  Duncan,  and  his  second  a  daughter  of  Governor  Christopher 
Greenup,  of  Kentucky.  Robert  Gamble  married  a  daughter  of 
General  James  Breckinridge. 

Of  the  daughters  of  Colonel  Gamble,  Agnes  became  the  wife 
of  Governor  William  H.  Cabell,  subsequently  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Appeals  of  Virginia,  and  its  president  at  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1849.  Elizabeth,  the  younger  daughter,  married  the 
distinguished  William  Wirt,  for  a  time  the  Attorney-General  of 
the  United  States.  She  was  his  second  wife,  his  first  wife,  who 
lived  but  a  short  time,  was  Mildred,  the  daughter  of  Dr. 
George  Gilmer,  of  "Pen  Park,"  Albemarle  county.  The  death 
of  Colonel  Gamble  was  accidental.  He  was  of  stout  figure  and 
was  in  the  habit  of  riding  on  horseback  to  his  place  of  business. 


13  Colonel  Harvie  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Conventions  of  1775 
and  1776;  of  the  old  Congress,  1778  and  1779;  and  the  first  Register  of 
the  Virginia  Land  Office,  which  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1791- 


230  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

On  the  morning  of  April  12,  1810,  as  he  was  thus  on  his  way 
thither,  reading  a  newspaper  which  he  held  before  him,  some 
buffalo  skins  were  thrown  into  the  street  from  the  upper  window 
of  a  warehouse  he  was  passing.  His  horse  took  fright,  started, 
and  threw  him  on  his  head,  producing  concussion  of  the  brain, 
which  was  almost  immediately  fatal.14  He  lies  beneath  an  altar- 
shaped  tomb  of  white  marble  in  the  church-yard  of  the  venerable 
sanctuary  St.  John's.  His  home  was  the  seat  of  an  elegant  hos- 
pitality, and  within  its  walls  were  frequent  gatherings  of  the  vet- 
erans of  the  Revolution  and  of  that  brilliant  coterie  of  intellect 
and  refinement  which  so  distinguished  Richmond  in  the  early 
decades  of  the  century. 

"The  operation  of  trepanning  was  at  once  skillfully  performed  by  an 
accomplished  surgeon,  Dr.  John  H.  Foushee  (son  of  Dr.  William  Fou- 
shee,  the  first  mayor  of  the  city  of  Richmond),  who  was  within  call,  but 
it  was  unavailing  to  even  arouse  Colonel  Gamble  from  the  comatose 
condition  which  had  been  occasioned. 


ORDERLY     BOOK 


OF 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GAMBLE. 


HEADQUARTERS  LIGHT  INFANTRY,  [August  21,  7779.] 

Field  Officer  to-morrow,  Colo.  Meggs 15  * 

Picquett  .  this  Night,  Major  Stewart  [adjutant] ;  to-morrow, 
Maury,16  orderly  serg'ts  from  and  Meggs' 

Reg't  Colo.  Meggs  and  Butler.  Majors  Hull17  and  Murfey  18 
will  attend  at  Headquarters  this  afternoon  at  five  o'clock  to 
receive  their  Dividend  of  money  arising  from  the  sales  of  the 
Plunder  taken  in  storming  Stony  Point  July  isth,  '79,  which 
they  will  receive  with  Proper  Stated  record.  *  * 


HEAD  QUARTERS  LIGHT  INFANTRY, 

Sunday,  Augt  22y  '79. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow,  Colo.  Butler.19     Ditto  for  Picquett 
this   Night   Maj'r   Posey.20      Adjutant  to-morrow,   Thompson. 

15  Colonel  Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  born  Middletown,  Conn.,  December, 
1740;  died  at  the  Cherokee  Agency  January  28,  1823. 

16  Abraham  Maury,  appointed  Lieutenant  Tenth  Virginia  regiment, 
October  8,  1777 ;  received  bounty  lands  from  the  State. 

"Major  (subsequently  General)  William  Hull,  born  at  Derby,  Conn., 
June  24,  1753  ;  died  at  Newton,  Mass.,  November  29,  1825. 

18  Major  Murfey.    See  ante,  p.  224. 

19  Colonel  Richard  Butler. 

20  Thomas  Posey  (son  of  Captain  John  Posey,  a  neighbor  of  George 
Washington,  and  who  is  said  to  have  served  in  the  French  and  Indian 
war),  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  July  9, 1750  ;  died  at  Shaw- 
neetown,  111.,  March  19,  1818;  removed  to  Western  Virginia  at  the  age  of 
nineteen,  and  was  quartermaster  under  General  Andrew  Lewis;  par- 
ticipated in  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant  October  10,  1774;  in  1775  he 
was  one  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  Augusta  county  ; 


232  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Orderly  Sergt's  from  Col.   Butler  and  Febiger's21    regiments. 

C.      Serg'ts.      C. 
Daily  g'd,         i  2  2 

Orderly,  i 


i  3 

For  Guard  to-morrow,  Capt.  Gamble. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  LT.  INFANTRY,  FORT  MONTGOMERY. 

Monday,  Aug't  23,  '/p. 

Field  officer  to-morrow,  Lt.  Col.  Fleury.  Ditto  for  Picquett 
this  Night,  Col.  Meggs.  Adjutant  to-morrow  *  *  Benjamin. 

was  appointed  captain  and  raised  a  company  for  the  Seventh  Virginia 
Continental  regiment ;  aided  in  defeating  Dunmore  on  Gwyn's  Island ; 
joined  Washington's  army  at  Middlebrook  early  in  1777  ;  was  trans- 
ferred to  Morgan's  Rifles;  led  the  regiment  as  Major  in  an  expedition 
against  the  Indians  in  October,  1778;  in  the  spring  of  1779  took  com- 
mand of  the  Eleventh  Virginia  regiment ;  was  soon  after  transferred  to 
the  command  of  a  battalion  of  Colonel  Febiger's  regiment  under 
Wayne ;  participated  in  the  reduction  of  Stony  Point,  and  was  among 
the  first  to  enter  the  works  ;  present  at  the  surrender  of  Yorktown  ; 
organized  a  new  regiment,  of  which  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  he 
took  command  ;  and  served  under  Wayne  in  Georgia  until  the  evacu- 
ation of  Savannah.  When  surprised  by  the  Indians  under  Guerister- 
sigo,  on  the  night  of  June  23,  1782,  Posey  rallied  and  led  his  men  to  the 
charge,  defeating  the  enemy  with  severe  loss.  From  1786  to  1793  he 
was  County  Lieutenant  of  Spotsylvania  county,  Va.;  appointed  briga- 
dier-general February  14, 1793;  settled  in  Kentucky;  was  elected  State 
Senator  ;  was  four  years  Lieutenant-Governor ;  Major-General  of  Ken- 
tucky levies  in  1809;  United  States  Senator  from  Louisiana  i8i2-'i3  ; 
succeeded  Harrison  as  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Indiana  March  3, 
1813,  and  in  1816  became  Agent  for  Indian  Affairs,  which  post  he  held 
at  the  time  of  his  death. 

21  Colonel  Christian  Febiger,  born  in  Denmark  in  1747 ;  died  in  Phila- 
delphia September  20,  1796.  He  had  seen  service  before  enlisting 
April  28,  1775,  and  at  Bunker's  Hill  led  a  portion  of  Gerrish's  regi- 
ment, of  which  he  was  adjutant,  to  the  scene  of  battle  in  season  to  do 
good  service.  He  served  with  marked  ability  throughout  the  war  ; 
accompanied  Arnold  to  Quebec,  and  was  made  prisoner  in  the  attack 
on  that  citadel ;  was  conspicuous  in  the  attack  of  Stony  Point  and  at 
Yorktown,  where  he  commanded  the  Second  Virginia  regiment.  From 
1789  until  his  death  he  was  Treasurer  of  Pennsylvania. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  233 

Orderly  Serg'ts  from  *  *  &  Butler's  Regt's.  Detail  C.  i. 
S.  i.  C.  2  *  *  to  parade  at  these  quarters  with  Packs  Slung 
&  one  day's  Provisions,  at  Five  o'clock  this  afternoon  Persizely, 
the  arms  &  ammunision  to  be  immediately  inspected  &  Returns 
of  Difisiances  given  that  they  may  be  suplide  such  Cartridges 
as  Can  be  exposed  to  the  Sun  on  Blankets  with  care  and  atten- 
tion. 

S.       S.       C.       P. 

Daily  g'd,         i         i         2       39. 

Detach' t,  i  19. 


48. 

officers  for  Picquett  to-morrow,  Lt.    Knox,  for  detachment  to 
parade  at  five  o'clock,  Lt.  Craford. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  LT.  INFANTRY  FORT  MONTGOMERY 

Aug't  24th  '79 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Hull,  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
night  Col.  Butler,  adj't  to-morrow  Davis,  ordily  serg'ts  from 
Col.  Meggs  &  Febiger's  Reg't  the  guard  ordered  yesterday  to 
concidered  as  a  standing  Guard  to  mount  Reggularly  Every 
Evening  &  come  off  one  hour  after  Sun  Rise 

L  S  C  P 
Daily  g'd  i.  2.  3.  38. 
Night  do.  o.  i.  i.  10 

i.         3.         4.        48. 
Officer  for  Guard  Lt.22  Crittenton. 


LIGHT  INFANTRY,  SANDY  BEACH,  GEN'L  ORDER, 

Augt  25,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Posey  ;  for  night  Picquett  Col. 
Fleury,  adjutant  To-morrow  Maury.     at  a  Cort  Marshall  held 


"John   Crittenden   appointed   second  lieutenant   Eleventh  Virginia 
regiment,  July  21,  1777;  promoted  lieutenant,  May  14,  1779- 


234  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

the  24th  Inst  whereof  Col.  Putnam  •*  was  President,  Lt.  Smith  of 
Col.  Putnam's  Regt.  was  try'd  for  upon  a  charge  of  taking  sev- 
eral articils  of  Plunder  from  a  soldier  of  the  night  of  the  storm 
of  Stony  Point,  and  was  acquited  of  the  Charge,  the  Gen'l  ap- 
proves the  Sentence  and  orders  Lt.  Smith  out  [of]  arrest  &  to 
join  &  do  his  Duty  with  his  Regt.  the  Cort  whereof  Col.  Put- 
nam is  President  will  set  To-morrow  morning  at  Ten  o'clock  for 
the  Trial  of  Capt.  Tolburt24  of  Col.  Butler's  Regt.  &  Lt.  Man- 
gard  of  Col.  Putnam's  Regt.  on  the  Charge  that  will  [be] 
Exhibited  against  them  by  Capt.  Christey  25  &  Lt.  Col.  Fleury 
Respectively  for  the  Trial  of  all  such  as  may  be  Brought  before 
them,  all  Partyes  to  attend  it  is  absolutely  found  necessary  to 
Coutinue  the  Guard  mentioned  in  yesterday's  orders  as  a  Stand- 
ing Guard  &  to  be  Detained  and  meet  on  the  Guard  Parade  at 
the  usual  time. 

E.         S         S.        C.          P. 

Daily  Gd.         i.         2.         3.         3.         48. 

Night  Gd.  i.         10. 

I.  2.  3.  4.  58. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  LT.  INFANTRY,  FORT  MONT'Y, 
;  Augi  28,  '79. 

Field  Officers  To-morrow  Major  Hull,  Ditto  For  Picquett  this 
Night  Col.  Meggs,  adjutant  to  To-morrow  Farell,  ordily 
Serg't.  For  head  quarters  to-morrow  From  Col.  Fibiger's  & 
Meggs'  Regts.  Lt.  Col.  Fleury  is  officer  for  this  Day  Vice  Col. 
Butler  is  Indisposed,  the  whole  Corps  of  Light  Infantry  To 
Parade  on  Monday  next  at  Troop  Beating,  the  Guard  of  this 
Day  to  Take  the  Right  of  their  Respective  Regts  &  not  to  march 
of[f ]  the  Parade  till  Reviewed  by  the  Genl.  the  Standing  Order 
for  the  Men's  keeping  Two  Days  Provisions  Ready  Cooked  not 

23Rufus  Putnam,  born  at  Sutton,  Mass.,  April  9,  1738;  died  at  Mari- 
etta, Ohio,  May  4,  1824 ;  colonel  of  engineers  of  Fifth  Massachusetts  ; 
promoted  brigadier-general  January  7,  1783. 

24  Captain  Jeremiah  Talbott. 

25 John  Christie,  appointed  captain  Third  Pennsylvania  regiment, 
October  23,  1776. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  235 

heaving  being  attended  to  lately  the  Gen'l  Desires  the  officer 
Carefully  to  Inspect  it  as  no  excuse  will  Be  admitted  For  neglect 
of  it.  It  is  Expected  that  every  officer  appears  on  the  Parade 
with  their  Espontoons  agreeable  to  the  Directions  of  the  Inspect- 
ing Gen'l. 

C.         S.       S.         C.         P. 
Daily  g'd         i.         i.         3.         4.         47. 

Officers  for  Guard  To-morrow  Capt.  Grant  and  Lieut.  Wil- 
liams. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  LIGHT  INFANTRY  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Aug't  29,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Major  Stewart,  Field  officer  for  this 
Night  Lt.  Col.  Fleury,  adjutant  to-morrow,  Maury,  ordily 
Serg'ts-  From  Col.  Putnam's  &  Butler's  Reg'ts  &  Capt.  from 
Col.  Putnam's  Reg't  to  sit  as  a  member  of  the  cort  marshall 
which  is  to  meet  to-morrow  at  2  o'clock. 

C.         S.         S.        C.         P. 
Detale  2.         3.         4.         48. 

-.       Daily  g'd 
Officers  for  Guard  to-morrow  Lt.  Crittenton  &  McDowell.26 


HEAD  QUARTERS  LIGHT  INFANTRY  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Aug't  30,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Major  Posey.  Field  officer  for 
Picquett  this  night  Major  Hull,  adjutant  to-morrow  Thompson, 
ordily  Serg'ts  For  Head  Quarters  From  Col.  Meggs'  &  Febi- 
ger's  Reg'ts. 

C.        S.       S.        C.         P. 
Daily  g'd         i.          i.         3.         3.         49. 
Officers  for  Guard  to-morrow  Capt.  Booker27  &  Lt.  Coalman.28 

26  Lieutenant  John  McDowell,  Eighth  Virginia  regiment. 

27  Captain  Samuel  Booker,  Fourth  Virginia  regiment. 

28  Lieutenant  Jacob  Coleman,  Seventh  Virginia  regiment. 


236  VIRGINIA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

HEAD  QUARTERS  LT.  INFANTRY,  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Aug'tji,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Col.  Meggs,  Ditto  For  Picquett  this 
night  Maj'r  Stewart,  adjutant  to-morrow  Benjamin,  Orderly  From 
Putnam's  &  Butler's  Reg'ts.  A  cort  marshall  held  on  the  27th  of 
this  Ult.  whereof  Col.  Putnam  was  President,  Capt.  Talburt  of 
Col.  Butler's  Reg't  of  Light  Infantry  was  Tryed  for  Disobedi- 
ence of  orders  &  mutiney,  the  Cort  Do  Judge  Capt.  Talburt 
not  Guilty  of  the  Charges  Exhibited  against  him  &  therefore  Do 
acquit  him.  Gen'l  Wayne  Confirms  the  Sentence  of  the  Cort 
marshall  &  orders  Capt.  Talburt  out  of  arrest  &  to  Return  to 
his  Duty  in  the  said  Reg't. 

C        S.        S.         C          P. 
Daily  g'd         i.         i.         3.         3-         49- 

Officers  For  Guard  To-morrow  Capt.  Montgomery  and  Lieut. 
Fox. 


Regimental  order  Sept.  ist  '79,  the  Col.  o[b]serving  that  the 
Drums  &  Fifes  in  Stead  of  Improving  themselves  since  they 
have  Been  on  this  Detachment  have  Grone  a  Great  Deal  worse 
Direct  that  Phillip  Goaf  Fifer  in  the  ist  Battalion,  and  Wm. 
Armstead  Drumer  of  Second  take  out  the  Drums  &  Fifes  of  the 
Reg't  Every  afternoon  Sundays  and  Rainy  Day[s]  exsepted  to 
Practice  From  hours  From  four  to  six  o'clock,  he  also  orders 
that  one  Battalion  march  Down  to  the  old  Field  where  they 
Commonly  Parade,  Practice  Marching  one  hour  &  a  half  after 
Revalle  where  all  the  Drums  &  Fifes  will  attend  this  to  Begin 
with  the  Second  Battalion  to-morrow  morning  and  to  Continue 
alturnately  when  the  weather  will  Permit. 

A  Regimental  Cort  Marshall  to  set  For  the  Trials  of  such 
Prisoners  as  shall  be  brought  before  him. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  L'T  INFANTRY,  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  ist,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Col.  Butler.  Field  Officer  for  Pic- 
quett this  night  Major  Posey,  adjutant  to-morrow  Farrell  ordily 
Serg'ts  From  Col.  Meggs'  &  Febiger's  Reg'ts. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF    CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  237 

C.  S.  S  C.  P 

Detale          i.         i.         3.         2.        48. 
Daily  g'd 
Officers  For  Guard  To-morrow  Capt.  Gamble  and  Lt.  Crafford.29 


Regimental  Order  Sept.  ist  '79  Light  Infantry  : 

A  Regimental  Court  Marshal  Whereof  Capt.  Skelton80  was 
President  Capt.  Glen  was  Tried  [for]  Disobedience  of  orders, 
absence  at  Role  Call  and  Drunkenness  &  Sentenced  to  be 
Reduced  to  a  Private,  Sentence  approved.  John  Bowling  and 
John  Malvin  Tried  for  the  Same  Crime  &  Sentenced  to  Receive 
Fifty  Lashes  Each  in  Concideration  of  the  Recommendation  of 
the  Cort  and  the  Former  Good  Carrector  they  have  had  He  is 
induced  to  Remit  the  Punishment  for  this  time,  at  the  Same 
Time  Informing  them  that  Should  they  Ever  be  found  Guilty 
again  they  may  expect  Double  Punishment  for  the  Same  Crime. 
Thos  Roberts  &  Wm.  Gibbs  tried  first  for  being  about  without 
Leave,  Second  for  Drunkenness,  &  thirdly  for  not  attending 
Role  Call,  and  Further  for  Suspision  of  Stealing,  the  Theft  not 
proved  on  Gibbs  he  is  Sentenced  to  Receive  fifty  Lashes  on  his 
Bare  Back.  Approved.  Thos.  Roberts  is  found  Guilty  of  all 
the  Charges  &  sentenced  to  Receive  for  being  about  with[out] 
Leave  Fifty  &  For  Stealing  one  hundred  Lashes,  the  Col.  orders 
he  shall  Receive  one  hundred  Lashes  well  Laid  on'  Alexander 
Drisdel  Confin'd  on  the  Same  Charges,  to  Receive  the  same 
Punishment  the  whole  to  be  put  in  execution  this  Evening. 
Thos.  Roberts  &  Alex'r  Drisdel  to  be  Put  under  Stopages  of 
half  Pay  until  they  Shall  Pay  Barritt  the  money  the  stold  from 
him.  Capt.  Hambleton  was  tried  for  Card  Playing,  Contempt 
of  the  Services  Reduced  to  a  Private  Sentinel  and  Receive  fifteen 
Lashes,  the  Col.  approved  the  First  part  of  the  Sentence  But  in 
Concideration  of  his  former  good  Carrector  [was]  induced  to 
Remit  the  Corporal  Punishment. 

29  Presumed  to  be  Lieutenant  John  Crawford,  of  the  Second  Virginia 
regiment. 

30Clough  Skelton,  appointed  Captain  Sixth  Virginia  regiment,  Janu- 
ary 13,  1778. 


238  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

HEAD  QUARTERS  LIGHT  INFANTRY, 

Sept.  2nd. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Major  Hull,  field  officer  for  Piquett  this 
night  Colo.  Gary,  adjt.  to-Morrow  Murray,  orderly  sergt.  Mor- 
row from  Putnam's  and  Butler's  Regt. 

Detail  C.-        S.        S.        C.         P. 

Daily  g'd  i.         2.         3.         40. 

Officer  for  Guard  to-morrow  Lt.  Knox. 


G.  O.  Head  Quarters  More' s  House 

The  Commander  in  Chief  has  the  Pleasure  to  announce  the 
following  Resolutions  which  the  honarable  the  Congress  have 
Pleasure  to  Pass  for  the  Benefit  of  the  Army,  the  Disposition 
Manafested  in  these  Resolves  is  a  Fresh  Pruff  to  the  army  that 
their  Country  Entertains  a  high  Sense  of  their  Merits  and  Sweets 
[sic]  and  are  inclined  to  Confirm  an  honarable  adaquitt  compen- 
sation, the  Genl.  flatters  himself  their  Respective  States  will 
Second  the  Generous  V[o]ices  of  Congress  and  take  Every 
Proper  Measure  to  Gratify  the  reasonable  Expectation  of  such 
Officers  and  Soldiers  as  are  Determined  to  Share  the  Glory  of 
Serving  their  Co[u]ntry  and  themselves  throughout  the  War  and 
finishing  the  task  they  have  so  Nobly  begun,  the  flourishing 
aspect  of  officers  in  Europe  and  in  the  West  indies  as  well  as  in 
the  United  States  Gives  us  Every  Person  to  beleave  the  happy 
Pride  will  Speedily  Ar[r]ive. 

In  Congress,  Augt.  16,  1779  : 

Resolved  that  the  Clothier  General  Estimate  the  value  of  the 
several  articles  of  Soldiers'  Clothing  at  the  Prices  they  were 
respectively  worth  at  the  end  of  the  year  1878,  and  forthwith 
transmit  such  estimate  to  the  Pay-Masters  of  the  several  Regi- 
ments who  shall  be  furnished  out  of  the  Military  Chests,  with 
money  to  pay  the  soldiers  for  the  deficiences  of  clothing  at  the 
Estimated  Price  of  every  article  as  are  fixed  by  the  Clothier 
General  who  shall  henceforward  transmit  the  estimates  before  the 
close  of  every  year  during  the  war  so  that  the  soldiers  be  paid 
by  the  regimental  pay-master  according  to  such  estimates  annu- 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  239 

ally  and  previous  to  their  discharge  when  the  same  happens 
before  the  end  of  the  year,  for  all  articles  of  clothing  allowed 
them  by  the  resolution  of  Congress  of  the  6th  of  September, 
1777,  which  they  have  not  received  and  which  are  or  shall  be  due 
to  them  after  the  year  last  mentioned. 

In  Congress,  August  //,  ^779  .• 

Whereas  the  Army  of  the  United  States  of  America  have  by 
their  patriotism,  valor  and  perseverance  in  defence  of  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  their  country  become  entitled  to  the  gratitude  as 
well  as  the  approbation  of  their  fellow  citizens, 

Resolved,  That  it  be  and  it  is  hereby  recommended  to  the  sev- 
eral States  that  have  not  already  adopted  measures  for  that  pur- 
pose, to  make  such  further  provision  for  the  officers  and  for  the 
soldiers  enlisted  for  the  war,  to  them  respectively  belonging  who 
shall  continue  in  service  until  the  establishment  of  peace  as  shall 
be  an  adequate  compensation  for  the  many  dangers,  losses  and 
hardships  they  have  suffered  and  been  exposed  to  in  the  course 
of  the  present  contest,  either  by  granting  to  their  officers  half- 
pay  for  life,  and  proper  rewards  to  their  soldiers  ;  or  in  such 
other  manner  as  may  appear  most  expedient  to  the  legislatures 
of  the  several  States. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  and  is  hereby  recommend  to  the  several 
States  to  make  such  provision  for  the  widows  of  such  of  these 
officers  and  soldiers  who  are  enlisted  for  the  war  or  have  died, 
or  may  die  in  the  service  as  shall  secure  to  them  the  sweets  of 
that  liberty  for  the  maintainance  of  which  their  husbands  nobly 
laid  down  their  lives. 

Resolved,  August  18,  1779,  That  until  the  further  order  of 
Congress  the  said  officers  be  entitled  to  receive  for  their  subsist- 
ence money  the  sums  following,  to-wit:  Each  Colonel  and  Brigade 
Chaplain  500  dollars ;  every  Lieutenant  Colonel  400  dollars  ; 
every  Major  and  Regimental  Surgeon  300  dollars  ;  every  Cap- 
tain 200  dollars  ;  and  every  Lieutenant,  Ensign  and  Surgeon's 
Mate  100  dollars. 

Resolved,  That  until  the  further  order  of  Congress  the  sum  of 
10  dollars  be  paid  to  every  non-commissioned  officer  and  soldier 
monthly  for  their  subsistence  in  lieu  of  those  articles  originally 
intended  for  them  and  not  furnished. 


240  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


LIGHT  INFANTRY  ORDERS, 
September  qth,  '/p. 

Field  [officers]  To-morrow  Maj'r  Murphy,  Ditto  for  Picquett 
this  night  Colo.  Butler,  adjutant  to-morrow  Benjamin,  Ordily 
Serg'ts  [from]  Putnam's  and  Butler's  Reg'ts.  At  a  Gen'l  Cort 
Marshall  held  the  3Oth  of  Aug't,  whereof  Col.  Putnam  was 
President,  Lt.  Manyard  of  the  Massachusets  Line  was  Tried  on 
a  Charge  Exhibited  against  him  By  Lt.  Col.  Fleury  For  Disobe- 
dience of  orders  and  want  of  Respect  for  a  Field  officer  on  Duty 
and  hendering  him  from  his  visit  of  Guards,  the  Cort  after  Con- 
sidering the  Charges  against  him,  the  Evidence  and  his  Defence 
thereof  oppinion  that  he  is  guilty  of  the  First  Charge  &  of  the 
latter  part  of  the  second,  he  havin  By  Detainin  Lt.  Col.  Fleury 
a  Prisoner  all  night  acted  contrary  to  the  Instructions  given  by 
the  Inspector  Gen'l  and  hendered  the  Col.  From  Persueing  his 
visiting  the  guards  which  might  have  Been  atten[d]ed  with  Bad 
consequences,  the  Cort  do  therefore  sentence  Lt.  Manyard  to  be 
Private[ly]  Repremand[ed]  For  a  conduct  so  highly  Repprehen- 
[s]able  as  that  which  Lt.  Manyard  is  found  guilty  of  &  which 
[the]  Lives  and  safety  of  so  many  Brave  &  valliable  officers  & 
men  were  immediately  concerned,  the  cannot  consent  to  be  \_sic] 
therefore  orders  Lt.  Manyard  out  of  arest  &  to  Return  to  his  Duty 
in  the  Light  Infantry.  At  the  same  Cort  Marshall  Sam'l  Har- 
riss,  Duncan  McKenley  &  James  Rarridon  were  tried  for  Leav- 
ing the  Serg't  &  Citing  Drunk  when  on  Patrole  &  thret[en]ing 
to  kill  Serg't  Lovel  of  Col.  Putnam's  Regiment.  Found  Guilty 
By  the  Cort,  Sam'l  Harriss  to  Receive  one  hundred  Lashes  on 
his  Bare  Back  well  Laid  on,  James  Rarridon  one  hundred  do. 
&  Duncan  McKenley  to  Receive  Fifty  Lashes  on  his  Bare  Back 
well  Laid  on.  The  Gen'l  approves  the  sentence  of  the  Cort  & 
orders  the  Punishment  to  take  Place  to-morrow  Evening  at 
Retreat  beating,  the  Cort  Marshall  whereof  Col.  Putnam  was 
President  is  Dissolved. 

C.       S.        S.       C.         P. 
Daily  gd.  i.         2.         2.         46. 

Officer  for  Guard  to-morrow  Lt.  Walker. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  241 

LIGHT  INFANTRY  AFTER  ORDERS  [sic], 

September  6th,  '79. 

At  a  Gen'l  Cort  Marshal  held  this  Day  whereof  Maj'r  Stewart 
was  Prudent,  Wm,  Matlock  Soldier  in  Capt.  Talburt's  Com- 
pany of  Col.  Butler's  Reg't  of  Light  Infantry,  Charged  with 
theft  and  escaping  from  the  Quarter  Guard,  Disertion  &  attempt- 
ing to  go  to  the  Enemy,  was  found  Guilty  of  the  whole  of  the 
Charges  &  Unanimously  Sentenced  to  Suffer  Death.  When  any 
Soldier  becomes  so  Lost  to  Every  Sence  of  Vallue  &  honour  as 
to  Be  capable  of  commiting  the  Chrimes  of  which  the  above 
named  Prisoner  is  found  Guilty  of,  is  no  Longer  fit  [to]  Exist  in 
a  Land  of  Liberty  or  to  Remain  a  Disgrace  to  the  Name  of  a 
Soldier.  Gen'l  Wayne  therefore  confirm[s]  the  Sentence  passed 
by  the  Cort  Marshall  &  the  Same  Wm.  Matlock  to  Be  shot  to 
Death  at  Six  o'clock  this  Evening,  the  whole  of  the  Troops  to 
assemble  at  that  hour  on  the  Grand  Parade  &  attend  the  Execu- 
tion. Col.  Febiger  is  appointed  President  of  the  Cort  Marshal 
vice  Maj'r  Stewart,  which  is  set  To-morrow  at  ten  o'clock  at  the 
President's  Quarters  for  the  trial  of  Lt.  Col.  Fleury,  Charged  by 
Lt.  Manyard  first  for  ungentlemanlike  behavior,  second  for 
abusing  him  Lt.  Manyard  with  Insulting  Language  when  on 
duty,  all  Evidence  &  Parties  to  have  notice  and  attend,  three 
Capts.  from  Each  Regt.  to  attend  as  members. 


LIGHT  INFANTRY  ORDERS, 

Sept.  gth,  1779. 

Field  Officer  To-morrow  Majr.  Stewart,  Field  Officer  Picquett 
this  night  Major  Murphy,  adjt  to-morrow  Farell,  Ordely  Sergts. 
from  Meggs'  &  Febiger's  Regt. 

C         S        S         C         P 
Daily  gd.         i.         i.         3.         2.         49 


L.  I.  O.  NEAR  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  10,  '79. 

Field  officer  To-morrow  Majr.  Murphy,  Field  officer  for  Pic- 
quett this  Night  Lt.  Col.  Shurman,  Adjt.  to-morrow  Maury. 


242  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

At  a  Genl.  Cort  Martial  held  the  gih  of  this  instant  whereof 
Col.  Febiger  was  President,  Lt.  Col.  Fleury  [was  tried]  on  a 
Charge  Brought  by  Lt.  Manyard  for  ungentleman  Like  beha- 
viour &  for  Insulting  Language  when  on  Guard.  The  Cort 
after  [having]  mateurly  Considered  the  Charges  Exhibited 
against  Lt.  Col.  Fleury  &  the  Evidences,  the  Majority  are  of 
oppinion  that  he  is  guilty  of  ungentlemanlike  behaviour  and 
making  use  of  Insulting  Language  to  Lt.  Manyard,  But  think 
the  Provocation  he  Receiv'd  from  Lt.  Manyard,  &  having  suf- 
fered arrest,  Sufficient  atonement  for  his  Crime.  The  frequent 
arrest[s]  which  hath  Lately  taken  Place  in  a  Corps  that  have 
acquainted  [^—acquired  ?]  so  much  Glory  as  to  become  not 
only  the  admiration  but  the  Envy  of  many,  and  upon  whose 
Conduct  the  Eyes  of  the  World  is  fixed  Give  a  sensation  which 
the  Gen'l  can  much  Better  feel  than  Express,  it  affords  matter 
of  Joy  to  our  Publick  Enemy  &  triumph  to  our  Invidious  Friends, 
if  any  there  be  ;  therefore  wishes  the  officers  to  Indeavour  to 
Cultivate  that  harminey  and  friendship  that  ought  to  subsist 
amongst  so  distinguished  a  Corps  &  which  Render  them  Respec- 
table to  their  friends  &  to  violate  there  Enemys  [sic~\;  but  should 
there  unfortunately  be  a  misunderstanding  among  any  of  the 
officers  in  futer,  he  wishes  them  to  settle  it  amicably  or  find  some 
other  mode  than  that  of  Court  Martials  or  Less  it  be  a  very 
Extraordinary  Case  in  Deed.  Genl.  Wayne  orders  Lt.  Col. 
Fleury  Immediately  out  of  arrest  and  to  take  Command  of  his 
Battalion,  the  Court  Martial  whereof  Colo.  Febiger  was  Presi- 
dent is  Disolved. 

Detale        C.     S.        S.        C.        P. 
Daily  g'd,          i.         2.         3.         49 


L.  I.  O.  NEW  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  1 2th,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Col.  Putnam,  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
Night  Col.  Febiger.  Ordely  Serg't  From  Col.  Butler  &  Put- 
nam's Reg'ts.  the  Gen'l  Finds  it  absolutely  necessary  to  Desire 
the  officers  to  be  Particularly  to  Keep  the  Men  in  Cam[p]  as 
much  as  Possible.  No  Permit  But  from  the  Commanding  offi- 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  243 

cers  of  Regiments  will  be  admited  &  that  towards  West  Point 
only,  and  it  is  very  unserting  at  what  moment  a  movement  may 
take  Place,  no  Soldier,  But  in  case  of  absolute  necessity  will  be 
Permited  to  Pass  In  front  or  towards  the  Enimy's  Lines  which 
is  necessary  to  be  certified  by  an  officer  with  the  name  of  the 
Soldier  so  in  Bulged,  when  he  will  Receive  a  Permit  from  the 
Light  Infantry  head  quarters  all  Inhabitance  Bringing  any  Kind 
of  Produce  to  Camp  to  be  admited  in  But  not  Return  with  out  a 
Pass  from  the  Commanding  officer  of  the  Light  Corps  for  the 
time  being  at  his  order. 

C.        S.         S.         C.         P. 
Daily  g'd.          i.          i.         2.         2.         47. 

After  orders,  members  of  a  Gen'l  Cort  martial  to  Set  to- 
morrow from  the  Light  Infantry,  Maj'r  Stewart,  Capt.  Shelton 
&  Champion. 

G.  O.  WEST  POINT, 
Sept'r  ye  I2th,  1779. 

The  Gen'l  Court  marshel  whereof  Col.  Marshell81  is  Prisidentis 
Desolved.  a  Gen'l  Court  martial  of  the  Line  ordered  to  set  to- 
morrow morning  at  nine  o'clock  at  the  usual  Place  for  the  trial 
of  such  Prisoners  as  shall  Come  before  them  whereof  Col.  Put- 
nam is  President,  a  Capt.  from  the  Mariland  Line,  a  Lt.  Col.  or 
Maj'r  and  one  Capt.  From  the  Pencilvania  Line,  the  Garrison 
Light  Infantry  &  Connecticut  Line  gives  a  Lt.  Col.  or  Maj'r 
[and]  2  C'p'ts  for  the  Court. 


L.  I.  O.  MONDAY,  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  i 3th,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Col.  Febiger,  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
night  Maj'r  Posey,  adj't  to-morrow  Farell,  Ordily  Serg'ts  from 
Col.  Meggs'  &  Febiger' s  Reg'ts. 


81  Colonel  Thomas  Marshall  of  the  Third  Virginia  regiment,  specially 
distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  where  his  regiment 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  British  assault  led  by  Cornwallis  in  person  ;  the 
father  of  Chief  Justice  John  Marshall ;  after  the  Revolution  removed  to 
Kentucky,  where  he  engaged  in  surveying. 


244  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

A  Fatigue  Party  from  Each  Regt.  under  Proper  officers  to  be 
sent  at  two  o'Clock  this  alter  noon  to  Clear  the  Parade  on  Top  of 
the  hill  as  marked  out  the  4th  Inst.  or  last  Sunday  week. 

C.  S.  S.  C.  P. 
Daily  g'd  i.  i.  3-  3-  48. 
Fatigue.  i.  i.  i.  16. 

Officer  for  guard  to-morrow  Capt.  Gamble  &  Lt.  Craford, 
Ditto  for  Fatigue  Lt.  Coalman. 


L.  I.  CAMP,  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  1 4th,  '79. 

Field  officer  for  to-morrow  Lt.  Col.  Johnston,32  Ditto  for  Pic- 
quett  this  Night  Col.  Meggs,  Ordily  Sergt's  from  Putnam's  & 
Butler's  Regt's,  the  whole  Corps  to  Prarade  Day  after  to-morrow 
at  8  o'Clock  in  the  morning  themselves  arms  & 

accutrements  in  the  most  Soldierly  order  Possible  the  New 
Guard  with  their  Respective  Regiments.  When  the  Gen'l 
Beats  on  the  Right  will  be  the  Signal  to  Strike  and  Pack  their 
tents  on  Beating  a  March  on  the  Right,  the  whole  will  move  in 
the  Following  order,  Colo.  Febiger  by  the  Left  and  Colo.  Butler 
by  the  Right,  Colo.  Putnam  by  the  Right  and  Colo.  Meggs  by 
the  Left  and  take  Post  on  the  Hill  in  the  Rear  of  Garrison 
Leaven.  Proper  Intervill  to  Form  front  to  the  west-ward  which 
will  Throw  Colo.  Febiger  &  Butler  to  the  North  £  Colo.  Put- 
nam &  Meggs  to  the  South,  the  officer  will  be  ancerble  for  Every 
man  belonging  to  their  Respective  Corps. 

C.         S.        S.        C.          P. 
Detale        o.         i.         3.         2.         49. 


R.  O.  Sept.  14,  '79. 

Serg't  Griffin  of  Capt.  Montgomery ['s]  Comp'y  having  for 
some  misbehavour  Been  Reduced  to  a  Private  Sentinel  By  a 
Cort  martial,  the  Col.  thought  Proper  to  approve  it,  But  in  Con- 
cideration  of  his  Former  Good  Charactor  and  his  Present  Good 

82  This  was  probably  Francis  Johnston,  of  the  Fifth  Pennsylvania 
Regiment. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  245 

Dispersition  is  Pleased  [to]  Reinstate  him  in  his  former  Rank  as 
Serg't  in  said  Comp'y  &  to  Be  obeyed  accordingly.  Capt. 
Montgomery  will  have  this  order  Read  at  the  head  of  his  Comp'y 
at  Retreat  Beating  to-morrow  Evening  when  he  will  Reinstate 
him  in  form  &  he  is  still  to  Rank  as  Serg't  from  his  first  appoint- 
ment. Lt.  Col.  Fleury  will  Immediately  Call  the  man  before 
him  who  fired  his  Gun  to-day  &  severely  Reppremand  him  & 
Inform  him  that  nothing  but  his  state  of  health  Could  induce 
the  Col.  Pard[on]ing  his  Point  of  Disobedience  of  Orders  & 
that  If  he  is  Guilty  again  he  shall  Receive  Double  Punishment, 
he  is  to  be  Released  from  his  Confinement. 

CHRISTIAN  FEBIGER,  Col. 


L.  I.  O.  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  i^th,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Murphy,  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
Night  Col.  Febiger,  Agt.  to-morrow  Thompson. 

C.        S.        S.        C.          P. 
Detale         i.         i.         3.         3.         48. 

Officers  for  Guard  to-morrow  Capt.  Hutson  &  Lt.  Coleman. 


R.  O.  Sept.  i8th,  1779. 

A  Regimental  Cort  Martial  to  set  to-morrow  morning  at  ten 
o'clock  for  the  trial  of  the  Prisoners  under  the  Quarter  guard 
Capt.  Gamble  to  preside,  Lt.  Coalman  &  Ens'n  Fillips  to  attend 
as  members.  Officers  Commanding  Companies  are  to  make  out 
Returns  of  what  arms,  ammunition  and  accoutrements  &  Cloth- 
ing are  wanting  in  their  Respective  Companys,  to  the  Col. 

Immediately. 

CHRISTIAN  FEBIGER,   Col. 


Sepfr  i8th,  1779. 

William  Askins  of  my  Comany  is  appointed  a  Corporal  and 
is  to  be  obeyed  &  Respected  as  such. 

Ro.  GAMBLE, 

Capt.  ist  R.  L.  I. 


246"  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

L.  I.  O.  SATURDAY,  Sept.  i8th,  1779. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Col.  Febiger,  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
Night  Maj'r  Posey,  adj't  to-morrow,  Maury. 

The  Gen'l  Calls  on  the  officers  of"  this  Corps  to  Pay  the  strictices 
&  Immediate  attention  of  the  menuvering  of  the  troops  agre- 
able  to  the  mode  &  Rules  Laid  Down  by  the  Barren  Stewben. 
the  officers  will  Carfully  Exammen  the  State  and  Condision  of 
the  Arms,  accutrements,  ammunision  and  Clothing  of  their 
respective  Comp's  and  see  that  Every  thing  be  in  Rediness  to 
move  at  a  moment's  notis  as  it  is  more  than  Proverble  that  the 
next  Post  will  [be]  in  an  Inhabited  Contry  [and]  the  Eyes  of 
Every  Individual  will  be  on  the  Light  Infantry  &  those  Officers 
&  Battalions  most  esteemed  who  make  the  Best  appearance  on 
the  Parrade.  the  Gen'l  once  more  Calls  the  attention  of  every 
officer  &  Soldier  to  this  assential  Business  as  not  a  moment  is  to 
be  Lost. 

C.        S.        S.        C.         P. 
Detale         i.         i.         2.         2.         49. 

Officers  for  Guard  to-morrow  Capt.  Booker  and  Lt.  Knox. 


L.  I.  O.  CAMP  NEAR  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  ye  2oth, 

Field  officer  to- Morrow  Major  Murfree,  Field  Officers  for 
Picquett  this  Night  Colo.  Febiger,  Adj't  to-Morrow  Benjamin. 

The  Q.  M.  are  Immediately  to  see  each  Company  in  his  Res- 
pective Reg't  are  Furnished  with  two  Good  Axes,  all  such  on 
the  Ground  unfit  for  Further  Service  to  be  Collected  this  After- 
noon &  be  Exchanged  for  others.  4  Spades  &  Shovels  will  be 
also  wanting.  Each  Reg't  the  whole  to  be  Kept  by  the  Q.  Mr. 
or  Q.  M.  Serg't  who  will  be  accountable  for  the  whole  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning. 

After  Orders— the  Troops  to  Cook  two  Days  Provisions 
Immediately  &  hold  themselves  in  Rediness  to  march  at  a  mo- 
ment's warnen,  the  Pack  Horses  to  [be]  kept  with  their  Res- 
pective [Companies  ?] 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT    GAMBLE.  247 

L.  I.  O.  NEAR  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  2oth,  '79. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Col.  Megs.  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
Night  Maj'r  Hull,  adj't  To-morrow  Thompson,  Ordily  Serg'ts 
from  Megs' s  and  Febiger's  Reg'ts. 

Extract  from  Gen' I  Orders  Sept.  2oth,  1779: 

At  a  Gen'l  Court  martial  whereof  Col.  Putnam  was  President 
Colo.  Butler  was  Tryed  on  the  following  Charge,  First,  for  En- 
deavouring to  Excite  the  soldiers  of  Capt.  Ashmead's33  Com- 
pany to  meeting  by  ordering  the  Non-Commissioned  officers  Not 
to  obey  any  order  of  his  Capt.  Ashmead  ;  Secondly  for  treeting 
Capt.  Ashmead  in  an  unpresidently  &  onofficer  like  manner  by 
Refusing  him  Liberty  to  wait  on  Gen.  Wayne  to  Complain  of 
111  Treatment  and  Seek  Redress  &  sending  him  under  Guard 
from  the  L.  Infantry  Camp  to  west  Point  after  having  Receiv'd 
Colo.  Stewart's3*  order  to  go  to  the  Infantry  &  take  the  Com- 
mand of  his  Capt.  Ashmead's  Company.  The  Court  are  of 
Opinion  that  Colo.  Butler  is  Not  Guilty  of  the  first  charge,  they 
do  acquit  him  of  Refusing  Capt.  Ashmead  Liberty  to  wait  on 
Gen'l  Wayne  to  Complain  of  111  treatment  &  Seek  Redress, 
they  are  of  Opinion  that  Colo.  Butler  was  Not  Justifyable  in 
Sending  Capt.  Ashmead  under  Guard  from  the  Lt.  Infantry  to 
west  Point  being  a  breach  of  [the]  first  article  &  Eighteenth 
section  of  the  artickles  of  War  &  do  Sentence  him  to  be  Rep- 
remanded  by  the  Commanding  officer  of  the  Corps  of  Light 
Infantry.  The  Commander-in-Chief  approves  the  Sentence  & 
Directs  it  to  be  Carried  into  Execution,  at  the  same  time  he 
thinks  Colo.  Butler's  Conduct  Blamible  in  not  Permitting  Capt. 
Ashmead  to  see  Gen'l  Wayne  unless  he  would  Ingage  to  Com- 
ply with  a  Condision  which  Colo.  Butler  had  no  Right  to  anex, 
Nor  was  there  any  mode  of  such  Condision  as  there  was  all 


33  Captain  Jacob  Ashmead,  of  the  Second  Pennsylvania  regiment, 
appointed  September  6,  1776;  resigned  May  16,  1780. 

"Colonel  Walter  Stewart  transferred  from  the  Thirteenth  Pennsyl- 
vania regiment  to  the  Second  Pennsylvania  regiment,  July  i,  1778;  died 
at  Philadelphia,  July  14,  1796. 


248  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Ways  Proper  meends  of  Enforcing  disipling  of  Capt.  Ashmead 
after  applying  to  Gen'l  Wayne  Persistent  in  a  Refractary  beha- 
vour.  to  Prevent  any  misunderstanding  in  futer  the  Gen'l 
Directs  that  the  Nomination  of  all  Capts.  &  sub'r  to  Releave 
others  of  Nesisary  or  full  Vacancies  in  the  Light  Corps  while 
it  Remains  together  to  be  Reported  to  adjutant  Gen'l  &  Receive 
the  approbation  of  the  Gen'l  before  they  be  sent  to  take  Com- 
mand, for  this  Purpos  the  officers  Commanding  Reg'ts  of  L. 
Infantry  will  Report  to  the  adjutant  Gen'l  the  Vacanceys  that 
hapen,  who  will  Give  Notices  that  Officers  may  be  appointed 
from  the  Line  to  fill  them,  be  nominated  by  the  officers  Com- 
manding the  Reg'ts  from  which  they  are  taken,  as  Gen'l 
Wayne  Cannot  Repremand  Colo.  Butler  for  any  Part  of  his 
Conduct  Respecting  Capt.  Ashmead  Without  Violating  his  own 
Judgment  &  feelings  he  orders  Colo.  Butler  Immediately  out  of 
arrest  &  to  take  Charge  of  his  Command  in  the  Light  Infantry. 

C         S.         S          C          P. 
Detale        o.         2.         3.         2.         48. 

Officers  for  Guard  to-morrow  L't  Fox  and  Ens'n  Phillips. 


L.  I.  O.  NEAR  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Sept.  24th,  '79. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Colo.  Butler.  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
Night  Maj'r  Posey.  Adjutant  to-morrow  Benjamine. 

As  a  ship  and  one  or  two  Galleys  with  some  Boats  has  ap- 
peared in  View  on  the  side  [of]  Dundebarge  Point  the  Gen'l 
Wishes  Every  Officer  &  Soldier  to  be  attentive  to  hold  them 
Selves  in  Readiness  for  action  in  Case  any  attempt  should  be 
made  by  the  Enemy  which  is  Rather  more  wished  than  Ex- 
pected. 

C.        S.        S.        C.         P. 
Detale         i.         i.         3.         3.         48. 

Officers  for  guard  Capt.  Lawson85  &  Lt.  McDowell. 


35  Benjamin  Lawson,  appointed  Lieutenant,  Third  Virginia,  March  3, 
1778  ;  promoted. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  249 

L.  I.  O.  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

September  26th,  1779. 

Field  officer  to-morrow.  Ditto  for  Picquett  this  Night  Colo. 
Butler,  adj't  to-morrow  Lt.  Maury. 

The  Gen'l  once  more  Calls  upon  the  Officers  &  Soldiers  to  be 
Carefull  to  have  two  Day[s]  Provisions  all  Ways  by  them  & 
hold  themselves  in  Readiness  Ither  for  marching  or  Action  in  a 
moments'  Warning. 

C.         S.        S.        C.         P. 
i.         i.         2.         3.         47. 

Officer  for  Guard  Lt.  Chritenton. 


L.  I.  O.  CAMP  NEAR  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 

Tuesday  Sept.  28th}  1779. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Hull.   Field  Officer  for  Picquett 
this  Night  Lt.  Col.  Sill,     adj't  to-morrow  Benjamin. 

C.        S.        S.        C.        P. 
Detale          i.         i.         3.         3.         48. 

Officers  for  Guard  to-morrow   Capt.  Booker,  Lts.  Craford  & 
Coalman. 


L.  I.  O.  CAMP  NEAR  FORT  MONTGOMERY, 
September  the  2$th,  1779. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Steward.  Ditto  for  Picquett 
this  Night  Lt.  Col.  Hay.36  Adjutant  to-morrow  Farell. 

The  Troops  are  to  Parade  the  day  after  to-morrow  at  troop 
beating,  arms,  accoutrements  &  ammunition  in  the  Best  order 
Possible  with  their  Packs  Slung  &  two  Days  Provision,  Agreea- 
ble to  the  Standing  order  when  the  Strictices  Scrutiny  will  be 
made  [by]  the  officers  into  Every  minucia,  who  will  also  be 
anserable  For  every  Man  belonging  to  their  Respective  Com- 


36  Samuel  Hay,  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Tenth  Pennsylvania;  trans- 
ferred from  the  Seventh  Pennsylvania;  wounded  in  the  thigh  at  Stony 
Point;  retired  June  i,  1781  ;  died  in  December,  1803. 


250  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

panys.  No  Excuse  can  be  admited  for  non-attendance,  unsol- 
dierly  appearance,  &  in  order  to  Remove  Every  Pretext  for  the 
latter,  the  Quarters  master  will  Call  on  Mr.  Thomas  at  twelve 
O'clock  to  Day  Each  for  four  pounds  Sewing  thread  and  four 
hundred  needles,  and  Immediately  Distribute  them  among  the 
Companies  in  their  Respective  Regiments,  the  Commissary  will 
Issue  Soap  and  Candles  to  Each  Reg't  Except  those  who  have 
Drawn  out  of  the  ordinary  Course,  in  due  proportion. 

C.       S.         S.        C.         P. 
Detale         .          i.         3.          2.         49. 

Officer  for  Guard  to-morrow  Ens'n  Phillips. 


R.  O.  Sept.  soth,  1779. 

An  Immediate  Return  to  be  made  to  the  Colo.  Egactly  Spea- 
cifying  the  Number  of  affective  [men]  mentioning  only  the  men 
Now  belonging  to  the  Corps  Exclusith  of  those  gone  to  the 
Hospital  as  those  are  soposed  to  be  Retained  wanting  to  Com- 
pleat,  Likewise  mentioning  from  what  Regiments  the  Men  are  to 
be  Draughted  who  are  to  Supply  their  Places  that  they  may  be 
Sent  for  those  Barefooted  are  to  be  Returned  in  a  Collum  by 
themselves,  it  is  with  astonishment  and  Sorrow  the  Colo,  observed 
that  the  men  Insted  of  taking  Pride  in  keeping  them  Selves 
Clean  &  neat  are  Daily  decreasing  in  the  very  Necessary  Point 
appearing  on  the  Parade  Durty  &  Slovenly  with  their  Caps 
Laped  &  Sloughed  about  their  Ears,  he  therefore  Positively 
orders  the  officers  whose  Duty  it  is  &  whose  Reputation  in  a 
Create  measure  Depends  on  the  appearance  of  their  men  to 
Pay  the  strictest  attention  to  this  Point  &  not  suffer  their  men  to 
appear  to-morrow  or  any  other  time  thereafter  on  Parade  in 
such  an  on  Soldierly  like  maner  as  here  to  fore,  any  man  of 
Fealing  must  know  how  Disagreeable  it  is  to  a  Commanding 
officer  to  Report  orders  of  this  Nature  &  hopes  this  will  be  the 
Last  of  the  kind  he  will  be  under  [the]  necessity  of  Issueing. 
The  Colo.  Not  being  able  to  Precure  Sine  [sic]  Shoes  for  the 
Officers  that  Each  Officer  Field  &  Staff 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  251 

L.  I.  O.  OctoVr  4tht  1779. 

Field  Officer  Lt.  Colo.  Sill.  Ditto  for  Picquett  the  Col.  But- 
ler ;  adjutant  Lt.  Maury. 

C        S.         S.        P.  F. 
4.         4.         4.         200. 

To  Parade  Immediately  at  the  Turn  of  the  Road  on  this  side 
Harvie  Straw  Forge  all  the  Guards  in  frunt  to  march  to  Smith's 
white  house  under  the  Command  of  the  Officer  of  the  Day  & 
the  Remainder  of  the  troops  to  hold  themselves  in  Readyness 
to  march  at  a  moment's  warning. 

C         S         S         C          Pr 
Detale         i.         i.         i.          i.         49. 

Officers  for  Detachm't  Captain  Booker  and  Lieut.  Coalman. 


L.  I.  ORDERS  NEAR  HARVE  STRAW  FORGE, 

Octr.  5,  '79. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Lt.  Col.  Hay.  Ditto  for  Picquett 
this  Night,  Col.  Febiger.  Adjutant  to-morrow  Lt.  Thompson. 
The  Q.  Masters  are  Immediately  to  heave  Vaults  Dug  one  hun- 
dred and  Fifty  Y'ds  in  Front  of  the  men  &  one  hundred  Y'ds 
in  Rear  for  the  Officers.  Any  Soldier  Violating  the  Clearly 
disposion  of  the  Camp  will  be  Punished  with  great  Severity. 
Frequent  &  Heavy  Complaints  having  been  Lodged  with  the 
Gen'l  of  the  Depredations  Committed  by  the  Soldiers,  he  Calls 
on  the  Officers  to  exert  themselves  in  detecting  Marroditers 
[marauders  ?]  &  when  they  Remember  that  this  Army  was 
Raised  to  Protect  &  not  to  oppress  the  Inhabitance,  he  is  sure 
that  Injuries  so  Repugnant  to  Freedom  &  so  contrary  to  the 
Conduct  of  the  Corps  will  never  more  be  practised.  The  B.  Q. 
M.  will  deliver  to  the  Q.  M.  of  Each  Reg't  their  proportion  ot 

the  axes. 

C.        S.        S.        C.         P. 
Detale    o.         o.         2.         2.         35. 

R.  O.  one  sub  Serg't,  Corp'l  &  24  Privates  to  parade  to- 
morrow morning  at  Sun  Rise  as  a  Fatigue  to  Clear  the  Regi- 
mental Parade,  the  officers  will  Receive  his  Orders  from  the 
Colo. 


252  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

L.   I.  O.,    Octobr.  6th,  1779. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Steward.  Adj't  to-morrow 
Benjamin.  The  whole  Corps  to  Parade  to  morrow  morning  at 
Seven  O' Clock  with  their  arms.  Ammunition  &  accoutrements 
in  the  Best  order.  This  afternoon  they  will  Improve  in  Fur- 
bishing up  their  Cloaths  so  as  to  make  the  best  &  most  Soldierly 
appearance  possible.  The  officers  will  be  punctual  as  to  the 
point  of  time  &  be  Careful  that  Every  Soldier  be  present. 

C.        S.        S.        C.         P. 
Detale,     i.         i.         2.         2.         33. 

Officer  for  Guard  Capt.  Hudson  &  Ensign  Phillips. 


L.  I.  O.  KAHINT,  Friday  Octd1  r  8th,  1779. 
Field  Officer  to-morrow  Col.  Putrxam.     Adj't  to  morrow  Lt. 
Maury.      Orderly    Serg'ts   from     Colo.    Putnams    &    Butler's 
Reg'ts  for  Light  Infantry  Head  Quarters  to-morrow. 

S.         S.         Rank  &  file. 
i.          i.  20. 

To  Parade  this  Evening  at  5  o'clock  with  two  Days  Pro- 
visions Excusith  this  Day.  He  will  Receive  his  Orders  from 
Maj'r  Posey. 

C.  S.        S.        C.         P. 

Detale,                 i.  i.         2.         2.         34. 

Detachment,  i.         o.         o.           4. 

Officers  for  Guard  Capt.  Lawson  &  Lt.  McDowell.  Officer 
for  Detachment  Crittenden. 


G.  O.  LIGHT  INFANTRY  KATIAH,  Ocfr  9th,  '79. 
Field  Officer  to-morrow  Colo.    Megs.     Adj't  To-morrow  Lt. 
Thompson.     Orderly  Serg'ts  from   Megs'    &  Febiger's  Reg'ts. 
The  Officers  are  to  be  Particularly  attentive  to  the  Cloathing  of 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  253 

their  men  &  See  that  their  Arms,  ammunition  &  accoutrements 
are  in  Proper  Order.  The  whole  Corps  to  Parade  at  Eight 
O'Clock  on  Monday  Morning. 

C.        S.        S.        C.         P. 
Detale,         i.         o.         2.         2.         34. 

Officer  for  Guard  Lieut.  Walker. 


LIGHT  INFANTRY  HEADQUARTERS,  KATIAH, 

Oct'rii,  '79. 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Colo.  Febiger.     Adj't  to-morrow  Mr. 
Ballard.     Orderly  Serg'ts  from  Meges'  &  Febiger  Reg'ts. 

C.        S.        S.         C.         P. 
Detale,         o.         i.         2.         2.         34. 

Officer  for  Guard  Lieut.  Phillips. 


LIGHT  INFANTRY  KAKEYATTE, 

i 3th  Ocfr,  1779." 

Frequent  complaints  are  made  to  me  that  notwithstanding 
there  are  three  Women  who  draw  Rations  in  my  Company — the 
Men  Receive  no  benefit  by  Washing  from  them — for  the  future, 
to  prevent  complaints  of  this  sort,  and  the  more  equitable  distri- 
bution of  the  business  amongst  them.  Sergeant  Grymes  will  ime- 
diately  divide  the  Company  into  three  Squads  as  may  be  most 
agreeable  to  them  and  give  each  woman  a  list  of  those  she  is 
obliged  to  wash  for — who  will  deliver  her  the  soap  they  draw  and 
pay  her  the  stimulated  [sic]  price — except  when  the  soap  is  not 
sufficient  &  she  is  obliged  to  purchase — then  they  must  make  a 
reasonable  allowance — but  on  no  pretence  whatever  is  she  on  an 
average  to  exceed  two  Dollars  ^  Dozen,  the  Woman's  Just 
Accounts  shall  be  punctually  paid  at  the  End  of  every  month  by 
the  men  except  she  chuses  to  wait  Longer.  If  any  of  the  Women 
of  my  Company  are  properly  convicted  of  refusing  to  comply 
with  this  reasonable  Order,  for  the  first  fault  her  whole  Rations 

87  In  the  autograph  of  Captain  Gamble. 


254  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

shall  be  stopt — &  and  for  the  second  she  shall  be  dismissed  with 
disgrace  as  a  useless  charge  &  Expence  to  the  Continent. 


L.  I.  O.  KAHIAT — October  ye  i2th,  1779. 
Field  Officer  to-morrow  Lt.  Colo.  Fleury,  Adj't  from  Febiger's 
Reg't.  Ordily  Serg'ts  From  Putnam's  &  Butler's  [regiments] 
The  Broken  and  Extream  Bad  Ground  heretofore  Occupied  By 
the  Light  Corps  has  prevented  any  manuvers  Being  practised 
By  [the]  Spirit  Laid  [down]  in  the  Baron  Stuben's  Care  of  Military 
Discipline,  But  having  Now  taken  a  position  that  with  a  Little 
Trouble  will  admit  of  performing  Most  of  the  Useful  manuvers, 

1  he  Gen'l  Desires  the  Field  Officers  to  Cause  the  whole  to  Exercise 
in  Battalions  from  Reville  untill  Seven  O'clock  Each  morning, 
the   New  Guard  with  their  Respective  Corps,  and   from   four 
O'clock  in  the  afternoon  untill  Retreat  Beating  By  Regiments, 
the  Old   Guards  to  fall  in  with  their  Respective  Corps.     The 
Gen'l  wishes  the  Officers  to  attend  at  present  to  the  manuvers 
Contained  in  to  Chap'r  i4th.  inclusive  2.  Capts, 

2  Sub's,  4  Serg'ts  &  30  Rank  &  File  to  parade  to-morrow  morn- 
ing with  Every  Ax  &  Spade  in  the  Corps  which  was  Collected 
by  the  Respective  Q.  Masters,    this  Evening,  the  Officers  will 
receive  their  Orders  from  Gen'l  Wayne.     Adjutants  of  Each 
Regiment  will  furnish  Maj'r  Fishbourn  with  a  Weekly  Return  of 
their  Respective  Regiments,  they  will  be  accordingly  Carefull  in 
making  their  Returns  to  account  for  Every  man  in  the  Corps  as 
the  Roster  Must  be  form'd  from  them. 

DETALE   OF   GUARDS 

C  S  S.  C  P. 
Picquett  i.  o.  2.  2.  34. 
Fatigue  i.  i.  i.  12. 


L.  I.  O.  isth  OctoVr,  '79 

Field  officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Stewart.  Field  Officer  for  Pic- 
quett this  Night  Lt.  Col.  Sill,88  Adj't  for  the  Day,  Ballard.89 

88  David  T.  Still,  Lieutenant-Colonel  First  Connecticut  Regiment, 
appointed  March  5,  1778. 

39  Lieutenant  William  Ballard,  of  the  Virginia  line,  received  March  7, 
1782,  2,666%  acres  of  land  for  three  years'  service. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  255 

Orderly  Sergt's  from  Meigs  and  Febiger's  Reg'ts.  The  Loada- 
ble [laudable]  Emmulation  which  Prevales  Every  Brigade  & 
division  in  the  army  ought  no  where  to  be  so  conspicuous  as  this 
Corps  which  from  present  appearance  May  Very  soone  parade 
through  Town  &  Cittys  from  which  they  have  been  Long 
Excluded  and  Eyes  of  citizens  &  Country  would  be  more  full 
upon  the  American  Light  Infantry  than  any  other  part  of  the 
army,  the  Gen'l  Cort  Doubt  but  Every  Officer  without  distinc- 
tion will  Exert  himself  in  Causing  his  more  Immediately  to  fur- 
bish up  the  Arms  &  Cloathing  in  the  best  and  neatest  maner 
Possible,  they  have  now  &  opening  &  Lather  [szV]  for  the  pur- 
pose, therefore  no  time  or  pains  will  be  spared  for  the  whole 
Corps  to  parade  the  day  after  to-morrow,  the  New  Guard,  with 
their  Respective  Regiments,  the  officers  will  concider  themselves 
anserable  for  the  Soldierly  appearance  of  their  men.  The  Gen'l 
observes  many  of  the  Soldiers  who  mount  Guard  Coming  on  the 
guard  with  long  Beards  &  unpowdered  &  others  the  powder 
slovenly  put  on  so  therefore  Desires  the  Brigade  Maj'r  not  in 
futer  to  Except  [sic]  of  any  Such  for  Guard  or  any  march  with- 
out a  bayonet  but  Immediately  put  them  in  &  on  fatigue  or 
Camp  Duty  in  Order  to  prevent  the  Loss  of  Bayonets  or  other 
material,  the  Field  [Officer]  will  once  Every  day  Inspect  the 
Arms,  Ammunition  &  accutrements  of  their  Respective  Battal- 
ions &  make  Camp  Coullermda  of  all  such  that  at  present  [are] 
without  Bayonets  &  Furnish  in  the  directest  maner  such  as  may 
Loose  their  Bayonets  in  futer  for  that  Man  who  Looses  so  Cappi- 
tal  a  wepion  must  be  a  very  worthless  &  cowardly  Soldier  who  is 
Determined  to  Ju[s]tify  his  Flight  in  the  face  of  his  Enemy  for 
the  want  of  the  Bayonet.  The  Troops  in  futer  will  manuver  But 
once  a  day  that  is  from  4  O'clock  till  Retreat  beating,  the  Old 
Guards  will  parade  with  their  Respective  Companies,  the  Camp 
picquett  to  assemble  on  the  Grand  parade  Every  night  at  Retreat 
Beating  &  Receive  their  Orders  from  the  field  officer  of  the 

picquett. 

C.        S.        S.        C.         P. 
Detale,  2.         2.         32 


R.  O.  KAKIAT  HIGHTS,  Oct.  ijth,  7779. 

The  Q.  Masters  is  immediately  to  make  application  to  Brigade 
Q.  Master  for  the  Deficiencys  of  Cartridges  wanting  to  Com- 


256  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

plete  each  man  with  his  Rounds.  The  Commanding  Officers  of 
Companies  will  Immediately  Cause  the  Axes  in  their  Respective 
Companies  to  be  Immediately  Ground  &  put  in  the  best  order 
possible.  Each  Orderly  Serg't  Will  make  out  an  Immediate 
Return  of  the  Cartridges  wanting  in  There  Companies. 


L.  I.  O.  KAKIAT, 
Ocfr  i8th, 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Colo.  Megs.  Field  Officer  for  Pic- 
quett  this  Night  Maj'r  Posey,  Adj't  Ballard,  Orderly  Serg'ts 
from  Colo.  Megs  &  Febiger's  Reg'ts. 

All  the  Axes  belonging  to  the  Light  Infantry  are  to  be  Imme- 
diately Corlected  by  the  Regimental  Q.  M.,  Ground  &  Repaired 
as  Quick  as  Possible. 

C.        S.        S.        C.         P. 
Detale        o.         o.          i.         2.         33. 


R.  O.  LIGHT  INFANTRY, 

Oct,  22nd. 

Gen'l  Wayne  has  observed  with  Great  Concern  That  the  Vir- 
ginians are  the  only  troops  in  the  Light  Infantry  that  has  not 
procured  Hair  for  their  Caps.  The  Colo,  is  induced  to  Repeat 
the  Order  for  that  purpose  once  more  And  Directs  the  Officers 
to  take  the  most  speedy  and  Effectual  means  to  procure  that 
Article,  no  officers  to  Mount  Gard  or  go  on  the  grand  parade 
Without  a  Cap,  if  he  has  not  one  of  his  own,  he  will  [be]  kind 
a  nuff  to  borrow 

FLEURY,  LT.  COLO. 

Commandant  ist.  R.  L,  I. 


C.  O.  Oct 'r  24th,  1779" 

Captain  Gamble  is  much  pleas' d  that  notwithstanding  the  Sol- 
diers had  drawn  two  days  rum  yesterday,  Ensgn.  Phillips  says 
not  one  of  his  Company  was  drunk  on  the  Parade — the  Capt. 
earnestly  wishes  this  good  conduct  may  continue  &  would  fondly 

40  In  the  autograph  of  Captain  Gamble. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  257 

hope  it — But  as  the  Commissary  will  soon  have  Liquor  to  Issue 
exclusive  of  what  the  Virg'a  State  so  Generously  has  begun  to 
Supply  us  with  and  as  it  may  be  most  propper  to  draw  several 
days  at  once  on  account  of  the  distance,  Soldiers  who  are  accus- 
tomed to  get  drunk  will  by  this  means  have  it  in  their  power. 
But  the  Captain  is  determined  to  suppress  a  practice  distructive 
of  good  order  &  military  discipline  and  does  most  peremptorily 
declare  that  the  first  man  of  his  Company  who  he  may  catch  Dis- 
guised with  Liquor  either  on  or  off  guard  shall  for  the  first 
offence  have  his  Rum  stop'd  for  two  weeks  both  from  the  State 
&  Commissary  store,  and  be  denied  those  privileges  of  recrea- 
tion which  a  good  and  orderly  Soldier  can  be  occasionally 
indulged  with — &  for  the  Second  Offence  shall  have  added  to 
this  punishment  whatever  the  sentence  of  a  Court  Martial  may 
inflict  without  favour  to  any  Individual. 


L.  I.  O.  KAKIAT,  October  23rd,  1779. 

Field  officer  to-morrow- Maj'r  Chapman,  For  Picquett  Maj'r 
Posey.  Adj't  Ballard,  Orderly  Serg'ts  from  Megs  &  Febiger's 
Regt's.  the  troops  to  parade  for  Review  at  ten  O'clock  to-mor- 
row morning,  the  New  Guards  with  their  Respective  Regt's  & 
the  orders  Respecting  the  two  days  Provisions  Being  all  ways  on 
hand  &  Ready  Cooked  Must  be  Particularly  Observed,  the 
Gen'l  has  notesed  Some  Neglect  with  Regard  to  the  Caps  and 
Cloaths  of  part  of  his  Troops  which  Others  have  in  the  Cource 
of  two  or  three  days  after  Joining  the  Corps  fully  Complyed 
with,  that  order  he  therefore  Must  Conclude  that  the  omission 
presides  from  inattention  or  want  of  meens,  the  whole  Corps  to 
hold  themselves  in  perfect  Readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's 
warning,  no  Soldier  to  Leave  Camp  on  pain  of  Immediate  pun- 
ishment without  a  permit  from  the  Commanding  Officer  of  the 
Reg't  or  Battalion  to  which  he  belongs  &  that  Indulgence  to  be 
only  but  upon  Very  particular  occations,  the  nature  of  the  Service, 
situation  &  Circumstances  of  the  Corps  Renders  any  other  mode 
very  improper,  the  Disorderly  mode  of  beating  the  Revalee, 
troop  &  Retreat  in  this  Corps  Renders  it  highly  necessary  to  fix 
on  some  Signal  for  the  whole  to  beat  of  together,  therefore  in 
futer  the  taps  to  begin  on  the  Right  of  the  First  Dawn  of  day  & 


258  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

to  pass  to  &  be  answared  from  the  left  when  the  whole  will  begin 
the  Ruffle,  the  same  Ruffle  to  be  observed  for  the  troops  or 
Retreat  or  any  other  Beats  of  the  Drum  that  may  be  found 

necessary. 

C     S.      S.        C.         P. 

Detale.  2.         2.         33. 


R.  O.  25th  October  "79,  KAKIAT. 

Court  Marshel  to  Set  immediately  for  the  Tryal  of  the  Prison- 
ers in  the  Quarter  guard.  Regimental  Returns  for  the  future  to 
be  made  to  the  Virg'a  State  Store  for  the  Liquor  wich  is  to  be 
Drawn  for  the  men,  for  wich  Purpose  The  Commanding  officers 
of  Companys  will  make  Returns  of  their  Respective  Companys 
to  the  Quarter  Master.  The  Q.  M.  to  Digest  them  into  a  Regi- 
mental return  &  Singe  [sign]  it,  after  Wich  it  will  be  Singd  by 
the  Commanding  officer  of  the  Redg't  &  Sent  by  a  Careful 
Serg't  who  will  Draw  the  Liquor  &  Deliver  it  to  the  Orderly 
Serg'ts  of  Each  Comp'y  or  Who  Ever  the  Commanding  officer 
of  Each  Company  may  appoint  to  the  Care  of  the  Liquor,  The 
Commanding  Officer  of  Each  Company  will  see  to  have  the 
Money  Collected  &  Sent  by  the  Serg't  who  is  to  Draw  for  the 
Redg't  &  will  pay  Particular  Attention  that  when  the  Soldiers 
draw  more  than  one  gill  of  Liquor  a  day  not  to  Deliver  it  to 
them  only  as  the  Commanding  officer  of  the  Company  shall 
think  proper. 

T.  POSEY,  Mafr  Com'  <?  g. 


R.  O.  KAKIAT,  October  ye  26th,  1779. 

Serg't  Grifee  of  Capt.  Montgomery's  Company  be  appointed 
Orderly  Serg't  of  said  Company  Vice  Serg't  Arbright  &  is  to 
be  Respected  and  obeyed  accordingly,  the  Commanding  offi- 
cers of  Companies  to  Make  Retturns  of  their  Respective  Com- 
panies for  the  Rum  to  be  Drawn  from  the  State  Store  Agreeably 
to  the  orders  of  yesterday.  At  a  Court  Martial  whereof  Capt. 
Gist  was  president,  Saml  Hunt  of  Capt.  Lawson's  Comp'y  in 
the  ist  Battalion  Light  Infantry  was  tryed  for  Insolence  & 
Mutiny,  the  Court  after  maturely  considering  the  Evidence 
find  the  Prisoner  Guilty  of  the  Charges  exhibited  against  him 
and  do  sentence  him  to  Receive  Sixty  Lashes.  The  Command- 


ORDERLY   BOOK. OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  259 

ing  Officer  Looks  upon  the  Charge  to  be  Crime  of  the  Deepest 
Die  but  it  being  a  Crime  which  the  Prisoner  Never  had  before 
been  Guilty  and  the  Prisoner  always  behaving  himself  as  a  Good 
Soldier,  &  at  the  Intercession  of  a  number  of  Officers  the  Com- 
manding officer  Remits  the  Punishment  &  orders  the  prisoner  to 
be  Released  from  his  Confinement. 

At  a  Court  Martial  whereof  Capt.  McClelin  41  was  President, 
James  Black  [a]  Soldier  of  Capt.  Montgomery's  Company  of  the 
2nd  Battalion  of  the  First  Reg't  of  Light  Infantry  Charged  with 
Stealing  a  ham  of  Bacon,  is  found  Guilty  of  the  Charge  Exhi- 
bited against  him  as  a  breach  of  Section  i8th  article  5th  of  the 
articles  of  War  &  do  sentence  him  to  Receive  fifty  Lashes  on  his 
Bare  back  the  Commanding  Officer  approves  the  sentence  & 
orders  it  to  be  put  in  Execution  at  Review  beating.  Serg't  Bal- 
lance  of  Capt.  Hudson's  Comp'y  is  appointed,  to  Do.  the  Duty 
of  Q.  M.  Serg't  to  the  2nd  Battalion  of  Light  Infantry  and  is  to 

be  Respected  accordingly. 

THOS.  POSEY, 

Mafr  Comdt  ist  Reg't  L.  Infantry. 

LIGHT  INFANTRY,  PERAMMONS,  October  ^ist,  1779. 

Field  Officer  Maj'r  Hull.  Ditto  for  Picquett  Colo.  Butler 
Adj't  Lt.  Ballard,  Orderly  Serg'ts  from  Megs'  &  Febiger'  Reg'ts. 
Cleanliness  being  ever  conducive  to  health,  the  Gen'l  wishes  the 
strictest  attention  of  every  officer  to  this  particular  Point.  The 
Q.  Masters  will  be  Governed  by  the  Orders  of  the  5th  Inst  with 
Respect  to  the  Incampment  which  is  to  be  Read  at  Retreat 
beating.  The  Whole  Corps  to  Parade  at  Revally  the  Day  after 
to-morrow  with  two  days  Provisions,  the  officers  will  be  account- 
able for  for  Every  Man  Capable  of  Duty  &  will  examine  the 
arms,  ammunition,  Clothing,  and  accoutrements  of  their  Respec- 
tive Corps  to-morrow  Evening  to  the  end  that  every  man  be  in 
Readiness  at  a  Moment's  warning. 

Detale  C.         S.        S.        C.        P. 

Dayly  g'd  i.        3.         2.         34 

ForG'd  Lt.  Walker." 


"Joseph  McClellan,  appointed  Captain  Ninth  Pennsylvania  July  15, 
1776  ;  transferred  to  the  Second  Pennsylvania,  Colonel  Walter  Stewart ; 
resigned  June  10,  1781 ;  died  October  24,  1834. 

"Lieutenant  David  Walker  of  the  First  Virginia  Regiment. 


260  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

L.  I.  O.  PERAMMONS,  ist  November,  1779. 
Field  Officer  to-morrow  Maj'r  Stewart;    for  Picquett  Maj'r 
Durry,  Orderly  Serg'ts  from  Megs'  &  Butler's  Reg'ts. 

C.        S.        S.         C.         P. 
Detale         i.         i.         2.         3.         33. 
For  G'd  Capt.  Booker  &  Lt.  Crawford. 


L.  I.  O.  November  5th,  1779. 

Field  Officer  tomorrow  Colo.  Butler,  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
Night  Maj'r  Posey,  Orderly  Serg'ts  from  Colo.  Putnam's  & 
Butler's  Reg'ts.  Some  late  Intelligence  Renders  it  necessary 
for  the  Corps  to  be  Prepared  to  seek  or  meet  the  Enemy,  the 
Gen'l  wishes  the  Officers  to  make  the  Strictest  Inspection  to  the 
Condition  of  the  ammunition,  arms,  accoutrements  &  Clothing 
of  their  Respective  Companies  that  nothing  May  be  Wanting 
and  Every  man  in  Readiness  to  act  at  a  moment's  warning,  the 
Commissary  will  Immediately  Send  Waggons  £  Bring  the  Rum 
&  other  Surplus  from  the  Landing. 

A  Sub[altern]  &  20  men  to  Parade  at  4  o'clock  this  Evening 
as  an  Escort,  he  will  Receive  his  orders  at  the  Genl's  quarters. 
The  Troops  will  Manover  from  3  till  4  o' Clock  agreeable  to  a 
former  order,  at  ten  O'clock  the  whole  troop  to  Parade  the  day 
after  to-morrow,  the  Field  officer  will  be  Furnished  with  a  copy 
of  the  manuver  to  be  Performed.  Every  Officer  &  Soldier  will 
be  Present  as  No  excuse  will  be  admitted. 

A  gill  of  Rum  will  be  Issued  to  Each  man  on  Parade  after 
manuvering  is  over  &  to  None  Elce. 

S.         C.       G'd. 
Detale  i.         3.         33. 

Daily  G'd 
Detach' t  4. 


L.  I.  O.  November  ye  6th,  1779,  PERAMMONS. 

Field  Officer  to-morrow  Colo.  Butler,  Ditto  for  Picquett  this 
Night  Colo.  Simms a  [?]  Orderly  Serg'ts  From  Megs'  &  Febi- 


43  Charles  Simms,  appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Second  Vir- 
ginia July  12,  1777  ;  resigned  December  9,  1779. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  261 

ger's  Reg'ts.  The  Troops  Will  Leave  of  Work  &  Improve 
this  after  Noon  in  Washing  their  Lining  &  Repairing  their 
Cloathes  And  Furbishing  up  their  Arms,  the  Tents  are  to  be 
Struck  and  the  Baggage  Loaded  up  at  Troop  beating,  the  whole 
Will  Parade  for  Inspection  at  ^  after  8  o' Clock  &  take  their 
time  of  march  at  9  o' Clock  in  the  morning.  Two  Days  Provis- 
ions to  be  Drawn  &  Cooked  this  Evening,  the  Old  Guards 
will  Join  their  Respective  Reg'ts  at  Sunrise.  Every  Soldier 
Capable  of  Duty  to  march  with  the  Company.  The  Q.  Mas- 
ters will  Receive  their  Orders  as  Soone  as  the  Bagage  is  Ready 
to  move. 

Detale  C.        S.        S.         C.         P. 

Daily  G'd       i.         o.         2.         2.         34. 


R.  ORDERS,  Nov'r  ye  jth,  1779. 

The  tents  to  be  Pitched  Immediately  &  Chimneys  Fixt  to 
them  in  the  Best  manner  with  all  Possible  Expedition,  the  Q. 
Master  will  Furnish  a  waggon  Load  of  Straw  which  is  to  be  Dis- 
tributed to  the  Companies,  a  Corp'l  &  6  [men]  at  the  Colo, 
quarters  &  I  Corp'l  &  4  [men]  for  Camp  Q.  Guard.  The  Offi- 
cers are  enjoined  in  the  strictest  maner  to  Prevent  the  men  from 
Destroying  the  Fencies  or  any  thing  belonging  to  the  Inhabi- 
tance.  No  officer  nor  Soldier  to  be  permitted  to  go  into  the 
Country  unless  It  is  the  Officers  Waiters  for  whose  Conduct  their 
Masters  will  be  answerable,  without  a  pass  from  the  Colo,  or 
Maj'r. 

CHRISTIAN  FEBIGER, 

Colo,  ist  R.  L.  I. 

The  Commissary  will  Immediately  engage  all  the  Roots  & 
Vegetables  he  can  procure  for  the  use  of  the  Troops  for  which 
he  will  give  Beef  in  barter  on  Such  Days  as  he  supplies  them 
with  Vegetables,  he  will  only  Issue  ^  Ib.  Flour  p'r  Ration  with 
Full  alowance  of  Beef  Salt  this  being  a  Mode  recommended  by 
his  Excellency  Gen'l  Washington  and  excepted  by  the  Army, 
the  officers  &  men  will  be  convinced  of  the  Impropriety  of 
Granting  permits  to  go  in  quest  of  Vegetables,  a  practice  of  this 
kind  will  have  a  tendency  to  forestall  the  Markets  and  prevent  a 
Gen'l  Supply.  The  whole  Corps  to  parade  to-morrow  Morning 


262  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

with  their  arms,  ammunition  &  accutrements  in  the  Best  order 
&  they  will  Carry  no  Baggage  but  their  Blankets  and  one  Day's 
Provisions,  the  Officers  will  be  Carefull  that  Every  Man  Capa- 
ble off  Duty  turn  out  on  the  occasion,  they  very  probably  will 
be  all  wanting,  the  additional  Camp  Guard  Dismount  this  Eve- 
ning at  Retreat. 

A  Gen'l  Court  Martial  to  set  this  afternoon  at  i  o'Clock  for 
the  Trial  of  all  Such  Prisoners  as  may  be  Brought  before  them 
all  parties  and  Evidences  to  have  Notes  &  attend. 

Maj'r  Posey  to  preside,  three  Capts.  from  Each  Reg't  Except 
Colo.  Putnam's  who  gives  four  Captains  as  members  at  the  hour 
appointed  they  will  attend  at  the  president's  quarter. 

C.        S.        S.         C.         P. 
Detale.  i.         2.         3.         33. 

C.  M.  3- 

Officer  for  guard  Lt.  Phillips. 


L.  I.  O.  ACQUACKANUNEH,  November  i ^th,  '79. 
Field  Officer  to-morrow  Colo.  Butler,  Ditto  for  picquett  this 
Night  Colo.  Putnam.    Adjutant,  Lt.  Hawkins.44   Orderly  Serg'ts 
from  Putnam's  &  Butlers's  Reg'ts. 

C.         S.         S.        C.         P. 
Detale.  i.         2.         2.         31. 

For  guard  to-morrow  Lt.  McDowell. 


L.  INFANTRY,  November  i^th,  ACQUACKANUNEH. 
Field  Officer  Colo.  Febiger,  Ditto  for  Picquett  Colo.  Megs, 
Orderly  Serg'ts  from  Megs'  &  Febiger' s  Reg'ts.  For  Detach- 
ment at  4  o'Clock  this  afternoon  Colo.  Putnam  &  Maj'r  Stewart, 
6  Capts,  6  Sub's  12  Serg'ts,  12  Corp' Is.  &  300  Privates  with 
their  arms,  accoutrements  £  ammunition  in  the  best  order  with 
their  Blankets  and  Provisions — 

S.        S.         C.         P. 
For  to-morrow        i.          i.          i.         20 — 
to  Mount  as  Brigade  Guard  in  the  Rear  of  the  Brigade  &  to 

44 John  Hawkins  appointed  Lieutenant  Third  Virginia  regiment,  Sep- 
tember ii,  1777. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT    GAMBLE.  263 

keep  Constant  Patroles  Passing  through  the  whole  night  on  each 
Flank  &  Rear  of  the  incampment.  their  Duty  will  be  to  take 
up  &  secure  all  Stranglers  &  Moroaders  and  unless  they  have  a 
Pass  Signed  by  Some  Field  Officer  to  be  immediately  punished 
with  50  lashes  well  laid  on  their  bare  backs,  those  who  have 
passes  as  aforesaid  are  to  be  kept  in  Confinement  untill  the  Field 
Officer  who  Signed  the  same  Certifies  whether  he  gave  leave  of 
Absence  untill  after  retreat  Beating  &  if  he  did  not,  the  Culprit 
to  receive  his  punishment.  Capt.  Van  Heir  will  order  his 
patrols  of  Horse  to  take  up  &  deliver  to  the  Off'r  of  the  afore- 
said Guard  every  soldier  they  may  Meet  with  out  of  Camp, 
either  by  Day  or  Night  that  has  not  A  proper  pass  to  produce. 
The  Commissary  will  furnish  Fatt  &  Casks  to  Each  Reg't  for 
the  purpose  of  making  Soap.  The  Q.  Master  will  immediately 
Cause  the  women  belonging  to  Each  Company  &  Batt'n  to 
attend  to  this  necessary  Business.  The  Troops  to  manuver  reg- 
ularly every  afternoon  from  4  o' Clock  till  retreat  beating  at  which 
time  Each  officer  &  Sold'r  not  on  guard  or  other  Duty  will 
punctually  attend  the  Field  Officer  or  B  answerable  for  Every 
Neglect  of  this  Order.  Daily  Guard  Capt.  Lawson.  For  De- 
tachment Capt.  Shelton,  Capt.  Montgomery,  Lt.  Crawford,  Lt. 
Phillips.  Regimental  Off'  Capt.  Gamble. 


L.  I.  O.  ACQUAKANONK, 

Nov.  i6th,  1779. 

Field  Officer  Maj'r  Stewart.  Do.  for  picquett  Colo.  Febiger. 
Orderly  Serg'ts  from  Megs'  &  Febiger' s  Regt's. 

At  a  Regimental  Court  martial  held  the  loth  Instant,  John 
B  *  *  ,  Christian  Williams  &  Rob't  *  *  belonging  to 
the  artillery  ***** 


264  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.  ' 

List  of  Officers  on   the  Establishment  of  Eight  Regiments  in 
1781,  with  Remarks.** 


FIRST   REGIMENT. 

Colonel  William  Davies,  Command  at  Chesterfield. 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Samuel  Hopkins,  Prisoner  at  Charlestown. 
Major  Thomas  Posey,  Rendezvous  [at]  Staunton. 

Captains        Nathan  Reid,  Rendezvous  New  London. 

Thomas  Thweatt,  Prisoner — Not  exchanged. 

John  Overton,  Chesterfield. 

Thomas  Holt,  Prisoner  Charles  Town. 

Archibald  Denholm,  Southern  army. 

Nathan  Terry,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Francis  Minnis,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Joseph  Scott,  Jr. ,  Chesterfield. 

John  B.  Johnston,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Lieutenant  Philip  Sansum,  Southern  army. 

Thomas  Browne,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Samuel  Hogg,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Marks  Vandewall,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

David  Walker,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Richard  Worsham,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

David  Meriwether,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Ballard  Smith,  Southern  army. 

Samuel  Selden,  Southern  army. 

Joseph  Conway,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Thomas  Barfoot,  Field  Quartermaster,  Chesterfield. 

Elisha  King,  Southern  army. 

Philip  Courtney,  unknown  where. 

4aThis  list  of  officers  of  Virginia  regiments  was  also  supplied  by 
Dr.  Gary  B.  Gamble,  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  through  Hon.  Joseph 
Addison  Waddell.  The  appended  remarks  indicate  the  condition  or 
locality  of  the  officer.  Charlestown  or  Charles  Town  are  obsolete 
modes  of  rendering  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT   GAMBLE.  265 

Ensigns        William  P.  Quarles,  Southern  army. 
John  Scott,  New  London  rendezvous. 
John  Harris,  Chesterfield. 
John  Carr,  unknown  where. 

Drew,  just  appointed. 

Robert  Quarles. 
Jordan  Harris. 

SECOND    REGIMENT. 

Colonel  Christian  Febiger,  Command  at  Philadelphia. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Gus.  B.  Wallace,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Major  Smith  Sneed,  on  furlough. 

Captains        Robert  Higgins,  just  exchanged — absent. 
John  Stith,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Alexander  Parker,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Benjamin  Taliaferro,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Stokes,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Isaiah  Marks,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Colin  Cocke,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Robert  Porterfield,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Francis  Cowherd,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Lieutenants  Henry  Moss,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Beverley  Stubblefield,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Jordan,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Thomas  Parker,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
James  Mayborn,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Crawford,  Southern  army. 
Peter  Higgins,  Southern  army. 
Benjamin  Lawson,  Southern  army. 
Thomas  Miller,  Southern  army. 
William  Eskridge,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
James  D.  Laplane,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Peterfield  Archer,  Southern  army. 
George  Blackmore,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 


2G6  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Ensigns         John  Heth,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

George  A.  Washington,  Aid  to  Marquis  La  Fayette. 
John  Foster,  Southern  army. 


THIRD    REGIMENT. 

Colonel  George  Mathews,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Richard  Campbell,  Southern  army. 
Major  William  Croghan,  Prisoner  on  parole. 

Captains        Will  Johnston,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Nathaniel  Pendleton,  Aid  to  General  Greene. 
Thomas  Edmonds,  Southern  army. 
John  Anderson,  Southern  army. 
John  Blackwell,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Will  Bentley,  Southen  army. 
Robert  Beale,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
James  Wright,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Le  Roy  Edwards,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Lieutenants  Thomas  Warman,  on  furlough. 

Thomas  Ransadall,  Southern  army. 
Henry  Bedinger,  Rendezvous  Winchester. 
Tim  Feely,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Beverley  Roy,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Robert  Livingston,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
David  Miller,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Benjamin  Ashby,  notice  by  letter. 
Reuben  Long,  Southern  army. 
Will  Stephens,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
David  Williams.  Southern  army. 
John  Rooney,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Lipscomb  Norvell,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN    ROBERT    GAMBLE.  267 

Ensigns         Peyton  Powell,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Eustace,  Chesterfield. 
William  McGuire,  Southern  army. 
John  Giles,  Southern  army. 
Richard  Archer,  Chesterfield. 


FOURTH    REGIMENT. 

Colonel  John  Nevill,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Richard  Campbell,  Southern  army. 
Major  William  Croghan,  Prisoner  on  parole. 

Captains        Samuel  Finley,  just  exchanged — Major. 
Samuel  Booker,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Abram  Kirkpatrick,  Chesterfield. 
Lawrence  Butler,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
James  Curry,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Philip  Mallory,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Willis  Riddick,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
James  Crane,  Chesterfield. 
William  L.  Lovely,  sick — absent. 

Lieutenants  Reuben  Fields,  Fredericksburg  rendezvous. 
John  Wilson,  Southern  army. 
James  Morton,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Robert  Foster,  New  London  rendezvous. 
Philip  Easton,  Southern  army. 
James  Holt,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Luke  Cannon,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Albridgeton  Jones,  Southern  army. 
Philip  Huffman,  killed — Southern  army. 
Robert  Craddock,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Willis  Wilson,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Charles  Erskine,  C.  M.  S.,  Chesterfield. 
John  Crute,  Prisoner  on  parole. 


268  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Ensigns         Garvin  Miller,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Robert  Hays,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
William  Scott,  unknown  where. 
Archibald  Campbell,  Southern  army. 
John  Spitzgaddon,  Southern  army. 
Daniel  Bedinger,  Winchester  rendezvous. 


FIFTH    REGIMENT. 

Colonel  William  Russell,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Oliver  Towles,  Fredericksburg  rendezvous. 
Major  John  Willis,  on  furlough. 

Captains        Henry  Young,  absent,  just  from  Charlestown. 
Joseph  Scott,  Jr.,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
William  Rogers,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Thomas  Parker,  on  furlough. 
Custis  Kendall,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Robert  Woodson,  Prisoner — exchange  uncertain. 
James  Culbertson,  Southern  army. 
Charies  Snead,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Severn  Teagle,46  Prisoner — exchange  uncertain. 

Lieutenants  Thomas  Peyton,  on  furlough. 

Thomas  Martin,  Rendezvous,  Staunton. 

Charles  Stockley,  on  furlough. 

Nathaniel  Darby,  on  furlough. 

Robert  Breckinridge,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Matthew  Clay,  Southern  Army. 

Thomas  Coverley,  on  furlough. 

John  Robins,  sick — absent. 

William  Robertson,  furlough  from  Colonel  Towles. 

John  Scarborough,  exchange  uncertain. 


"Probably  Teackle. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    CAPTAIN    ROBERT    GAMBLE.  269 

Lieutenants  Benjamin  Mosely,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Jonathan  Smith,  just  exchanged,  Philadelphia. 
John  Steele,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Ensigns        Jacob  Brown,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Archelaus  Perkins,  Southern  army. 
Zachariah  Tatum,  Southern  army. 
Thomas  Seayers,47  just  appointed. 
Andrew  Hays,  just  appointed. 
Josiah  Payne. 


SIXTH    REGIMENT. 

Colonel  John  Green,  Southern  army. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Samuel  Hawes,  Southern  army. 
Major  David  Stephenson,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Captains        John  Gillison,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Spotswood,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Clough  Skelton,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Nathan  Lamme,  Absent — sick. 
James  Williams,  Lately  with  Southern  army. 
Mayo  Carrington,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Fitzgerald,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Nelson,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Thomas  Hoard,  Prisoner  on  parole. 

Lieutenants  Thomas  Barber/8  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Townes,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Thomas  Fox,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Joseph  Blackwell,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
James  Hamilton,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
William  Evans,  Southern  army. 


47  In  the  State  list,  of  those  granted  bounty  lands,  Sayers. 

48  In  the  State  list,  Barbee. 


270  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Lieutenants  Samuel  Baskerville,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Thomas  Pearson,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
John  Hackley,  Southern  army. 
Nicholas  Taliaferro,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Robertson,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Charles  Jones,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
William  D.  O' Kelly,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Ensigns         William  S.  Smith,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Francis  Smith,  Southern  army. 
Edmund  Clarke,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  W.  Ludiman,49  Aid  to  General  Washington. 
Robert  Green,  Southern  army. 
Gabriel  Green,  gone  home. 
James  Green,  gone  home. 
James  Barbour,  gone  home. 
Francis  Gray,  gone  home. 


SEVENTH    REGIMENT. 

Colonel  John  Gibson,  Fort  Pitt. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Samuel  J.  Cabell,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Major  Charles  Pelham,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Captains        Robert  Bell,  Fort  Pitt. 

Callohill  Minnis,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Tarlton  Payne,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Simon  Morgan,  Southern  army. 

Simon  Vance,  Fort  Pitt. 

Uriah  Springer,  Fort  Pitt. 

Benjamin  Biggs,  Fort  Pitt. 

George  Barry,  Fort  Pitt. 

Holman  Minnis,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

John  Harrison,  Fort  Pitt. 


49  In  the  State  list,  William  J.  Ludiman. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   CAPTAIN   ROBERT   GAMBLE.  271 

Lieutenants  Lewis  Thomas,  Fort  Pitt. 
Andrew  Lewis,  Fort  Pitt. 
Lawrence  Harrison,  Fort  Pitt. 
John  Barnes,  Southern  army. 
Matthew  Rhea,  Southern  army. 
David  Allen,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Jacob  Springer,  Fort  Pitt. 
Henry  Dawson,  Fort  Pitt. 
John  Beck,  Fort  Pitt. 
Jacob  Coleman,  Fort  Pitt. 
Robert  Rankin,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Philip  Clayton,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 

Ensigns         Spencer  Morgan,  where  unknown. 
John  Mills,  Fort  Pitt. 
Jacob  Winlock,  Fort  Pitt. 
Josiah  Tannehill,  Fort  Pitt. 
William  Connor,  Fort  Pitt. 
John  Gibson,  Fort  Pitt. 
John  Trabue. 
Henry  Hughes. 


EIGHTH    REGIMENT. 

Colonel  James  Wood,  Com.  Charlottesville. 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Jonathan  Clarke,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Major  John  Poulson. 

Captains        Andrew  Wallace,  Killed  King's  Mountain. 
Thomas  Boyer,  Killed  King's  Mountain. 
Robert  Gamble,  Chesterfield. 
Thomas  Buckner,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Presley  Nevill,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Abraham  Hite,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Clarke,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
William  White,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Joseph  Swearingen,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 


272  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Lieutenants  Captain  Conway  Oldham,  Southern  army,  promoted, 

\yice\  Wallace  killed. 
Sigismund  Stribling,  killed. 
Hezekiah  Morton,  killed. 
Robert  White,  furlough. 
John  McDowell,  Southern  army. 
Albert  Russell,  Southern  army. 
William  Porter,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Richard  Starke,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Robert  Jouet,  Southern  army. 
John  White,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
John  Bowen,  Prisoner  on  parole. 
Henry  Bowyer,  Southern  army. 
William  Baylis,  absent. 

Ensigns         Thomas  Wallace,  Prisoner  Charlestown. 
Isaac 'Hite,  aid  to  General  Muh'g.50 
George  Hite,  Southern  army. 
William  Ball,  resigned. 
Daniel  Ball,  Southern  army. 

Thweatt. 

Baylis. 


50  The  abbreviation  was  probably  intended  for  Muhlenburg. 


KRRATA. 


MEMOIR  OF  GENERAL  JOHN  CROPPER. 

Page  276.  The  author  is  in  error  in  stating  that  the  first  John 
Cropper  who  emigrated  to  Virginia,  and  married  Gertrude  Bow- 
man, was  a  Scotchman.  He  was  an  Englishman,  and  represen- 
tatives of  the  same  family  now  live  in  Lancashire.  One  of  this 
family  married  a  sister  of  Lord  Macaulay. 

Page  313.  The  badge  of  the  Cincinnati  alluded  to  as  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  John  Cropper,  the  grandson  of  General  Crop- 
per, did  not  descend  to  him  from  the  latter,  who,  with  a  majority 
of  the  original  members,  had  not  one.  In  fact  they  were  made  in 
France  and  but  few  comparatively  brought  to  America.  This 
badge  was  purchased  by  Mr.  John  Cropper,  when  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Cincinnati,  as  his  grandfather's  representative. 
Mr.  Cropper  now  has  General  Cropper's  diploma,  also  the  Journal, 
quoted  in  this  sketch,  the  sword,  cannon,  portrait,  and  other  relics 
of  his  grandfather  mentioned. 

Page  314.  "Bowman's  Folly"  became  the  property  of  Mr. 
John  Cropper  a  year  or  two  ago,  but  in  1870  had  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Browne,  and,  later,  the  Gibb  family,  descendants 
of  General  Cropper. 


MKMOIR 


OF 


GENERAL  JOHN  CROPPER 


OF 


ACCOMACK  COUNTY,  VIRGINIA, 


BY 


BARTON  HAXALL  WISE. 


MEMOIR     OF 


GENERAL  JOHN  CROPPER, 


OF 


ACCOMACK  COUNTY,  VIRGINIA. 


I. 

Across  the  Chesapeake,  from  the  mainland  of  Virginia,  a  nar- 
row peninsula  runs  southward  from  the  Maryland  boundary  to 
Cape  Charles.  Though  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  State  by 
the  width  of  the  bay,  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia  has  always 
belonged  to  it,  and  the  people  that  inhabit  the  counties  of  Acco- 
mack  and  Northampton  have  been  from  the  first,  distinctively 
Virginian  in  their  customs  and  sentiments.  This  region  was 
originally  called  "Accowmake,"  or  "  Accawmacke,"  after  the 
Indian  chief  who  ruled  there  ;  and  in  the  year  1634,  when  Vir- 
ginia was  divided  into  eight  shires,  this  territory  formed  one  of 
them,  to  which  the  name  Accomack  was  given.  On  account  of 
its  detached  position,  the  old  grants  and  orders  of  the  king  were 
addressed  to  his  "  faithful  subjects  in  ye  Colonie  of  Virginiae, 
and  ye  Kingdom  of  Accawmacke." 

This  name  was  changed  to  Northampton  in  1642  through  the 
influence  of  Colonel  Obedience  Robins.  Later  on,  in  1662,  the 
Eastern  Shore  was  divided  into  two  counties,  the  lower  retain- 
ing the  name  Northampton,  and  the  upper  one  being  called 


276  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Accomack,  from  the  old  Indian  name.  Among  the  early  immi- 
grants to  the  latter  county  was  Edmund  Bowman,  an  English 
gentleman,  who  was  granted  an  estate  upon  Folly  creek,  which 
received  the  name  of  "  Bowman's  Folly." 

Bowman  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  position  ;  a  justice  of  the 
peace  in  1663,  a  sheriff,  burgess,  and  had  in  addition,  successively, 
the  military  titles  of  Captain  and  Major.  He  had  two  daughters, 
one  of  whom  became  the  wife  of  Colonel  Southey  Littleton,  and 
the  other,  Gertrude,  married  John  Cropper,  a  young  Scotchman, 
who  had  come  to  the  colony.  The  family  estate  was  left  to  Mrs. 
Cropper  (who,  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  married  Daniel 
Esham);  and  from  her  it  descended  to  her  son,  Sebastian  Cropper. 
Sebastian  Cropper  married  Rachel  Parker,  daughter  of  Peter 
Parker,  and  had  a  son,  Bowman  Cropper,  who  inherited  the 
estate.  Bowman  Cropper  married,  and  the  property  passed  to 
his  son,  Sebastian  Cropper,  Jr.  Sebastian,  Jr. ,  married  Sabra 
Corbin,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Coventon  Corbin  and  Barbara 
his  wife,  of  Ghincoteague  farm,  and  their  son  was  John  Cropper,  ' 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  was  born  at  "  Bowman's  Folly" 
on  the  23d  of  December,  1755,  and  his  early  years  were  passed 
at  the  old  family  homestead.  In  the  month  of  March,  1775,  the 
Second  Virginia  Convention  met  in  St.  John's  church,  Rich- 
mond, and  authorized  the  organizing  of  independent  companies 
in  each  county,  as  the  initial  provision  for  the  general  defence, 
to  consist  of  one  or  more  companies  of  infantry  and  horse,  to  be 
in  training  and  ready  to  act  on  a  short  notice;  from  which  fact 
they  were  called  "  minute  men."  Throughout  the  remainder  of 
that  year  the  Virginia  people  proceeded  to  arm  themselves  in 
anticipation  of  the  coming  conflict,  and  the  first  company  raised 
in  Accomack  chose  John  Cropper,  then  a  boy  of  nineteen,  as  its 
captain.  On  the  5th  of  February,  1776,  shortly  after  attaining 
his  twentieth  birthday,  he  received  his  commission,  signed  by  the 
Committee  of  Safety  for  the  Colony,1  and  his  company  was 
attached  to  the  Ninth  Virginia  regiment  on  the  Continental 
establishment,  of  which  Thomas  Fleming  was  the  colonel, 
George  Matthews  the  lieutenant-colonel,  and  John  Seayers 
major.  This  regiment  was  made  up  of  five  companies  from 

1  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  271. 


MEMOIR   OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  277 

Accomack,  two  from  Northampton,  and  three  from  the  Western 
Shore  of  Virginia.2  In  the  autumn  of  1776  they  marched  from 
Accomack  to  the  north  to  join  the  army  at  Morristown,  New 
Jersey.  The  year  1776  proved  an  eventful  one  for  the  boy-cap- 
tain, the  subject  of  our  sketch.  In  August  of  this  year  he  was 
married  to  Margaret  Pettitt,  commonly  called  Peggy,  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  George  Abbot,  where  she  resided,  being  an  orphan  at  the 
time,  Rev.  William  Vere,  the  Episcopal  minister  in  the  county, 
officiating.  Shortly  after  this  his  father,  Sebastian  Cropper,  Jr., 
who  had  been  made  a  major  by  the  Committee  of  Safety,  died 
suddenly,  and  just  before  the  departure  of  our  hero  for  the  army, 
his  mother,  .Sabra  Cropper,  had  died  in  his  arms.  In  the  month 
of  December  he  took  leave  of  his  young  wife,  then  in  a  delicate 
condition,  and,  at  the  head  of  his  company,  marched  from  home, 
in  the  Ninth  Virginia,  to  join  General  Washington.  On  the 
march  northward  the  colonel,  Thomas  Fleming,  died,  the  lieu- 
tenant-colonel, George  Mathews,  succeeding  to  his  position,  and 
the  major,  Seayers,  becoming  lieutenant-colonel,  the  office  of 
major  became  vacated. 

There  were  three  captains  from  Accomack,  John  Cropper, 
Levin  Joynes  and  Thomas  Snead,  who  though  young  men,  were 
the  seniors  in  point  of  service,  and  each  of  whom  aspired  to  the 
majority,  and  were  recommended  to  the  commander  in  chief  by 
their  different  friends.  The  adopted  rule  of  promotion  was  that 
each  subaltern  must  rise  to  the  rank  of  captain  in  his  own  regi- 
ment, but  above  the  grade  of  captain  they  were  entitled  to  pro- 
motion according  to  seniority  in  any  regiment  of  the  line  of  the 
State  to  which  they  belonged.  When  the  Ninth  regiment  finally 
reached  headquarters  there  were  three  vacancies  for  major  in  the 
Virginia  line  in  the  Fifth,  Seventh  and  Ninth  regiments;  and 
Captains  Cropper,  Joynes  and  Snead  were  each  entitled  to  pro- 
motion. General  Washington3  decided  that  as  their  commis- 
sions as  captains  all  bore  date  on  the  same  day,  they  were  to  take 
rank  as  amongst  themselves  according  to  the  time  their  respec- 
tive companies  were  first  mustered  into  service.  According  to 


2  Sketch  of  Thomas  R.  Joynes  by  Dr.  Levin  S.  Joynes,  p.  3. 

3  Letter  of  Thomas  R.  Joynes  to  Governor  H.  A.  Wise,  Southern 

Literary  Messenger,  June,  1857. 


278  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

this  grade  they  were  to  fill  the  vacancies.  By  this  rule,  Cropper, 
who  had  raised  the  first  company  in  his  portion  of  the  State, 
ranked  first,  Joynes  next,  and  Snead  third. 

On  January  4th,  1777,  Cropper  was  commissioned*  major  of 
the  Seventh  Virginia,  by  Congress,  and  his  commission  signed 
by  John  Hancock,  the  president  of  that  body. 

Joynes  became  major  of  the  Ninth,  and  Snead  also  was  pro- 
moted. The  vacant  captain's  commissions  were  filled  by  Hen- 
derson, Morris  and  Oldham.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  the 
north,  Cropper  wrote  to  his  wife  in  a  letter  dated  Philadelphia, 
January  I2th,  1777 : 

"  DEAR  PEGGY: 

This  Day  I  am  leaving  Philadelphia  with  the  Regiment  to  go  to 
Camp.  Last  night  we  heard  the  king's  seventh  regiment  was  intirely 
taken  To  Day  we  hear  by  a  Major  who  comes  from  Camp  that  there 
has  been  a  great  Battle  in  the  Jersys,  and  that  Howe's  army  is  half 
taken  Prisoners  and  kill'd.  Soldiers  are  flocking  from  every  part,  which 
I  hope  will  put  an  End  to  the  War  this  Winter,  if  our  People  behave  as 
well  as  they  have.  Within  three  Weeks  two  thousand  Hessians  and 
Englishmen  have  been  brought  to  this  City.  Inclosed  I  send  you  a 
Saturday's  Paper.  Give  my  love  to  all  Relations  and  Compliments  to 
Friends,  and  write  by  the  first  opportunity  direct  your  Letters  to  be  left 

at  the ,  in  Philadelphia,  and  I  shall  get  them.  I  expect  to  be  home 

in  about  3  Months,  beg  Mr.  Abbot  to  write  to  me.  Our  Soldiers 
are  all  dressed  in  Regimentals  at  the  Expense  of  the  Continent,  and 
have  received  all  their  Wages.  God  bless  You  and  my  Brothers. 

I  am  your  most  Affectionate  Husband  where  ever  I  goe, 

JOHN  CROPPER." 

Cropper  fought  under  Washington  as  a  major  at  Brandywine 
and  Germantown,  and  as  lieutenant-colonel  commanding  the 
Eleventh  Virginia  (Daniel  Morgan's  regiment)  at  Monmouth,  in 
June,  1778,  and  became  devotedly  attached  to  the  commander-in- 
chief,  whose  friendship  and  confidence  he  enjoyed  till  the  day  of 
Washington's  death. 

At  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  in  September,  1777,  the  Seventh 
Virginia  was  almost  cut  to  pieces.  In  this  fight  the  command  of 
the  regiment  had  devolved  upon  Cropper ;  the  action  was  long 
and  bloody,  and  when  the  American  army  was  ordered  to  retreat 


*  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  275. 


MEMOIR   OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  279 

Cropper's  regiment  could  not  muster  over  two  hundred -men, 
and  these  were  so  worn  out  and  exhausted  as  to  be  scarcely  able 
to  withdraw  from  the  field,  Cropper  himself  being  wounded  in 
the  thigh  by  a  bayonet  thrust. 

They  took  shelter  in  a  piece  of  woods  near  by,  which  had  been 
newly  cut  down,  and  shortly  before  daybreak  Cropper  marched 
them  off  the  field. 

The  ensign  had  been  killed  in  the  fight  and  the  colors  cap- 
tured. Cropper  drew  a  ramrod  from  a  musket,  and  tied  his  red 
bandana  handkerchief  to  the  end  and  hoisted  it  for  a  flag.5  They 
marched  to  Chester,  and  on  Chester  bridge  met  Generals  Wash- 
ington and  Woodford.  Woodford  recognizing  Cropper,  alighted 
from  his  horse,  and  pressing  him  to  his  bosom  said  "  the  boy  we 
thought  lost  is  found,"  and  Washington  publicly  commended 
him  for  his  gallantry.  Cropper  served  in  nearly  all  the  leading 
engagements  in  the  north,  and  was  with  the  Virginia  troops  during 
the  long  and  bleak  winter  at  Valley  Forge.  In  April,  1778,  he 
was  ordered  by  La  Fayette  to  command  the  Eleventh  Virginia 
regiment,  Woodford' s  Brigade,  Lafayette's  Division;  the  origi- 
nal autograph  of  this  order  is  now  in  the  possession  of  John  S, 
Wise,  a  descendant  of  Colonel  Cropper.  This  was  Daniel 
Morgan's  regiment  of  riflemen,  Morgan  himself  being  absent 
at  the  time.  The  roll  of  officers  at  White  Plains  in  September, 
1778,  gives  Morgan  as  Colonel;  Cropper,  Lieutenant-Colone^ 
and  Thomas  Posey,  Major. 

Among  the  captains  was  John  Marshall,  afterwards  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States. 

This  regiment  was  composed  in  part  of  the  Culpeper  Minute 
Men,  troops  from  other  portions  of  Virginia,  and  subsequently 
from  other  States. 

The  Culpeper  Minute  Men  had  been  early  organized  after  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1775.  As  they  marched  from  their 
home  to  Williamsburg  they  are  said  to  have  terrified  the  coun- 
try people  as  they  passed  along,  by  their  warlike  appearance. 
They  were  clad  in  green  hunting  shirts  with  the  words  ''  Liberty 
or  Death"  in  large  white  letters  across  the  breast,  and  in  their 
hats  wore  buck-tails,  while  tomahawks  and  scalping-knives  were 


5  Custis's  Recollections  of  Washington,  p.  170. 


280  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

stuck  in  their  belts.  Their  flag  was  not  less  unusual  in  appear- 
ance than  their  uniforms,  it  being  designed  with  a  rattlesnake  in 
the  centre,  the  head  of  which  was  to  represent  Virginia,  and 
twelve  rattles  the  other  Colonies,  and  over  this  was  inscribed  : 
"  Don't  tread  on  me."  Among  their  officers  who  marched  with 
the  corps  as  they  left  home  were  General  Edward  Stevens  and 
Lieutenant  John  Marshall,  afterwards  the  Chief  Justice.  John 
Randolph,  "of  Roanoke,"  said  of  them  in  the  United  States 
Senate:  "They  were  raised  in  a  minute,  armed  in  a  minute, 
fought  in  a  minute,  and  vanquished  in  a  minute." 

Daniel  Morgan,  the  colonel  of  the  Eleventh  Virginia  regiment 
of  riflemen,  was  over  six  feet  in  height,  a  man  of  unusually 
handsome  and  commanding  presence,  and  of  remarkable 
strength  and  endurance.  A  native  of  New  Jersey,  he  had  in 
his  eighteenth  year  removed  to  Charlestown,  Jefferson  county, 
Virginia,  and  his  military  career  was  begun  as  a  teamster  under 
Braddock.  One  of  the  stories  we  have  of  his  early  career  was  a 
punishment  inflicted  upon  him  of  five  hundred  lashes  for  knock- 
ing down  a  British  lieutenant,  who  had  struck  him  with  the  flat 
of  his  sword.  He  was  made  an  ensign  by  Governor  Dinwiddie, 
and  figured  in  perilous  encounters  with  the  Indians.  Later,  in 
1762,  he  received  a  grant  of  land  near  Winchester,  where  he 
made  his  home,  calling  it  "Soldier's  Rest,"  and  thenceforth 
devoting  his  time  to  farming  and  stock-raising.  In  1775,  when 
Congress  called  for  ten  companies  of  riflemen,  Morgan  was  chosen 
captain  of  a  Virginia  company,  and  in  the  summer  of  that  year 
took  part  in  Arnold's  march  through  the  wilderness  of  Maine 
against  Quebec. 

On  the  night  of  December  3ist,  1775,  the  troops  made  a  des- 
perate assault  upon  the  fortress,  in  which  Montgomery  met  his 
death,  and  Arnold  was  severely  wounded  in  the  leg. 

Arnold  was  one  of  the  bravest  of  the  brave.  Some  time  after 
his  desertion  from  the  American  army  an  armistice  was  signed, 
and  in  company  with  several  British  officers  he  was  met  by  some 
American  officers,  who  had  advanced  between  the  two  camps. 
Arnold  perceiving  that  his  former  friends  were  displeased  at  his 
presence,  remarked  that  he  was  surprised  at  this,  for  though  he 
was  then  fighting  against  them  he  had  lost  a  leg  in  the  American 
service.  Upon  this,  one  of  the  Americans  replied:  "  We  remem- 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  281 

her  it  quite  well,  and  if  ever  you  fall  into  our  hands  your  wooden 
leg  shall  be  deposited  in  the  Capital  to  remind  our  descendants 
of  the  heroic  courage  you  displayed  when  righting  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  your  country,  after  which  we  shall  hang  the  remain- 
der of  you  on  a  gallows  as  a  warning  to  traitors."  {Memoirs  of 
the  Baron  de  Mar  hot,  Vol.  II,  p.  436). 

Morgan,  who  had  stormed  the  battery  opposite  him,  fought 
his  way  into  the  city,  where  he  was  surrounded  and  taken  pris- 
oner. The  following  summer  Carleton  released  him  on  parole, 
and  he  returned  to  Virginia.  Congress,  at  Washington's 
request,  made  him  a  colonel,  and  early  in  1777,  having  been 
exchanged  in  due  form,  he  recruited  a  regiment  of  riflemen  and 
joined  Washington  at  Morristown.  In  the  campaign  against 
Howe  his  services  in  reconnoitering  were  of  great  value,  and 
later,  under  Gates  at  Stillwater  and  Bemis  Heights  his  picked  rifle- 
men bore  a  conspicuous  part.  After  the  surrender  at  Saratoga, 
Burgoyne,  who  was  introduced  to  Morgan,  said  to  him:  "Sir, 
you  command  the  finest  regiment  in  the  world."  In  November 
of  this  year,  Morgan  rejoined  Washington  at  Whitemarsh,  near 
Philadelphia.  To  give  his  career  is  almost  to  write  the  history 
of  the  war,  for  he  figured  gallantly  in  nearly  every  great  fight  in 
the  Northern  and  Southern  campaigns,  and  when,  after  the  Revo- 
lution, blanks  were  sent  out  to  the  surviving  officers  with  the 
request  that  they  fill  them  up  in  order  to  ascertain  the  time  and 
places  of  their  service,  Morgan  wrote  on  his  blank  simply  : 
"Fought  everywhere;  surrendered  nowhere." 

Thomas  Posey,  the  major  of  the  Eleventh,  was  a  gallant  Vir- 
ginian, and  the  fit  associate  of  Morgan  and  Cropper  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  regiment.  He  had  served  in  Andrew  Lewis' 
division  of  Dunmore's  army,  and  taken  part  in  the  fight  at  Point 
Pleasant.  He  had  entered  the  Revolution  as  captain  in  the 
Seventh  Virginia  Continental  line,  and  joined  the  army  at  Mid- 
dlebrook  early  in  1777.  He  served  in  various  commands,  and 
after  the  war  became  distinguished  as  an  itinerant  politician, 
being  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  in  Kentucky,  at 
another  a  resident  of  Louisiana,  and  United  States  Senator  from 
that  State  ;  and  again,  at  a  later  period,  a  governor  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Indiana,  finally  ending  his  career  as  an  Indian  agent  in 
Illinois.  The  list  of  captains  contained  the  names  of  Gabriel 


282  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Long,   Peter  B.   Bruin,   Charles   Porterfield,  William  Johnston, 
John  Marshall  and  Jesse  Davis. 

The  captain-lieutenant  was  Philip  Slaughter,  who  also  ren- 
dered efficient  service  as  paymaster  and  clothier,  though 
from  all  accounts  his  duties  in  the  latter  position  were  not 
onerous. 

Some  amusing  stories  are  told  of  Slaughter,  and  among  others, 
it  is  related6  that  from  his  spirit  of  generosity  he  had,  like  a 
number  of  other  officers,  given  all  of  his  spare  clothes  to  the  pri- 
vates, who  were  half-clad  and  miserable,  so  that  while  in  Valley 
Forge  camp  he  was  reduced  to  one  shirt  only.  While  this  one 
was  in  wash  he  would  go  wrapped  in  his  blanket  like  an  Indian 
brave;  but  determining  to  make  the  best  use  of  this  single  gar- 
ment he  cut  out  a  piece  of  the  bosom,  with  which  he  made  a  col- 
lar and  cuffs,  so  that  when  on  parade  he  was  able  to  present  a 
dapper  appearance.  During  this  dreary  winter  the  army  dragged 
out  a  miserable  existence,  being  wretchedly  clad  and  fed.  The 
Virginia  troops  were  camped  on  a  hill,  almost  opposite  Washing- 
ton's headquarters,  back  from  the  river.  General  Washington 
would  invite  the  officers,  by  turns,  to  dine  with  him,  from  which 
many  of  them  were  deterred  from  not  being  presentably  clad. 
Slaughter  never  failed  to  be  present  when  opportunity  offered, 
his  collars  and  cuffs  being  en  regie,  and  declared  that  his  regi- 
ment might  have  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  they  were  repre- 
sented. The  drooping  spirits  of  the  weary  soldiers  must  have 
been  greatly  revived  when  the  spring  came  again,  and  when,  in 
May,  the  news  of  the  alliance  with  France  was  promulgated  in 
camp. 

The  troops  were  drawn  up  in  line,  and  the  men  placed  in 
specified  positions,  to  fire  a  salute  with  muskets  and  cannon. 
They  fired  from  right  to  left,  huzzaing  "  Long  live  the  King  of 
France."  Then  from  left  to  right,  and  "  Three  cheers  for  the 
Dauphin."  Then  another  three  cheers  for  the  "Independence 
of  the  American  Colonies,"  and  then  it  was  ordered  that  full 
rations  of  rum  be  furnished  the  men,  and  they  drink  the  health 
of  the  King  of  France,  to  which  they  added,  "  and  to  our  com- 
manding General." 


1  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Virginia,  p.  238. 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL   JOHN    CROPPER.  283 

During  this  period  Cropper's  name  often  appears  as  officer  of 
the  day,  and  upon  one  occasion  we  find  him  the  president  of  a 
court-martial  held  to  try  a  Virginia  officer  for  gaming.  Wash- 
ington at  times  issued  orders  forbidding  gambling  in  camp,  and 
yet  one  of  these  he  closed  singularly  with  a  mention  of  the  fact 
that  a  few  tickets  in  the  Continental  Lottery  were  still  for  sale, 
and  could  be  obtained  upon  application  at  headquarters. 

At  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  Morgan  was  not  present,  and 
Cropper,  as  lieutenant-colonel,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Eleventh, 
and  his  men  fought  throughout  that  hot  and  sultry  June  day, 
when  the  American  troops  suffered  so  for  water  that  many  died 
from  thirst,  and  when  Washington,  losing  his  temper,  swore, 
according  to  a  gallant  officer,  "  like  an  angel "  at  General 
Charles  Lee. 

On  the  morning  after  the  retreat  of  the  British,  the  Virginia 
riflemen  followed  on  the  trail  of  the  enemy,  making  a  number  of 
captures,  and  among  other  things  the  coach  of  a  general  officer.7 

In  the  fall  of  1778,  having  been  absent  from  home  several 
years,  and  being  anxious  to  see  his  wife,  as  well  as  look  after  his 
private  interests,  Cropper  applied  for  and  received  a  furlough  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety  days  for  that  purpose. 

On  his  return  to  Accomack,  he  saw  for  the  first  time  his  infant 
daughter,  Sarah  Corbin,  who  had  been  born  several  months  after 
his  departure  for  the  north,  and  who  was  more  than  eighteen 
months  old  when  he  first  beheld  her.  He  was  not,  however, 
destined,  as  subsequent  events  showed,  to  gain  a  rest  from  his 
duties  as  a  soldier,  by  his  return  to  "Bowman's  Folly."  The 
counties  of  Accomack  and  Northampton  were  peculiarly  ex- 
posed throughout  the  Revolution  to  the  ravages  of  the  enemy, 
with  whom  there  were  a  large  number  of  tories  in  sympathy. 
The  Eastern  Shore  is  intersected  on  the  Chesapeake  and  the 
Atlantic  side  by  navigable  creeks,  which  are  in  reality  mere  arms 
of  the  sea.  By  way  of  these  the  British  could  sail  up,  to  the 
very  door  of  the  farmer  in  many  instances,  and  the  militia  in 
consequence  were  called  upon  frequently  to  protect  the  people 
from  the  enemy,  who  ruthlessly  burnt  their  houses,  after  robbing 
them  of  their  contents,  taking  away  the  live  stock,  and  in 
addition  carrying  off  the  negro  slaves  of  the  planters,  and 

1  Recollections  of  G.  W.  P.  Custis,  p.  226. 


284  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

endeavoring  to  incite  them  to  insurrection.  Cropper's  diary  for 
the  y£ar  1779  is  in  the  possession  of  the  writer,  and  the  entries 
contained  in  it  exhibit  the  exposed  condition  of  the  Accomack 
people  and  the  numerous  conflicts  they  had  with  the  enemy. 
However,  despite  the  trying  ordeals  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected, he  and  his  wife  appear  to  have  dined  out  frequently,  and 
enjoyed  social  intercourse  with  their  neighbors.  The  following 
items  are  copied  as  they  appear  in  the  original: 

January  isi,  1779 — "  Pretty  day.  Wm.  Pettit  and  myself 
divided  our  negroes."  (This  Pettit  was  his  wife's  brother.) 

2d — "  Peggy  and  I  went  from  Mr.  Wilkin's  to  Accomac  Court- 
house. I  bought  old  Jacob,  and  hired  three  of  my  brother 
Tom's  negro's." 

6th—"  Tory  Tom  Parker  had  his  trial,  and  was  sentenced  to  go 
over  to  Gen'l  Court  for  further  trial." 

i5th—  "  Nihil." 

Sunday,  ijth — "  Deep  snow  on  the  earth.  I  went  down  the 
Creek  to  see  in  what  situation  Major  Simpson's  boat  lay  in  the 
marsh. 

A  British  Cruiser  that  came  within  the  inlet  last  ev'ning  for  a 
harbor,  sent  her  boat  up  to  Folly  landing  this  ev'ning  to  cut  out 
and  destroy  what  vessels  they  cou'd, — but  she  failed  in  her 
attempt." 

2ist — "  I  wrote  a  cover  to  Mr.  Lyon,  enclosing  a  letter  each  to 
Col.  Morgan,  Capt.  Slaughter,  and  Lieut.  Barnes  at  Camp;  dated 
November  (I  think)." 

2$d — "Went  to  Court-house — Col.  Simpson,  ibi,  and  prom- 
ised me  some  muskets  for  my  defence." 

On  February  the  i2th,  1779,  we  find  the  following  :  "  R —  A. 
M.  F  P.  M.  A  motley  crew  of  pirates,  in  the  service  of  Britain, 
belonging  to  the  Thistle  Tender,  a  Bermudian  built  sloop  com- 
manded by  an  infamous  tar,  Capt.  Thomas  Byron  Williams, 
(the  surgeons  name  Gramble)  came  up  and  beset  my  house,  and 
then  plundered,  pillaged  and  broke  to  pieces  my  property,  as 
well  as  insult  and  savagely  threaten  my  wife." 

Upon  this  occasion  Cropper  had  quite  a  perilous  adventure 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL   JOHN    CROPPER.  285 

with  the  enemy.  The  account  given  by  him  here  is  but  a  brief 
mention  of  what  in  reality  took  place.  It  seems  that  the  British 
belonging  to  the  Thistle  Tender  had  entered  into  an  agreement 
with  a  tory  named  Dunton  to  pilot  them  to  "  Bowman's  Folly." 
In  the  dead  of  night  they  rowed  up  Folly  creek  with  muffled 
oars  to  "within  a  short  distance  of  the  house,  and  before  Cropper 
was  aware  of  what  was  taking  place  they  had  completely  sur- 
rounded his  house,  and  rushing  in  the  hallway  knocked  upon 
his  chamber  door.  Before  he  could  scarcely  put  on  his  under- 
clothes they  broke  in  and  seized  him,  and  pulled  the  cover  off 
the  bed,  where  his  wife  and  infant  daughter  were  lying.  They 
immediately  proceeded  to  destroy  the  furniture  and  pocket  the 
family  jewels  and  whatever  valuables  they  could  put  their  hands 
on,  and  getting  into  the  wine  cellar  they  began  to  drink  freely  of 
the  wines  and  liquor  contained  in  it,  so  that  in  a  short  while  a 
number  of  them  were  uproarious.  Cropper  himself  meanwhile 
was  in  a  room,  the  doorway  of  which  was  guarded  by  two  men 
with  muskets  in  their  hands.  Stealthily  raising  the  latch,  he 
leaped  over  the  heads  of  the  men,  who  were  partially  stupefied 
with  drink,  and  before  they  were  aware  of  what  he  was  attempt- 
ing, he  had  gotten  away  in  the  darkness.  He  ran  two  miles  in 
his  underclothes  to  the  house  of  a  neighbor,  who  was  a  soldier 
of  the  war,  whom  he  persuaded  to  arm  and  come  with  him. 
They  loaded  three  old  Tower  muskets  and  made  their  way  as 
rapidly  as  they  could  to  Cropper's  house.  When  in  sight  of 
the  dwelling  Cropper's  friend  became  alarmed  at  the  noise  and 
sight  of  so  many  lights,  and  dropping  his  gun  took  to  his  heels. 
Cropper  picked  up  this  gun,  and  with  the  two  stole  up  to 
the  house,  and  firing  them  off  in  quick  succession,  cried  out  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Come  on,  boys,  we  have  got  them  now." 
This  ruse  proved  successful,  for  it  surprised  the  British  so  they 
fled  as  rapidly  as  they  could  to  their  boats  near  by,  and  rowed 
out  of  the  creek. 

Cropper  got  back  just  in  time,  for  at  the  moment  he  had 
appeared  in  sight  of  the  house  his  wife  with  her  infant  daughter, 
Sarah  Corbin,  had  been  removed  to  an  out-house,  and  a  train  of 
powder  was  being  laid  to  blow  up  the  main  dwelling.  Thus  he 
was  able  to  save  the  house,  but  the  enemy  had  broken  up  his 
furniture  and  crockery,  besides  defacing  the  house  in  various 


286  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

ways,  and  had  bound  and  carried  to  their  boats  about  thirty  of 
his  slaves.  As  a  matter  of  course  the  affair  of  this  night  greatly 
upset  his  wife,  and  intensified  his  hatred  of  the  British. 

February  isth,  he  writes  :  "  A  number  of  the  militia  came  to 
my  house." 

A  few  days  later  his  diary  mentions  that  Peggy  and  himself 
had  removed  to  "  Latin  House."  This  was  a  place  owned  by 
Colonel  Cropper,  much  nearer  the  court-house,  and  to  which 
he  probably  went  for  greater  safety,  fearing  at  "  Bowman's  Folly  " 
another  such  attack  as  that  on  the  night  of  the  I2th. 

Tuesday,  February  2jd— "  Went  to  Court.  Caned  Wm  Dun- 
ton  and  John  Kellam." 

Wednesday,  24th — "  Plan'd  an  expedition  to  Cedar  Island  to 
intercept  Capt.  Thos.  Byron  Williams  sloop  Tender,  and  a  small 
schooner  of  which  R.  Morris  was  Lieutenant." 

The  next  entry  is  Friday,  the  26th,  when  he  says:  "  About  8 
o'clock  I  landed  a  brass  four  pound  gun  on  the  N.  end  of  the 
island,  and  proceeded  with  all  possible  expedition  to  the  S.  end; 
when  I  came  there,  after  reconnoitering  the  point,  and  finding  it 
to  deceive  my  expectations  in  ev'ry  respect,  a  gust  of  rain  com- 
ing up,  my  small  company  of  militia,  (at  first  but  35)  continually 
deserting ;  want  of  provision,  water,  and  excessive  fatigue, 
having  worn  out  the  rest,  I  determined  to  withdraw  the  gun  as 
far  as  possible,  which  was  about  one  mile,  left  her  there  under 
the  care  of  Major  Simpson,  and  went  off  to  the  main  almost 
dead  wt.  fatigue." 

Saturday,  February  2jth — "  I  am  almost  dead  with  fatigue. 
At  ten  o'clock  P.  M.,  Col  Parker  came  to  the  Latin  House,  and 
informed  that  Col.  Corbin  had  landed  a  four  pound  iron  gun  on 
Parramore's  Beach,  and  was  endeavoring  to  prevent  the  going 
out  of  the  tenders. 

"I  collected  my  neighbors  and  went  on  to  Cedar  Island  with 
a  four  pound  iron  gun." 

Sunday,  28th — "3  o'clock  the  tenders  made  sail  and  engaged 
the  fort  on  the  beach,  and  passed  out  after  an  obstinate  struggle, 
one  of  them  having  her  hull  and  rigging  torn  to  pieces." 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  287 

He  had  been  successful  in  being  revenged  on  his  enemies,  for 
the  privateer  after  passing  out  of  the  inlet,  though  her  pumps 
were  constantly  going,  was  yet  in  a  sinking  condition,  and  the 
Accomackians  as  they  stood  on  the  shore,  saw  her  sink  with  all 
hands  on  board. 

Saturday,  March  ijth—"  I  set  off  to  go  to  muster,  but  played 
billiards  all  day  with  Messrs.  Isaac  and  Thorowday  Smith." 

Saturday,  2oth — "  Went  to  Edmund  Custis's  at  Onancock  to 
go  over  the  bay." 

Sunday,  2ist — "  Edmund  Custis  and  I  crossed  the  bay,  and 
lodged  at  Isaac  Lanes'  on  Piankatank." 

Monday,  22d — "  Rainy,  dirty  forenoon.  We  sailed  from  Pian- 
katank, and  lay  in  the  bay  all  night." 

Tuesday,  2$d — "  Landed  at  York,  dined  at  Mrs.  Gibbons,  and 
supped  in  company  with  Mr.  Henry." 

Wednesday,  2^th — "Mr.  Custis  and  I  went  to  Wmsburg. 
Very  cold  day.  Lodged  @  ye  Raleigh." 

Friday,  26th — "  I  got  a  warrant  from  the  Treasury  for  money 
due  me  from  the  State." 

•Saturday,  2jth — "  Mr.  Custis  and  I  rode  from  Wmsburg  to 
York  in  a  chariot  of  his  upon  our  way  home.  Embarked  about 
8  o'clock  P.  M.  on  board  Wm.  Walkers  boat,  in  company  with 
himself,  &  Mr.  Ker,  for  the  E.  S." 

Sunday,  28th — "  Clear  and  pretty  breeze.  We  landed  at  Pun- 
goteague,  and  dined  at  Mr.  Tho'd.  Smith  in  camp  with  several 
ladies,  and  gentlemen.  I  went  home  to  '  Latin  House.'  ' 

On  March  2Oth,  while  in  Accomack,  Colonel  Cropper's  com- 
mission as  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Seventh  Virginia  regiment, 
Continental  line,  to  take  rank  from  October  27,  1779,  was  signed 
by  John  Jay,  president  of  Congress. 

Saturday,  24th  April— -he  writes,  "  Peggy  and  I  returned  to 
Bowman's  Folly  to  live,  the  gaily  diligence  Captain  Watson  hav- 
ing arrived  in  Metompkin  for  the  place's  protection." 


288  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

On  the  same  date,  24th  of  April,  1779,  Gen.  Woodford  wrote8 
to  Col.  Cropper  from  Middle  Brook  : 

"DEAR  COLONEL: 

Yours  of  the  ist  of  March  was  only  delivered  me  a  few  days  ago. 
I  am  truly  sorry  for  your  Loss  and  could  wish  you  had  muster'd  a  few  of 
your  neighbors  in  time  to  attack  those  plunderers — if  a  single  muster 
could  effect  so  much,  what  might  not  been  expected  from  a  dozen  hearty 
fellows— I  immediately  waited  upon  his  Excellency,  who  was  touched 
with  your  misfortune,  and  desired  that  I  would  write  you  that  had  per- 
mission to  be  absent  till  the  first  of  June,  but  hopes  you  will  then 
returned  prepared  to  resume  your  office  in  the  army  ;  let  me  add  my 
wishes  that  this  may  be  the  case.  You  know  our  Line  is  considerably 
thin'd  of  some  of  its  best  Field  officers — and  I  mean  not  to  flatter  when 
I  say  your  loss  will  be  materially  felt — even  should  your  affairs  require 
a  months  longer  absence.  I  have  no  doubt  upon  your  writing,  our  good 
Genl.  would  still  prolong  you  indulgence. 
*  *  *  *  *  ********* 

With  my  compliments  to  Mrs.  Cropper,  believe  me  to  be  with  much 

esteem, 

Dr.  Sir,  Your  most  obedient  humble  Servant, 

WM.  WOODFORD." 
Lieut.  Col.  John  Cropper,  Accomack  County,  &  etc. 

DIARY  CONTINUED — May  3rd — "Yesterday  a  schooner  with 
90  Hds.  of  rum,  Capt.  Mosely  arrived  here  from  St.  Ustatia — 
To-day  another  schooner  boat  with  40  hds.  of  rum,  Capt.  Dil- 
lingham,  arrived  from  the  same  place.  Sunday,  May  gth,  he  was 
at  Bellhaven  in  the  lower  part  of  the  County,  &  Wrote  '  Very 
heavy  cannonade  this  morning  towards  York.'  ' 

Saturday,  i$th — "  Capt.  Kendall  and  brother  and  Col.  Corbin 
met  me  at  Court-house  about  the  deserters  of  9th  Virg.  Regt., 
and  went  home  with  me." 

Tuesday,  2^th — "  Court.  Alarm  of  a  Tender  coming  into 
Onancock." 

Monday,  31  st — "Rainy  day.  I  went  to  Smith  Melson's,  and 
purchased  of  him  1,000  Ibs.  of  tobacco  at  12^." 

Thursday ,  June srd — "Peggy  and  I  dined  on  board  the  dili- 
gence galley.' ' 

8  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  317. 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL   JOHN    CROPPER.  289 

Most  of  the  entries  throughout  this  month  are  concerning 
visits  to  his  neighbors,  or  of  them  to  him,  a  very  constant 
social  intercourse  appearing  to  have  been  kept  up. 

Monday,  i^th — "  Sent  Jno.  Abot  again  to  Mr.  Ker's  to  borrow 
money.  I  dined  on  board  the  diligence  galley.  Maj'r  Custis 
had  a  cock  fight  at  Folly  landing." 

Wednesday,  joth — "  Borrowed  pr.  my  overseer  1,000  pounds 
of  Mr.  Edw'd  Ker,  in  loan  office  certificates." 

Sunday,  qth  July — "  Anniversary  of  Independency.  An  eli- 
gant  ball  at  the  courthouse  to-morrow  evening." 

Monday,  $th — "An  eligant  ball  and  entertainment  at  court- 
house." 

Soon  after  this  date  Colonel  Cropper's  furlough  was  to  expire, 
and  we  find  him  making  his  way  on  horseback  to  army  head- 
quarters in  the  north,  and  sending  in  his  resignation  to  John 
Jay,  president  of  Congress,  at  Philadelphia. 

Friday,  i6th — He  writes:  "Peggy  and  I  set  off  for  camp. 
Went  to  Mr.  Abbot's." 

There  is  no  mention  of  his  wife  after  this,  and  it  is  probable 
she  only  drove  with  him  as  far  as  Mr.  Abbot's,  at  whose  house 
she  probably  remained  after  taking  leave  of  him,  she  having 
resided  there  before  her  marriage.  The  diary  continues  : 

Saturday,  ijth — "I  went  to  Horn  Town.  Stayed  a.  n.  wt. 
Uncle  Corbin.  Wm.  and  Polly  Broadwater  stayed  z#z." 

Sunday,  i8th—"  I  lodged  at  Branten's,  22  miles  above  Snow- 
hill." 

Monday,  iqth — "  Lodged  at  Evan's,  8  miles  beyond  Glower's." 

Tuesday,  2oth — "  Breakfasted  at  Mrs.  Peterkin's,  dined  at 
Dover,  and  lodged  at  Cross-roads." 

Wednesday,  2ist — "  Breakfasted  at  Cantwell's  Bridge,  dined  at 
Red  Lyon,  and  lodged  at  Wilmington  wt.  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph, 
delegate  from  Virginia  to  Congress,  together  with  several  offi- 
cers of  horse." 

Thursday,  22d — "  Mr.  Randolph  and  myself  breakfasted  at 
Chester,  and  dined  in  Philada.  I  took  my  lodging  at  Mrs. 
Swords,  in  Lodge  alley." 

Friday,  2$d — "The  gentlemen  of  my  lodgings  are  Doct'r 
Shields,  a  gentleman  just  from  Ireland  with  a  large  quantity  o 


290  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

goods  ;  Mr.  Curson,  a  St.  Eustatia  merchant,  and  a  Monsieur 
De  Luce,  a  French  gentleman." 

Wednesday,  28th — "  I  set  off  for  camp — lodged  at  Vande- 
grift's,  Shammeny  Ferry." 

Thursday,  zyth — "Breakfasted  at  Trenton,  dined  at  Trenton, 
and  lodged  at  Skilmans,  beyond  Rocky  Hill." 

Friday,  joth — ' '  Passed  the  village  of  Sommerset.  Dined  at 

,  at  Col.  McDaniels,  with  Doctr's  Smith,  Jenipher  and 

Tennant." 

Saturday,  31  st — "Got  into  Morris  Town  about  n  o'clock; 
stay'd  a.  d.  to  rest  my  horse;  dined  with  Mrs.  Kernper,  and 
lodg'd  at  Mrs.  Morris's." 

Sunday,  August  ist,  1779 — "  I  set  off  from  Morris  Town  for 
camp." 

Monday,  2d — "Arrived  at  the  Virginia  camp,  a  place  called 
Suffering's.  The  troops  are  healthy  and  in  high  spirits,  and  are 
commanded  by  Lord  Stirling.  Drank  tea  wt.  Gen.  Woodford." 

Tuesday,  ^d — "  Nothing.  Only  I  dined  wt.  Major  Porter- 
field  upon  fish  at  Gen.  Woodford's  qrs." 

Wednesday,  4th — "  Dined  with  Lord  Stirling.  Doc't  McHenry, 
his  Excellency's  Secy,  there." 

Thursday, 5 — "  Good  day.     I  dined  with  General  Woodford." 

Friday,  6th — "  Capt.  Shepherd  and  myself  set  off  for  H'd 
Quarters.  Had  a  most  fatiguing  journey  over  the  mountains 
and  rocks  to  New  Windsor,  and  a  tedious  rainy  passage  down 
the  river  to  the  Light  Infantry.  We  passed  H'd  Quarters  and 
West  Point,  and  arrived  at  the  Light  Infantry  about  one  o'clock. 
We  lodged  with  Ensign  Linot  in  a  thin  tent  that  let  through  the 
rain  and  made  it  very  uncomfortable." 

Saturday,  *jth — "Capt.  Shepherd  and  myself  dined  at  H'd 
Quarters  and  lodged  at  N.  Windsor,  in  company  wt.  Capt. 
Ebenezer  Finly." 

Sunday,  8th — "  I  set  off  for  camp,  and  fell  in  wt.  Major 
Forsyth  and  a  Virginia  gentleman  two  miles  below  N.  Windsor, 
on  their  way  to  join  Major  Lee  at  Paramus." 

Monday,  qth — "Stay'd  all  day  wt.  Lord  Stirling's  division. 
Din'd  with  Gen'l  Woodford." 

Tuesday,  loth — ' '  I   set  off  for  Philadelphia — lodged   at   Mr. 


MEMOIR   OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  291 

VanCortlands  at penny,  four  miles  from  Morristown.  Was 

very  agreeably  entertained  in  company  with  Governor  Living- 
ston's son." 

Wednesday,  nth — "Went  to  Morristown.  Stayed  all  day 
(being  kept  by  the  rain),  and  dined  at  Mr.  Kemper's." 

Thursday,  i2th — "  Resumed  my  journey,  dined  at  Emmens,  a 
dutch  house,  and  lodged  at  Larbeteaux." 

Friday,  ijth — "Got  into  Philadelphia  about  dark — a  most 
fatiguing  journey.  Supped  at  my  lodgings,  Mrs.  Sword's." 

Sunday,  i$th — "  Captain  Nicholson  and  myself  went  to  sermon 
at  Christ  Church  to  hear  the  Rev.  Parson  White." 

There  is  no  further  entry  in  his  diary  until  the  Saturday  follow- 
ing, but  the  letter  here  presented  addressed  by  him  on  the  i6th  to 
John  Jay,  Esq.,  president  of  Congress,  will  explain  his  purpose 
in  tarrying  in  Philadelphia: 

PHILADELPHIA,  August  i6th,  7779. 
"SiR: 

Necessity  obliges  me  to  interrupt  the  precious  time  of  your  Excel- 
lency and  Congress  on  the  following  subject.  Early  in  the  present  con- 
troversy, I  had  the  honor  to  be  appointed  a  Captain  in  the  Virginia  line 
of  the  Continental  Army,  and  have  served  until  I  have  attained  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  but  my  affairs  at  home  together  with  the  present 
establishment  of  the  army  absolutely  demand  that  I  should  quit  that 
service,  in  which  I  have  spent  the  most  happy  and  honorable  part  of 
my  life ;  therefore,  I  humbly  and  earnestly  request  permission  to  resign 
my  commission  and  assign  the  following  reasons: 

First.  That  I  have  a  young  and  increasing  family,  whose  situation  and 
circumstances  require  my  presence  at  home,  to  improve  the  remaining 
part  of  my  patrimony  for  their  maintenance. 

Second.  That  my  pay  is  not  one-tenth  part  adequate  to  the  necessary 
expenses,  in  supporting  the  dignity  of  my  commission. 

Third.  The  high  taxes  in  Virginia  which  fall  very  heavy  on  me,  being 
obliged  to  pay  for  the  present  year,  four  hundred  pounds  or  upwards, 
for  over  cultivated  lands,  that  do  not  yield  me  one  single  sixpence 
profit  per  annum  ;  nor  does  profit  arise  from  any  part  of  my  property 
in  my  absence. 

Fourth.  That  a  New  York  Privateer  in  Feb.  last,  at  night  landed  her 
crew  at  my  plantation  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,  destroyed  and 
carried  off  great  part  of  my  property. 

Fifth.  That  my  Regiment  (the  seventh  Virginia)  is  nightly  reduced  to 
a  Captain's  command,  by  expiration  of  enlistments,  deaths,  etc.,  and 


292  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

that  for  the  good  of  the  service,  it  will  probably  soon  be  incorporated 
with  some  other  regiments,  when  great  part  of  its  officers  become 
supernumerary  of  course. 

I  hope  your  Excellency  and  Congress  will  pardon  this  intrusion  ;  and 
believe  me  to  be  with  all  possible  admiration,  respect,  and  esteem, 
Your  Excellency's 

Mo.  Obedient 

Humb.  Servant, 

JNO.  CROPPER,  Jnr:" 

"The  New  York  Privateer,"  referred  to  above,  is  evidently 
the  Thistle  Tender,  whose  crew  attacked  him  the  night  of  Feb- 
ruary i2th,  and  which  he  then  described  as  a  "  Bermudian  built 
sloop,"  and  "  in  the  service  of  Britain." 

Having  finished  his  business  in  Philadelphia,  he  prepared  to 
set  off  Southwards,  for  on  Saturday,  2ist,  his  diary  tells  us  :  "I 
set  off  for  Virginia;  lodged  at  Chester."  The  return  trip  was 
over  practically  the  same  route  as  the  outward  one — viz.,  by  way 
of  Red  Lyon,  Cantwell's  Bridge,  Dover,  Mamma  Peterkins, 
Snowhill,  and  Horntown. 

Tuesday,  2^th — He  complains  of  his  "horse  being  terribly 
galled  with  the  breast-plate  of  the  harness,"  and  says  he  left  his 
at  Brawten's,  above  Snowhill,  Colonel  John  Dennis  being  good 
enough  to  lend  him  one  of  his  own. 

Thursday,  26th — "Breakfasted  at  Horn  Town,  arrived  at 
Geo.  Abbots  about  4  o'clock." 

This  was  the  house  he  had  first  stopped  at  on  his  outward 
journey  on  July  i6th,  and  where  he  was  probably  greeted  by  his 
wife  on  his  return,  though  he  does  not  mention  the  latter  circum- 
stance. 

Friday,  2jth — He  states:  "Peggy  and  I  went  to  Bowman's 
Folly — lodged  at  Latin  House." 

There  is  appended  an  outline  of  his  ride,  with  a  calculation  of 
the  "  Road  and  stages  from  New  Windsor  on  the  West  bank  of 
the  Hudson  river  to  Accomack  Courthouse,  on  the  E.  S.  of  Vir- 
ginia." This  distance  he  calculates,  by  the  route  he  took,  as 
being  334  miles. 

Saturday;  28th  August — "  Nothing,  only  that  I  moved  my 
furniture  from  Latin  House  to  Bowman's  Folly." 


MEMOIR    OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  293 

Friday,  September  loth— "  Tom  Bayley's  and  Oldham's  boats 
came  from  Phila.  Bayley  brought  my  8  Winsor  chairs  and 
Mahogony  salver." 

Saturday,  nth — "  Muster  day  at  Courthouse." 

Thursday,  i6th — "I  amused  myself  during  the  excessive  high 
tides,  (occasioned  by  the  N.  Easter)  shooting  curlews,  willets, 
and  other  birds." 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  September  and  during  October 
there  are  regular  entries,  most  of  them  recording  his  neighbors' 
visits,  or  his  visits  to  the  Courthouse. 

November  2d— "  The  schooner  Capt.  Bowman  got  around  at 
the  mouth  of  Folly  Creek." 

Wednesday,  jd — "  Vendue  at  Levin  Rodger's  estate.  I 
bought  14  pictures  very  dear." 

Thursday,  4th — "There  is  a  cruiser  off  the  inlet,  which  this 
day  attempted  to  cut  out  Capt.  Bowman's  Schooner  but  failed." 

Tuesday,  gth — "The  Schooner  Capt.  Bowman  sailed  for 
France." 

Saturday,  i^th — "  A  race  at  Molly  Beech's  field.  Lady  Legs 
got  beat  by  Taylor's  horse.  I  lost  100  dollars." 

Friday,  igth — "  Race  at  Onancock  between  Capt.  Parramores 
and  Edmund  Custis's  horses." 

Friday,  26th — "  Major  Simpson  came  down  to  his  boat  lying 
in  Folly  Creek,  and  brought  me  147  Ibs  of  iron  at  2  dollars 
pr.  Ib." 

Monday,  2$th — "  Before  day  my  Joshua  run  away." 

Wednesday,  ist  December,  1779 — ' '  I  bought  Bob  attached  by 
the  Sheriff  to  pay  Mr.  Mifflin's  assessment,  a  /ijio." 

Saturday,  nth — "  I  set  off  very  early  from  home  and  got  to 
Duke's  by  one  o'clock.  Rented  Benston's  house  for  ,£180. 
Hired  George  for  193,  Joshua  114,  Comfort  106,  and  Charity  50, 
Virginia  money." 

Friday  251/1 — "  Christmas.  Mr.  Abbott  and  myself  went  to 
Assawaman  Church.  Snowy  day." 

The  diary  concludes  with  the  year  1779,  and  if  he  kept  one 
later  it  has  not  been  preserved. 


294  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

It  appears  probable  from  letters  of  Colonel  Cropper  that  his 
resignation,  submitted  in  August,  1779,  was  never  accepted,  but 
that  he  was  allowed  to  remain  at  home,  in  Accomack,  till  the 
end  of  the  war,  on  indefinite  leave  of  absence,  in  view  of  his  past 
service  in  the  northern  campaigns,  and  his  not  being  drafted  for  the 
Southern  army,  under  General  Green.  In  August,  1 78 1 ,  he  wrote  to 
Governor  Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  his 
appointment  as  county  lieutenant  of  Accomack — a  position  that 
he  filled  with  great  energy  and  ability  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
He  was  in  constant  correspondence  with  Governor  Nelson  and 
Colonel  William  Davies,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  and 
the  Virginia  Commissioner  of  War,  who  is  reputed  to  have  been 
a  man  of  rare  ability,  and  to  have  furnished  invaluable  service  to 
the  State  in  the  supplying  of  provisions  to  and  equipment  of  the 
troops,  and  in  directing  the  finances.  During  this  period  par- 
ticularly the  Eastern  Shore  people  were  exceedingly  harassed  by 
the  enemy.  Colonel  Levin  Joynes  wrote  to  Davies,  September 
10,  1781  :  "  We  have  had  most  alarming  times  this  summer,  all 
along  shore,  from  a  set  of  Barges  manned  mostly  by  our  own 
negroes  who  have  run  off.  These  fellows  were  really  dangerous 
to  an  individual  singled  out  for  their  vengeance  whose  property 
lay  exposed.' '  The  people  of  Accomack  for  their  greater  pro- 
tection organized  a  volunteer  troop  of  horse,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  Thomas  Parramore,  which  Cropper  described 
as  "  composed  of  single  gentlemen,  and  they  are  gentlemen  of 
the  first  fortunes  and  characters  among  us  ;  ever  since  their 
appointment  they  have  been  on  constant  duty,  under  which  they 
have  shewn  a  most  cheerful  obedience  to  the  strictest  discipline, 
and  do,  in  my  opinion,  render  very  essential  service." 

They  were  mounted  and  equipped  at  their  own  expense,  the 
people  receiving  but  scant  aid  from  the  State,  and  the  threatened 
withdrawal  of  the  few  Continental  troops  from  the  Shore  made 
it  necessary  for  the  inhabitants  to  resort  to  every  possible  means 
for  their  preservation. 

Among  the  characters  with  whom  Cropper  had  to  deal  was  the 
Rev.  John  Lyon,  whom  Bishop  Meade9says  was  a  Rhode  Island 
man,  and  the  Rector  of  St.  George's  Parish  in  Accomack  as 
early  as  1774. 

9  Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia,  Vol.  I,  p.  266. 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL  JOHN   CROPPER.  295 

Lyon  was  brought  before  a  court  martial  at  which  Cropper 
presided,  and  Colonel  George  Corbin  (an  uncle  of  Cropper's) 
filled  the  position  of  Judge  Advocate.  He  was  charged  with 
having  furnished  the  enemy  with  provisions,  giving  them  aid  and 
comfort  and  dissuading  the  militia  from  doing  duty  in  defend- 
ing the  State.  Colonel  Corbin  wrote  to  the  State  department 
communicating  the  intelligence  of  Lyon's  case,  transmitting  the 
depositions,  and  asking  for  leniency  towards  him,  which  was 
doubtless  largely  on  account  of  Lyon's  wife,  who  was  of  a  promi- 
nent Accomack  family,  in  sympathy  with  the  American  cause. 
Colonel  Cropper,  however,  did  not  seem  to  entertain  similar  senti- 
ments towards  him,  for  on  August  25th,  in  a  letter  to  Colonel 
Davis,10  he  writes:  "  I  have  before  me  your  affectionate  letter  to 
my  uncle  Corbin,  and  thank  you  for  your  favorable  sentiments 
of  me.  It  was  with  the  greatest  reluctance  I  quit  the  army,  but 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  my  family  compelled  me  to  it. 
*  *  *  You'll  see  my  sentiments  in  respect  to  Mr.  Lyon's  case, 
and  notwithstanding  my  uncle's  request  in  his  letter,  was  he  to 
lay  aside  his  excessive  humanity  and  tenderness  of  heart  (of  which 
perhaps  he  has  the  largest  share  of  any  person  living)  he  would 
think  that  a  halter  was  hardly  too  severe  for  the  parson.  On  the 
same  date  he  wrote  to  Governor  Nelson  u  and  continued  as  follows, 
"  As  to  the  case  of  the  Rev.  John  Lyon,  I  beg  leave  to  make  the 
ollowir.g  observations:  There  was  not  so  much  in  testimony 
against  him  as  was  expected,  but  from  character  he  is  certainly  a 
very  bad  man.  He  has  undoubtedly  long  and  constantly  traded  with 
the  enemy — a  vessel  of  his  in  that  trade  was  taken  and  made  prize 
of  by  a  Philadelphia  barge,  and  I  would  risque  whatever  prop- 
erty depends  on  me,  that  it  might  yet  be  proven  that  not  long 
since,  he  himself  delivered  a  cargo  of  oats  and  provision  to  the 
British  Commissary  at  Portsmouth.  The  disaffected  of  his 
neighborhood  (the  best  acquainted  with  his  political  character) 
absolutely  will  not  give  testimony  against  him,  and  the  inoffensive 
Whig,  in  the  character  of  a  peasant,  is  actually  afraid  of  the 
parson's  influence  to  destroy  him.  He  has  married  into  a  good 
family,  thro'  which  the  few  persons  of  good  character  have  signed 

10  State  Papers,  Vol.  II,  p.  358. 

11  State  Papers,  Vol.  II,  pp.  359-60. 


296  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

the  petition  drawn  in  his  favor.  Everybody  is  sorry  for  the  family, 
but  I  believe  his  greatest  advocate  cannot  but  acknowledge  him 
a  man  of  very  bad  private,  as  well  as  publick  character.  I  beg 
leave  to  offer  it  your  Excellency  as  my  sincere  and  unprejudiced 
opinion,  that  the  people  will  not,  with  their  consent,  permit  Mr. 
Lyon  to  remain  in  their  Parish,  and  at  the  same  time  that  they 
wish  no  further  punishment,  than  for  him  never  to  be  seen  in  the 
County,  after  a  reasonable  time  to  settle  his  affairs."  On  the 
3Oth,  of  September,  he  sent  Lyon  with  some  other  prisoners, 
those  who  had  opposed  the  draft,  to  the  Governor,  and  wrote 
Davies.12  "  By  the  vessel  in  which  these  prisoners 

come  I  have  sent  to  the  Commissary-General  a  thousand  gal- 
lons of  Rum,  and  one  tierce  of  Port  wine  for  the  use  of  the  army, 
and  in  a  short  time  they  may  expect  much  more."  At  this  date, 
Colonel  Cropper  appears  to  have  relented  towards  the  parson, 
probably  at  the  solicitation  of  Lyon's  family,  for  he  encloses  a 
petition  signed  by  George  Corbin,  Edmund  Custis,  Levin  Joynes 
and  George  Parker,  all  of  whom  were  men  of  prominence  in  the 
county,  and  adds  himself,  "  since  his  confinement,  he  has  often 
expressed  to  me  his  desire  of  becoming  a  good  citizen,  and  should 
be  indulged  with  any  degree  of  liberty  of  wishing  to  spend  the 
remains  of  his  life  with  people  of  known  attachment  to  the  In- 
dependency of  America." 

Among  the  attacks  of  the  enemy  from  the  barges  was  one  near 
Henry's  Point,  where  they  landed  from  their  boats,  and  were 
met  by  the  militia,  under  Cropper.  During  the  fight  the  militia 
retreated,  leaving  Cropper  and  a  negro  named  George  Latchom, 
who  were  in  advance  of  the  rest,  engaged  actively  with  the 
invaders.  These  two  kept  up  the  firing,  until  the  foe  were 
within  a  few  rods  of  them,  when  they  were  compelled  to  fall 
back.  Cropper  had  to  retreat  through  a  sunken,  boggy  marsh, 
in  which  he  stuck  fast  up  to  the  waist  in  soft  mud,  the  enemy  at 
the  time  being  so  close  as  to  prepare  to  bayonet  him. 

At  this  critical  juncture  the  faithful  colored  man  fired  and  killed 
the  foremost  man,  and  seized  hold  of  Cropper  and  dragged  him 
by  main  strength  out  of  the  mud,  and  taking  him  on  his  back 
carried  him  safely  to  dry  land.  This  required  great  strength 


12  State  Papers,  Vol.  II,  pp.  509-10. 


MEMOIR    OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  297 

upon  his  part,  Cropper  weighing  in  the  neighborhood  of  two 
hundred  pounds.  Latchom  was  at  the  time  a  slave,  and  was 
purchased  and  set  free  by  Colonel  Cropper,  who  befriended  him 
in  every  way  he  could,  as  an  evidence  of  his  gratitude,  till 
Latchom's  death.  In  September  of  this  year  (1781)  Governor 
Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  wrote  to  Cropper  telling  him  of  the  great 
need  in  the  army  of  spirits,  arid  calling  on  him  to  procure  all  he 
could  on  his  side  of  the  bay.  Nelson  wrote  that  the  exhausted 
state  of  the  treasury  would  not  permit  of  the  purchase  of  the 
article,  and  the  only  mode  left  was  the  disagreeable  one  of 
impressing,  and  for  this  purpose  he  enclosed  him  a  warrant. 

It  is  to  be  doubted  whether  Cropper  often  resorted  to  this 
means  of  obtaining  supplies,  as  the  farmers  naturally  were  very 
indignant  at  it,  they  having  to  give  up  corn,  oats,  meat  and 
horses  as  well  as  liquors.  The  troops  across  the  bay  were  fur- 
nished, among  other  things,  with  a  quantity  of  peach  brandy, 
which  was  formerly  one  of  the  leading  products  of  the  Eastern 
Shore,  and  which  was  widely  celebrated  for  its  flavor  and  excel- 
lency. 

The  isolated  situation  of  the  people  of  Accomack  and  North  ^ 
hampton,  caused  them  to  be  ignorant  often  of  the  laws  passed  by 
the  Assembly  for  some  time  after  their  passage,  and  in  addition 
they  received  less  protection  from  the  State  probably  than  the 
people  of  any  other  section  of  it.  Notwithstanding  this  they 
were  frequently  called  on  for  supplies  from  the  Western  Shore, 
while  all  the  time  striving  to  maintain  and  defend  themselves  at 
home  from  the  invasions  of  the  enemy.  Throughout  all  the 
hardships  to  which  they  were  subjected,  the  majority  of  them 
remained  devotedly  loyal  to  the  American  cause,  and  Cropper 
himself  spent  the  bulk  of  his  fortune  in  supplying  the  troops, 
coming  out  of  the  war  a  comparatively  poor  man.  During  the 
year  1782,  the  condition  of  the  county  was  even  worse  than  the 
year  preceding.  Early  in  May,  Colonels  Cropper  and  Corbin 
were  writing  to  Colonel  Davies,  the  head  of  the  State  War 
Department,  protesting  against  the  removal  of  the  few  Conti- 
nental soldiers  then  in  Accomack,  and  declaring  the  Shore  would 
be  ruined.  Cropper  states  that  four  of  the  enemy's  barges  were 
then  on  the  coast,  capturing  vessels  and  plundering  the  inhabi- 
tants. The  presence  of  a  small  force,  he  said,  would  enable  the 


298  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

militia  to  attend  to  their  farms  a  portion  of  the  time,  instead  of 
being  constantly  called  out.  Colonel  Corbin  writes  of  a  con- 
spiracy of  the  tories,  British  and  negroes,  who  had  prepared 
themselves  "with  ropes  as  instruments  of  death  and  had  marked 
their  devoted  victims."  This  plan  was  discovered  by  the  master 
of  one  of  the  slaves  engaged  in  the  plot,  and  the  ring  leaders 
strung  up.  In  November  of  this  year,  occurred  one  of  the 
bloodiest  fights  of  its  kind  that  took  place  in  that  neighborhood 
during  the  war.  Commodore  Kidd  had  established  a  rendez- 
vous at  Hog  Island,  off  the  coast,  to  which  place  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  taking  his  plunder.  At  that  time  each  State  had  its 
separate  fleet  for  purposes  of  defence,  Commodore  Barren  com- 
manding the  Virginia,  and  Commodore  Whaley  the  Maryland 
flotilla.  On  the  28th  of  November,  Colonel  Cropper  received 
from  Commodore  Whaley  a  letter  telling  him  that  he  proposed 
attacking  Kidd's  barges,  then  off  Onancock  in  the  bay,  and  ask- 
ing the  assistance  of  some  volunteers  from  Accomack  to  aid  him 
man  his  fleet. 

The  request  was  immediately  complied  with,  and  Colonel 
Cropper,  with  twenty-five  of  the  Accomack  militia  went  aboard 
his  boats.  Cropper  thus  describes  the  action  in  a  letter  to  Davies, 
dated  December,  6th:13 

"  On  the  30th,  at  the  head  of  Cagey 's  Straits  we  fell  in  with 
and  engaged  the  enemy.  When  we  approached  them  within 
about  three  hundred  yards,  and  the  fire  began  to  be  serious, 
our  barges  all  run  away  except  the  Commodore's  (the  Pro- 
tector), in  which  was  Major  Smith  Snead,  Captain  Thomas 
Parker,  Captain  William  Snead,  myself  and  five  other  volun- 
teers. 

"  This  dastardly  conduct  of  our  comrades  brought  on  our  barge 
the  whole  fire  of  the  enemy  which  was  very  severe,  and  it  was 
as  severely  answered  by  the  Protector,  until  the  enemy's  six  barges 
were  within  fifty  yards,  when  most  unfortunately,  the  cartridges 
of  our  short  eighteen  pounders  caught  fire  amidships ;  the 
explosion  of  which  burned  three  or  four  people  to  death,  caused 
five  or  six  more,  all  afire,  to  leap  overboard,  and  the  alarm  of  the 
barge  blowing  up  made  several  others  swim  for  their  lives.  The 

13  State  Papers,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  391. 


MEMOIR    OF   GENERAL   JOHN    CROPPER.  299 

enemy  almost  determined  to  retreat  from  our  fire  as  they  told 
us  afterwards,  took  new  spirit  at  this  disaster  and  pushed  up 
with  redoubled  fury.  On  the  other  hand  our  people  opposed 
them  with  the  most  daring  resolution;  there  was  one  continual 
shower  of  musket  balls,  boarding  pikes,  cutlasses,  cold  shot  and 
iron  stantials  for  eight  or  ten  minutes,  till  greatly  overpowered  by 
numbers,  and  having  all  the  officers  killed  and  wounded,  we 
struck  to  them,  after  having  wounded  their  Commodore,  killed 
one  Captain,  wounded  another,  killed  and  wounded  several  of 
their  inferior  officers  and  killed  and  wounded  fifteen  of  the  Kid- 
nappers Crew,  the  barge  which  first  boarded  us. 

"  Commodore  Wally  was  shot  down  a  little  before  the  enemy 
boarded,  acting  the  part  of  a  cool,  intrepid,  gallant  officer.  Cap- 
tain Joseph  Handy  was  badly  wounded. 

"  There  went  to  action  in  the  Protector  sixty-five  men,  twenty- 
five  of  them  were  killed  and  drowned,  twenty-nine  were  wounded, 
some  of  which  are  since  dead,  and  eleven  only  escaped,  being 
wounded,  most  of  which  had  leaped  in  the  water  to  save  them- 
selves from  the  explosion. 

"  After  the  surrender,  I  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Com- 
modore Kidd  to  take  ashore  such  of  his  wounded  as  chose  to 
go,  and  to  have  them  nursed  and  attended  to  at  the  public  ex- 
pense, upon  condition  that  he  would  parole  all  our  prisoners  as 
well  the  unhurt  as  the  wounded,  which  agreement  will  meet  the 
approbation  of  his  Excellency  in  Council  and  the  Assembly. 

"  Being  very  much  disordered  with  my  wounds,  I  am  scarcely 
able  to  write,  therefore,  I  beg  leave  to  subscribe  myself." 

Then  follows  a  list  of  the  wounded  to  which  he  adds,  "  Myself 
was  wounded  by  a  cutlass  on  the  head,  slightly  by  a  pike  on  the 
face  and  thigh,  slightly  by  a  cutlass  on  the  shoulder,  and  after 
the  surrender  was  knocked  down  by  a  four  pound  rammer,  the 
blow  of  which  was  unfortunately  near  upon  the  same  place  where 
the  cutlass  hit. 

"  You  will  do  me  a  most  singular  favor  to  excuse  the  sally  I 
I  took  in  the  barge,  and  have  me  exchanged  as  soon  as  possible. 

"Yours  affectionately, 

'*  J.  CROPPER,  JR." 

The  reader  after  this  will  not  wonder  that  he  was  very  much 
disordered  by  his  wounds  as  he  expressed  it,  or  that  Colonel 


300  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Davies  could  do  other  than  excuse  the  sally  he  took.  It  is  related, 
however,  that  his  wife  did  not,  for  after  his  exchange,  while  his 
wounds  were  being  dressed  by  friends  at  Onancock,  she  appeared 
on  the  scene  with  her  infant  daughter  in  her  arms,  and  broke 
forth,  "  you  deserve  it,  a  Continental  officer  to  leave  your  wife 
and  children  to  fight  sailors  on  the  water."  Colonel  Cropper 
always  referred  to  her  as  a  "keen  ground  razor,"  and  it  would 
would  seem  that  she  justified  the  title. 

The  account  of  the  battle  of  the  barges  given  by  Cropper  to 
Davies  was,  of  course,  in  the  main  an  official  one,  and  several 
interesting  incidents  of  the  fight  are  well  worth  being  recorded. 
A  second  time  his  life  was  saved  by  a  negro  slave,  but  on  this 
occasion  the  negro  was  on  the  side  of  the  enemy.  It  seems  this 
man,  who  had  belonged  to  Cropper's  father,  was  a  good  fellow, 
but  at  the  same  time  was  desirous  of  tasting  the  sweets  of 
liberty.  He  had  run  away  from  home,  and  was  one  of  Kidd's 
crew.  There  was  also  on  the  British  side  an  Irish  soldier,  who 
had  some  time  previously  been  taken  prisoner  by  Cropper's 
men,  who  had  treated  him  kindly. 

This  Irishman  and  the  negro  had  become  friendly  with  each 
other,  their  attachment  for  Colonel  Cropper  forming  a  tie 
between  them,  and  when  the  British  first  boarded  the  Protector, 
these  two  were  among  the  foremost  men.  They  proceeded 
towards  the  stern,  where  Cropper  lay  wounded,  when  the 
negro  stopped  suddenly,  overcome  with  surprise  on  recognizing 
his  old  master's  son,  and  called  out,  "My  God,  Massa  John; 
and  I  will  die  before  they  shall  lay  hands  on  him; "  and  "  I  am 
with  you,"  said  the  Irishman.  They  both  faced  about,  and 
sword  in  hand,  kept  back  the  boarders,  declaring  no  one  should 
harm  him.  This  probably  saved  Cropper's  life,  as  there  was  an 
indiscriminate  massacre  about  this  time,  'til  Kidd,  who  had  been 
knocked  senseless,  came  to,  and  order  was  restored  among  his 
men.  This  man  was  given  his  freedom  by  Colonel  Cropper> 
who  obtained  for  him  a  situation  in  Baltimore.  After  being 
removed  to  one  of  the  enemy's  barges,  Cropper  was  laid  down 
in  the  after  part  of  the  stern,  faint  with  loss  of  blood  and  nearly 
insensible  of  what  was  passing.  Near  by  lay  a  wounded  Eng- 
lishman, whose  peculiar  behavior  attracted  his  attention.  This 
man  was  seemingly  endeavoring  to  raise  himself  as  if  to  take  a 
better  look  at  the  colonel,  but  being  weakened  by  his  wounds, 


MEMOIR   OF   GENERAL  JOHN   CROPPER.  301 

fell  back  several  times,  and  laid  to  all  appearances  exhausted. 
But  he  had  not  entirely  lost  his  strength,  for  on  the  third  or 
fourth  attempt  to  get  up  he  seized  hold  of  the "  four-pound 
rammer "  alluded  to  by  Cropper,  and  dealt  him  a  severe  blow 
on  the  head,  on  the  same  spot  where  he  had  been  previously  hit 
by  the  cutlass.  This  came  near  putting  an  end  to  his  life,  and 
he  remained  senseless  for  some  time.  Care,  however,  was  taken 
to  prevent  a  repetition  of  this  violence,  and  the  belligerent  Briton 
placed  in  a  safe  place. 

The  Captain,  Thomas  Parker,  who  had  volunteered  with 
Cropper  and  others  from  Accomack  to  accompany  Commodore 
Whaley,  was  known  among  the  lories  as  "Hangman  Tom." 
Along  with  Colonel  Levin  Joynes  and  numbers  of  others  from 
Accomack,  he  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  Germantown,  they 
belonging  to  the  Matthews  regiment,  which  was  mostly  re- 
cruited on  the  Eastern  Shore. 

It  is  related14  of  him  that,  when  Earl  Harcourt  rode  along  the 
line  of  rebel  prisoners,  who  were  ragged,  worn  and  drooping, 
asking  each  one  what  his  occupation  had  been,  Lieutenant  Par- 
ker stood  erect,  and  when  the  question  was  put  to  him  by  the 
Earl,  replied  :  "  I  am  as  my  father  before  me  was,  a  gentleman, 
and  be  d d  to  you;  who  are  you  ?  " 

On  December  3d,  Commodore  Kidd  wrote  to  Colonel  Cropper, 
as  follows  : 

SIR  : 

Trusting  to  your  Honor,  We  have  sent  all  the  Prisoners  that  was 
wounded,  as  also  the  Prisoners  that  is  Not  Wounded,  not  Doubting  but 
you  will  fulfill  your  agreement  with  us  in  regard  to  the  wounded- 
And  as  to  the  Prisoners  that  are  not  Wounded,  We  Do  Expect  all  the  men 
that  was  taken  in  the  Jolly  Tar,  Comm'd  by  Capt.  Brooks,  and  imme- 
diately to  be  sent  to  Hog  Island  with  a  Flag  to  stay  our  coming. 
We  remain,  Deer  Sir,  with  Friendship,  Yours. 

JOHN  KIDD, 

WM.  A.  PERRY,  Comm'd  of  the  Fleet  of  British  Barges. 

Comm'd  Peryorge. 

Shortly  after,  on  January  i2th,  1783,  Natham  Adams,  a  cap- 
tain of  one  of  the  British  barges,  wrote  to  Cropper  in  regard  to 

14(1  Seven  Decades  of  the  Union  "—Henry  A.  Wise,  p.  196. 


302  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

his  exchange,  and  adds  in  postscript,  he  "  would  be  glad  if  Col. 
Cropper  would  send  him  two  barrels  of  flour  and  twenty  galls, 
of  spirits  at  the  market  price.  Sends  his  compliments  to  him 
and  his  Lady,  and  hopes  the  time  may  come  when  he  may  have 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  them  in  peace  and  quietness." 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  British  barges  remained  long  in  the 
neighborhood  after  this  date,  for  the  surrender  at  Yorktown  had 
occurred  as  far  back  as  October,  1781,  and  the  definite  articles 
of  peace  were  signed  at  Paris  the  very  day  of  the  fight  with 
Kidd.  Cropper's  troubles,  however,  were  not  yet  at  an  end,  for 
some  time  after  the  fight,  while  at  his  home,  the  wound  in  his 
head,  which  had  nearly  cost  him  his  life,  opened  afresh. 

His  wife  was  engaged  in  dressing  it,  and  had  taken  off  the 
bandage,  at  the  same  time  holding  several  pins  in  her  mouth. 
One  of  these  she  accidentally  swallowed,  and  met  her  death  in 
consequence.  This  proved  a  great  blow  to  him,  and  the  effect 
upon  his  mind  was  very  depressing,  so  much  so  that  his  condition 
gave  his  friends  serious  apprehensions  for  several  years  after- 
wards. 

The  gallant  Whaley,  who  had  so  bravely  led  the  Virginians, 
was  interred  with  military  honors  on  Onancock  creek,  at  what  is 
now  a  place  called  "  Scott  Hall,"  at  one  time  the  residence  of 
Dr.  Thomas  Bagwell.  It  is  said  the  spot  is  unmarked,  and  has 
been  well  nigh  forgotten. 

Colonel  Cropper  sent  in  a  petition  to  the  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Delegates,  praying  that  that  body  would  grant  him  relief  for 
the  sums  of  money  he  had  been  compelled  to  expend  as  County 
Lieutenant  for  the  support  of  the  troop  of  horse  and  Conti- 
nental troops,  afterwards  raised  by  act  of  assembly.  He  states 
that  he  had  drawn  large  sums  of  paper  money  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  commissioners,  who  received  money  under  that  act,  and 
also  out  of  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  which  he  paid  into  the 
hands  of  the  Continental  Commissary  for  the  county,  who  had 
accounted  for  it  to  the  Commissary  General. 

In  the  returns  made  to  the  Auditor  he  stood  charged  with 
.£71,318,  I2s,  paper  money.  Having  no  other  resource,  he  was 
obliged  to  draw  upon  them,  or  else  suffer  the  Eastern  Shore  to 
be  utterly  ruined,  not  doubting  that  the  Legislature  would 
approve  his  conduct.  He  farther  recites  that  owing  to  the  treaty 


MEMOIR    OF   GENERAL   JOHN    CROPPER.  303 

entered  into  with  Kidd  to  take  care  of  his  wounded  men  and 
furnish  them  with  medical  attendance,  he  had  expended  ^189, 
1 8s,  3d  specie.  Colonel  Cropper  relates  in  his  petition,  "that 
in  addition  to  the  calamities  of  war  and  cruelties  exercised;  the 
plundering  of  our  property,  and  the  burning  of  our  habitations, 
so  successfully  and  so  wantonly  practiced  by  the  British  Barges 
on  this  shore,  we  had  to  struggle  with  and  to  combat  the  secret 
machinations  of  internal  enemies,  more  dangerous,  if  possible, 
than  those  open  and  avowed  ones.  In  the  year  1781,  it  was 
discovered  and  undoubtedly  certain  that  we  had  a  party 
amongst  us  that  acted  in  concert  with  the  barges  then  on  the 
Islands  ;  some  of  them  were  even  so  daring  as  to  attack  several 
houses  in  the  middle  of  the  country;  and  not  only  plundered, 
but  shed  the  blood  of  the  inhabitants.  That  they  opposed  and 
actually  prevented  the  execution  of  an  act  of  Assembly  for 
raising  the  State's  quota  of  troops  to  serve  in  the  Continental 
Army,  by  appearing  at  the  Court-house  armed,  on  the  day 
appointed  for  the  draft."  It  is  not  known  to  the  writer  to  what 
extent  the  Legislature  made  good  the  expenditures  of  Colonel 
Cropper,  but  on  other  occasions  he  contributed  largely  out  of  his 
private  means  to  the  aid  of  the  cause,  and  came  out  of  the  war 
impaired  in  fortune. 

Colonel  Cropper  was  chosen  to  represent  his  county  in  the 
House  of  Delegates,  which  he  did  from  1784  to  1792  ;  and  in 
1785,  Patrick  Henry,  then  Governor,  called  on  him  to  again 
undertake  the  duties  of  County  Lieutenant.  In  May,  1793, 
Governor  Henry  Lee  (Light  Horse  Harry)  made  him  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  the  Second  regiment  militia.  As  such,  he  had  to 
call  out  the  troops  to  enforce  the  embargo  resolutions  of  the  next 
year,  and  arrested  several  vessels  in  Assawaman  and  Metompkin 
inlets. 

Upon  one  occasion  a  brigantine  was  lying  off  the  latter  inlet, 
preparatory  to  putting  to  sea,  having  taken  on  her  cargo.  Crop- 
per expeditiously  equipped  four  boats,  and  at  dawn  rowed  out  to 
her,  being  at  the  head  of  his  men,  and  boarded  her,  taking  her 
by  surprise  before  sunrise.  In  June,  1794,  Governor  Lee  ap- 
pointed him  agent  of  the  Ninth  Brigade  district,  which  included 
the  Eastern  Shore,  the  county  of  Princess  Anne,  and  Borough 
of  Norfolk,  in  pursuance  of  an  act  for  the  collection  of  the 


304  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

arrears  of  taxes  and  duties.  This  required  of  him  and  his  sure- 
ties to  enter  into  a  bond  of  ,£17,000,  lawful  money  of  the 
Commonwealth,  payable  to  the  Governor,  for  the  faithful  perfor- 
mance of  his  duties. 

Governor  Lee  wrote  that  the  exhausted  state  of  the  treasury 
demanded  relief,  and  urged  him  to  use  unremitted  exertions  in 
compelling  payment  of  delinquents.  In  1798,  during  the 
threatened  war  with  France,  John  Adams,  then  President,  wrote 
to  Washington,  who  was  in  retirement  at  Mt.  Vernon,  inviting 
him  once  more  to  take  commad  of  the  American  army,  then  to 
be  raised.  To  this  General  Washington  consented,  and  addressed 
not  many  months  before  his  death,  a  letter  to  Colonel  Cropper, 
placing  him  at  the  head  of  the  lower  counties,  and  requesting 
him  to  forward  a  list  of  suitable  men  to  be  officers  in  the  brigade, 
thus  virtually  commiting  to  him  the  selection  of  all  the  officers 
in  that  part  of  the  State.  The  letter  is  as  follows  : 

MOUNT  VERNON,  June  //,  1799. 
SIR: 

Was  I  not  well  assured  of  your  Patriotism  and  firm  attachment 
to  the  Government  of  our  Country,  I  should  think  it  necessary  to  apolo- 
gize for  the  trouble  I  am  about  to  give  you. 

The  Secretary  of  War  has  signified  to  me  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  thinks  it  highly  expedient  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in 
selecting  proper  Characters  to  Officer  the  Twenty  four  Regiments  of 
Infantry,  authorized  to  be  eventually  raised  by  a  law  of  the  last  Con- 
gress; and  has  requested  me  to  furnish  him  with  a  list  of  the  names  of 
such  persons  as  are  best  qualified  and  willing  to  serve  in  the  respective 
Grades  of  four  of  these  Regiments,  which  is  the  proportion  allotted  to 
Virginia. 

Having  been  absent  from  home  for  about  twenty-five  years,  with 
short  intervals  only,  and  in  these  intervals  a  necessary  attention  to  my 
private  concerns  confining  me  almost  entirely  to  my  own  Estate,  I  find 
my  acquaintance  with  the  Citizens  of  this  State,  particularly  with  the 
rising  generation,  very  limited  indeed.  And,  therefore,  ready  as  I 
always  am  to  do  anything  in  my  power  to  promote  the  public  weal,  I 
find  it  impossible  to  perform  this  task  without  the  assistance  of  others 
on  whom  I  can  place  a  reliance. 

As  these  troops  are  all  authorized  to  be  raized  only  in  case  of  an 
actual  war  with  a  foreign  power,  or  of  imminent  danger  of  Invasion  of 
our  Territory  by  such  power,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that,  in  such  an  event 
every  good  citizen  would  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  take  the  field,  if 
necessary,  whether  belonging  to  the  eventual  army  or  not.  I,  therefore, 


MEMOIR    OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  305 

flatter  myself  that  when  the  President's  intention  of  appointing  the 
Officers  for  this  Army  shall  be  fully  known,  we  shall  find  many  of  the 
valuable  officers  who  served  with  reputation  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
as  well  as  others,  step  forward  and  offer  their  services  in  grades  which 
they  would  not  accept  if  their  object  was  to  pursue  a  military  career 
for  life,  or  to  continue  in  the  service  beyond  the  exigency  which  might 
call  them  forth.  This  leads  me  to  hope  that,  instead  of  seeking  for 
those  who  are  willing  to  receive  appointments,  we  shall  find  the  best 
spirits  of  our  country  offering  their  services  in  those  grades  where 
their  talents  and  influence  can  be  useful  without  feeling  themselves 
bound  by  the  scrupulous  punctilios  of  Rank  which  officers  observe  when 
arms  are  assumed  as  a  profession. 

But,  in  order  to  place  the  matter  upon  certain  ground  and  to  pursue 
it  with  system,  it  becomes  necessary  to  make  the  selection  before  men- 
tioned ;  and  as  the  propriety  of  drawing  the  officers  from  different 
parts  of  the  State,  observing  as  nearly  as  may  be  a  due  proportion  to 
the  respective  population,  is  obvious,  I  must,  of  course,  obtain  my  infor- 
mation from  various  sources  and  combine  the  result  in  the  best  manner 
I  can. 

1  therefore,  sir,  take  the  liberty  to  ask  if  you  will  be  so  good  as  to 
furnish  me  with  the  names  of  such  characters  as  are  in  your  opinion, 
qualified  to  fill  the  several  offices  in  one  Regiment  of  Infantry,  a  Bat- 
talion or  part  thereof,  and  who  would  be  willing  to  receive  these 
appointments,  annexing  to  their  names  the  respective  grades,  and  the 
places  or  counties  of  their  Residence. 

To  facilitate  this  selection  and  to  observe  the  proportion  before 
mentioned,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  follow  the  four  Grand  Divisions 
of  the  State,  as  laid  off  by  the  Inspector-General  for  the  purposes 
of  recruiting,  and  to  endeavor  to  select  the  Officers  of  one  Regiment 
from  each.  In  that  case  the  Division  in  which  you  reside  will 
comprehend  the  counties  of  Hanover,  Henrico,  New  Kent,  Charles 
City,  James  City,  Matthews,  Gloucester,  York,  Warwick,  Elizabeth 
City,  Accornac,  Northampton,  Caroline,  King  &  Queen,  Essex,  King 
William,  Middlesex,  Lancaster,  Northumberland,  Richmond,  West- 
moreland, and  King  George.  To  these  Counties,  then,  you  will  be 
pleased  more  particularly  to  confine  your  attention.  But  if  suitable 
characters  are  known  to  you  in  other  parts  of  the  State,  I  will  thank 
you  for  the  names  of  them  also.  As  these  Counties  form  a  large  dis- 
trict and  may  comprehend  more  valuable  characters  than  the  acquaint- 
ance of  any  one  person  in  it  extends  to,  it  is  left  with  you  to  advise 
with  others,  or  from  such  Counties  therein  as  your  intimacy  is  greatest 
to  select  a  proportionate  part.  In  a  word,  Sir,  paying  some  attention 
to  the  policy  of  distribution,  to  select,  in  whole  or  in  part,  such  charac- 
ters as  would  do  honor  to  the  service,  and  would  be  gratifying  to  your 
own  feelings  to  command  : — a  measure,  though  it  cannot  be  asked,  is 

20 


306  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

highly  to  be  wished,  and  would  have  been  gladly  embraced  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  twelve  Regiments  now  recruiting,  if  anything  had 
appeared  at  that  time  indicative  of  your  inclination  to  re-enter  the 
Military  line. 

You  will  readily  see  that  these  names  must  be  handed  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  for  his  approbation,  and  afterwards  confirmed 
or  rejected  by  the  Senate  ;  it  is  therefore  proper  that  no  assurances  of 
appointment^  given  to  the  parties  which  will  render  a  change  imprac- 
ticable without  wounding  their  feelings  too  much. 

Where  you  are  not  personally  well  acquainted  with  such  Characters 
as  are  fit  and  willing  to  serve,  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  obtain  the  best 
recommendations  and  such  as  you  can  rely  upon.  And  every  caution- 
ary measure  is  necessary  to  guard  against  errors  which  frequently 
result  from  the  ease  with  which  recommendations  are  generally 
obtained,  the  partiality  of  friends  and  a  delusive  hope  that  men  of  bad 
habits,  by  being  transplanted  into  the  army,  will  become  good  men  and 
good  officers. 

I  have  ventured,  Sir,  to  give  you  this  trouble,  because  from  your  for- 
mer services  in  the  Military  line,  I  could  confide  in  your  knowledge  and 
judgment  of  proper  Characters  to  be  brought  forward  at  this  time,  and 
believing  that  I  might  readily  count  upon  your  best  exertions  to  render 
a  service  to  your  country. 

I  will  thank  you  for  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Receipt  of  this  letter 
as  soon  as  it  gets  to  your  hands,  and  for  your  observations  on  the  sub- 
ject of  it,  so  far  as  you  may  then  be  prepared  to  give  them. 
With  very  great  esteem, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  Sir, 

Your  most  obt.  St. 

Go.  WASHINGTON. 
Colo.  John  Cropper. 

To  this  Colonel  Cropper  sent  the  following  reply  : 

ACCOMAC  COURTHOUSE,  fth  July,  1799. 
SIR: 

I  have  received  your  favor  of  the  iyth  ultimo  by  the  last  mail. 
The  opinions  entertained  by  you  of  my  services  in  the  American  war, 
and  the  confidence  expressed  of  my  patriotism  and  judgment  are  a  most 
precious  addition  to  the  approbation  of  my  fellow  citizens  within  the 
circle  of  my  acquaintance.  Many  more  marks  of  approbation  have 
been  bestowed  upon  me  by  my  countrymen  than  my  services  have 
merited,  but  not  more  than  will  be  gratefully  remembered  to  the  latest 
hour  of  my  existence. 

After  serving  my  native  country  for  sixteen  years,  partly  in  a  military 
and  partly  in  a  civil  capacity,  I  resigned  in  the  year  1791  all  pretensions 


MEMOIR   OF   GENERAL   JOHN    CROPPER.  307 

to  public  office,  and  prescribed  to  myself  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  the 
remainder  of  my  life  in  domestic  tranquility. 

But,  sir,  I  have  remained  a  faithful  tho'  feeble  friend  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  am  one  of  those  who  have  approved  of 
the  administration  of  it.  I  believe  this  Government  has  been  estab- 
lished with  as  much  wisdom,  and  conducted  with  as  much  integrity  as 
any  other  in  the  world. 

Therefore,  considering  the  critical  situation  of  public  affairs  at  this 
juncture,  and  the  sacred  obligations  which  bind  a  dutiful  citizen  to  his 
country,  I  shall  take  upon  me  the  duties  assigned  by  your  letter,  and 
perform  them  according  to  my  best  ability. 

You  may  name  me  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  fill 
such  grade  in  the  provisional  army  as  I  may  be  thought  to  suit  and 
deserve. 

My  knowledge  of  the  military  characters  of  the  Western  Shore  part 
of  the  division  to  which  I  am  allotted  is  very  contracted,  and,  as  far  as 
my  reflections  have  gone,  shall  be  much  at  a  loss  to  ascertain  a  compe- 
tent judgement  of  those  with  whom  I  am  personally  unacquainted. 
I  am  with  the  greatest  respect  &  esteem, 

Your  Obdt.  Humble  Servant, 

JNO.  CROPPER,  JUN'R. 
[Addressed] 

His  Excellency 

General  Washington, 

Mount  Vernon. 

The  trouble  with  France  came  to  an  end,  and  the  army  was 
never  raised,  but  this  mark  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  Wash- 
ington was  highly  appreciated  by  Cropper,  who  is  said  to  have 
treasured  the  letter  as  a  miser  does  his  gold.  Only  his  intimate 
friends  and  relations  were  ever  permitted  to  read  it,  and  it  was 
till  the  day  of  his  death  one  of  his  most  highly  prized  posses- 
sions, and  increased,  if  possible,  the  love  he  had  for  the  Father 
of  his  Country. 

In  1801,  Colonel  Cropper  was  called  on  to  serve  his  county  as 
sheriff,  being  commissioned  by  Governor  James  Monroe. 

During  the  war  of  1812  Colonel  Cropper  again  left  his  home, 
at  Bowman's  Folly,  to  defend  his  country.  In  March,  1812,  he 
wrote  to  Governor  James  Barbour,  announcing  the  death  of 
Brigadier-General  Thomas  Mathews,  and  continues :  "  As  by 
this  melancholy  event  the  command  of  the  Ninth  brigade  devolves 
on  me  as  senior  officer,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  give  your  Excellency 


308  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

immediate  notice  thereof."  In  November  following,  he  writes 
from  home,  on  his  return  from  Norfolk,  of  a  tour  in  attending  to 
the  training  of  the  officers  and  reviewing  the  regiments  of  the 
Ninth  brigade,  with  which  he  expresses  himself  as  pleased. 
These  and  other  troops  were  stationed  at  Fort  Nelson  and  Fort 
Norfolk.  The  history  of  the  Eastern  Shore  during  the  period 
of  the  second  war  with  England,  appears  to  be  in  a  great  mea- 
sure a  repetition  of  that  of  the  Revolution,  although  the  attacks 
of  the  enemy  were  not  perhaps  as  severe  or  as  frequent.  In 
Marcfi,  1813,  he  writes  to  the  Governor,  telling  him  of  a  con- 
sultation held  with  his  brother  officers  in  regard  to  the  exposed 
condition  of  the  Shore.  He  affirms  the  willingness  of  the  militia 
to  do  all  in  their  power,  but  complains  of  their  utter  lack  of  ade- 
quate supplies  of  the  implements  of  war.  Some  idea  of  their  con- 
dition and  that  of  the  State  War  Department  will  be  gained  from 
the  following  extract  :  "  About  half  of  the  eighteen  hundred 
cartridges  obtained  by  meat  Richmond  in  June  last  proved  to  be 
good  for  nothing  except  the  bullets  ;  they  appear  to  be  those  of 
the  Revolutionary  war  ;  the  paper  and  powder  mouldered  to  the 
finest  dust." 

Tangier  Island,  in  the  Chesapeake,  is  southeast  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  above  the  mouth  of  Onancock  creek,  in  Accomack. 
It  was  occupied  during  the  war  by  the  British  fleet  under  Cock- 
burn,  and  it  is  said  the  sand  redoubts  thrown  up  by  the  red- 
coated  enemy,  are  still  to  be  seen. 

Again  the  people  of  Accomack  and  Northampton  were  sub- 
jected to  the  attacks  from  the  barges  and  tenders  cruising  in  the 
bay. 

In  May,  1813,  Colonel  Cropper  wrote  to  Governor  Barbour: 
"The  Legislature  of  Virginia,  at  their  last  session,  thought 
proper  to  place  over  my  head  a  gentleman  not  long  since  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  major  and  recently  to  that  of  colonel — a 
man  without  military  experience,  I  am  informed.  I  entered  the 
army  of  the  Revolution  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  served  during 
the  war,  and  have  held  the  highest  military  command  on  the 
Eastern  Shore  ever  since.  My  capacity  and  conduct  were  always 
approved  of,  as  I  believe.  Under  the  circumstances  it  becomes 
my  duty  to  resign  the  command  of  the  Second  regiment;  the 
right  to  do  so,  I  trust,  will  not  be  doubted.  The  Ninth  brigade 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  309 

in  particular,  as  well  as  all  the  militia  you  command,  will  carry 
with  them  my  best  wishes  for  their  honor  and  prosperity. 

Your  Excellency  will  no  longer  consider  me  bearing  a  militia 
commission,  but  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  sincere  respect  for  the 
attention  you  have  paid  to  that  part  of  the  State  in  which  I 
reside  and  to  myself  as  an  officer."  Governor  Wilson  Gary 
Nicholas  afterwards,  in  January,  1815,  commissioned  him  a  brig- 
adier-general of  the  Twenty- First  brigade. 

Colonel  Cropper  represented  his  district  in  the  State  Senate 
from  1813  to  1817,  and  was  vice-president  of  the  Virginia  branch 
of  the  Cincinnati  Society.  Later  on,  in  1816,  he  was  chosen 
president,  to  succeed  Colonel  John  Pryor,  and  acted  for  several 
years  in  that  capacity.  The  Cincinnati  in  Virginia,  however,  did 
not  long  survive,  for  it  failed  to  adopt  the  hereditary  feature  in 
vogue  in  other  States,  and  as  time  went  on  the  old  Revolution- 
ary officers  died  off  one  by  one,  and  their  ranks  were  soon 
thinned  in  a  way  that  the  soldiers  of  the  Southern  Confederacy 
are  unfortunately  destined  to  be  in  the  not  far  distant  future. 
The  Virginia  Society  disbanded  about  1824,  and  gave  all  of  its 
funds  in  hand  to  Washington  College,  now  Washington  and  Lee 
University.15  Probably  the  most  marked  trait  in  the  character  of 
General  Cropper  was  his  ardent  admiration  of.  and  devotion  to 
Washington.  He  could  not  bear  to  hear  anything  said  in  his 
presence  derogatory  of  the  character  and  fame  of  that  great 
man,  and  upon  several  occasions  he  was  engaged  in  personal 
difficulties  in  consequence.  Once,  while  in  the  State  Senate,  he 
was  at  a  public  dinner  in  Richmond,  when  a  man  present  pro- 
ceeded to  roundly  abuse  General  Washington.  Cropper,  whose 
temper  was  not  of  the  mildest  sort,  grabbed  a  carving-knife  and 
told  him  "  if  he  didn't  shut  up  he  would  cut  his  ears  off  close  to 
his  head,"  which  threat  he  was  happily  prevented  from  putting 
into  execution  by  his  friends,  who  seized  him. 

Upon  the  occasion  of  Washington's  visit  to  Richmond  he 
was  tendered  a  grand  ball  by  the  citizens  at  the  Eagle  Tavern. 
The  ball  was  opened  by  the  minuet,  which  General  Wash- 

15  This  fund  was  deposited  in  the  State  Treasury,  and  was  engrossed 
in  the  default  of  the  treasurer,  Jerman  Baker.  About  1850,  after  a 
long  pending  suit,  $25,000  was  recovered  from  the  sureties  of  Baker 
and  paid  to  the  college. — ED. 


310  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

ington  danced  with  Mrs.  McClurg,  the  wife  of  Dr.  James 
McClurg,  and  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most  accomplished 
women  in  Virginia.  It  is  related  as  an  evidence  of  Washing- 
ton's devotion  to  Cropper  that,  after  leading  his  partner  to  a 
seat,  he  crossed  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  room,  where  he 
espied  him,  and  taking  him  by  the  hand  saluted  him  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  whole  assembly.  Many  stories  are  told  about  Gen- 
eral Cropper,  relative  to  General  Washington  and  the  love  he 
bore  him.  It  is  said  that  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he 
would  gather  his  children  and  grandchildren  about  him  at 
"  Bowman's  Folly,"  and  on  the  Fourth  of  July  read  to  them  the 
Declaration  of  Independence ;  and  on  the  22d  day  of  February 
he  would  compel  them  to  listen  to  the  "  Farewell  Address  "  com- 
plete, while  at  all  times  he  would  read  to  them  from  Marshall's 
Life  of  Washington,  this  book  almost  taking  the  place  of  the 
family  Bible. 

During  the  period  that  he  was  in  the  Legislature,  General 
Cropper  was  frequently  at  dinners  and  banquets,  where  various 
healths  were  proposed  and  given.  When  he  was  called  upon 
for  a  toast  he  would  arise  and  give  the  only  one  ever  heard  from 
his  lips:  "  God  Bless  General  Washington."  16  He  died  at  his 
residence,  January  15,  1821,  after  a  short  illness,  leaving  a  widow, 
seven  children,  and  ten  grandchildren.  He  had  been  in  the 
.public  service  about  forty-five  years,  and  was  a  brigadier-general 
of  the  Eastern  Shore  brigade  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

His  first  wife,  as  already  stated,  was  Margaret  Pettitt,  the 
daughter  of  William  Pettitt,  a  farmer  living  on  Occohannock 
creek,  in  Northampton,  who  had  died  some  years  before  his 
daughter's  marriage.  Of  this  union  there  were  two  children — 
both  daughters.  The  elder  of  these,  named  Sarah  Corbin,  after- 
wards married  Major  John  Wise,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Acco- 
mack  and  speaker  of  he  tHouse  of  Delegates  in  1797  and  1798. 
She  became  the  mother  of  several  children,  among  them  Henry 
A.  Wise,  whose  childhood  was  partly  passed  at  "Bowman's 
Folly."  The  second  daughter,  called  Margaret  Pettitt,  married 
Thomas  M.  Bayly,  of  Accomack,  and  was  the  mother  of  Thomas 
H.  Bayly,  who  was  a  member  of  the  State  Assembly,  a  circuit 

16  Recollections  of  G.  W.  P.  Custis,  p.  170.        •  ; 


MEMOIR    OF    GENERAL   JOHN    CROPPER.  311 

judge,  and  later  on  elected  to  Congress  from  the  Eastern  Shore 
district  for  six  terms,  succeeding  his  cousin,  Henry  A.  Wise, 
who  had  represented  the  district  the  previous  six,  and  who  had 
resigned  to  become  the  Minister  to  Brazil. 

General  Cropper's  second  wife  was  Catherine  Bayly,  the  sister 
of  his  son-in-law,  Thomas  M.   Bayly.     Of  this   marriage  there 
were  six  children,  who  survived. 
/  Anna    Corbin  Cropper,  married  Major  John  Savage.     No 

issue. 
//.   Elizabeth  Washington,  married  Joseph  W.  Gibb,  and  had 

issue. 
///.    John.  Washington,    married   Mary   Savage.     Children   all 

died  in  infancy. 
IV,   Catherine  Bayly,  married  Augustus  W.   Bagwell,  and  had 

issue. 
V.  Thomas    Bayly    Cropper,    married    Rosina    Mix,  and   had 

issue,   as   follows  :     Catherine    Elizabeth,    Rosina     Mix, 

Thomas  Henry  (died  in  infancy),  and  John. 
VI.    Coventon    Hanson    Cropper,    married    twice.      No   issue 

living. 

By  his  will,  written  January  10,  1821,  five  days  before  his  death, 
General  Cropper  left  his  estate,  "  Bowman's  Folly,"  to  his  wife, 
Catherine  Cropper  for  life,  along  with  his  slaves  and  most  of  his 
personal  property.  The  remainder  of  his  property,  including 
his  military  lands  in  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  which  had  been  granted 
him  by  the  State  as  bounty  for  his  services,  was  to  be  divided 
among  his  children  with  the  exception  of  Mrs.  Bayly,  for  whom 
he  had  provided  otherwise.  His  friends  Richard  D.  Bayly,  John 
G.  Joynes  and  Thomas  R.  Joynes  were  named  as  his  executors. 
After  his  death  his  estate,  "  Bowman's  Folly,"  became  the  prop- 
erty of  Thomas  R.  Joynes,  Mrs.  Cropper  renouncing  the  will  and 
taking  as  her  dower  portion  a  farm  called  "Edge  Hill,"  near 
the  courthouse,  where  she  resided  for  some  years. 

Mr.  Joynes,  who  was  a  son  of  Colonel  Levin  Joynes,  was  the 
county  clerk  of  Accomack  for  a  period  of  seventeen  years,  an  able 
lawyer,  and  a  prominent  member  of  the  Virginia  Convention  of 
1 829-' 30,  to  which  he  was  chosen  as  a  delegate  from  his  district, 
his  colleagues  being  Colonel  Thomas  M.  Bayly,  Judge  Abel  P. 
Upshur  and  Dr.  Calvin  H.  Read.  He  was  the  father  of  Judge 


312  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

W.  T.  Joynes  of  the  court  of  appeals  and  Dr.  Levin  S.  Joynes, 
of  Richmond.  He  moved  to  "Bowman's  Folly"  in  1822, 
which  he  called  "  Montpelier,"  and  resided  there  until  his  death 
in  1858. 

The  following  letter  from  William  Wirt,  Attorney-General  of 
the  United  States,  was  written  by  him  to  General  Cropper's 
daughter  Eliza,  afterwards  Mrs.  Gibb. 

WASHINGTON,  February  6th,  18-2.1. 

"  I  offer  you  my  sincere  condolence,  my  dear  Miss.  Cropper,  on  the 
death  of  your  excellent  father,  of  which  sad  event  your  obliging  letter 
of  the  20th  of  last  month  brought  me  the  first  intelligence.  I  have 
lost  a  friend  in  him,  and  you  an  affectionate  father;  but  Heaven,  I  trust, 
has  gained  another  inhabitant,  and  it  would  be  rather  selfish  in  us  to 
lament  at  a  change  which  has  ushered  him  into  unspeakable  and  never 
ending  happiness.  Besides,  we  are  taught  by  an  authority  which  can- 
not err  that  the  separation  is  not  eternal,  unless  we  choose  to  make  it 
so.  Upon  the  supposition  then,  that  we  shall  do  our  duty  on  this  earth 
as  well  as  I  trust  he  has  done  his,  the  separation  will  be  but  a  short  one. 
He  has  only  set  out  a  little  before  us  on  a  journey  on  which  we  shall 
certainly  follow  him  in  a  few  short  years,  and  I  trust  we  shall  hereafter 
have  a  far  mere  joyful  meeting  than  we  have  heretofore  experienced  on 
this  earth. 

Your  father,  my  dear  Miss  Cropper,  has  left  few  men  behind  him  who 
would  not  gladly  compound  for  such  a  life  and  such  a  death;  a  life  of 
so  much  utility,  public  and  private,  and  a  death  which  came  not  to  call 
him  until  he  seemed  to  have  accomplished  every  purpose  for  which  he 
had  been  sent  upon  this  earth.  He  has,  indeed,  acted  well  his  part  in 
all  the  relations  of  life,  and  in  this,  we  are  told  and  truly  told,  lies  all  the 
honor.  So  far  as  I  could  judge  him,  I  have  never  known  a  man  who 
was  more  scrupulously  punctilious  in  the  discharge  of  every  duty,  pub- 
lic and  private,  and  that  such,  too,  was  the  opinion  of  his  country  is 
proven  by  the  honorable  marks  of  her  confidence,  which  he  enjoyed 
'till  the  day  of  his  death.  To  live  and  to  die,  beloved,  honored  and 
respected  ;  to  live  to  a  good,  old  age,  and  to  leave  behind  him  a  large 
family,  the  heirs  of  his  respectability,  as  well  as  most  respectable  in 
themselves,  amply  provided  for  as  to  this  world  and  with  the  fairest 
opportunities  and  hopes  for  the  next;  to  spend  his  last  moments  with 
a  memory  lingering  on  the  brilliant  retrospect  of  a  life  well  spent,  and 
to  die,  with  Faith  pointing  his  way  to  Heaven— who  would  not  feel 
rather  disposed  to  envy  such  a  fate  than  to  mourn  over  it? 

The  account  you  give  me  of  the  little  incident  about  three  weeks 
before  his  death  of  requesting  you  to  trace  with  him  the  military  map 
of  New  Jersey,  and  the  old  war  songs  with  which  he  closed  the  ideal 


MEMOIR   OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  313 

excursion,  is  very  interesting.  The  soldier's  heart  beat  in  his  b'osom 
to  the  last,  and  those  scenes  were  the  freshest,  as  well  as  sweetest,  to 
his  recollection,  in  which  he  had  in  the  morning  of  life,  drawn  his  sword 
in  his  country's  cause,  under  the  banners,  too,  of  the  immortal  Wash- 
ington. Ere  this  they  have  met  and  recognized  each  other.  Think 
what  a  meeting!  Can  Death  be  a  calamity  which  brings  about  such  an 
interview  as  this — and  more  especially  when  even  the  joy  of  such  an 
interview  is  faint  in  comparison  with  the  brighter  and  more  inconceiv- 
able joys  that  surround  him. 
********** 

Mrs.  Wirt  and  my  daughter  desire  their  respectful  compliments,  and 
I  pray  Heaven  to  bless  you  both  here  and  hereafter. 

(Signed)  WILLIAM  WIRT. 

The  portrait  of  General  Cropper  and  that  of  his  wife,  Cathe- 
rine Bayly  Cropper,  with  other  family  relics,  are  in  the  posses- 
sion of  his  grandson,  Mr.  John  Cropper,  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  likenesses  were  executed  by  Charles  Wilson  Peale  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  year  1792.  Peale  himself  had  been  a  soldier 
in  the  Revolution,  and  was  an  old  army  friend.  Prior  to  this 
period  he  had  gone  to  London  to  study  under  West,  and  for  a 
considerable  time  before  and  after  the  war  he  is  said  to  have  been 
the  only  famous  portrait-painter  in  America,  Smybert  and  Cop- 
ley having  disappeared,  and  Trumbull  and  Stuart  not  then 
become  familiar.  He  painted  the  first  likeness  of  Washington 
in  1772,  Washington  being  a  Virginia  colonel  at  the  time, 
besides  a  dozen  or  more  other  ones  of  him  later  on,  and  over  a 
hundred  portraits  mostly  of  celebrated  Americans  connected 
with  the  Revolution  or  Continental  Congress. 

Cropper's  portrait  was  taken  when  he  was  about  thirty-six 
years  of  age.  It  represents  him  as  a  stout  man,  with  a  ruddy 
complexion  and  marked  features,  and  with  brown  hair  and  blue 
eyes.  He  is  dressed  in  his  uniform  of  Continental  blue,  with 
scarlet  facings,  and  is  holding  the  handle  of  his  dress,  silver- 
mounted  rapier,  the  blade  of  which  rests  across  his  arm.  His 
wife  appears  a  handsome  woman,  with  beautiful  auburn  hair  and 
lovely  complexion.  A  number  of  souvenirs  of  General  Cropper 
are  in  the  possession  of  his  family,  among  them  his  sword,  a 
light,  triangular  rapier— the  one  that  is  taken  in  his  portrait — his 
original  diploma  as  a  member  of  the  Cincinnati,  signed  by  Wash- 
ington, and  his  badge  of  the  same  order.  There  were  among 


314  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

others  a  number  of  pieces  of  cannon  captured  at  Yorktown  of 
French  make.  A  dozen  of  these  were  presented  to  La  Fayette, 
which  he  in  turn  gave  to  his  favorite  officers.  One  of  these  was 
a  brass  four  pounder  that  had  been  cast  in  France,  bearing  a 
number  of  mottoes  and  devices  inscribed  upon  it,  with  the  name 
"  Junon  "  at  the  muzzle.  This  he  gave  to  Colonel  Cropper,  and 
it  is  still  in  his  family.17  The  Marquis  and  Cropper  corresponded 
at  intervals,  and  there  were  several  of  La  Fayette's  letters  among 
the  latter 's  papers  after  his  death,  which  are  not  now  to  be 
found. 

General  Cropper's  death  was  a  great  loss  to  the  people  of  the 
Eastern  Shore,  whom  he  had  long  served,  and  to  the  old  soldiers 
of  the  Revolution,  whom  he  befriended  in  every  way. 

The  condition  of  the  Virginia  people  is  said  to  have  been  even 
worse  after  the  Revolution,  than  after  the  Civil  war  in  1865. 
Poverty  and  destitution  were  widespread,  and  but  few  people 
had  the  money  to  buy  what  they  needed.  He  was  often  appealed 
to,  and  not  in  vain,  to  aid  his  more  unfortunate  countrymen.  His 
remains  were  interred  at  "  Bowman's  Folly,"  where  he  was  born, 
which  has  within  the  last  year  or  two  again  passed  into  the 
hands  of  a  Cropper,  and  is  owned  by  his  grandson,  who  bears 
his  name, 

The  original  house  built  by  Edmund  Bowman,  the  ancestor 
of  General  Cropper,  and  which  was  standing  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, was  pulled  down  about  the  year  1815,  and  the  present  one, 
which  in  that  day  was  considered  very  grand,  constructed  upon 
the  former  site.  Before  the  dwelling  was  built,  General  Crop- 


17  A  number  of  these  brass  guns  of  various  sizes  were  brought  to 
America  by  our  French  allies  during  the  Revolution.  The  period  of 
their  manufacture  was  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  They  were 
richly  ornamented  in  design,  chased  by  the  hand  and  chisel.  Several  of 
these  guns,  24  pounders,  and  mortars  of  large  size,  were  an  attraction 
of  the  armory  grounds  at  Richmond  prior  to  the  late  war.  All  of  them» 
save  two,  which  were  sent  to  the  Virginia  Military  Institute,  at  Lexing- 
ton, were  melted  and  recast  into  light  field  pieces  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  the  Confederate  States  Army.  If  the  gun  mentioned  in  the  text 
was  "  captured  at  Yorktown  "  it  must  have  been  one  previously  taken  by 
the  British  from  the  Continental  Army.  An  account  of  the  "  Old  French 
Guns  formerly  at  the  Virginia  Armory  "  with  others,  was  published  by 
the  present  writer  in  Richmond  Standard,  October  5,  12,  19,  1878.— ED. 


MEMOIR    OF   GENERAL   JOHN   CROPPER.  315 

per's  slaves  were  taken  from  their  usual  labors  on  the  plantation 
and  made  to  haul  earth  for  several  months  to  make  the  mound 
on  which  it  was  constructed,  the  ground  along  Folly  creek  being 
naturally  perfectly  level.  The  county  of  Accomack  generally  is 
too  flat  to  be  a  really  picturesque  country,  but  to  those  who  love 
the  soughing  of  the  pines,  and  the  murmur  of  the  ocean,  the 
peninsula  land  of  Virginia  has  many  charms,  and  General  Crop- 
per was  devoted  to  his  home.  When  he  returned  from  his  jour- 
neyings  abroad  he  would  roll  on  the  grass  beneath  the  tall, 
overhanging  boughs  of  the  trees  surrounding  his  house,  and 
where  the  breeze  coming  in  from  the  ocean  would  sweep  over 
him,  and  he  would  declare  it  to  be  the  dearest  spot  on  earth. 
He  sought  to  make  his  home  attractive,  and  a  beautiful  park  of 
stately  trees,  where  the  deer  roamed  at  will,  was  one  of  its  fea- 
tures. Across  the  road,  at  some  distance  from  the  house,  and  at 
the  end  of  a  long  lane,  was  "  Cropperville."  This  place  was 
part  of  the  original  tract,  which  he  had  given  to  his  brother 
Thomas,  of  whom  he  was  very  fond,  and  on  which  he  had  built 
a  house  for  him.  General  Cropper  was  a  patron  of  education, 
and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Margaret  Academy,  a  high-grade 
classical  school,  at  which  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  East- 
ern Shore  have  been  educated.  It  was  given  its  name,  "  Mar- 
garet," as  a  tribute  to  his  beloved  wife,  Peggy  Pettitt,  whose 
memory  it  was  designed  to  perpetuate. 

In  politics  General  Cropper  was  a  staunch  Federalist,  as  were  a 
majority  of  the  Virginia  gentlemen  of  that  period.  He  was  in  war 
a  gallant  soldier,  well  suited  to  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  and 
in  peace  a  country  squire,  and  belonged  to  a  civilization  now  as 
dead  as  that  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 

His  story,  however,  serves  to  recall  the  hardships  and  priva- 
tions of  our  ancestors  during  the  infancy  of  the  country,  and  is 
a  reminder  of  the  mighty  struggle  with  England,  in  which 

"  The  old-time  Continentals, 
In  their  ragged  regimentals, 
Faltered  not." 

BARTON  HAXALL  WISE. 
Richmond,    Virginia. 


ORDERLY  BOOK 


OF 


Major  William  Heth 


OF   THE 


Third  Virginia  Regiment, 


MAY  15— JULY  1, 


1777, 


INTRODUCTION. 


Paens  to  the  virtue,  valor  and  worth  of  the  impressive  "  Scotch- 
Irish  race  "  increase  in  volume  as  the  years  pass  and  orators  and 
books  multiply.  The  generic  designation  is  made  more  and 
more  comprehensive  in  its  representation. 

William  Heth,  to  whose  providence  posterity  is  indebted  for 
the  accompanying  memorial  of  the  Revolution,1  was  truly  an  ex- 
ample of  the  admired  component  strain. 

1  It  was  presented  to  the  Virginia  Historical  Society  in  September, 
1881,  by  the  late  Rev.  Philip  Slaughter,  D.  D.,  who  inscribed  upon  its 
cover :  "  Found  among  the  papers  of  my  father,  Captain  Philip  Slaughter, 
the  comrade  in-arms  of  Major  Heth  in  the  American  Revolution/' 

The  Slaughter  family  can  be  traced  back  in  England  to  1485,  when 
the  name  was  spelled  Schlostre.  John  Slaughter  was  a  grantee  of  land 
in  eastern  Virginia  as  early  as  1635.  In  1731,  Robert  and  Francis 
Slaughter  were  chosen  as  the  first  church  wardens  of  St.  Mark's  parish, 
Culpeper  county.  Robert  Slaughter  married  a  daughter  of  Cadwalader 
Jones,  of  Essex  county,  and  had  issue  seven  sons,  of  whom  the  fifth, 
James,  "  commanded  a  regiment  at  the  battle  of  Great  Bridge  "  in  1775, 
the  first  engagement  of  the  Revolution  in  Virginia.  He  married  Susan, 
daughter  of  Major  Philip  Clayton,  and  the  eldest  of  their  issue  was 
Philip  Slaughter,  born  December  4,  1758 ;  died  1849  >  entered  Captain 
John  Jameson's  company  of  minute  men  from  Culpeper  county  in  1775, 
and  marched  with  it  to  Williamsburg  to  reclaim  the  powder  seized  by 
Lord  Dunmore. 

Having  been  discharged  from  military  service,  Philip  Slaughter  re- 
entered  school,  but  in  the  spring  of  1776,  he  re-enlisted  in  Colonel  John 
Jameson's  troop  of  cavalry  for  a  term  of  three  years. 

Before  it  marched,  however,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Committee  of 
Safety  of  Culpeper  county  a  lieutenant  in  Captain  Gabriel  Long's  com- 
pany of  riflemen,  which  joined  the  army  under  General  Washington  in 
New  York.  In  1777  this  company  was  attached  to  the  Eleventh  Vir- 


320  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

His  father,  John  Heth,  is  said  to  have  emigrated  from  the 
North  of  Ireland  some  time  during  the  earlier  half  of  the  eigh- 
teenth centrury.  He  settled  first  in  Pennsylvania,  and  married 
there  Mary  Mackey,2  of  Scotch  parentage.  Here,"  it  is  pre- 
sumed, William,  the  eldest  of  a  somewhat  noted  family  of  twelve 
children— six  sons  and  six  daughters— was  born  July  19,  1750. 
Of  his  brothers,  Henry  4  and  Andrew,  served  with  the  rank  of 

ginia  regiment  on  Continental  Establishment,  commanded  by  the  cele- 
brated Daniel  Morgan.  Lieutenant  Slaughter  was  promoted  captain 
in  1778,  and  served  gallantly  throughout  the  war,  participating  among 
others  in  the  momentous  battles  of  Brandywine,  Germantown  and 
Monmouth.  He  was  one  of  those  who  endured  the  bitter  hardships  of 
Valley  Forge.  His  messmates  were  the  two  Porterfields,  Charles  and 
Robert,  Lieutenant  Johnson,  and  Captain  John  Marshall  (subsequently 
the  Chief  Justice).  Captain  Slaughter  kept  a  diary  of  his  campaigns, 
which  was  unfortunately  lost  during  the  late  war.  Subsequent  to  the 
Revolution  he  held  various  civil  offices,  among  which  was  that  of  High 
Sheriff  of  Culpeper  county.  He  was  twice  married,  his  first  wife  being  a 
daughter  of  French  Strother,  and  his  second  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
Thomas  Towles.  The  issue  by  the  two  marriages  was  nineteen  chil- 
dren—sons and  daughters— whose  descendants,  now  numbering  several 
hundred,  comprehend  many  of  the  most  estimable  family  names  in  the 
State  and  Union.  Slaiighter's  History  of  St.  Mark's  Parish,  and 
History  of  St.  George's  Parish,  second  edition,  with  Memoir  of  Dr. 
Slaughter  by  the  present  writer. 

2  A  relative  of  Dr.  Robert  Mackey,  of  Winchester,  Virginia,  an  exe- 
cutor of  Colonel  Thomas  Bryan  Martin  (the  nephew  of  Lord  Fairfax), 
and  the  maternal  great-grandfather  of  ex-Governor  F.  W.  M.  Holliday. 

3  Several  diaries  kept  by  Colonel  William  Heth  whilst  a  prisoner  in 
Quebec,  Canada  in  1776,  in  1788,  and  in  1792,  are  in  the  possession  of 
his  great-grandson,  Mr.  Richard  Heth  Munford  Harrison,  Richmond. 
In  that  of  1792,  Colonel  Heth  gives  an  account  of  a  visit  to  his  parents, 
whose  residence  appears  then  to  have  been  in  Ohio  county,  in  what  was 
known  as  the  "  Pan-Handle,"  and  not  far  distant  from  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

4  Henry  Heth  married  in  Richmond,  November  10, 1787,  Nancy  Hare. 
He  was  United  States  Commissioner  of  Loans  for  the  State  of  Virginia, 
and  owned  the  Blackheath  coal  pits,  in  Chesterfield  county,  which  were 
subsequently  operated  by  his  son,  John  Heth,  who,  in  1837,  incorporated 
this  property  and  another  adjacent,  as  the  Blackheath  and  Huguenot 
Coal  and  I»on  Companies,  with  a  directory  composed  of  himself,  Dr. 
John  Brockenbrough,  president  of  the  Virginia  Bank,  and  William  H. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  321 

captain  in  the  Revolution;  John,  who  entered  the  army  in  1777 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  as  a  cadet,  attained  the  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant. He  was  appointed  March  5,  1792,  captain  Second  United 
States  infantry,  and  served  under  Wayne  in  his  campaign  against 
the  Northwestern  Indians.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  died  November  15,  1810.  Andrew 
Heth  also  served  subsequent  to  the  Revolution  as  a  commis- 
sioner for  apportioning  and  surveying  the  lands  granted  by  Vir- 
ginia to  the  Illinois  regiment. 

Of  the  sisters  of  William  Heth,  Mary  became  the  wife  of  one 
of  his  army  comrades,  Captain  Robert  Porterfield,  subsequently 
general  of  the  State  militia,  and  Anne  or  Nancy,  the  wife  of 
another,  Li-eutenant  Josiah  Tannehill,  subsequently  colonel  of 
militia. 

Of  the  boyhood  and  educational  advantages  of  William  Heth 
his  descendants  can  furnish  no  definite  account.  His  diaries, 
however,  recorded  in  a  flowing  hand,  exhibit  refined  tastes,  acute 
discernment,  and  ease  of  diction.  He  appears  to  have  been  a 
lover  of  music  and  the  drama,  and  a  judicious  critic  of  both.  He 
had  the  faculty  of  versification,  and  was  skilled  in  the  use  of  the 
pencil,  and  notes  the  copying  thus  of  engravings  and  the  mak- 
ing of  portraits  of  his  wife  and  of  several  of  his  female  friends. 
His  first  military  service  is  believed  to  have  been  as  a  lieutenant 

Macfarlahd,  president  of  the  Farmers'  Bank,  Richmond.  In  1839  he 
went  to  England,  and  endeavored,  unsuccessfully,  to  capitalize  the  pro- 
perty at  ,£200,000.  Another  son,  Beverley  Heth,  operated  the  Norwood 
coal  mine  in  Powhatan  county.  He  married  in  1830,  Virginia,  daughter 
of  Robert  Gwathmey,  and  died  December  29,  1842,  aged  thirty-five 
years,  leaving  issue.  The  daughters  of  Captain  Henry  Heth  married 
respectively  Messrs.  Temple  Gwathmey,Richard  H.  Cunningham, Archi- 
bald M.  Harrison,  Miles  Gary  Selden,  Robert  Beverley  Randolph  and 
Thomas  Lynch  Hamilton,  of  South  Carolina.  John  Heth  was  appointed 
a  midshipman,  United  States  Navy,  but  resigned  in  1822.  He  was  lat- 
terly known  as  "  Colonel."  He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  George 
.Pickett,  Richmond,  and  aunt  of  the  late  George  E.  Pickett,  Major- 
General  Confederate  States  Army.  Colonel  John  Heth  died  at  "  Need- 
wood,"  Chesterfield  county,  Virginia,  April  30,  1842.  Among  his  issue 
were  the  first  wife  of  the  late  Colonel  Julian  Harrison,  Confederate  States 
Army,  and  Major-GeneralHarry  Heth,  Confederate  States  Army,  now  of 
Washington,  D.  C. 


322  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

in  the  company  of  Daniel  Morgan  in  Lord  Dunmore's5  expe- 
dition against  the  Indians  in  1774.  The  following  year,  as  one  of 
the  captains  of  the  three  companies  under  Daniel  Morgan,  he 
participated  in  the  expedition  of  Arnold  against  Quebec,  which 
began  its  arduous  march  through  the  wilderness  of  Maine,  Sep- 
tember 1 6th.  In  the  unsuccessful  assault  of  Quebec,  December 
31,  1775,  he  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner,  and  kept  in  captivity 
more  than  six  months.  His  diary  of  prison  life,  covering  the 
period  February  3 — July  i,  1776,  has  been  preserved.  In  the 
orderly  book,  the  last  entry  of  which  is  July  i,  1777,  there  is  no 
record  of  his  promotion,  but  his  appointment  as  lieutenant- 
colonel  must  have  been  announced  soon  thereafter,  and  it 
dated  from  April  i,  1777.*  He  was  subsequently  promoted  colo- 
nel, and  is  stated  served  under  Lincoln  in  the  siege  of  Charles- 
ton, and  to  have  commanded  the  regiment  to  the  close  of  the 
war.7  The  latter  statement  is  evidently  erroneous,  as  he  appears 
on  the  list  of  supernumerary  officers  October,  1781. 8  The  writer 
is  in  possession  of  no  further  details  of  the  service  of  Colonel 
Heth  in  the  Revolution. 

In  1787  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Council  of  State  of 
Virginia,  a  position  then  entailing  frequent  and  exacting  service, 
as  the  body  decided  upon  the  claims  for  service  in  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  examined  the  accounts  of  various  officers  of  the  State,  and 
was  consulted  by  the  Governor  in  the  appointment  of  State  offi- 
cers. In  the  act  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  passed  March  i, 
1784,  ceding  to  the  United  States  all  the  territory  held  by  the 
State  "  North- Westward  of  the  river  Ohio,"  it  was  stipulated 
"  that  the  necessary  and  reasonable  expenses  incurred  by  Vir- 
ginia in  subduing  British  posts,  maintaining  garrisons,  etc.," 
were  to  be  reimbursed  by  the  United  States  government.  In 


5  He  was  allowed  by  the  State  of  Virginia,  May  21,  1783,  7,777^  acres 
bounty  land  for  service  from  June,   1774.     Military  Certificates,  Book 
No.  i,  p.  458.    December  8,  1809.    His  representatives  were  allowed 
additionally  688  acres.    Book  No.  2,  p.  926,  Virginia  Land  Registry. 

6  Saffell's  Records  of  the  Revolution,  p.  276,  and  Drake's  Biographi- 
cal Dictionary,  so  give  the  date  of  his  appointment   as   lieutenant- 
colonel. 

1  Drake. 

8  See  Ante,  p.  266. 


ORDERLY    BOOK   OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  323 

January,  1788,  Colonel  Heth  and  David  Henley  were  appointed 
commissioners  on  the  part  of  Virginia  to  settle  with  John  Pierce, 
commissioner  of  army  accounts  of  the  United  States,  the  claim 
of  Virginia.  His  diary  of  daily  events  and  experiences  in  the 
execution  of  his  commission  presents  a  curious  and  interesting 
mirror  of  the  period. 

On  Friday,  February  15,  1788,  he  "  left  Richmond  in  the  Stage 
without  company  yz  after  seven  o'C;  drove  at  the  rate  of  8  miles 
an  hour;  breakfasted  at  Norvell's.  Dined  at  Linch's  &  reached 
Boiling  Green  [Caroline]  county  j^  after  4  o'C." 

Saturday  i6th.  "Reached  Fredericksburg  about  n  o'C.  No 
company  going  on  to  Alex'a,  &  from  Acct's  of  the  badness  of 
the  road  &  high  waters  I  concluded  to  stay  until  Tuesday's 
Stage  when  I  expect  Colo.  Henley. — Making  my  quarters  good 
at  Gen'l  Weedon's  where  I  dined  with  a  British  officer,  Capt. 
Engs,  from  Canada,  making  a  tour  through  the  Continent  & 
who  in  the  course  of  conversation  I  found  was  one  of  those  who 
commanded  a  guard  over  us  when  I  was  a  Prisoner  in  Quebec 
in  1776.  He  has  a  nose  of  such  a  size,  shape  &  complexion  as 
excited  my  curiosity  as  much  to  touch  it  as  that  what  possessed 
the  bandy  legged  drummer's  wife  when  the  promontory  of  noses 
was  passing  through  Strasburg." 

Sunday,  i7th.  "Dined  at  Gen'l  Weedon's  in  compan'y  with 
Colo.  Ball,  ^Doct.  Mortimer  and  Domine  Rian.  Spent  an  hour 
with  Colo.  Wallace  in  the  forenoon. 

i8th.  Gen'l  Weedon,  Colo.  Ball  &  Self  dined  with  Doct.  Mor- 
timer &  Spent  the  Evening  at  Colo.  Ball's." 

Tuesday,  igth.  "  Took  leave  of  Gen'l  Weedon  &  went  off  in 
Stage  alone.  Dined  at  Stafford  C.  H. ;  reached  Dumfries  about 
7  o'C  in  the  evening.  Spent  it  very  agreeably  at  McDonald's 
tavern  in  Comp'y  with  my  old  friend,  Mr.  A.  Henderson." 

2Oth.   "  Left  Dumfries  alone  before  6  o'C — reached  Colchester 
-between  8  and  9.     Understanding  that  the  Patowmack  was  im- 
passible  I  sent  on  my  trunk  to  Alexandria  and  hiring  a  horse 
rode  down  to  Colo.  Geo.  Mason's,  where  I  din'd  &  spent  the 
day.     Very  politely  received  &  treated." 

2ist.  "Took  my  leave  after  breakfast  of  Colo.  Mason,  who 
sent  a  servant  &  pair  of  horses  with  me  to  Mount  Vernon,  where 


324  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

I  was  fortunate  enough  to  find  the  General  without  any  other 
company  than  Colo.  Humphreys  who  has  been  here  some  months. 
Dined  &  Spent  an  agreeable  day  ;  find  that  the  General  is  very 
anxious  to  see  the  proposed  Federal  Constitution  adopted  by 
all  the  States.  He  received  letters  this  Evening  from  Boston 
and  New  York  informing  him  that  the  Convention  of  Massachu- 
setts, then  sitting,  would  unquestionably  accept  of  it." 

Friday,  22d  February.  "  Took  my  leave  of  the  Gen'l  (and 
family  after  breakfast)  who  sent  with  me  a  servant  &  pr.  Horses. 
Maj'r  Geo.  Washington  was  polite  enough  to  accompany  me 
two  or  three  miles;  reached  Alexandria  between  n  &  12  o'C. 
expecting  to  go  with  the  Stage  which  did  not  get  in  from  the 
Southward  to-day.  Dined  with  Mr.  Arthur  Lee  at  our  lodgings, 
Mr.  Leigh's.  Spent  the  afternoon  with  Mr.  W.  Hunter,  and  an 
hour  or  two  in  the  evening  with  my  old  friend,  Doct'r  [James] 
Craik." 

23d.  "Left  Alexandria  ab't  12  o'C  &  crossed  at  George  Town, 
going  from  the  Virg'a  shore  to  the  Island  in  a  Cannue  &  from 
thence  walked  over  on  the  Ice  which  by  drifting  is  filled  up  to  an 
amazing  thickness.  Dined  in  Geo.  Town  and  as  the  Baltimore 
Stage  had  come  on  no  further  than  Bladensburg  owing  to  the 
mismanagement  of  the  driver  I  was  put  on  that  length  in  a  chair, 
where  I  arrived  about  7  o'C." 

24th.  "Left  Bladensburg  about  6  o'C.  Reached  Baltimore 
between  4  and  5  o'C.  Spent  an  hour  or  two  with  my  intimate 
friend  Gen'l  [Otho  H.]  Williams.  Wrote  Eliza  [his  wife]  the 
4th  letter  [since  leaving  her]." 

25th.  Left  Baltimore  ^  after  7  o'C  in  company  with  Mrs. 
Jackson  (her  husband  riding  on  horseback)  of  Philadelphia,  a 
sensible,  gentle  Lady,  Mr.  Richard  Cursons,  Jr.,  Merch't,  Balti- 
more, Benedict  Hale,  of  this  State,  a  gentleman  with  whom  I  was 
acquainted  at  Bath  [Va.]  in  the  year  1768,  Mr.  Scott,  a  lawyer, 
and  two  young  fellows  going  to  Philadelphia.  Reached  the  Sus- 
quehannah  a  little  after  sun  set.  We  concluded  not  to  venture 
to  cross  'til  morning." 

26th.  "Arose  all  hands  at  5  o'C  and  as  it  had  froze  pretty 
hard  we  set  out  as  soon  as  we  could  fairly  see  across.  •  The  ferry- 
man piloting  us  &  dragging  our  baggage  and  Mr.  Jackson  on 


ORDERLY   BOOK   OF  MAJOR  WILLIAM   HETH.  325 

a  small  steed  a  little  better  than  a  mule,  got  all  over  without  any 
boat  or  danger  &  set  off  in  the  stage  ^  after  6  o'C.  Break- 
fasted at  head  of  Elk  &  refreshed  in  Wilmington  while  horses 
were  changing ;  halted  for  the  same  purpose  at  Chester  &  got  to 
Phil'a  about  10  o'C  at  night.  Stopped  at  the  Indian  Queen, 
4th  Street. 

27th.  "  Spent  the  day  in  delivering  letters  &  doing  private 
business  for  Gen'l  Weedon  &  others.  Dined  at  Mr.  Sam'l 
Pleasants  ;  waited  on  Mrs.  Jackson  in  the  evening  ;  received 
many  thanks  from  her  husband  for  my  attention  to  her.  Met 
with  Miss  Rittenhouse  &  a  Miss  Dale,  both  of  whom  played  a 
few  pieces  on  the  Piano  forte,  as  did  Mrs.  Leath,  sister  of  Mrs. 
Jackson.  Took  my  leave  between  7  &  8  o'C." 

28th.  "Set  out  [with  stage]  for  New  York  at  6  o'C  ;  reached 
the  Gen'l  Washington  ^  after  7  o'C — 10  miles;  Breakfasted  and 
changed  Horses;  drove  to  Burlington  10  miles  in  i  hour  and  15 
minutes  ;  changed  horses  and  drove  to  the  upper  ferry  at  Tren- 
ton in  i  Hour  and  20  minutes  ;  found  the  river  hard  frozen  on 
each  side  so  far  as  to  throw  the  whole  water  within  the  compass 
of  100  yards,  which  ran  with  great  rapidity ;  walked  to  the  edge 
of  the  Ice  &  then  got  into  a  small  skiff  with  two  other  passen- 
gers and  the  ferryman,  who,  notwithstanding  the  strength  of  the 
current,  managed  the  boat  with  great  ease,  but  striking  the  boat 
against  a  piece  of  ice,  which  had  broken  off,  he  had  nearly  over- 
set us.  Dined  at  Trenton  &  drove  to  Princetown,  12  miles  in  one 
hour  &  a  half;  halted  a  few  minutes  and  put  on  with  the  same 
horses  to  Jones',  8  miles,  drove  in  less  than  one  hour  &  a  quar- 
ter. As  it  was  then  between  7  &  8  o'C  &  we  had  the  river  to 
cross  on  the  Ice,  which  they  drove  over  with  waggons,  we  con- 
cluded to  go  no  further  &  the  Stage  returned  to  Jones's. " 

29th.  "  Curson  &  Self  put  on  in  a  Sleigh.  Set  out  ]/?.  after 
6  o'C  ;  drove  over  the  Rariton  river  in  full  trot  &  reach' d  Wood- 
bridge,  10  miles  in  one  hour  and  12  minutes,  where  we  break- 
fasted changing  sleigh  horses  &  got  to  Elizabeth  Town  Point, 
12^  miles  in  one  hour  and  13  minutes;  crossed  over  in  a  skiff 
to  Staten  Island  &  then  put  on  in  a  sleigh  about  3  miles  to  Ive- 
sons',  where  we  fell  in  with  a  number  of  market  people  going  to 
New  York;  embarked  in  a  large  boat  with  two  sails,  a  cabbin 


326  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

with  stove  &  crossing  over  to  Bergen  Point,  landed  two  men  with 
their  horses  &  then  put  round  for  New  York,  which  we  reached 
in  58  minutes,  12  miles.  Put  up  at  the  City  Tavern  &  dined  & 
then  went  to  Ellsworth's  to  wait  on  Mr.  [James]  Madison  and 
Mr.  Beacon.  The  first  not  within.  Left  the  papers  and  letters 
with  the  latter,  delivered  sundry  Private  letters ;  waited  on  my 
old  friend  and  fellow  Prisoner  in  Quebeck,  Gen'l  [John]  Lamb; 
affectionately  received  and  invited  to  dine  with  him  to-morrow. 
Lodged  at  the  City  Tavern." 

Saturday,  March  ist.  Waited  on  Mr.  Maddison  after  Break- 
fast;  find  him  prepared  to  leave  Town  to-morrow  for  Virg'a. 
Waited  on  Mr.  Cyrus  Griffin,  another  delegate  from  Virg'a  & 
President  of  Congress,  where  I  am  to  meet  the  delegation  in  the 
evening  &  to  dine  to-morrow.  Mr.  Maddison  consented  to  stay 
'til  Monday  to  introduce  the  business  &  do  everything  in  his 
power  to  promote  the  Object  of  Virg'a.  Dined  with  Gen'l. 
Lamb  ;  most  cordially  treated  &  rec'd  with  a  general  invitation. 

3d.  ' '  Mr.  Madison  laid  the  business  before  Congress  this  fore- 
noon when  it  was  referred  to  a  Committee  of  five,  viz  :  Gen'l. 
Wadsworth  of  Connec. ;  Mr.  Dare,  of  Mass. ;  Mr.  Clarke,  of 
Jersey;  Gen'l.  Irvine,  of  Penn. ;  and  Mr.  Kearney,  of  Delaware. 
Went  to  the  play  in  company  with  the  President  [Mr.  Griffin] 
and  three  other  members  of  Congress.  Agreeably  enough  en- 
tertained with  the  "Duenna"  ;  some  good  musick  and  admirable 
singing  by  Mrs.  Henry,  who  is  the  third  sister  and  third  wife  to 
Henry,  the  comedian." 

4th.  Dined  with  Mr.  Pierce,  who  in  politeness  to  me  had 
invited  Gen'l  Knox,  Sec'y  at  War;  Gen'l  Wadsworth,  Cap't 
Dayton,  Mr.  Gilman  and  Mr.  Wingate,  Members  of  Congress. 
Went  home  with  Gen'l  Knox  and  spent  the  evening  with  him, 
'til  near  12  o'C.  Engaged  to  dine  with  him  on  Saturday.  Took 
leave  of  Mr.  Madison  at  the  ferry  boat  between  i  &  2  o'C." 

The  adjustment  of  the  claim  of  Virginia  progressed  but  slowly, 
the  "  award  "  not  being  signed  by  the  Commissioners  until  May 
I5th.  In  the  meantime,  whilst  he  unremittingly  left  undone 
nothing  likely  in  his  information  and  apprehension  to  promote  the 
interest  of  Virginia,  Colonel  Heth  continued  to  be  constantly 
and  variedly  "  most  agreeably  "  entertained  and  diverted.  He 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  327 

breakfasted,  dined  or  supped,  among  many  others,  with  Baron 
Steuben,  Governor  Clinton,  John  Wickham  and  wife,  Generals 
Irvine,  Butler,  Williams,  Webb  and  St.  Clair,  Arthur  Lee, 
Samuel  Osgood,  Andrew  J.  Pickens,  Colonels  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, Rice,  Henry  and  Burr — "  A  fellow  adventurer  on  Arnold's 
march,"  James  Wilson,  "the  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,"  "Mr.  Paradise  of  English  parents,  but  who 
was  born  in  Turkey,  whose  Lady  was  a  Ludwell  born 
in  Virg'a  and  is  first  cousin  to  R.  H.  Lee,"  and  "Mr. 
McComb,  an  Irishman  who  has  made  his  plumb  as  a  trader  at 
Detroit  and  contractor  to  the  British."  Many  of  his  evenings 
were  devoted  to  the  "  Play-house  "  and  other  "  diversions."  He 
mentions  the  "  wonderful  performances  in  balancing,  &c,  under 
the  direction  of  Signor  Carli— the  performers,  a  negro  man  and  a 
small  white  boy,"  the  playing  of  Miss  Eccles  on  the  harpsichord 
and  among  many  other  plays  that  of  ' '  The  School  for  Soldiers, 
or  the  Deserter,"  "  a  most  affecting  performance  &  admirably 
executed  ;  a  very  crowded  house  &  many  weeping  Eyes." 

April  I5th.  He  notes  the  quelling  by  the  military  of  a  mob  which 
sought  vengeance  on  some  medical  students — detected  body- 
snatchers.  In  the  riot,  four  citizens  lost  their  lives  and  many 
others  received  injuries,  among  them  Baron  Steuben,  "a  wound 
between  his  eyes"  and  Mr.  Jay  who  "got  his  scull  almost 
cracked." 

Colonel  Heth  left  New  York  to  return  home  in  the  afternoon 
of  May  i6th,  and  reached  Richmond  on  the  26th.  He  "lodged 
at  Harry's/'  his  brother's  house,  that  night  and  got  home, 
["  Curies,"  in  Henrico  county,]  the  following  morning  to  break- 
fast. "  Happy  once  more  in  meeting  my  Eliza  &  boy  well.' ' 

His  successful  accomplishment  of  his  commission  met  the 
commendation  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  and  later  he 
was  voted  additional  compensation  for  his  services  by  the 
Assembly. 

His  time,  as  now  recorded,  was  divided  in  attention  to  his 
farm,  attendance  on  the  State  Convention  then  in  session,  at  the 
Council  Chamber,  and  in  social  claims. 

He  appears  almost  daily  to  have  been  entertained  by  his  friends 
or  to  have  extended  bounteous  hospitality  at  "Curies."  His 


328  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

guests,  sometimes  more  than  twelve  in  number,  would  reach  his 
home  in  the  forenoon  and  spend  the  day,  some  remaining  unti 
the  following  morning  and  others  several  days.  They  included 
members  of  the  Convention  from  various  sections  of  the  State, 
old  army  comrades,  the  Governor  (then  Edmund  Randolph), 
Captain  Marshall  (the  future  Chief  Justice),  prominent  citizens 
of  Richmond,  and  neighboring  planters  and  their  wives  and 
daughters. 

And  so  the  welcome  extended  and  prevailed.  Sometimes 
the  guests  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  other  friends  and 
accompanied  them  home,  and  thus  an  intended  visit  of  one 
day  was  prolonged  into  an  absence  from  home  of  often  more 
than  a  week.  It  was  a  charming  social  system,  as  free  from 
pomp  and  factitious  restraint  as  it  was  spontaneous  and  refined. 

It  was  an  existence,  in  its  purity  and  reality,  never  to  be  re- 
vived, fostered  by  circumstances  which  have  been  ruthlessly 
destroyed  and  over-shadowed. 

Among  the  early  appointments  of  President  Washington  was 
that  of  Colonel  Heth  as  Collector  of  the  Ports  of  Richmond, 
Petersburg,  and  Bermuda  Hundred,  a  position  which  was  con- 
scientiously and  efficiently  filled.  Colonel  Heth  was  a  man  of 
decided  convictions.  He  was  devoted  to  Washington,  and  was 
as  constant  in  his  political  faith  as  he  was  consistent  in  his  code 
of  social  ethics. 

The  election  of  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency  betrayed  the  impul- 
sive veteran  into  some  asperities  of  speech  and  the  perpetration 
of  a  rhyming  pasquinade,  in  which  he  dealt  very  freely  with 
some  alleged  frailties  of  the  President. 

His  transgression  received  summary  attention.  His  office  was 
first  divided  and  diminished,  the  collectorship  of  Richmond 
being  bestowed  on  Major  James  Gibbon,  and  a  little  later  he  was 
entirely  superseded  by  the  appointment  of  John  Page  in  July, 
1802,  to  the  collectorship  of  Petersburg  and  Bermuda  Hundred. 
The  action  of  Colonel  Heth  was  prompt.  He  turned  over  at 
once  the  books  of  his  office  to  his  deputy,  Charles  Turnbull,  and 
requested  the  adjustment  of  his  accounts.  The  health  of  Mr. 
Page  not  allowing  him  to  qualify,  Colonel  Heth  was  constrained 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  329 

to  remain  at  his  post  until  November  following,  when  Dr.  John 
Shore  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office.9 

Colonel  Heth  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Virginia  to  the 
convention  which  met  in  Philadelphia  May  4,  1784,  and  organ- 
ized the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  ;  and  he  was  also  one 
of  those  who  met  at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  October  6,  1783, 
and  organized  the  Virginia  branch  of  the  Society.  He  was  unani- 
mously elected  treasurer  of  the  State  Society  at  the  meeting 
held  in  Richmond,  November  16,  1786,  and  continued  to  hold 
the  office  until  his  death. 

Colonel  Heth  was  stout  in  person  and  of  medium  stature.  He 
had  lost  an  eye  from  a  wound  received  during  the  war.  A  bust 
portrait  of  him  in  crayon  is  in  the  possession  of  his  great-grand- 
son, Mr.  Richard  Heth  Munford  Harrison,  Richmond,  Virginia. 

The  death  of  Colonel  Heth,  by  apoplexy,  was  sudden.  The 
exact  date  has  not  been  preserved,  but  it  was  in  April,  1807, 
some  time  prior  to  the  8th,  as  on  that  day  his  will  was  admitted 
to  probate. 

He  was  twice  married,  and  mentions  in  his  will  slaves  received 
by  his  first  wife,  whose  name  is  not  given.  He  married  secondly 
Eliza,  daughter  of  Gray  and  Dorothea  (Pleasants)  Briggs.10 

He  appears  to  have  possessed  a  comfortable  estate,  which 
included  slaves,  stocks  and  three  farms — "Curies,"  "  Bremo  " 
and  "Shilela."  His  executors  were  John  Marshall,  Edward 
Carrington,  Harry  Heth,  his  brother,  and  Henry  G.  Heth,11  his 
son.  He  mentions  his  son,  Henry  G.,  and  daughters,  Mary 
Andrewetta,  Ann  Eliza  Agnes  Pleasants  and  Margaret  Thomas 

'Still  the  war  upon  Colonel  Heth  did  not  cease.  An  amount  of  sev- 
eral hundred  dollars  accruing  from  a  commission  fixed  by  Congress 
was  disputed .  Colonel  Heth  referred  the  matter  to  the  courts,  where  the 
legal  decision  was  in  his  favor,  and  he  received  a  receipt  from  the  gov- 
ernment in  full  and  final  satisfaction  of  his  accounts.  The  net  emolu- 
ments of  the  office  appear  to  have  been  about  $4,000  annually. 

10  Gray  Briggs  was  a  native  of  England,  and  his  wife,  the  daughter  of 
John  Pleasants,  of  "  Curies,"  son  of  John  and  Dorothea  (Gary)  Pleas- 
ants, and  grandson  of  John  Pleasants  (and   his  wife  Jane,  widow  of 
Samuel  Tucker),  who  emigrated  from  Norwich,  England,  and  settled  at 
"  Curies,"  James  river,  in  1668.     Born  1640;  died  May  12,  1698 

11  Drowned  by  the  capsizing  of  a  sail-boat  in  James  river,  October  7, 
1816. 


330  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Jaquelin  Heth.  These  respectively  married  Richard  Lorton, 
Bowler  Cocke  and  Samuel  Pleasants,  M.  D.  He  provides  also 
with  lands  in  Kentucky  for  his  adopted  or  acknowledged  son, 
William  H.  Heth,  "  commanding  the  ship  John  Marshall,  owned 
by  Archibald  Gracie,  of  New  York."  12  The  widow  of  Colonel 
Heth  married  secondly  Lightfoot  Janney,  but  they  had  no  issue. 
Of  the  issue  of  Richard  and  Mary  Andrewetta  (Heth)  Lorton, 
Margaret  A.  E.  became  the  wife  of  John  Nicholas  Harrison,13 
the  son  of  Benjamin  and  Dolly  Pleasants  Gray  Briggs  (Nicholas) 
Harrison,  and  grandson  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  "  Wakefield," 
and  grandson  of  Colonel  John  and  Dolly  (Briggs)  Nicholas. 


12  His  descendants  in   Kentucky  are  said  to  be  held  in  high  social 
esteem. 

13  Parents  of  Richard  Heth  Munford  Harrison. 


ORDERLY  BOOK 


OF 


MAJOR  WILLIAM  HETH, 

1777. 


BOUND  BROOK,  May  isth,  1777. 
D.  ORDERS. 

The  General  having  Observ'd  that  many  of  the  Men  make 
a  practice  of  lying  or  sitting  on  the  Ground,  Often  on  such  as  is 
wet  and  Cold,  desires  that  the  Officers  would  pay  particular 
attention  to  correct  a  Custom  so  injurious. 

The  Field  Officer  of  the  day  will  in  future  take  the  ;names  of 
the  Commanders  of  Guards  and  their  strength  on  parade  & 
transmit  the  same  to  the  Commissary  that  he  may  be  enabled  to 
issue  their  Rum  without  any  further  trouble  to  the  Officer  of  the 
day. 

One  Capt.  2  subs.  3  Serg'ts,  3  Corps,  2  Drum's  and  Fifes  & 
40  Privates  are  to  relieve  Picquet  now  furnished  by  Colo.  Arnold 
from  Quibble-Town  on  the  road  leading  thither  to-morrow 
morning,  this  to  be  done  daily  till  further  orders. 

A  Drum  and  fife  will  for  the  future  [attend]  every  Capt's 
Guard,  as  also  that  of  the  Genl's  Field  Officer  of  the  day  to- 
morrow Lt.  Col.  Nelson."  All  the  Drums  &  fifes  in  this  division 
will  attend  on  the  Guard  parade  at  Guard  Mounting. 

14  The  Virginia  Convention  in  session  at  Richmond,  January  12,  1776, 
by  ballot  elected  the  following  as  officers  of  the  Seventh  Virginia  regi- 
ment: William  Dangerfield,  Colonel  (see  ante,  p.  216);  Alexander  Mc- 
Clanahan,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  William  Nelson,  Major.  The  last 
named  was  subsequently  promoted  lieutenant-colonel,  and  is  presumed 
to  have  been  the  officer  of  the  text.  Waddill  (Annals  of  Augusta 
County,  Virginia,  p.  160)  states  that  Colonel  McClanahan  was  at  the 


332  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


BOUND  BROOK,  i6th  May,  1777. 

D.  ORDERS.     Parole.     C  Sign. 

The  General  is  sorry  that  he  is  again  Obliged  to  direct  that 
no  Officer  commanding  a  Picquet  or  any  out  post  presume  to  be 
reliev'd  till  he  has  first  informed  the  Officer  relieving  him  the 
Ground. 


B.  BROOK,  May  i7th,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

The  7th  and  nth  Reg'ts  will  be  on  parade  to-morrow  at  4 
o'clock  in  the  Afternoon  and  go  through  the  Exercise  &  Evo- 
lutions. 

The  General  desires  the  Officers  will  be  particularly  attentive 
to  have  their  Men  clean  and  their  Arms  in  the  best  order. 

D.  O.     Parole.      C  Sign. 

Field  Officer  of  the  day  to-morrow,  Col.  Bowman.15 


CAMP  B.  BROOK,  May  i7th,  1777. 
GEN'L  ORDERS. 

The  Officers  of  Reg'ts  are  to  attend  the  parade  at  Reveille. 
Beating  at  ten  o'clock  &  four  in  the  afternoon. 

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  Williamsburg  in  1776,  and  was  com- 
missioned colonel  of  the  Seventh  Virginia,  October  7,  1776.  At  that 
time  General  Woodford's  brigade  was  composed  of  the  Third,  Seventh, 
Eleventh,  and  Fifteenth  regiments.  McClanahan  retired  from  the 
army  before  the  end  of  the  war.  He  married  Miss  Shelton,  a  sister  of 
the  first  wife  of  Patrick  Henry.  He  had  issue — two  daughters — Mrs. 
Abney  and  Mrs.  Austin,  and  a  son,  John,  who  died  unmarried. 

15  January  12,  1776,  Abraham  Bowman  was  appointed  by  the  Virginia 
Convention  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eighth  Virginia  or  "  German  Regi- 
ment," of  which  Peter  Muhlenburg  was  appointed  colonel.  The  latter 
was  subsequently  promoted  major-general.  Bowman  received  from 
the  State  of  Virginia,  October  i,  1810,  7,591%  acres  of  land  as  bounty 
for  seven  years  and  ten  months'  service. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  333 

Mr.  Tauny  Hill 18  to  rank  as  First  Lieutenant  in  consequence 
of  a  Vacancy  that  happened  the  i5th  of  Nov'r. 

DAN'L  MORGAN. 


NEAR  B.  BROOK,  May  igth,  1777. 
REG'L  ORDERS. 

The  Drum  &  Fife  Majors  must  take  particular  care  that  the 
Drummers  &  Fifers  are  particularly  drest,  their  Drums  &  Fifes 
in  good  Order  and  that  they  practice  together  one  hour  every 
day. 

No  Drummer  or  Fifer  to  play  or  Beat  after  Tattos  &  Reveille 
Beating  except  by  order  of  the  Commanding  Officer. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  see  the  officers  of  the  Regt's  appear 
clean  &  genteel  on  the  parade,  And  hope  and  Expect  that  they 
will  take  care  that  their  Men  in  like  Manner  for  the  future  appear 
decent  &  clean  on  the  parade  as  nothing  attends  so  much  to  the 
health  of  Soldiers  as  Cleanliness. 

A  Fatigue  to  parade  to-morrow  at  Troop  Beating  under  Direc- 
tion of  the  Quarter  Masters. 

That  the  Adjutant  attend  every  Morning  at  Reveille  and 
Retreat  Beating  to  Enquire  where  the  Absent  Men  are  &  the 
reason  why  they  are  absent. 

COL.  MORGAN,"  Com'g. 


BOUND  BROOK,  May  igth,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

The  Commanding  Officer  of  each  Corps  will  immediately 
draw  Ammunition  to  complete  their  Men  &  see  that  their  Arms 
are  well  Clean' d  and  kept  in  constant  good  order. 

For  the  future  the  Officers  of  each  Company  will  carefully 
examine  at  Retreat  Beating  what  are  loaded,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  discharged  &  those  of  each  Company  in  a  Battalion  Assem- 

16  Josiah  Tannehill,  subsequently,  from  January  i,  1782,  paymaster  and 
clothier  of  Colonel  Gibson's  regiment,  colonel  of  militia ;  and  after  the 
war  married  Nancy,  sister  of  Colonel  William  Heth. 

17  The  celebrated  Daniel  Morgan. 


334  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

ble  together  under  the  Command  of  a  Captain  who  is  to  march 
them  to  some  Convenient  place  &  see  that  they  &  only  they  dis- 
charge their  Arms,  &  March  them  back  to  their  Regimental 
parade  &  Dismiss  them.  Any  soldier  that  is  discovered  firing 
his  piece  at  any  time  will  be  severely  punish' d.  Every  Officer 
who  observes  such  firing  out  of  time  is  deser'd  to  Confine  the 
Offinder  immediately. 


D.  ORDERS.     Parole.     C.  Sign. 

A  General  Court  Martial  to  sit  to-morrow  at  10  O'clock 
for  the  Trial  of  the  Prisoners  in  the  Main  Guard. 

COL.  SPOTSWOOD,18  President. 

The  Court  to  Sit  in  the  Red  House  opposite  the  Grand  Parade. 
Field  officer  of  the  day,  to-morrow,  Major  Davis. 


CAMP  NEAR  B.  BROOK,  May  2oth,  1777. 
R.  O. 

The  Commanding  Officers  of  the  different  Companies  are 
desir'd  to  make  an  immediate  Return  of  what  Arms  are  wanting 
to  Complete  their  Companies  and  such  as  are  unfit  for  service, 
also  the  Number  of  Flints  wanting  to  furnish  two  to  each  Man, 
and  Cartridges  to  fill  up  their  Boxes. 


D.  ORDERS. 

The  Quibble  Town  Piquet  Guard,  the  Brunswick  &  lower 
Rariton  are  to  be  re-inforced  with  two  Subalterns,  i  Serg't,  i 
Corp'l  &  10  privates  each — A  Subaltern  to  go  at  all  times  with 


18  Alexander,  son  of  Colonel  John,  the  eldest  son  of  Colonel  Alexan- 
der Spotswood,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Virginia,  1710-1722,  was  first 
captain  of  an  independent  company;  appointed  major  of  the  Second 
Virginia  regiment,  August  17,  1775 ;  promoted  lieutenant-colonel ; 
received,  September  4,  1790,  6,000  acres  of  land  as  bounty  from  the 
State  of  Virginia. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  335 

the  Scouts  by  day  &  Night  &  no  attack  to  be  made  on  the  Sen- 
tries [except]  by  leave  obtained  from  the  Commanding  Officer 
of  the  Guard  who  shall  send  out  such  Scouts  or  Patrols.  Care 
will  be  taken  by  the  Scouts  fully  to  Examine  all  houses,  places 
where  an  Enemy  may  be  conceal' d  before  they  pass,  &  while 
observing  the  State  of  the  Enemy,  particular  Care  will  be  taken 
by  having  Sentries  on  Commanding  Ground  in  the  front  to  watch 
their  Motions  &  prevent  the  Scouts  being  out-flank' d  and 
enclos'd.  The  General  is  sorry  to  have  so  much  firing  at  Retreat 
Beating  as  has  been  some  days  past  &  is  surpriz'd  that  the  orders 
of  May  2Oth  which  mention' d  the  discharging  such  Guns  only 
as  had  been  long  Charg'd,  or  was  wet,  or  such  as  shou'd  urg'd 
in  Justification  thereof. 

No  Guns  in  future  will  be  discharg'd  at  Retreat  Beating  sav- 
ing such  as  shall  be  permitted  by  the  Commanding  Officers  of 
the  several  Divisions.  The  nth  Virg'a  Reg' t  to  be  muster' d 
to-morrow  therefore  Exempted  from  any  other  Duty. 

Field  Officer  of  the  day  to-morrow  Lt.  Col.  Butler.  Adju- 
tant— Mr.  Gibbs. 


AFTER  ORDERS. 

The  Officers  Commanding  Companies  will  read  the  orders 
of  the  preceding  Day  every  Morning  on  their  respective  parades 
to  their  Men.  As  likewise  the  Officers  Commanding  Piquets, 
that  whole  Divisions  may  be  acquainted  with  them  &  have  no 
plea  for  their  Non-performance. 


BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

i  Capt.,  3  Subalterns,  3  Serg'ts,  3  Corporals  &  50  Rank  & 
file  to  parade  at  4  o' Clock  this  Afternoon.  The  Captain  is  to 
wait  on  General  Woodford  for  his  orders.  The  Officers  are 
desired  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the  Orders  respecting  their 
Men  firing  at  Retreat  Beating.  The  whole  Brigade  are  to  be 
upon  their  Arms  in  their  Tents  &  quarters  &  not  undress 
themselves  that  they  may  be  ready  to  parade  at  the  shortest 
Warning. 


336  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

CAMP  BOUND  BROOK,  May  2ist,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

One  Captain,  two  subaterns,  4  Serg'ts,  4  Corporals  &  60 
rank  &  file  to  parade  immediately  for  a  Detachment.  Lieut.  Col. 
Parker 19  will  command  the  party.  As  the  weather  is  now  fair, 
there  will  be  no  necessity  for  firing  any  of  the  arms  as  usual. 
The  Officers  will  therefore  take  Notice  that  there  be  no  dis- 
charging of  Arms  till  further  orders.  All  the  Tents  to  be  struck 
every  fine  Day  at  ten  O' Clock  &  pitched  again  at  4  O' Clock. 
The  Officers  are  desir'  d  to  be  Careful  for  the  future  to  have  all 
orders  respecting  the  Men  regularly  read  to  them  agreeable  to 
Yesterday's  Orders. 

22d  May,  1777. 
R.  ORDERS. 

I  find  little  regard  has  been  paid  to  my  Orders  of  the  i8th. 
I  once  more  Desire  that  the  Officers  of  the  different  Companies 
may  attend  the  Alarm  post  or  parade  at  Reveille  Beating  and  to 
keep  their  Men  at  the  Manual  Exercise  &  firing  one  hour. 


May  22d,  1777.     B.  BROOK. 

DIVISION  ORDERS.     Parole.     Countersign. 

The  Officers  Commanding  Battallions  or  Detachments  who 
have  not  drawn  Tents  will  immediately  make  return  to  the 
Quarter  Master  who  will  furnish  them  with  what  are  necessary. 


BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

A  Court  of  Inquiry  to  sit  immediately  &  to  report  to  Briga- 

ls  Richard  Parker,  lieutenant-colonel  Second  Virginia  regiment ;  pro- 
moted colonel  First  Virginia,  February  10,  1778 ;  received  6,666%  acres 
bounty  land  from  Virginia,  June  4,  1783,  for  three  years'  service. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  337 

dier-General  Woodford,20  the  nature  of  a  Complaint  Exhibited 
against  Adjutant  Vowles21  of  the  yth  Virg'a  Reg't  by  Capt. 
Livinsworth  of  Colonel  Butler's  Reg't.  The  Court  to  sit  to- 
morrow at  Major  Day's  Marke  at  4  o'clock. 

Captain  Lipscomb,"  President. 
Two  Sub's  from  the  yth  Reg't. 
Two  Do.  from  the  nth  Reg't. 

The  Camp  Colourmen 28  of  each  Reg't  to  sweep  their  Encamp- 
ments &  bury  all  the  Dead  Carcases  and  other  filth  in  and  about 
the  Camp.  Six  Subalterns,  five  Sergeants  and  54  Rank  and  file 
to  be  warned  from  the  yth  &  nth  Virg'a  Reg'ts  who  are  to  join 
Capt.  Church's24  Company  of  Colonel  Johnson's  Reg't,  consist- 
ing of  one  Captain,  two  Subaterns  &  4  Serg'ts,  36  Rank  and 
file,  who  are  to  do  the  Duty  of  Patrols  to  the  Brunswick,  Lower 
Rariton  and  Quibble  Town  Piquets  till  further  Orders  &  to  be 
Excused  from  all  other  Duty. 


20  William  Woodford,   born  in  Caroline  county,   Virginia,  in   1735; 
served  with  distinction  as  lieutenant  in  the  French  and  Indian  war  (see 
ante,  p.  218);   appointed  colonel  Second  Virginia  regiment  in   1775; 
subsequently  commanded  the  First  Virginia  brigade;  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Brandywine ;  at  the  siege  of  Charleston  was  made  prisoner 
and  taken  to  New  York  city  ;  died  there  November  13,  1780.     His  heirs 
received,  August  10,  1783,  10,000  acres  from  Virginia  as  bounty  land 
for  three  years'  service.     His  son,  John  T.  Woodford,  was  a  lieutenant- 
colonel  in  the  war  of  1812. 

21  Henry  Vowles  received  4,666%  acres  of  land  bounty  for  services  as 
captain-lieutenant. 

"Captains  Reuben  and  Bernard  Lipscomb,  both  received   bounty 
lands  from  Virginia. 

23  Six  men  were  usually  appointed  for  each  regiment  and  sometimes 
one  for  each  company,  as  camp  colourmen.    They  marched  with  the 
quartermaster  to  assist  in  making  necessary  preparations  against  the 
arrival  of  the  regiment  in  a  new  encampment.    They  also  carried  the 
camp  colors.     (Duane's  Military  Dictionary.} 

24  Captain  Thomas  Church  (originally  of  Wayne's  battalion),  of  Colo- 
nel Francis  Johnston's  Fifth  Pennsylvania  regiment,  appointed  January 
5,   I776;    promoted    major  Fourth    Pennsylvania    September,    1777; 
relieved  from  service  January  i,  1781 ;  died  near  Coventryville,  Chester 
county,  Pennsylvania. 


338  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

General  Weedon's25  Brigade  is  to  furnish  the  Same  Number  of 
Officers  &  Men  for  this  Duty,  which  is  to  be  done  in  the  follow- 
ing manner,  Two  Commissioned  Officers,  two  Sergeants,  and 
twenty  Rank  and  file  to  each  of  the  above  Piquets,  to  be  relieved 
every  twenty  four  hours. 

General  Weedon  furnishes  the  Quibble  Town  Piquet  this  Eve- 
ning, &  the  other  two  to  be  furnished  from  this  Brigade.  The 
Brigade  Major  will  Consult  with  the  Commanding  Officers  of  the 
7th  &  nth  Reg'ts  to  pitch  upon  the  properest  officers  for  this 
duty  &  he  is  to  make  the  several  Regiments  allowance  in  the 
General  Detail. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  MORRIS  TOWN,  May  igth,  1777. 

The  Commander-in-Chief  positively  directs  that  all  officers 
Stationed  at  out  posts  do  not  come  to  Morris  Town,  but  when  their 
Business  absolutely  requires  it  &  in  that  Case  that  they  return 
to  their  Posts  with  all  expedition.  Thomas  Mullin,  Esq'r,  is  ap- 
pointed Brigade  Major  to  Brig'r  General  De  Borre,26  and  is  to  be 
respected  &  obeyed  as  such.  A  Number  of  horses  having  been 
drawn  from  the  Quarter  Master  General  for  particular  Services  & 
not  return' d  when  the  business  was  perform' d — All  Officers  of 
Regiments  and  others  in  possession  of  horses  belonging  to  or 
hir'd  by  the  States  are  immediately  to  return  them  to  the  Quarter 


25  George  Weedon  patented  236  acres  near  the  lands  of  John  Winston 
in  1694  ( Virginia  Land  Registry  Book,  No.  2,  p.  5),  and  John  Weedon 
400  acres  of  land  in  Henrico  county,  July  9,  1724  (No.  12,  p.  12). 
George  Weedon  served  as  an  ensign  in  the  French  and  Indian  war  (see 
ante,  p.  214).  Subsequent  to  the  Revolution  he  was  an  innkeeper  and 
portmaster  of  Fredericksburg,  Virginia. 

26Peudhomme  De  Borre,  a  French  officer  of  thirty- five  years'  service 
in  Europe,  claimed  the  post  of  honor  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  line 
at  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  General  Sullivan  would  not  yield,  and  by 
a  circuitous  march  endeavoring  to  outreach  De  Borre  was  late  upon 
the  field.  The  latter  then  took  the  coveted  position,  but  his  brigade 
was  the  first  to  give  way  in  the  action.  For  his  conduct  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  also  in  the  expedition  against  Staten  Island,  Congress  voted 
an  inquiry.  De  Borre  was  offended  and  resigned  his  commission, 
which  was  promptly  accepted. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  339 

Master  General,  his  Deputy,  or  Assistants  in  the  Districts  they 
may  be  at.  The  General  Officers  are  to  order  returns  to  be  made 
of  any  publick  horses  employed  in  their  Families  that  the  State 
of  the  horses  belonging  to  the  Army  may  be  known. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  MORRIS  TOWN,  May  2oth,  1777. 

Valentine  Peers,  Esq'r,27  is  appointed  Brigade  Major  to  Briga- 
dier General  Weedon  &  is  to  be  respected  &  obeyed  as  such. 

Lewis  Woodruff,  Esq'r,28  appointed  a  Deputy  Muster  Master. 

Colonels  and  Commanding  Officers  of  Battallions  &  Corps 
must  cause  their  Regimental  Paymasters  to  make  up  their  pay 
Abstracts  to  the  3oth  of  April  inclusive,  &  order  them  to  attend 
at  the  Pay-Master  General's.  They  must  be  Examined  and 
Signed  by  their  respective  Commanding  Officers  and  Brigadiers, 
who  will  diligently  Compare  them  with  the  daily  and  weekly 
Regimental  Returns  &  certify  them.  The  Company  Abstracts 
must  be  delivered  into  the  Paymaster  General  with  the  Regi- 
mental Abstracts. 

That  the  great  &  necessary  purpose  of  adjusting  the  rank  of 
all  the  Officers  in  [the]  American  Army  may  be  effected  with  all 
Expedition,  His  Excellency,  The  Commander-in-Chief,  is  pleased 
to  order  that  the  Officers  of  each  Continental  Battallion  do  im- 
mediately Examine  into  the  present  rank  &  and  hear  the  pre- 
tensions thereto  of  all  the  Captains  &  Subalterns  ; — settle  them, 
when  they  can,  to  the  Satisfaction  of  all  the  Gentlemen  concern'd; 
and  make  a  full  and  fair  report  of  all  their  proceedings  to  the 
Brigadier  Commanding  their  Brigade — And  that  the  Brigadiers 
with  the  assistance  of  the  Field  Officers  in  their  Brigade,  do, 
upon  the  receipt  of  such  reports,  proceed  to  adjust  the  rank  of 
all  the  officers  in  their  separate  Brigades  and  make  a  full  & 
fair  report  of  their  proceedings  to  the  Major  General  Command- 


47  Valentine  Peers  received  from  the  State  of  Virginia  5,333 1/$  acres 
as  bounty  for  three  years'  service  as  captain. 

28 Lewis  Woodruff  was  appointed,  November  28,  1776,  second  lieu- 
tenant of  the  Fourth  New  Jersey  battalion  of  the  Second  State  Estab- 
lishment. 


340  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

ing  their  Divisions,  that  should  there  be  any  instance  of  any  dis- 
satisfaction in  their  Officers  with  the  determination  of  their  Field 
Officers,  they  be  candidly  insinuated  by  each  Field  Officer,  and 
parties  Comparing  with  all  their  attendant  Circumstances  &  re- 
ported to  their  respective  Brigadiers,  who  call  before  them  all  the 
parties  Interested  &  inquire  into  their  Claims,  and  if  they  cannot 
be  settled  to  general  Satisfaction  make  a  special  &  particular 
report  to  their  Major  General,  upon  receipt  of  which  several 
reports  at  Board  of  Officers  will  take  a  dispassionate  and  com- 
parative view  of  the  whole  &  determine  the  Rank  in  the  Army. 
Untill  which  time  it  is  Expected  the  Service  will  not  be  Injured 
by  disputes  about  Rank,  but  that  every  Officer  will  by  an  Emu- 
lous discharge  of  his  duty  recommend  himself  to  his  Country, 
and  to  the  promotion  he  thinks  himself  Instilled  to. 


CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  May  24th,  1777. 
GEN'L  ORDERS. 

The  Brigadier  Generals  are  requested  to  get  a  Return  of 
the  actual  Strength  of  each  Reg't  in  their  respective  Brigades  & 
also  the  Number  of  Tents  drawn  for  the  use  of  the  Regiments, 
their  returns  to  be  made  immediately. 

The  Quarter- Master  General  is  to  proportion  the  Tents  to  the 
strength  of  the  Reg'ts,  one  tent  to  each  five  privates,  two  tents 
to  the  Officers  of  each  Company,  one  to  each  Field  Officer,  one 
to  the  Serg't  Major  and  Quarter  Master  Serg't  and  one  to 
Each  of  the  Staff.  Any  reg't  having  drawn  more  than  this  pro- 
portion to  deliver  them  to  Colonel  Biddle29  Quarter-Master- 
General  upon  his  application  for  the  Same — not  more  than  one 
Horseman's  Tent  to  be  allowed  to  Each  Reg't. 


CAMP  AT  MIDDLE  BROOKE,  May  26th,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

The  Commanding  Officers  of  the  several  Reg'ts  to  pay  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  orders  of  yesterday  respecting  the  Returns 

19  Colonel  Clement  Biddle. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  341 

of  their  Men  and  Number  of  Tents.  Each  Regimental  Quarter- 
Master  is  to  have  a  sufficient  Number  of  houses  for  camp  use 
made  immediately  and  they  are  required  to  be  used,  i  Serg't, 
i  Corp'l  &  12  privates  to  mount  immediately  as  a  Guard  at 
General  Woodford's  Quarters.  The  Brigade  Major  will  not 
receive  any  Soldiers  for  this  Guard,  or  any  other,  but  what  is 
Clean  &  dress' d  in  a  Soldier-like  manner.  He  will  likewise  fix 
on  a  parade  for  the  Brigade  &  order  a  Fatigue  to  Clean  it.  One 
Subaltern  for  the  future  to  take  Charge  of  the  Quarter  Guard  of 
the  Brigade  and  make  his  report  regularly  to  the  General. 

Major  Ryan30  is  appointed  to  act  as  Deputy  Adjutant  General 
and  is  to  be  obeyed  &  respected  as  such  until  his  Excellency,  the 
Adjutant-General,  or  his  Deputy  arrives  in  Camp  &  gives  Counter 
orders.  Each  Brigadier,  or  the  Commanding  officer  of  Brigades 
are  requested,  Eleven  o'clock  in  the  Morning  to  send  a  Brigade 
Major  for  orders  at  Major  Ryan's  quarters  near  the  Gap  of  the 
Mountain.  The  Deputy  Adjutant  General  will  deliver  out  the 
Details  for  the  Guards  which  are  to  be  sent  at  the  time  &  place 
according  by  the  Returns  ordered  Yesterday  to  be  delivered  in 
to  the  Adjutant  General's  Office  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  Brigade  Majors  are  to  deliver  to-morrow  to  the  Adj't 
General  at  Eleven  o'clock  the  names  of  the  Brigadier  Generals, 
the  Field  [officers]  &  Adjutants  in  the  Brigades  to  which  they 
respectively  belong. 

If  any  of  the  Brigadiers  General  are  without  Brigade  Majors 
they  must  appoint  some  person  to  do  their  duty.  Such  Brigades 
[as]  the  Brigadiers  are  absent  from,  the  Eldest  Officer  in  the 
Brigade  is  to  give  the  necessary  orders  to  the  Brigade.  The 
Brigadier  Commanding  Officer  of  Brigades  are  to  appoint 
Brigade  Parades.  The  Troops  for  Guards  are  to  assembled  on 
the  Brigade  Parades  by  the  Adjutants  and,  by  the  Brigade 
Majors  march' d  from  thence  at  half  past  Eight  o'clock.  The 
General  expects  all  orders  to  be  punctually  executed,  the  good 
of  the  Service  and  the  safety  of  the  Camp  depending  thereon. 
All  Officers,  of  whatsoever  Rank,  are  requested  to  govern  them 
accordingly.  A  General  Officer,  two  Field  Officers  &  one 

30 Michael  Ryan,  promoted  from  captain  Fifth  Pennsylvania  regiment ; 
suspended  May  19,  1778;  Inspector- General  of  Pennsylvania  1780; 
resided  in  Alexandria,  Virginia,  after  the  war. 


342  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Brigade  Major  of  the  day  to  Mount  every  morning  at  Guard 
Mounting  at  the  Guard  parade  after  the  Guards  are  sent  off. 
The  Brigade  Major  of  the  day  to  attend  at  Head  quarters  to 
deliver  such  orders  as  the  occurances  of  the  day  may  render 
necessary.  Each  Brigade  Major  of  the  day  to  appoint  an  Adju- 
tant of  the  day  for  the  parade.  Every  Brigade  to  furnish  two 
orderly  Sergeants,  one  to  attend  at  Headquarters,  and  one  at  the 
Adjutant  General's. 

[May  26th,  1777.] 

The  Brigadier  General  of  the  day,  to-morrow,  Muhlenburg. 
Field  Officer  of  the  day,  to  morrow,  Col.  Hobly.31  Brigade 
Major  of  the  day,  to-morrow,  Major  Hay.82 


CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  27th  May,  1777. 
R.  O. 

The  Officers  of  the  Regiment  are  desir'd  to  attend  to-mor- 
row at  10  o'clock  at  Colonel  Febiger's  Bush  Arbour  to  settle  their 
Ranks.  They  are  likewise  to  take  Notice  that  His  Excellency 
General  Washington  threaten' d  to  arrest  the  Command' r  of  a 
Regiment  Yesterday  for  suffering  fish  &  Bones  and  other  Nasti- 
ness  to  lie  about  his  Camp.  I  therefore  desire  that  the  Officers 
of  this  Regiment  may  exert  themselves  in  having  their  Streets 
&  their  Men's  Tents  kept  Clean  &  neat  and  to  see  that  the 
Sergeants  does  their  duty  in  having  the  Soldiers  kept  clean,  neat 
&  in  good  order,  and  their  Arms  likewise.  » 

The  Adjutant  to  see  that  the  Men  are  Clean  &  their  Arms  in 
good  order  before  he  receives  them  from  the  Sergeants.  That 
no  fires  be  made  in  Camp  except  in  the  places  appointed  for 
fires,  which  is  in  rear  of  the  Suttler's. 


CAMP  MILDLE  BROOK,  May  27th,  1777. 
GENERAL  ORDERS. 

Major  General  Lincoln ss  is  requested  in  Company  at  the 


31  Adam  Hubley,  Jr.  lieutenant  colonel  Tenth  Pennsylvania  regiment. 

32  Samuel    Hay,   promoted    lieutenant-colonel    Tenth    Pennsylvania 
regiment,  February  2,  1778. 

88  Major-General  Benjamin  Lincoln. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  343 

General  officer  of  the  day  to  examine  the  late  &  present  position  of 
the  piquet  Guard,  fix  upon  the  proper  Ground  to  post  them  & 
Establish  such  others  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  future  Security 
of  the  Camp  &  fix  their  position  by  day  &  night.  The  Officer 
of  every  Guard  must  send  a  Serg't  upon  the  Grand  parade  from 
his  Guard  to  pilot  the  new  Guard.34 


nth   Reg't  Officers  for  Guard  to-morrow  Captain  Bruins,85 
Lieutenants  Slaughter  and  Porterfield.36 


CAMP  M.  BROOK,  June  yth,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

A  Brigade  Court  Martial  to  sit  this  Morning  for  the  Tryal  of 
all  the  Prisoners  in  the  Quarter  Guard,  As  we  expect  to  have  a 
field  day  for  the  whole  Division  soon.  He  desires  that  the  Offi- 
cers of  each  Company  in  the  Brigade  will  employ  their  time  in 
having  their  Men's  Arms  clean' d  in  the  best  manner. 


34  Following  this  record  is  a  page  filled  with  an  account  of  black- 
smith's work,  of  date  April  25,  1778,  and  a  memorandum  by  one  "Wil- 
liam Bradford— Harford  county,  May  ye  gth,  1780,  State  of  Maryland." 
Several  leaves,  probably,  are  also  missing.    The,  succeeding  page  com- 
mences disconnectedly,  being  the  judgment  of  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
who  dissents  from  an  acquittal  by  a  court  martial,  and  directs  a  recon- 
sideration of  the  matter.     A  William  Bradford  was  appointed  Novem- 
ber 28,   1776,  first  lieutenant  in  a  rifle  company  of  the  regiment  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Moses  Rawlings  ;  resigned  April,  1778. 

35  Peter  Bryan  Bruin,  appointed  captain  Seventh  Virginia  regiment, 
December  13,  1776;  promoted  major;  died  in  Claiborne  county.  Mis- 
sissippi, January  27,  1827. 

36  Robert  Porterfield,  lieutenant  Seventh  Virginia  regiment,  January 
i,  1777;  adjutant  of  Colonel   Daniel  Morgan's  Eleventh  and  Fifteenth 
Virginia  regiments,  incorporated  as  they  stood  from  May  31,  1777,  to 
November  30,  1778;  promoted  captain  on  the  Continental  establish- 
ment; received  5,221%  acres  of  land  as  bounty  from   the  State  for 
seven  years  and  ten  months'  service ;  subsequently  brigadier-general 
of  State  troops;  married  Mary,  sister  of  Colonel  William  Heth. 


344  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  7,  i  777. 
GEN'L  ORDERS. 

As  the  Army  is  now  on  a  permanent  and  honourable  Foot- 
ing, and  as  the  General  has  the  credit  of  it  very  much  at  heart ;  he 
expects  that  every  Officer  on  whom  the  Importance  of  the  Con- 
test, and  a  regard  to  his  own  honour  or  duty  are  sufficiently 
impress'd;  will  lend  their  Aid  to  support  the  Character  of  it. 
To  this  end  nothing  can  be  more  effectual  than  a  close  attention 
to  Discipline  and  Subordination,  and  particularly  in  an  exact 
obedience  to  General  orders  in  which  is  the  life  of  an  Army ; 
Officers  shou'd  consider  that  a  Repetition  of  orders  is  the 
highest  reflection  on  those,  who  are  the  Causes  of  it.  An 
orderly  Book  is  a  Record  in  the  hands  of  thousands,  of  the  Trans- 
actions of  an  Army,  and  consequently  of  the  disgrace  of  those 
whose  Insensibility  to  the  Obligations  they  are  under,  and  whose 
want  of  a  manly  emulation  of  temper  obliges  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  to  publish  their  misconduct  by  repeating  his  calls  upon 
them  to  discharge  their  duty. 

The  General  appeals  to  the  understanding  of  every  officer, 
and  earnestly  recommends  a  serious  Consideration  of  these  mat- 
ters, their  Engagement  with  the  publick.  their  own  honour,  and 
the  Salvation  of  their  Country  demands  it.  The  General  wishes 
it  on  these  Accounts  &  for  his  own  ease  and  satisfaction  ;  for  as 
nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  conduct  an  Army  when  a  cheerful 
&  ready  obedience  is  paid  to  every  order,  so  nothing  is  more 
difficult  &  embarrassing,  where  a  careless,  licentious  &  disorderly 
spirit  prevails.37 

**  ********>):  # 

The  above  Prisoners  &  those  mentioned  in  former  orders  to 
be  sent  for  to  their  respective  Regiments  and  punish'd  on  their 
Brigade  parades. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  7th  June,  1777. 
AFTER  ORDERS. 

The  Men  from  each  of  the  following  Brigades,  viz't,  Max- 


Again  a  break  in  the  record— a  leaf  apparently  missing. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  345 

well's,  Muhlenburg's,38  Weedon's,  Woodford's,  Scott's,89  -Con- 
way's,40  to  parade  to-morrow  Morning  at  Guard  Mounting  at  the 
Quarter-Master-General's  Quarters  as  a  Guard  for  some  Cattle. 
The  party  to  be  commanded  by  a  subaltern  officer  and  relieved 
daily  till  further  orders — the  officer  to  be  furnish'd  from  the 
diff't  Brigades  beginning  with  Maxwell's. 

nth  Reg' t  officers  for  Guard  to-morrow  Lieut's  Harrison41  & 
Ransadale.42  Major  General  for  to-morrow  Green[e].43  Field 
Officers,  Col.  Ogden44  &  Lt.  Col.  Sears.45  Brigade  Major,  Peers. 


HEADQUARTERS  M.  BROOK,  June  8th,  1777. 

A  Detachment  of  3  Captains,  6  Sub's,  9  Serg'ts  &  150  pri- 
vates to  parade  to  morrow  Morning  at  6  o'clock  at  General 
Weedon's  parade  with  4  days  provisions  *****  }s  to 
command  this  party  and  receive  his  orders  from  Major  General 
Greene. 

By  Intelligence  from  different  quarters  there  is  much  reason 
to  believe  the  Enemy  are  on  the  Eve  of  some  important  Opera- 
tion ;  this  makes  it  absolutely  necessary  that  the  whole  Army 
should  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  move  at  a  moment's 
warning  &  that  purpose  they  are  always  to  be  furnish'd  with 
three  days  provision  ready  Cook'd.  Officers  to  take  care  that 
their  Men  carry  their  own  packs  and  to  suffer  none  but  Invalids 
to  put  their  packs  or  Arms  into  Waggons. 


88 John  Peter  Gabriel  Muhlenburg,  promoted  major-general;  born 
October  i,  1746;  died  October  i,  1807. 

39  General  Charles  Scott,  from  Virginia.  . 

40  Thomas  Count  de  Conway,  promoted  major-general. 
"James  Harrison,  of  Colonel  Daniel  Morgan's  regiment. 
"Thomas  Ransadell  or  Ransdell,  appointed  lieutenant  Seventh  Vir- 
ginia regiment,  July  i,  1777. 

"General  Nathaniel  Greene. 

44  Colonel  ^Matthias  Ogden,  of  New  Jersey. 

45John  Sears,  lieutenant-colonel  of  Virginia  on  Continental  Establish- 
ment, received  6,000  acres  bounty  land  from  Virginia,  September  4, 
1790,  for  three  year's  service. 


346  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

The  Quarter  Master  General  to  Settle  with  the  Brigadiers  the 
proper  allowance  of  Waggons  for  their  respective  Brigades  and 
to  furnish  them,  or  make  any  deficiency  immediately. 

All  Arms  deliver' d,  out  of  the  Publick  Stores,  or  purchased 
by  Officers  for  the  use  of  the  Continent,  to  be  branded,  without 
loss  of  time,  agreeable  to  former  Orders.  For  the  future  none 
but  printed  Furloughs  to  be  given  to  Soldiers.  Any  Soldier 
absent  from  his  Corps,  with  only  a  written  Furlough,  will  be 
be  taken  up,  and  his  Furlough  deemed  a  Forgery.  This  to  be 
advertised  in  the  publick  papers  of  each  State. 

A  Return  to  be  made  to-morrow  of  the  Chaplains  of  each 
Brigade,  Specifying  where  they  are. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  8th  June. 
AFTER  ORDERS.     6  o'clock. 

Those  Riflemen  returned  to  the  Adjutant  General  agreeable 
to  the  General  Order  of  the  2ist  Inst.  are  to  parade  to-morrow 
morning  at  6  o'clock  on  the  Grand  Parade.  The  Brigadiers  of 
the  different  Brigades  to  which  these  Men  respectively  belong, 
to  see  that  they  have  good  rifles  to  be  supplied  (if  their  own 
shou'd  not  be  good)  from  those  who  remain  and  don't  answer 
the  Description  of  the  General  Order  above  referred  to. 

MORGAN  CONNER,  Adf  t  Geril* 


MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  gth,  1777. 
GENERAL  ORDERS. 

TheCommander-in-Chief  is  pleased  to  approve  the  follow- 
ing Sentences  of  a  General  Court  Martial,  held  the  6th  Inst,  and 
orders  them  to  be  put  in  Execution  forthwith — the  Delinquents 


46  Morgan  Conner  entered  the  service  in  1776  as  lieutenant  in  Captain 
George  Nagel's  company  in  Colonel  William  Thompson's  regiment ; 
appointed  brigade  major  to  General  John  Armstrong,  with  rank  of 
major;  succeeded  Wilkinson  as  lieutenant-colonel  in  1777;  he  claimed 
rank,  in  1779,  as  lieutenant-colonel  Eleventh  Pennsylvania  regiment  ; 
subsequently  made  lieutenant-colonel  Seventh  Pennsylvania;  said  to 
have  been  lost  at  sea.  His  estate  was  administered  on  in  1782. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  347 

to  be  immediately  taken  out  of  the  Guard  house  and  punished 
at  the  Brigade  Parades  to  which  they  respectively  belong,  viz't: 
William  Nicholson  of  the  i5th  Virg'a  Reg't,  Charged  with  deser- 
tion, to  receive  25  Lashes.  Markham  Hill  of  i5th  Virg'a  Reg't, 
Charged  with  Desertion,  to  receive  25  Lashes.  John  King  of  the 
first  New  Jersey  Reg't,  charged  with  desertion,  to  receive  50 
Lashes.  Thomas  Banks  of  the  isth  Virg'a  Reg't,  Charged  with 
Desertion,  to  receive  20  Lashes.  Anthony  Payne  of  the  I5th 
Virg'a  Reg't,  Charged  with  desertion,  to  receive  20  Lashes.  John 
Lowry  of  the  gth  Virg'a  Reg't,  Charged  with  damning  the  Gen- 
eral &  his  orders,  to  receive  39  Lashes.  James  Dougherty  of  the 
3d  New  Jersey  Reg't,  Charged  with  deserting,  to  receive  100 
Lashes.  Daniel  Henly  of  the  3d  Virginia  Regim't,  Charg'd  with 
deserting  from  his  own  Reg't  &  Enlisting  into  another,  to  receive 
25  Lashes.  Samuel  Mason  of  the  said  Regiment,  Charg'd  with 
the  same,  to  receive  20  Lashes.  John  Bybecker  of  the  German 
Battallion,47  Charg'd  with  Deserting  &  Enlisting  into  Another 
Reg't,  the  Sentence  postponed  for  further  Evidence. 

The  Duty  of  the  Major  General  of  the  day  to  begin  with  the 
mounting  of  the  Guard  one  day  and  to  End  at  the  same  time 
the  next.  The  Commanding  Officer  of  each  Corps  to  keep  the 
Ammunition  Account  with  their  Men  &  make  them  pay  for  all 
that  is  wantonly  wasted. 

Captains  of  Companys  to  keep  a  List  of  their  Men's  Cloths 
and  have  them  critically  examined  every  Saturday.  A  Soldier 
shall  not  presume  to  sell  any  part  of  his  Cloaths  on  any  pre- 
tence whatsoever — the  prisoners  under  Sentence  of  Death  to 
prepare  for  Execution.48  * 

The  movements  of  this  army  either  for  offensive  or  Defensive 
measures  will  be  sudden,  whenever  they  do  happen,  consequently 
no  time  can  be  allowed  to  draw  or  cook  provisions.  It  may  not 
be  amiss,  therefore,  to  remind  the  officers  of  the  necessity  of 
having  their  Men  provided  agreeable  to  an  order  of  the  8th  inst. 
and  the  Commissary  is  desir'd,  if  possible,  to  furnish  Bak'd  and 

"A  German  Battalion  was  raised  agreeably  to  a  resolution  of  Con- 
gress, May  25,  1776,  composed  of  four  companies  from  Pennsylvania, 
four  from  Maryland,  to  which  was  added  a  ninth,  July  9,  1777.  Lodo- 
wick  Weltner  was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel  August  9,  1777. 

48Again  a  missing  leaf. 


348  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Salt  Provisions  for  this  purpose  which  the  Men  may  keep  by 
them,  and  continue  to  draw  their  usual  allowance.  It  has  been 
so  often  and  so  pressingly  recommended  to  officers  to  have  no 
unnecessary  baggage  with  them,  it  is  hoped  the  Army  is  entirely 
unencumbered  with  it,  but  if  the  case  should  be  otherwise  the 
General  desires  that  the  Brigadiers  will  have  it  immediately  re- 
moved. 

The  Adjutant  General  will  direct  to  what  place.  After  this 
Notice  Officers  are  not  to  be  Surpriz'd  if  heavy  Boxes,  Great 
Chests,  Bedsteads,  &c.  are  left  behind  in  the  Field.  A  very  small 
Escort  from  the  whole  Line  will  be  necessary  to  Guard  the  Bag- 
gage sent  off  pursuant  to  this  order,  and  to  be  composed  of  the 
most  indifferent  Men,  put  under  the  command  of  a  Careful 
Officer. 

The  General  is  informed  that  great  Complaints  are  made  by  the 
Inhabitants  nearest  the  Enemies'  Lines  of  Soldiers  taking  away 
their  horses  and  other  property,  and  that  in  many  Instances  they 
are  Countenanced  by  the  Officers  under  the  Idea  of  the  Inhabi- 
tants being  Tories.  The  General  expressly  orders  a  stop  to  be 
put  to  such  practices,  or  those  who  are  Convicted  of  them  will 
be  brought  to  exemplary  punishment. 

Such  Inhabitants  as  are  proper  Objects  of  punishment  will  be 
dealt  with  in  a  legal  way.  But  no  Officer  or  Soldier  is  to  judge 
for  himself  &  appropriate  their  property  to  their  own  use  or  to 
seize  it  without  proper  orders. 

The  Commander-in-Chief  approves  the  following  sentences  of 
a  Court  Martial  held  the  yth  Inst.  of  which  Colonel  Thomas 
Marshall  of  the  3rd  Virg'a  reg't  was  President.  Lieut.  Kirtley 
of  the  8th  V.  R.  Charg'd  with  disobedience  of  orders  &  absent- 
ing himself  three  Months  beyond  the  time  allotted  him  to  join 
his  Reg't,  found  not  guilty  of  being  absent  from  his  Reg't 
beyond  the  time  allotted  him  but  guilty  of  disobedience  of 
orders,  sentenced  to  be  discharged  from  the  Service.  Lieutenant 
Tully  Robinson,49  of  the  4th  Virg'a  Reg't  Charg'd  with  absent- 
ing himself  from  his  Reg't  without  leave,  found  guilty  of  the 
Charge,  Sentenced  to  be  discharged  from  the  Service  and  to  for- 


49 Tully  Robinson,  Captain  of  State  Line  of  Virginia,  received  4,000 
acres  as  bounty  for  three  years'  service,  June  7,  1832. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  349 

feit  his  pay  from  the  3Oth  December  last  till  he  join'd  the  Reg't 
again.  Lieut.  Ford  of  the  4th  Virg'a  Reg't  Charg'd  with  dis- 
obedience of  orders  in  the  instance  of  firing  a  Gun  without 
proper  permission  in  Camp,  Sentenced  to  receive  a  Reprimand 
by  the  Commanding  Officer  of  the  said  reg't  in  the  presence  of 
the  Officers  of  the  same.  John  Smith  of  the  yth  Pennsylv'a 
Reg't,  formerly  in  the  6th,  Charg'd  with  inlisting  into  the  gth 
pens'a  Reg't  without  a  discharge  from  the  jth,  sentenced  to 
receive  25  Lashes  on  his  bare  back,  and  the  Bounty  of  twenty 
Dollars  which  he  rec'd  from  the  gth  to  be  stopped  out  of  his 
pay.  Peter  Burney  of  the  I3th  new  Jersey  reg't,  Charg'd  with 
desertion,  Sentenced  to  be  discharged.  William  Shaddock  of 
the  gth  Pens'a  reg't  try'd  by  the  same  Court  Martial  the  2nd  of 
June  for  desertion  omitted  in  former  orders,  sentenced  to  receive 
25  Lashes  on  his  bare  Back.  The  Picquet  Guards  are  to  assem- 
ble in  the  Rear  of  the  Artillery  Park  at  Guard  Mounting,  this 
place  to  be  considered  as  the  Grand  parade  till  further  orders. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  June  loth. 
AFTER  ORDERS. 

A  fatigue  of  one  hundred  Men  with  a  proportion  of to 

parade  to-morrow  6  o'clock  at  the  Quarter-Master-Generals  to 
Take  their  Orders  from  Major  G'l  Green.  Major  Gen'l  Green's 
Division  to  practice  this  afternoon  with  actual  firing  3  o'clock  in 
ye  afternoon. 


CAMP  M.  BROOK,  June  4th,  1777. 
REG'L  ORDERS. 

The  Commanding  Officers  of  the  different  Companies  are 
desir'd  to  examine  the  State  of  the  Arms,  Ammunition  &  Accou- 
trements of  their  respective  Companies  and  make  an  immediate 
return  to  the  Quarter-Master  of  what  are  wanting  to  complete 
&  what  are  wanting  repair. 

Many  of  the  Officers  having  paid  proper  attention  to  General 
Orders  respecting  the  lessening  of  the  Baggage,  it  is  expected 
they  will  now  make  an  Examination  into  their  Companies  on 


350  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

that  head  &  have  all  that  is  unnecessary  Collected  that  it  may  be 
transported  when  the  Adj't  General  may  direct  agreeable  to  the 
General  Orders  of  yesterday. 

This  the  Commanding  Officer  once  more  &  for  the  last  time 
requests  an  immediate  compliance  as  he  wou'd  be  sorry  to  see 
any  of  the  property  of  the  Soldiery  left  in  the  Field  upon  a  sud- 
den encampment  which  must  be  the  case,  if  these  Orders  are  not 
attended  to. 

In  future  when  provision  returns  are  made  out  it  will  be 
expected  the  officers  will  Examine  them  before  they  are  deliver' d 
in  the  Sick  under  the  immediate  care  of  the  Doctor  to  be  par- 
ticularized. After  this  the  Commanding  Officer  hopes  not  to 
find  the  provision  Returns  &  the  other  Returns  disagree. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK. 

June  nth,  1777. 
GENERAL  ORDERS. 

The  Commissary  General  to  deliver  no  rum  for  Guards  or 
Fatigue  Service  but  in  following  manner  :  a  Jill  ^  Man  to  all  out 
Guards  and  Picquets  the  order  for  it  to  come  from  Brigadier  of 
the  day — the  same  allowance  for  all  Fatigue  parties,  Either  from 
the  Line,  Division  or  Brigade,  the  orders  for  it  in  the  first 
instance  to  come  from  the  Major  General  of  the  Day,  in  the 
Second  from  the  Major  General  of  the  Division,  in  the  3d  from 
the  Brigadier  of  the  Brigade.  All  Detachments  £  Scouting 
parties  to  have  a  Jill  f)>  Man  for  Every  night  they  are  out.  The 
Major  General- of  the  Day  to  give  the  Orders  for  it.  A  Jill  to 
all  fatigue  parties,  in  the  Commissary  or  Qr.  Master  General's 
departments;  the  order  to  come  from  the  principal  officer  pres- 
ent of  the  departments. 

No  other  Guards  or  fatigue  to  have  any  allowance  of  rum, 
the  Rum  for  Guards  not  to  be  Issued  till  the  Duty  is  done.  All 
Stragling  or  Suspected  persons  taken  up  to  be  brought  before 
the  Major  General  of  the  day. 

All  Guards  or  Detachments  going  towards  the  Enemy  or 
coming  from  them  to  march  in  the  same  order,  as  if  they  expec- 
ted an  immediate  attack— for  this  purpose  the  Officers  to  be  at 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  351 

their  proper  post,  and  the  men  to  move  with  regularity ;  advan- 
ced rear  &  flank  guards  to  be  sent  out  in  proportion  to  the 
strength  of  the  Party,  and  at  a  greater  or  lesser  distance  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  Ground. 

As  in  advancing  towards  an  Enemy,  or  coming  from  them  is 
danger  of  surprize  and  attack.  Precautions  should  be  always 
taken  to  be  prepared  for  them  and  were  not  this  the  Case,  good 
Habits  will  be  introduced  by  acting  in  this  manner  when  there  is 
little  or  no  occasion  which  will  be  Serviceable  when  there  is,  and 
both  Officers  &  Men  will  be  taught  their  Duty. 

All  Stragling  Sutlers  immediately  to  quit  the  Camp  or  their 
Liquors,  &c.  will  be  taken  from  them  &  distributed  among  the 
Soldiers  without  any  Compensation.  Each  Brigadier  to  notify 
those  about  his  Camp  with  this  Order.  General  Lincoln  has 
permission  to  clean  loaded  Pieces  of  his  Division  by  discharging 
them  this  Evening  at  Retreat. 

All  Regimental  Paymasters  are  to  attend  the  paymaster  Gene- 
ral at  his  Quarters  on  Friday  at  10  o'clock.  Colonel  De  la 
Laviere50  is  appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  Corps,  heretofore 
under  Major  Ottendorf.51  The  Commanding  Officer  of  each 
Corps  is  to  report  every  Deserter  from  it  immediately  to  his 
Brigadier,  who  is  to  pursue  without  loss  of  time  the  most  vigor- 
ous measures  to  have  the  Offenders  apprehended  and  to  give  an 
Account  of  the  matter  to  the  Major  General  of  the  Day,  who  is 
to  draw  the  whole  into  one  view  in  his  report  of  occurences  to 
the  Commander-in-Chief,  Strict  attention  is  expected  will  be  paid 
to  this  order. 


50  De  la  Raddiere  appointed  Colonel  of  Engineers,  July  8,  1777  ;  died 
in  service. 

"Nicholas  Dietrich,  Baron  de  Ottendorff,  a  nobleman  from  Lusatia, 
Saxony,  had  served  in  the  "Seven  Years'  War"  as  a  lieutenant  under 
Frederick  the  Great.  Upon  the  close  of  that  war  he  went  to  Paris, 
where  he  associated  with  Kosciuszko  and  Roman  de  Lisle.  At  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  the  three  came  to  America,  Koskiuszke 
entered  the  staff  of  General  Washington,  De  Lisle  was  made  captain  of 
artillery  and  Ottendorff,  at  the  request  of  Washington,  was  appointed 
a  brevet  captain.  On  December  5,  1776,  Congress  directed  Captain 
Ottendorff  to  raise  an  independant  corps,  he  raised  three  companies  in 
Philadelphia  and  took  command  of  them  with  the  rank  of  major.  The 
corps  was  subsequently  merged  into  Armand's  Legion. 


352  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

The  order  some  time  ago  given  at  Morris  Town  forbidding 
Waggoners  to  gallop ;  and  strain  horses  is  little  attended  to.  The 
Qr.  Master  Gen'l  therefore  will  inform  those  people  of  the  Con- 
sequences of  disobedience. 

The  Brigadier  Majors  are  to  meet  the  Adjutant  General  pre- 
cisely at  six  o'clock  this  afternoon  at  his  Tent.  The  Guard  for 
the  Commissary's  Cattle  is  to  be  furnish' d  by  rotation  by  the 
different  Brigades  and  to  reliey'd  every  three  days.  General 
Muhlenburg's  Brigade  will  furnish  it  to-day,  the  Men  to  carry 
three  days  Provision  with  them. 


CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  i2th,  1777. 
REG'L  ORDERS. 

Notwithstanding  orders  have  been  many  days  issued 
desiring  an  Orderly  Sergeant  to  be  appointed  to  each  Company, 
The  officers  commanding  Companies  have  not  paid  the  smallest 
regard  to  them"  The  orders  are  again  repeated,  with  a  positive 
declaration  that  any  Officer  disobeying  this,  or  any  General, 
Division,  Brigade,  or  Regimental  order,  shall  be  immediately 
arrested,  and  Sergeants  not  doing  their  duty  will  be  Confin'd. 
The  Orderly  Sergeant  is  to  wait  upon  the  Officers  of  his  Corn- 
any  immediately  after  he  receives  them  &  to  read  the  Regimen- 
tal orders  to  their  Company  every  Evening  before  they  march 
them  to  the  Regimental  parade,  other  orders  will  be  read  to  the 
Reg't  when  drawn  up. 

If  the  Officers  had  attentively  perused  the  General  Orders 
Issued  since  His  Excellency  arriv'd  in  Camp,  The  Commanding 
Officer  wou'd  not  now  be  under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of 
speaking  in  a  Style  he  wou'd  most  sincerely  wish  to  avoid. 

An  Orderly  Serg't  from  each  Company  will  attend  immedi- 
ately on  the  Quarter  Master  &  receive  a  proportion  of  Screw 
Drivers  &  Worms,  also  Canteens,  if  any  Shou'd  be  wanting. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  June  i2th,  1777. 
G.  O. 

The  General  thinks  it  proper  to  Establish    the   following 
Regulations  for  Guards,  and  hopes  that  Officers  will  consider  them 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  353 

as  the  Rule  of  Practice,  and  make  themselves  well  acquainted  with 
them.  When  any  Guards  arrive  at  the  Posts  assign'd  them  the 
Officer's  first  Care  is  to  plant  his  Centinels  properly  according 
to  Circumstances.  The  Guards  shou'd  remain  under  Arms 
while  this  [is]  doing,  and  if  it  be  at  an  out  post  near  the  Enemy, 
temporary  Sentries  shou'd  be  placed  at  a  small  distance  near 
the  Guard  to  prevent  Surprize,  while  the  Commanding  Officer 
reconnoiters  the  Ground,  to  know  where  the  Gentries  are  to  be 
posted  for  a  continuance,  this  to  be  done  in  Case  the  ground  has 
not  beforehand  been  examined  and  particular  Instructions  given 
or  in  case  he  does  not  relieve  some  other  Guards,  but  if  he  does 
relieve  another,  he  is  to  receive  all  the  orders  given  to  the  Offi- 
cers of  the  Old  Guard  in  Waiting ;  which  together  with  those  he 
receives  from  the  Brigadier  &  Field  Officer  of  the  Day,  he  is 
punctually  to  observe,  if  any  difference  arise  between  them,  he  is 
to  obey  the  latter  in  preference  &  immediately  to  send  a  Party 
under  a  Trusty  Officer,  conducted  by  an  Officer  of  the  Old 
Guard,  to  relieve  the  Sentries  thereof,  who  is  to  return  to  the 
Old  Guard.  If  the  Guard  be  of  such  a  nature  as  that  other 
matters  other  than  the  Security  of  the  Post  are  intrusted  to  it 
they  must  be  contain' d  in  a  written  report,  and  an  Officer  of  the 
New,  to  be  accompanied  by  one  of  the  Old  must  be  sent  to  take 
them  in  Charge,  compairing  the  things  themselves  with  the 
report  and  see  that  all  is  right. 

The  Sentries  of  the  Old  Guard  having  joined  it,  they  are  to 
march  it  back  from  whence  it  came  with  the  greatest  Order  & 
decorum  and  then  send  off  the  Detachments  Composing  it  under 
proper  Officers  to  Each  to  join  their  Corps,  preserving  regularity 
on  the  way.  After  placing  his  Sentries  the  Officer  of  the  new 
Guard  is  to  make  his  Men  lodge  their  Arms  in  such  a  manner 
that  Each  Man  may  have  recourse  to  his  in  a  moment  without 
battle  &  confusion.  In  most  cases  it  is  best  the  Arms  shou'd  be 
grounded  on  the  Guard  parade  during  the  day,  no  Man  to  put 
off  his  accoutrements  on  any  pretence  whatever.  This  done,  the 
Comd'g  Officer  accompanied  by  a  Couple  of  Men  is  to  visit  all 
the  Sentries  to  see  that  they  are  posted  right  &  instruct  them  in 
the  Line  of  their  Duty.  His  next  care  is  to  take  such  precau- 
tions for  the  security  of  his  post  by  forming  abetties  &  raising 
parapets  as  Circumstances  require  to  guard  against  any  surprize 


354  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

or  repel  any  sudden  attempt.  He  should  make  himself  ac- 
quainted not  only  with  all  the  great  Roads  leading  to  the  Enemy, 
or  the  Army  he  belongs  to,  but  shou'd  search  out  Every  by-path 
and  advance  by  which  he  may  more  securely  send  his  parties  to 
reconnoiter  the  Enemy  or  make  his  retreat  good  on  any  Emer- 
gency. He  shou'd  have  scouting  parties  all  day  and  Parole 
going  all  night  towards  the  Enemy  in  his  rear  &  upon  his  flanks 
to  gain  intelligence  of  their  motions  and  give  timely  notice  of 
any  attempt  that  may  be  making.  If  this  notice  can  be  done 
without  firing  the  Scouts  or  patrols  to  retreat  by  way  of  the  Sen- 
tries to  alarm  them.  Visiting  Rounds  shou'd  be  going  all  night 
to  see  that  the  Sentries  are  all  the  Posts,  alert  &  acquainted  with 
every  particular  of  their  duty.  The  break  of  day  are  the  most 
favorable  time  for  an  attack  or  surprize.  A  good  Officer  will  be 
careful  to  turn  out  his  Guard  under  Arms  till  an  hour  after  Sun- 
rise, and  to  have  his  visiting  Rounds  &  Patrols  going  these  more 
than  ordinary  ;  from  watching  through  the  night  Men  towards 
morning  grow  drowsy  and  careless  and  are  more  likely  to  sur- 
prize. An  Officer's  reputation  calls  upon  him  to  guard  care- 
fully against  this  Evil.  A  guard  is  bound  to  maintain  its  posts  as 
long  as  possible,  but  if  likely  to  be  overpowered  by  numbers,  it  is 
at  least  to  make  a  Skirmishing  retreat,  firing  all  the  way  it  goes  to 
give  the  alarm,  taking  advantage  of  Every  Defile,  morass,  wood  or 
advantageous  spot  it  can  find  to  delay  the  Enemy.  If  the  Enemy 
does  not  pursue  but  retire  after  dislodged,  the  guard  is  to  resume 
its  posts,  first  taking  measure  to  be  sure  all  is  safe.  If  two 
Guards  are  so  posted  as  to  have  the  same  Object  in  view  and 
depend  upon  each  other,  they  must  be  attentive  to  every  thing 
that  befalls  one  another  &  act  in  concert  if  either  is  attacked; 
the  other  must  not  only  put  itself  in  a  posture  of  defence  but  must 
keep  patrols  constantly  going  to  bring  intelligence  of  what  is  doing. 
If  the  one  attacked  retreats  the  other  must  also.  If  it  returns 
the  other  must  return.  All  these  things  however  to  depend  upon 
Circumstances  and  the  orders  of  the  Brigadier  &  Field  Officers 
of  the  Day.  Any  Party  of  whatsoever  kind  coming  towards  an 
Outguard  are  to  be  stop'd  by  the  Out  Sentries  and  Notice  given 
to  the  Guard,  which  is  in  most  cases  to  turn  out  &  the  Officer  to 
Send  a  proper  person  to  examine  such  party  &  give  his  orders 
accordingly.  All  Flags  to  be  stopped  at  the  Out-Sentries.  The 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  355 

Officer  of  the  Guard  is  to  meet  them  there  and  to  know  rheir 
business.  If  they  are  Charged  with  Letters  or  any  matter  that 
can  be  Communicated  to  him  he  is  to  receive  and  transmit  them 
immediately  to  the  Major  Gen'l  of  the  day,  otherwise  the  Flag 
must  wait  till  Information  can  be  sent  to  the  said  Major  General, 
and  his  order  received.  No  Officer  or  Soldier  is  to  Sleep  one 
Moment  on  Guard  ;  no  Cooking  to  go  on  while  on  Guard ;  the 
Men  must  either  carry  their  provisions  ready  cook'd  or  have  it 
sent  to  them — the  former  preferable.  No  Man  to  presume  to  be 
out  of  call  without  permission  from  the  Officer,  who  is  not  to 
suffer  more  than  two  to  be  absent  at  a  time,  nor  these  at  an  Out- 
post. In  Case  of  desertion  from  the  out-posts  the  Officer  from 
whose  party  it  happens  is  immediately  to  Change  the  Counter- 
sign, advertising  the  other  out-guards  of  it,  who  are  to  conform 
thereto.  He  is  therefore  to  Send  immediately  to  inform  the 
Brigadier  of  the  day  of  it.  All  Guards  to  turn  out  to  the  Briga- 
dier &  Field  Officers  of  the  day,  and  except  the  Out-guards,  to 
turn  out  to  all  General  Officers,  paying  them  the  honors  due 
them  according  to  their  rank  &  usage  of  War.  The  out-guards 
to  turn  out  to  the  Brigadiers  &  Field  Officers  of  day  only,  the 
honours  of  the  drum  never  to  be  paid  by  them  ;  all  guards  to 
turn  out  to  the  Grand  Rounds,  the  officer  of  each  to  prepare  an 
Evening  report  to  the  Officer  of  the  Rounds;  all  Guards  of  the 
Line  when  reliev'd  to  make  a  report  of  every  occurrence  that 
may  have  happen' d  to  one  of  the  Field  Officers,  who  is  to  attend 
at  or  near  the  Grand  Parade  to  receive  it  when  the  Guard  re- 
turns. Arms  after  this  wet  weather  to  be  carefully  inspected 
and  put  in  the  best  order. 


CAMP  M.  BROOK,  June  i3th,  1777. 
REG'L  ORDERS. 

An  immediate  return  of  the  Strength.of  each  Company  now 
in  Camp  to  be  made  to  the  Quarter  Master  that  the  tents  may  be 
Proportion'd — at  the  same  time  a  return  of  Cloaths  wanting  will 
be  expected  ;  care  to  be  observed  by  the  Commanding  Officer  of 
each  Company  that  there  are  none  drawn  but  those  who  are 
really  in  want  as  they  must  sign  the  Returns  &  will  be  answera- 


356  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

ble  for  every  article  rec'd.  The  Orderly  Sergeants  must  ex- 
amine the  Tents  of  their  respective  Companies  &  if  any  Straw 
shou'd  be  wanting  they  will  mention  it  when  they  deliver  their 
returns.  The  Quarter- Master  has  one  Day's  provisions  on  hand 
which  must  be  drawn  &  cook'd  up  immediately. 

W[ILLIAM]  H[ETH.] 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  MIDDLE  BROOK, 

June  lyth,  1777. 
G.  O.     Parole.      C.  Sign. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Stephens.52  Brigadier- 
General  for  to-morrow,  Maxwell.53  Field  Officers,  Col.  Arendtt54 
&  Major  Morrell.55  Brigade  Major,  Swain. 

At  a  General  Court  Martial  held  the  gth  inst.  whereof  Col. 
Marshall  was  President,  Capt.  Jesse  Roe56  was  tried  for  insulting 
&  ill-treating  Mr.  Colclough,  Conductor  of  Wagons,  on  the  March 
from  Morristown.  Acquitted  and  Justified  by  the  Court.  The 
General  approves  the  sentence  and  orders  Capt.  Roe  to  be  re- 
leas' d  from  his  Arrest  with  Honour;  he  also  approves  the  Sen- 
tence of  the  said  Court  Martial  held  the  nth  Inst.  before  which 
Alex'r  Brandon  of  the  ist  Pennsylvania  Regiment  was  tried 
for  horse  Stealing  &  acquited ;  the  prisoner  to  be  immediately 
released  from  his  Confinement.  Different  Modes  of  promotion 
having  prevail' d  in  the  Army  conductive  of  Confusion  &  Discon- 
tent in  many  Instances,  the  Commander-in-Chief  thinks  it  neces- 
sary to  establish  the  following  General  Rules  to  prevent  all  further 
disputes  and  inconveniences  on  this  head,  all  Commissioned  Offi- 
cers to  rise  regimentally  according  to  Seniority  until  they  arrive 


52  Adam  Stephen. 

53  William  Maxwell. 

54  Baron  d'Arendt,  a  colonel  in  the  Continental  service,  appointed 
March  19,  1777,  to  the  command  of  the  German  battalion;  superseded 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Samuel  Smith  in  the  command  of  Fort  Mifflin  in 
October,  1777,  but  from  illness  was  compelled  soon  to  relinquish  it  to 
Colonel  Smith. 

55  Major  Thomas  Morrell  of  the  Fourth  New  Jersey  battalion. 

56  Jesse  Roe  appointe'd  February  3,  1777,  captain  of  the  artillery  artifi- 
cers of  Colonel  Benjamin  Flower's  Pennsylvania  regiment. 


ORDERLY   BOOK   OF    MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  357 

to  the  rank  of  Captain  and  from  that  in  the  Line  of  the  State 
they  belong  to  by  seniority  also  till  they  attain  the  rank  of  Colo- 
nel. This  Rule,  however,  to  admit  of  Exceptions  where  par- 
ticular Officers  signalize  themselves  by  Conduct  of  extraordi- 
nary merit  or  where  others  prove  themselves  unworthy  of  pre- 
ferment by  the  want  or  neglect  of  cultivating  any  qualification 
requisite  to  Constitute  the  good  officer.  Ten  Men  fit  for  the 
purpose  from  each  Brigade  to  parade  this  Evening  at  6  o'clock 
at  Col.  Biddle's  Quarters  to  form  a  Company  of  Pioneers.  He 
is  to  provide  them  with  a  sufficient  number  of  proper  Officers  & 
every  thing  necessary  to  qualify  them  for  doing  their  Duty  im- 
mediately. 

In  case  of  March  of  the  Army  they  are  to  Encamp  near  his 
Quarters.  The  following  men  :  Thomas  Backus,  Samuel  Brown, 
Joseph  Catlett,  Isaac  Green,  Charles  Cleer,  Labor  Camber,  Wil- 
liam Caldwell,  Joseph  Gadington  &  William  Thomas  belonging 
to  Captain  Wattel's  Company  having  been  sent  to  Camp  some 
time  ago  and  annext  to  some  of  the  Corps.  The  Officer  Com- 
manding the  Corps  in  which  these  Men  or  any  of  them  are  now 
doing  duty  are  Desir'd  to  send  a  Return  of  them  to  the  Adju- 
tant General  to-morrow  Morning. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  i3th  June,  1777. 
AFTER  ORDERS. 

Such  Rifles  as  belong  to  the  States  in  the  different  Brigades 
to  be  immediately  Exchang'd  with  Col.  Morgan  for  Muskets. 
General  Officers  Commanding  Brigades  are  desir'd  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  this  matter  as  the  nature  of  this  matter  requires  the 
utmost  dispatch.  If  a  sufficient  number  of  rifles,  publick  prop- 
erty are  not  to  be  procured,  the  Brigadiers  are  requested  to 
assist  Colonel  Morgan  Either  by  Exchanging  those  that  are  pri- 
vate property  or  by  purchasing  them. 

N.  B.  Those  Brigades  who  have  not  furnish' d  Col.  Morgan 
with  the  number  of  Men  return' d  to  the  Adjutant  General  are 
desir'd  to  send  them  immediately. 


358  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

CAMP  M.  BROOK,  June  i3th,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

Major  Gen'l  Stephens  has  been  pleased  to  order  that  there 
be  a  Field  day  of  his  Division  on  Sunday  at  2  o'clock  in  the  After- 
noon. The  General  hopes  that  every  Officer  will  make  a  point 
of  having  his  Men  in  the  best  order  upon  this  occasion  both  as 
to  their  Cloaths  &  Arms,  &  that  every  Non  Commission' d 
Officer  &  private  Soldier  will  consider  his  own  Reputation  as 
well  as  that  of  the  Brigade  to  be  concern' d  in  his  Conduct  upon 
that  day,  where  we  shall  be  probably  honoured  with  the  attend- 
ance of  His  Excellency  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  all  the 
the  General  Officers  in  Camp.  As  there  has  been  permission 
for  a  General  Discharge  of  Arms  yesterday  and  positive  Orders 
to  have  them  well  Clean' d,  no  Excuse  will  be  admitted  for  those 
who  have  them  in  order. 

The  Artillery  of  the  Brigade  are  likewise  to  prepare  every- 
thing for  their  attendance.  The  Commanding  Officer  of  Each 
Reg't  will  have  timely  Notice  where  to  apply  for  blank  Cart- 
ridges for  their  Men. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,   i5th  June,  1777. 

GENERAL  ORDERS.     Parole.     C.  Sign. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Sterling.57  Brigadier  Gene- 
ral for  to-morrow,  Woodford.  Field  Officers  Col.  Spotswood, 
Major  Crawford.  • 

As  it  is  proper  the  mode  of  performing  &  receiving  the 
Grand  Rounds  be  the  same  throughout  the  Army  as  well  for  the 
Sake  of  Security  as  uniformity  and  order.  In  future  the  follow- 
ing is  that  which  is  to  be  pursued.  The  Field  Officer  of  the 
Grand  Rounds  before  he  begins  his  visits  to  procure  such  an 
Escort  as  he  Chuses  not  exceeding  a  Serg't  and  Six  [men], 
accompanied  by  these  he  is  to  pass  all  Sentries  remote  from  the 
Guards  by  his  Serg't  who  is  to  advance  for  the  purpose  answer- 
ing Grand  Rounds  when  hail'd  &  giving  the  Countersign  when 
he  arrives  near  the  Guard  the  Sentry  next  to  it  hails,  and  upon 

"William  Alexander,  Lord  Stirling. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  359 

being  answer' d  "Grand  Rounds"  Cries  "Stand  Grand  Rounds  " 
and  call  the  Guard  to  turn  out.  When  this  is  done  the  Officer 
of  the  Guard  sends  a  Commission' d  officer  (if  the  Guard  consists 
of  more  than  one)  if  not  a  Serg't  and  six  to  meet  the  Rounds, 
who  when  arriv'd  within  twelve  paces  of  them  Challenges  & 
on  being  answer'd  "Grand  Rounds"  Cries  "Advance  Officer 
with  the  Parole,"  at  the  same  time  making  his  Party  open  a 
passage  by  wheeling  backward  from  the  Centre,  for  the  Officer 
of  the  Rounds  to  pass  through  them  and  resting  their  Firelocks 
as  he  passes,  the  Officer  or  Serg't  conducts  him  to  the  Officer  of 
the  Guard  who  receives  him  at  the  right  of  his  Guard  with  his 
Bayonet  towards  his  Breast  at  which  time  the  Officer  of  the 
Rounds  whispers  the  parole  in  his  Ear,  the  Officer  of  the  Guard 
finding  the  Parole  true,  orders  his  Guard  to  rest  their  Firelocks 
upon  which  the  Officer  of  the  Rounds  goes  along  the  front  of 
the  Guard  and  after  Counting  them,  asking  such  Questions  and 
giving  such  Instructions  as  he  thinks  proper.  Complaints  having 
been  made  to  the  Commander-in-Chief  that  some  Officers  fond 
of  any  pretext  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  their  duty  Obtrude 
themselves  upon  the  Hospital  without  answering  any  useful  End 
but  rather  striving  to  Embarress  &  take  up  the  room  that  might 
be  better  employ 'd.  He  orders  that  not  more  than  one  Officer 
attend  any  Hospital  unless  from  application  of  one  of  the  Direc- 
tors or  Physicians  and  Surgeons  General  of  the  Army  and  that 
Officer  to  be  a  discreet,  sensible  Man,  whose  business  shall  be  to 
observe  the  treatment  of  the  Sick  &  report  any  neglect  or  mis- 
management he  may  discover.  He  is  also  to  assist  in  supporting 
good  order  among  the  Soldiers  but  is  to  Exercise  no  Authority 
inconsistent  with  that  perfect  Controul  the  Doctors  shou'd  have 
over  their  Patients.  All  Supernumerary  Officers  immediately  to 
repair  to  their  respective  Corps. 


CAMP  AT  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  isth,  1777. 

BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

The  several  Regiments  to  draw  provision  immediately  to 
compleat  their  Men  to  three  days  exclusive  of  this,  which  is  to  be 
Cook'd  agreeable  to  General  Orders  ;  and  the  Commanding 


360  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Officer  of  the  Reg'ts  will  see  that  this  is  continued  without  the 
order  being  repeated,  so  that  the  Brigade  may  be  always  three 
days  before  hand  with  cook'd  provision.  The  Regiments  will 
be  attended  on  Wednesday  and  friday  Mornings  by  their  Chap- 
lains on  their  own  regimental  parades.  The  seventh  Reg't  hav- 
ing no  Chaplain  will  join  with  the  I5th  Reg't  and  on  Sunday  the 
whole  to  attend  on  the  right  of  the  Brigade  as  usual  &  the  Chap- 
lains to  take  it  by  turn  to  preach. 


CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  i6th,  1777. 

GENERAL  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow  Stephens.  Brigadier  Gene- 
ral for  to-morrow  Conway.  Field  Officers  Col.  Wood58  &  Major 
Beauford.59  Brigade  Major,  Tarling. 

The  General  Court  Martial  held  on  the  I3th  Inst.  having 
reconsider' d  their  proceedings  of  the  3d  and  being  still  of  their 
former  opinion  for  acquitting  Lieut.  Myers  of  the  German  Bat- 
tallion.  The  General  directs  that  he  be  acquitted  &  releas'd 
from  the  Guard. 

The  Commanding  Officer  nearest  any  Hospital  is  to  furnish  a 
prudent,  good  Officer  to  assist  in  the  Governmentry  so  far  as 
relates  to  the  keeping  of  the  Continental  Soldiers  in  order,  hav- 
ing proper  Guards  and  the  like,  And  to  see  that  Justice  is  done 
the  Sick,  reporting  any  neglect  or  abuse  they  may  observe ;  first 
to  the  Chief  Director  of  the  Hospital,  and  then,  if  not  reme- 


58  James  Wood,  son  of  Colonel  James  Wood,  founder  of  Winchester, 
Virginia;    member  of  the   Virginia   Convention  of  June,    1776,    from 
Frederick  county;  appointed  colonel  November  15,  1776  ;  Governor  of 
Virginia  in  1796;  died  in   Richmond,  Virginia.  June  16,  1813.     Wood 
county,  Virginia,  was  named  in  his  honor. 

59  Abraham  Buford,  promoted  colonel  and  assigned  to  the  command 
of  Morgan's  Eleventh  Virginia  regiment,  May  16,  1778;  May  29,  1780, 
his  command  was  surprised  and  massacred   by   _olonel  Tarleton  at 
Waxhaw  creek  ;  died  in  Scott  county,  Kentucky,  June  29,  1833  ;  received 
8,611  acres  of  land  as  bounty  from  the  State  of  Virginia  for  seven  years 
and  ten  months'  service. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  361 

died,  to  the  Commanding  Officer  of  the  Post  from  which  he 'was 
sent,  who,  if  he  thinks  the  representations  just,  to  communicate 
them  to  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

The  Army  not  to  omit  exercising  every  day,  as  heretofore 
practiced  ;  a  thing  so  essential  is  never  to  be  neglected,  unless 
in  such  Circumstances  as  render  it  impossible. 

All  parties  whatsoever  from  thirty  upwards  march'g  under 
Arms  to  march  by  Sub.  or  Grand  Divisions  unless  when  the 
nature  of  the  Ground,  or  any  particular  disposition  makes  a  dif- 
ferent mode  necessary.  The  Officers  to  be  very  attentive  that 
their  Men  keep  their  ranks  always  dressed,  &  use  their  feet  in 
Concert  which  are  equally  Conducive  to  the  Order,  Beauty, 
Strength  &  expedition  of  a  marching  Body. 

For  the  sake  of  regularity  till  a  more  eligible  mode  shall  be 
pointed  out,  Officers  are  to  salute  in  the  following  manner  only — 

For  a  Standing  Salute  they  are  to  order  their  fuzees  and  take 
off  their  Hats  gracefully,  bringing  the  Arm  down  closely  to  the 
left  Side,  untill  the  person  saluted  passes.  For  a  marching  Sa- 
lute they  are  to  trail  their  fuzees  &  take  off  their  hats  as  in  the 
foregoing,  in  both  cases  it  is  supposed  they  have  their  Fuzees 
rested  on  their  left  Arm,  from  which  they  perform  the  order  or 
trail  the  first  in  three,  &  the  last  in  two  Motions  and  after- 
wards return  their  Fuzees  to  the  same  Position — In  the  order 
they  hold  out  their  Fuzees  in  a  Line  with  themselves  with  an 
easy  extended  Arm. 

All  regimental  paymasters  are  desir'd  immediately  to  join 
their  respective  Corps  or  they  may  depend  on  being  punish' d  & 
displac'd.  No  Excuse  but  Sickness  &  that  properly  certified 
will  be  admitted  for  eluding  this  order.  No  Regimental  Pay- 
master in  future  to  absent  himself  from  Camp  on  any  pretence 
whatever  without  leave  from  the  Commander-in  Chief. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  June  ijth,  1777. 

G.  O.     Parole.     C  Sign. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Greene.     Brigadier  General 
for  to  morrow,  Maxwell.     Field  Officers,  Col.  McClanahan  & 


362  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Lt.  Col.  Barber.60  Do.  for  Baggage  Guard,  Lt.  Col.  Pray. 
For  Brigadier  Major,  Weatherspoon. 

The  Surgeon  General  is  to  give  papers  to  all.  persons  in  his 
Department. 

Two  Officers  from  those  Regiments  who  have  Sick  in  the 
Hospital  nigh  Camp  to  attend  the  Same  for  the  purpose  pointed 
out  in  the  Order  of  Yesterday.  A  Orderly  Serg't  to  be  appoin- 
ted to  Each  Company  to  take  a  List  every  Morning  of  the  Sick 
belonging  to  it  &  report  them  to  the  regimental  Officer  of  the 
day,  who  is  to  make  a  General  Report  to  the  Sergeon  of  the 
Regiment.  The  Orderly  Serg'ts  to  attend  the  Surgeon,  distri- 
bute the  medicines  &  do  every  thing  necessary  according  to  his 
Orders.  A  proportionate  Number  of  Women  to  the  Sick  of 
Each  regim't  to  be  Sent  to  the  Hospital  at  Mendham  &  Black 
River,  to  attend  the  Sick  as  Nurses. 

When  Ever  prisoners  are  sent  to  the  Provost  the  Evidence 
against  them  to  be  inserted  in  the  Charge  which  will  save  much 
unnecessary  trouble  &  delay. 

The  General  Court  Martial  whereof  Col.  Marshall  was  Presi- 
dent is  dissolved  &  another  General  Court  Martial  to  sit  to-mor- 
row morning  9  O'clock  at  the  usual  place  (Gen'l  Waynes* 
Brigade)  to  try  such  prisoners  as  shall  be  brought  before  them — 
all  evidences  to  attend.  Colonel  Stephens  is  appointed  President 
of  the  Court. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  June  i8th,  1777. 
G.  O. 

Timothy  Pickering,  Esq're  is  appointed  Adjutant  General 
to  the  Continental  Army.     He  is  to  be  obeyed  &  respected  as 


60  Francis  Barber  appointed  major  third  New  Jersey  battalion  February 
9,  1776  ;  promoted  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  second  establishment, 
November  28,  1776;  lieutenant-colonel  Third  New  Jersey  regiment  from 
June  i,  1777;  and  commandant  to  January  6,  1783;  killed  by  the  falling 
of  a  tree  in  camp  at  New  Windsor,  New  York  February  u,  1783  ;  served 
as  sub-inspector  on  the  staff  of  General  Steuben  April  i,  1778;  adjutant- 
general  to  Lord  Stirling;  aid  to  General  Sullivan;  deputy  adjutant- 
general  to  General  Green ;  severally  wounded  at  the  battles  of  Mon- 
mouth,  and  wounded  at  the  battles  of  Newtown  and  at  the  seige  of 
Yorktown. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  363 

such.  The  General  begs  Col.  Connor  to  accept  this  Thanks  "for 
his  Obliging  &  punctual  discharge  of  the  Office  for  the  Time  he 
acted  in  it. 


HEAD  QUAR'S  M.  BROOK,  June  igth,  1777. 
G.  O. 

Major  Gen'l  for  to-morrow,  Stephens.  Brigadier  General 
for  to-morrow,  Woodford.  Field  Officers,  Col.  Malmadie  and 
Major  Heth.  Brigade  Maj'r,  Tarling. 

The  Quarter  Master  of  each  Reg't  is  to  draw  provision  for 
such  sick  as  remain  with  the  regim't  for  which  purpose  they  are 
to  be  included  and  their  Numbers  ascertained  in  each  Provision 
Return  the  Commissary  will  supply  them  with  fresh  meat  when 
on  hand. 

The  General  Court  Martial  now  Sitting  will  proceed  forthwith 
to  the  Trial  of  Major  Peers,  Brigade  Major  to  General  Weedon, 
arrested  by  order  of  Colonel  Spotswood  for  refusing  a  true  & 
just  return  of  his  Regiment,  and  sending  him  an  insulting  mes- 
sage by  his  Adjutant,  all  Witnesses  to  attend. 


CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  aoth,  1777. 
GEN'L  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Green.  Brigadier- General 
for  to-morrow,  Conway.  Field  Officers,  Col.  Dayton61  and 
Major  Davis.  Brigade  Major,  Witherspoon. 

General  Wayne's  Brigade  is  to  practise  with  actual  firing  this 
afternoon  at  4  o'C.  Each  Captain  or  Commanding  Officer  of  a 
Company  is  to  make  out  an  immediate  Sign'd  Roll  of  his  Com- 
pany according  to  which  his  Men  are  ever  to  be  drawn  up  & 
when  formed  in  two  Ranks,  the  shortest  Men  are  ever  to  be 
plac'd  in  the  front,  by  which  means  the  firing  will  be  rendered 
rapid  &  the  effect  more  certain.  The  Commander-in-Chief  ap- 
proves the  following  Sentences  of  a  General  Court  Martial,  held 
the  i8th  &  igth  Inst's,  when  Col.  Stevens68  was  President,  & 


61  Colonel  Elias  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey  ;  promoted  brigadier-general. 

62  Colonel  Ebenzer  Stevens  of  the  New  York  artillery  regiment. 


364  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

orders  them  to  be  put  in  execution  forthwiih,  viz:  William  Butler 
of  Col.  Thos.  Hartley's63  Reg't  &  Capt.  Wm.  Nichol's  Com- 
pany, charg'd  with  desertion  &  forging  paper,  found  guilty  of  the 
charge  &  sentenced  to  receive  one  Hundred  lashes  on  his  bare 
back.  Rich'd  Henley  of  the  yth  Pen' a  Reg't  charg'd  with 
desertion,  found  guilty  of  the  charge  &  sentenced  to  receive  100 
lashes  on  his  Bare  back,  well  laid  on.  Alex'r  McDonald  of  the 
6th  Penn'a  reg't,  charg'd  with  desertion,  found  guilty  and  sen- 
tenced to  receive  100  lashes  on  his  bare  back,  &  to  be  sent  on 
board  one  of  the  Continental  frigates  to  serve  during  the  War. 
Lieut.  Booker  of  the  roth  Va.  Reg't  charged  with  attending  the 
Parade  drunk,  found  guilty  of  the  charge  &  sentenced  to  be  rep- 
remanded  by  the  Colo,  of  the  Reg't  he  belongs  to  in  the  presence 
of  the  Officers. 

Ensign  Pope  of  the  loth  Pa.  Reg't  charg'd  with  not  attending 
his  duty  on  parade  acquitted  &  ordered  to  be  forthwith  dis- 
charged from  his  arrest. 

John  Rawling  of  Colo.  Patterson's  reg't  Charg'd  with  desert- 
ing &  going  to  the  Enemy  found  guilty  of  deserting  &  Sentenc'd 
to  receive  100  lashes  on  his  bare  back  &  to  be  sent  on  board  one 
of  the  Continental  Frigates  &  to  serve  during  the  term  of  his 
enlistment. 

Michael  Reynolds  of  the  5th  Pen's  Reg't  charg'd  for  desert- 
ing towards  the  Enemy  found  guily  and  sentenc'd  to  rec'e  100 
lashes  on  his  bare  back,  well  laid  on  &  to  be  sent  on  board  one 
of  the  Continental  Frigates  to  Serve  during  the  term  of  his 
enlistment. 

William  Pannell  of  Capt.  Govan's  Com'd  in  the  4th  Pens' a 
Reg't  charg'd  with  deserting  from  his  reg't  and  endeavoring  to 
go  to  the  Enemy,  found  guilty  and  sentenc'd  to  rec'e  100  lashes 
on  his  bare  back. 

Alex'r  McDonald,  John  Rawling  &  Michael  Reynolds  who 
are  sentenc'd  to  be  put  on  board  some  of  the  Continental  Frig- 
ates, are  after  rec'g  their  punishments  still  to  be  detain' d  pris- 
oners by  the  Provost  Martial  till  further  Orders. 

63  Colonel  Thomas  Hartley,  born  near  Reading,  Pennsylvania,  Sep- 
tember 7,  1748  ;  removed  to  York  in  1766  and  admitted  to  the  bar  July 
25.  ^69 ;  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  Sixth  Pennsylvania  battalion 
January  10,  1776;  colonel,  January  n,  1777,  of  the  Eleventh  Pennsylva- 
nia ;  died  at  York,  Pennsylvania,  December  21,  1800. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  365 

B.  ORDERS. 

A  Court  Martial  to  sit  this  morning  for  the  trial  of  all  the 
prisoners  in  the  Quarter  Guard.  The  Officer  of  that  Guard  is 
desir'd  to  make  his  report  regularly  to  the  General  after  he  is 
releav'd,  that  he  keeps  his  guard  from  stragling  and  that  he  does 
not  leave  it  himself  upon  any  pretence  but  to  be  always  ready  to 
turn  out  to  any  Gen'l  Officer  that  may  happen  to  pass  that  way. 


CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  21,  1777. 

GENERAL  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow  Lord  Stirling.  Brigadier 
General  for  to-morrow  Muhlenburg.  Field  Officers  Colo.  Mar- 
tin &  Lt.  Col.  D'Hart.64  Brigade  Major,  Day.65 

Colo.  Shelburn's  Detachment  at  present  w'th  Gen'l  Parsons86 
is  to  Join  Gen'l  Varnum's67  Brigade.  Gen'l  De  Borre's  Brigade 
to  get  ready  to  march  to-morrow  morning  at  5  O'C. — he  will 
send  to  the  Adj't  Gen'l  for  orders  to  march.  Gen'l  Varnum's 
Brigade  to  relieve  the  picquets  at  Whannest's  Mill  &  Vanvartin's 
Bridge  at  4  O'C. 

D.  ORDERS. 

The  Reg't  Quarter  Master  with  the  Camp-le-Men  to  pre- 
serve Neets  fut  &  to  make  an  Oil  for  the  Musket  Locks  of  the 
Corps.  The  Officers  Commanding  Companies  will  take  notice 
that  no  excuse  will  be  admitted  for  not  having  the  Arms  in  the 
best  order.  They  will  be  arrested  &  prosecuted  with  all  the 
vigour  which  the  regulation  of  the  Army  will  admit. 


"William  D'Hart,  appointed  major  of  First  New  Jersey  Battalion  of 
First  Establishment,  November  7,  1775 ;  major  First  Battalion  of  Sec- 
ond Establishment,  November  28,  1776 ;  promoted  lieutenant-colonel 
January  r,  1777 ;  lieutenant-colonel  of  Second  Battalion,  September 
26,  1780;  resigned. 

"Benjamin  Day,  adjutant  Second  Virginia  regiment;  after  the  war 
practiced  law  in  Fredericksburg,  Virginia  ;  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons  of  Virginia,  1797-1800  ;  died  1821. 

66 Samuel  Holden  Parsons  promoted  major-General. 

67  James  Mitchell  Varnum. 


366  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

The  Division  will  have  a  field  day  as  soon  as  the  Arms  are  in 
Order  &  the  Men  have  two  or  three  times  practis'd  the  Manoeu- 
vres to  be  performed  that  day.  Officer  hopes  to  find  them  in 
the  best  Order  &  ammunition  complete. 

WILLIAM  HETH,  Major. 


June  23d,  1777. 
GEXL.  ORDERS. 

Major  Gen'l  for  to-morrow,  Green.  Brigadier  General  for 
to-morrow,  Weedon.  Field  Officers,  Col'o  Lewis68  &  Major 
Nicholas.69  Brigade  Major,  Peers. 

The  Commander-in-Chief  approves  the  following  Sentences  of 
a  Gen'l  Court  Martial  held  the  2Oth  Inst.  whereof  Col'o  Stephens 
was  president  &  orders  them  to  be  put  in  Execution  forthwith, 
vizt. 

Thos.  White,  otherwise  call'd  Thos.  Jones  of  Col'o  Hartley's 
Bait' n  Charg'd  with  desertion.  The  Prisoners  pleaded  guilty  & 
was  Sentenc'd  to  receive  fifty  lashes  on  his  bare  back.  Alex'r 
Gray  of  the  5th  P.  Reg't  Charg'd  with  Desertion  found  guilty 
&  Sentenc'd  to  receive  fifty  lashes  on  his  bare  back.  Levi 
Bloxam  of  the  gth  Virg'a  Reg't  Charg'd  with  Insolence  to  & 
threatening  to  Shoot  Ensign  Robbins  [John  Robins]  of  the  same 
Reg't  found  guilty  &  Sentenc'd  to  rec'e  thirty  Nine  lashes  on 
his  Bare  back.  James  McCurle  of  the  5th  P.  Reg't  charg'd  with 
insulting  &  charging  his  Bayonet  on  the  Officer  of  the  Ferry 
Guard  at  Trent  Town,  and  presenting  his  piece  at  Lieut.  Smith 
of  5th  P.  Reg't  in  the  face  of  the  whole  Reg't,  found  guilty  & 
Sentenc'd  to  receive  100  Lashes  on  his  bare  back. 

William  McCurl  of  the  5th  P.  Reg't  charg'd  with  insulting  & 
Charging  his  Bayonet  on  the  Officers  of  the  ferry  guard  at  Trent 
Town,  no  Evidence  appearing  to  Support  the  Charge  ag't  the 
Prisoner  the  Court  ordered  him  to  be  discharg'd  from  confine- 
ment for  the  present. 


€8 Colonel  William  Lewis  of  the  New  Jersey  militia,  from  Burling- 
ton county.  The  New  Jersey  State  line  rendered  important  service  in 
the  various  sanguinary  engagements  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and 
New  Jersey,  their  value  being  attested  by  the  commander-in-chief. 

69  Major  George  Nicholas,  commandant  of  Company  No.  2,  Second 
Virginia  regiment. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  367 

The  following  letter  rec'd  from  Col'o  Spotswood  : 

MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  230!,  1777. 
SIR: 

Although  the  Court  Martial  acquitted  Major  Peers  w'th 
Honor  yet,  I  think  Something  remains  to  be  done  on  my  Side  for 
the  Injury  done  that  Gentleman.  You'll  therefore  oblige  me  by 
putting  the  Enclosed  concession  in  the  next  Gen'l  Orders. 

Y'r  Ob't  Servant, 

Alex'r  Spotswood  Col'o. 

Col'o  Spotswood  being  Convinc'd  that  he  was  wrong  in  putting 
Major  Peers  under  arrest  is  Extremely  sorry  for  it. 

To  Colonel  Pickering. 

AFTER  ORDERS: 

The  Militia  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  assembled  upon  the 
late  Alarm  by  Signal  are  dismissed  with  the  Cordial  thanks  of 
the  Commander- in-Chief  for  the  readiness  w'th  w'ch  they  have 
turn'd  out,  &  the  Spirit  &  bravery  they  have  shown  in  harrassing 
the  Enemy,  &  preventing  their  incursion,  such  manly  Exertions 
in  the  Militia  prove  highly  discouraging  to  the  Enemy  and  while 
the  Same  Spirit  remains,  as  Danger  is  to  be  apprehended  from 
future  attempts. 

AFTER  ORDERS. 

The  rain  having  prevented  the  Execution  of  part  of  the 
after  Orders  of  Yesterday — Every  Brigade  &  Corps  of  the  Army 
is  to  parade  to-morrow  morning  at  4  O'C  if  it  sh'd  not  rain  — those 
after  orders  in  other  respects  to  be  punctually  com  ply 'd  with. 

G.  O. 

In  case  of  an  Alarm  the  Army  is  to  be  drawn  up  in  two 

Lines  on  the  Northern  Side  of  the  Brooke,  Gen'l  Green's  Division 
on  the  right,  Gea'l  Lincoln's  on  the  left  of  the  Front  Line,  Gen'l 
Stephen's  Division  on  the  right  of  the  2d  Line,  &  Brigadier 
Gen'l  Parson's  Brigade  on  the  left  of  the  2d  Line — to  be  join'd 
by  Gen'l  Varnum  when  he  comes  up.  The  Troops  to  make  best 
Shelter  they  can  w'th  boughs  of  Trees — Each  Division  to  furnish 
i  S.  2  S.  2  C.  25  P.  for  Picquet  to  Parade  forthwith  near  the 


368  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Bridge.  An  Allarm  will  be  made  by  the  firing  of  two  Field 
pieces  at  the  park  of  Artillery,  upon  which  the  whole  Army  is 
to  muster  &  take  the  ground  Shewn  to  the  Brig'r  General  with 
all  possible  dispatch.  The  Park  of  Artillery  to  form  in  the  Cen- 
ter of  the  ist  Line. 


CAMP  Q.  TOWN,  25th  June. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

A  Brigade  Court  Martial  to  sit  immediately  for  trial  of  all 
the  Prisoners  in  the  Quarter  Guard,  all  Evidences  to  attend. 
A  Capt.  from  the  yth  Reg't  President. 

(  2  Sub's  from  nth  Reg't. 
Members  -j  i    Do    from    yth     Do. 
(_  i    Do    from  i5th     Do. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  Q.  TOWN,  June  25th,  1777. 
G.  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to  morrow — Stephen.  Brigadier  Gene- 
ral for  to-morrow — Woodford.  Field  Officers  Lt.  Colo.  Sayers, 
Major  Hays.  Brigade  Major,  Swaine. 

The  Picquets  to  be  relieved  this  day  at  10  O'C  A.  M.  To- 
morrow at  6  O'C.,  the  usual  Hour.  Whenever  any  firing  or 
anything  Else  unusual  in  the  Camp  is  permitted  by  the  Major 
Gen'l  of  the  Day,  he  is  immediately  to  report  it  to  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief — to  prevent  any  unnecessary  inquiries  into  the 
Cause  of  it.  The  Officers  are  always  to  take  the  most  particular 
care  that  no  damage  be  where  the  Troops  are  encamped.  The 
inevitable  distresses  of  War  are  so  great  and  numerous  that  any 
addition  to  them  must  be  deem'd  "to  proceed  from  barbarity  & 
wantoness  alone — more  especially  on  us,  by  whom  that  property 
was  design' d,  and  ought  to  be  protected. 

D.  ORDERS. 

The  Cartridges  which  are  loo  Small  or  have  too  little 
Powder,  or  are  damag'd  to  be  return'd  to  the  Commissary  of 
Stores,  and  they  will  be  exchanged  for  what  will  Suit  their  different 
Arms.— by  order  of  Gen'l  Knox.70 

70  General  Henry  Knox. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF   MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  369 

CAMP  QUIBBLE  TOWN,  25th  June. 

REGIMENTAL  ORDERS. 

The  Commanding  Officer  is  sorry  he  is  Oblig'd  to  report 
the  Orders  of  the  3Oth  May — viz't,  "  No  Officer,  Non  Commision'd 
Officer,  or  Soldier  to  absent  themselves  from  the  Reg't  without 
leave  from  the  Commanding  Officer  of  the  Reg't,  with  the  addi- 
tion that  whoever  disobeys  them  hereafter  may  expect  to  be 
call'd  to  an  Acc't.  He  is  well  persuaded  every  officer  acquainted 
with  him  will  not  think  this  severe,  or  that  wants  any  unneces- 
sary or  particular  respect  paid.  He  wou'd  wish  to  know  the 
time  an  Officer  wanted  leave,  and  where  he  might  be  sent  for  in 
case  of  Sudden  call.  It  gives  him  pain  that  his  Duty  obliges 
him  to  point  at  two  Subalterns  whose  disobedience  in  this  Order, 
they  upon  reflection  must  acknowledge,  Subject  them  to  an 
Arrest,  but  from  the  high  opinion  he  entertains  of  both  these 
Gentlemen  as  promising  Officers,  He  will  take  no  further  notice 
of  it,  and  Sincerely  wishes  every  officer  will  endeavor  to  make 
himself  so  well  acquainted  with  his  Duty  as  not  to  leave  it  in 
the  power  of  their  Superiors  to  call  them  to  an  Acc't  which  The 
Discipline  &  Subordination  demand  it,  yet  to  an  Officer  of  ten- 
derness &  Feeling  it  will  ever  give  pain. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  MID.  BROOK, 

26th  June,  1777. 
G.  ORDERS. 

The  Troops  are  to  complete  2  days  Provision  of  Bread  or 
Flour  as  Soon  as  possible  &  but  one  days  Provision  of  Flesh 
(if  Fresh)  or  3  days  if  Salt,  if  it  is  to  be  had,  and  hold  them- 
selves in  readiness  to  March  at  a  moment's  warning.  They  will 
lodge  themselves  in  the  best  manner  they  can  this  Night  near  the 
Gaps  of  the  Mountains.  From  every  Gap  proper  Picquets  are 
to  be  posted,  &  Patrols  Sent  out  during  the  Night.  The  allow' d 
Quantity  of  Rum  to  be  drawn  for  the  Men  immediately. 


370  VIRGINIA   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

June  27th,   1777. 
REGIMENTAL  ORDERS. 

The  cadets  Isaac  Davis,  James  Dowdale  &  John  Heth  n 
are  in  future  to  do  duty  when  it  conies  to  their  turn  in  the  Com- 
panies they  belong  to.  The  Officers  and  Sg'ts  are  desir'd  to 
make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  Signals  of  the  Drum  given 
at  yesterday.  At  Revelie  Beating,  Officers  of  the  different  com- 
panies are  to  form  them,  and  Join  Such  Other  Companies  as  they 
please  So  as  to  have  Musick  to  each  when  they  will  practice 
Wheeling,  forming  &  Marching,  taking  every  pains  in  their 
power  to  instruct  them  in  this  necessary  part  of  discipline.  It 
is  expected  those  Officers  best  acquainted  with  Manoueveres  will 
be  very  active  and  that  the  others  (who  are  by  far  the  greatest 
Number)  will  never  Miss  any  opportunity  of  improving ;  as  nothing 
can  be  more  disagreeable  than  for  any  Officer  commanding  the 
Reg't  in  manoeuvreing  to  be  under  the  necessity  of  reproving  by 
Name  any  Officer  for  his  Extraordinary  Ignorance. 

W.  H. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  MIDDLE  BROOK,  27th  June,  1777. 

G.  ORDERS. 

Major  Gen'l  to-morrow  Lincoln.  Brigadier  Weedon. 
Field  Officers— Colo.  Chambers72  &  Major  Rush.  Brigade 
Major,  Day. 


"John  Heth,  a  younger  brother  of  Colonel  William  Heth,  born 
1760 ;  promoted  lieutenant  and  ensign  Second  Virginia  regiment  in 
1781,  and  received  as  bounty  from  the  State  of  Virginia  3,036^  acres 
of  land ;  member  of  the  Virginia  Society  of  the  Society  of  Cincinnati ; 
appointed  March  5,  1792,  captain  Second  United  States  infantry,  com- 
manded t>y  Lieutenant-Colonel  H.  Gaither,  and  served  in  the  campaign 
against  the  Northwestern  Indians  under  General  Anthony  Wayne;  died 
in  Richmond,  Virginia,  November  15,  1810. 

72  Lieutenant-Colonel  James  Chambers,  transferred  from  the  Tenth  to 
the  First  Pennsylvania  regiment ;  retired  the  service  January  i,  if.Si ; 
at  the  battle  of  Brandywine  he  received  a  Hessian  bullet  in  his  side, 
which  gave  him  much  trouble  in  after  years ;  died  at  London  Forge, 
Franklin  county,  Pennsyivania,  April  25,  1805,  aged  fifty-six  years. 


ORDERLY    BOOK    OF    MAJOR    WILLIAM    HETH.  371 

Commanding  Officers  of  Corps  who  have  Men  in  the  Provost 
Guard  ag't  whom  Sentences  have  been  passed  &  approved  are, 
without  delay  to  see  these  Sentences  executed.  It  being  neces- 
sary to  Determine  the  rank  of  Colo.  Bland  "  &  Colo.  Moylan,74 
Colonels  of  Horse,  Major  General  Sullivan,  Green,  L'd  Stirling, 
Stephens  &  Lincoln  were  appointed  a  Court  to  inquire  into  the 
Matter,  hear  the  pretensions  of  the  parties  and  Determine  their 
Ranks.  The  Court  to  sit  this  Afternoon  at  6  o'C  at  Gen'l 
Green's  Quarters,  any  three  of  them  to  be  a  quorum.  The 
Commander-in- Chief  earnestly  desires  that  General  Officers  in 
Case  of  an  Action  or  the  appearance  of  one,  will,  when  practica- 
ble, Send  all  their  orders  either  in  writing  or  by  an  Aid-de- 
Camp,  or  Brigade  Major  to  prevent  the  unintelligible  and  Con- 
tradictory directions  which  are  too  often  convey' d,  and  may 
prove  fatal  to  the  views  &  designs  of  the  Commanding  Officers. 
Intelligence  of  the  Enemies  movements  £  approach,  they  are 
also  requested  to  communicate  in  the  same  manner  to  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  Officer,  otherwise  it  will  be  impossible  for  them 
to  make  a  proper  disposition,  as  the  goodness  of  this  must  de- 
pend upon  the  Certainty  &  precision  of  the  information.  All 
officers  at  out  Posts  are  to  govern  themselves  by  this  order  So 
far  as  it  will  apply  in  their  Case. 

The  General  directs  an  immediate  Return  to  be  made  to  the 
Adj't  General  of  the  kill'd  and  wounded  and  Missing  since 
Sunday  last  inclusive. 

For  the  future  the  Commanding  Officer  of  Corps  are  as  soon 
as  possible  to  make  an  exact  return  to  the  Adjutant  General  of 
all  the  Kill'd  wounded  &  missing  of  their  respective  Corps. 
Specifying  the  Ranks  and  Time,  when,  &  Places  where  such 
Events  shall  happen. 

Such  Commanding  Officers  of  parties  are  from  time  to  time  to 
make  the  like  exact  Returns  of  all  Prisoners  they  shall  take  from 
the  Enemy  and  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  Capture. 


73  Colonel  Theodrick  Bland,  of  Virginia. 

"Colonel  Stephen  Moylan,  brevetted  brigadier-general,  born  in  Ire- 
land 1734;  died  at  Philadelphia,  April  11,  1811. 


372  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

HEAD  QUARTERS  MIDDLE  BROOK,  28th  June,  1777. 
G.  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Stephen,  Brigadier,  Wood- 
ford.  Field  Officers,  Lt.  Col.  Wilson75  &  Major  Richeson.76 
Brigade  Major,  Peers. 

The  Several  Reg' ts  are  to  Send  for  their  Tents  and  pitch  them 
where  they  are  Posted.  Orderely  Serg'ts  to  attend  at  Head 
Quarters  as  usual.  All  Chaplains  are  to  perform  Divine  Service 
to  Morrow  and  every  Succeeding  Sunday  with  their  respective 
Brigades  and  Regiments  where  their  will  possibly  admit  of  it.  And 
the  Commanding  Officers  of  Corps  are  to  see  that  they  attend 
themselves  with  Officers  of  all  Ranks  Setting  the  example.  The 
Commander-in-Chief  expects  an  exact  Obedience  in  future  as  an 
invariable  rule  of  practice  and  Every  neglect  being  consider'd 
not  only  a  breach  of  Orders  but  a  disregard  to  Decency,  Virtue 
and  Religion. 


CAMP  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  29th,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

In  future  each  Reg't  is  to  mount  a  Quarter  Guard  suffi- 
cient for  its  use,  Convenience,  independent  of  that  which  is  daily 
furnish' d  for  the  Brigade. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  MIDDLE  BROOK,  June  29th. 
G.  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Green.    Brigadier,  Mulen- 
burg.     Field  Officers  Col'o  Spotswood  L't  Col.  Febiger. 

The  Quarter-Master  General  is  to  make  out  a  proper  Distribu- 
tion of  Waggons  among  the  Brigades  &  Corps  of  the  Army  &  in 
proportion  to  their  respective  Members,  to  ascertain  which  they 
will  apply  to  the  Adjutant  General. 

75  John  Neilson  colonel  New  Jersey  mounted  men ;    colonel  Second 
regiment,  August  i,  1776  ;  brigadier  general  State  militia,  February  21, 
1777  ;  also  deputy  quarter-master  general. 

76  Holt  Richeson  of  King  William  county,  received  6000  acres  from 
the  State  of  Virginia,  February  17,  1784,  for  three  years  service  in  the 
Continental  establishment ;  member  of  the  Virginia  Convention  of  1788. 


ORDERLY  BOOK  OF  MAJOR  WILLIAM  HETH.          373 

HEAD  QUARTERS  MIDDLE  BROOK, 

30th  June,  1777. 
G.  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Sullivan."  Brigadier,  De 
Borres.  Field  Officers,  Col.  Matthews78  and  Lt.  Col.  Willis. 
Brigade  Major,  Mullens. 

A  Special  Court  Martial  to  sit  to-morrow  morning  at  9  O'C. 
at  the  usual  place  near  Gen'l  Wayne's  Quarters  for  the  trial  of 
Major  Stewart  of  the  2nd  Mary'd  Reg't.  Colo.  David  Hall  is 
appointed  President  of  this  Court — all  Witnesses  to  attend. 

All  Commanding  Officers  who  have  in  their  Reg'ts  any  Non- 
Commission' d  Officers  or  Soldiers  that  were  originally  enlisted 
into  the  Reg't  lately  commanded  by  Col.  Smallwood  79  to  deliver 
them  to  Colo.  Stone/0  who  now  commands  that  same  Reg't 
upon  his  making  it  appear  they  were  so  inlisted. 

A  Large  Horseman's  Tent  mark'd  I  H  Stone  ist  Maryland 
Reg't  together  with  some  common  Tents  were  taken  from  one 
Waggon  on  the  late  march  from  Quibble  Town  &  put  into 
another.  Whoever  has  them  is  to  send  them  to  Colo.  Stone  with- 
out delay. 


"John  Sullivan. 

78  George  Mathews  appointed  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Ninth  Virginia 
regiment  January  12,  1776;   promoted  colonel;  born  Augusta  county 
Virginia  in  1739;  ted  a  volunteer  company  against  the  Indians  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two ;  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleas- 
ants  October  10,  1774;  removed  to  Oglethorpe  county  Georgia  in  1785  ; 
Governor  of  Georgia,  1780,  i793~'6;    member  of   Congress,  1789-91; 
afterwards  brigadier-general  of   militia ;    died   at  Augusta,   Georgia, 
August  30,  1812. 

79  William  Smallwood,  promoted  major-general. 

80  John  Haskins  Stone,  early  in  the  war  a  captain  in  Small  wood's  reg- 
iment; made  colonel,  December,  1776;  resigned  August  i,  1779 ;  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  the  battles  of  Long  Island,  White  Plains,  Prince- 
ton and  Germantown.  in  the  last  of  which  he  received  a  wound  which 
disabled  him  from  further  service.     In  1781  he  became  a  clerk  in  the 
office  of  R.  R.  Livingston,  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  subse- 
quently a  member  of  the  Executive  Council  of  Maryland  ;  Governor 
of  Maryland  i794-*97 ;  died  at  Annapolis,  October  5,  1804. 


374  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

30th  June,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

When  the  weather  clears  up,  the  Arms  of  the  whole  Brig- 
ade to  be  put  in  the  best  order,  the  locks  well  oil'd,  and  any 
deficiency  in  ammunition  to  be  immediately  completed.  When 
oil  is  wanted  The  Commanding  Officer  of  Reg'ts  are  to  see  that 
Neets  feet81  are  Boil'd  up  for  that  purpose  without  delay.  His 
Excellency  the  Commander-in-Chief  Complains  that  the  Gen'l 
Orders  Given  respecting  the  Troops  being  always  provided  with 
Three  day's  provisions  on  hand  has  Either  through  the  Negli- 
gence of  Officers  or  carelessness  of  Commissaries  not  being 
Strictly  comply' d  with.  The  Commanding  Officers  of  each 
Corps  will  carefully  attend  for  the  future  that  no  part  of  this 
breach  of  Publick  Orders  may  be  Justly  charg'd  to  this  Brigade. 
They  will  please  to  Represent  to  their  Brigadier  in  Writing 
what  kind  of  Provisions  the  Commissary  is  deficient  in  that  he 
may  be  able  immediately  to  report  the  Same  that  the  blame  may 
fall  upon  the  proper  person.  Major  Gen'l  Stephen  could  not 
help  expressing  his  Concern  the  last  evening  at  Seeing  so  few 
Officers  attending  the  Parade  at  Retreat  Beating.  It  is  not  only 
expected  that  Every  Capt.  &  Subaltern  off  Duty  Should  attend 
to  See  their  Rolls  call'd,  their  Arms  and  Ammunition  examin'd, 
their  Men  Warn'd  for  Duty  &  all  Absentees  accounted  for,  but  it  is 
likewise  hop'd  the  Field  Officers  will  attend  to  See  this  very 
necessary  piece  of  Duty  purform'd.  Their  presence  cannot  fail  of 
giving  authority  to  the  Inferior  Officers  &  Setting  that  good 
Example  that  will  produce  the  most  happy  effect.  As  this  Brig- 
ade will  probably  be  the  next  Detach' d  the  General  hopes  Every 
thing  will  be  ready  to  move  at  the  Shortest  Notice. 


30th  June,  1777. 

T^  »  y"V  »  **  fill 

REG  L  ORDERS. 

The  Commanding  Officers  of  the  Different  Companies  are 
required  to  peruse  the  General  Division  &  Brigade  Orders  for 
many  Days  back  to  prevent  their  being  repeated,  and  Officers 
from  being  reflected  upon.  The  Colonel  &  Major's  Orderly 

81  Neat's-foot  oil,  obtained  by  boiling  calves'  feet. 


ORDERLY   BOOK    OF   MAJOR   WILLIAM    HETH.  375 

Book  are  at  the  service  of  the  Officers  'till  Books  can  be  procur'd 
for  Each  Comp'y.  In  the  meantime  the  Major  insists  upon  an 
immediate  compliance  w'th  the  Orders  of  the  gth,  2oth  &  2ist 
Inst. ,  as  he  would  Consider  it  as  Some  reflection  upon  him  Self 
if  Major  Gen'l  Stephens  should  have  sufficient  reason  for  putting 
the  last  order  referred  to  in  execution.  Indeed,  he  is  much  Sur- 
priz'd  that  many  Officers  have  not  discover' d  a  greater  inclina- 
tion to  improve  themselves  by  reading  the  Gen'l  Orders 
frequently  &  with  attention  as  there  are  many  of  them  replete 
with  Military  instructions,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Orders  which 
Every  Officer  is  in  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  indispensably  bound 
to  execute. 


JULY  IST,  1777. 
BRIGADE  ORDERS. 

A  Court  Martial  to  sit  this  Morning  for  the  Trial  of  all 
Prisoners  in  the  Quarter  Guard.  The  Rank  of  the  Field  Offi- 
cers in  the  Virginia  Line  is  to  be  settled  to-morrow  if  any  of  the 
Gentlemen  of  this  Brigade  have  other  Claims  to  make  than  are 
already  stated  they  will  give  them  into  the  General.  He  thinks 
it  will  be  necessary  that  the  whole  give  in  the  Dates  of  their 
Commissions  or  appointments. 


HEAD-QUARTERS  MIDDLE  BROOK, 

ist  July,  '77. 
G.  ORDERS. 

Major  General  for  to-morrow,  Stephens.  Brigadier,  Wee- 
don.  Field  Officers,  Col.  McClenahan  &  Lt.  Colo.  Mais,  Bri- 
gade Major,  Peers. 

A  General  Court  Marshal  to  sit  to-morrow  morning  at  9  o'C 
at  the  usual  place  for  the  Trial  of  Such  Prisoners  as  Shall  be 
brought  before  them.  All  Witnesses  to  attend.  Colo.  Walter 
Stewart  is  appointed  President  of  this  Court. 

The  late  Court  Martial  of  which  Colo.  Stephens  was  President 
is  dissolv'd.  Pay  Abstracts  for  the  Month  of  May  are  to  be  made 
out  immediately  &  deliv'd  to  the  Pay  Master  General  for  Exam- 
ination. 


376  VIRGINIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

The  Several  Troops  &  Detachments  of  Colo.  Eland's  Light 
Horse  are  to  assemble  forthwith  at  their  Colo's  Quarters.  The 
Colo,  will  apply  to  the  Quarter  Master  General  to  Assign  a  place 
where  the  regiment  may  get  forrage  to  recruit  their  Horses. 

A  Return  of  the  Sick  in  Camp  of  the  Different  Regiments  to 
be  made  to  the  Surgeon  General  of  the  Army  Every  Tuesday  & 
Friday  at  3  o'C  in  the  Morning  Specifying  the  Men's  Names* 
Disease  &  the  Company  they  belong  to.  These  Returns  to  be 
sign'd  by  the  Regimental  Surgeon.  Jonathan  Mifflin,  Esq'r, 
&  Henry  Emanuel  Lutterbock,  Esq'r,  are  appointed  Deputy 
Quarter  Master  Generals  for  the  Army  with  the  rank  of  Colonel 
and  are  to  be  respected  &  obey'd  as  such. 

Clement  Biddle,  Esq'r,  is  app'd  Commissary  of  Forrage  for 
this  Army.  Notwithstanding  the  order  oi  June  3rd  the  Gene- 
ral is  informed  that  many  Officers  are  turning  their  Horses  into 
Fields  of  Grain  &  Grasses  &  giving  assurance  to  the  Proprietors 
of  them  that  the  damage  done  shall  be  paid  for  by  the  Quarter 
Master  General.  When  he  recollects  the  orders  already  given 
and  Considers  the  variety  of  Distress's  under  which  the 'inhabi- 
tants of  New  Jersey  are  still  groaning  the  General  is  astonish'd 
to  find  that  neither  Duty,  Honor  nor  Humanity  even  restrain 
officers  from  so  cruel  and  unlawful  a  practice.  He  therefore  once 
more  &  in  the  most  Pointed  &  Positive  terms  forbids  it,  and 
orders  that  no  Horses  be  turn'd  into  any  field  whatsoever  without 
license  first  obtain' d  from  the  Quarter  Master  General  or  Some 
Person  acting  under  his  authority.  After  this  Second  notice  any 
Officers  offending,  upon  Complaint  being  made  may  rest  assur'd 
that  they  shall  not  only  be  answerable  for  the  Damage  done  but 
brought  before  a  Court  Martial  for  Disobedience  of  Orders. 


July  ist,   1777. 
REGL.  ORDERS. 

That  the  Commanding  Officer  of  each  Company  make  an 
exact  return  of  what  arms  and  accoutrements  are  wanting  to 
complete  his  Men,  more  especially  Tawmahawks,  for  which  but 
too  frequent  Orders  have  been  given.  All  Arms  slightly  dam- 
aged &  thereby  rendered  unfit  for  use  to  be  brought  in  *  *  * 


INDEX 


ABNEY,  332. 

Accomac  County.  Loyalty  of,  in 
"Bacon's  Rebellion,"  180;  Insti- 
tution of,  275. 

ADAMS,  Capt.  Nathan.  301. 

Alabama  Historical  Society,  50. 

ALEXANDER,  Archibald,  37. 

AMBLER,  John,  Epitaph  and  Arms 

of.  95- 
American  Historical  Association, 

50. 
American    Revolution,    Beginning 

of,  4  ;  Daughters  of  the,  54. 
Annals  of  Augusta    County,    Vir- 
ginia, 223,  225,  331. 
ARCHER,  George,  71. 

Joanna,  Epitaph  of,  71. 

Lieut.,  224. 

Michael,  71. 
ARMAND'S  Legion,  351. 
Arms  Branded.  346. 
ARNOLD,  Gen.  B.  280,327. 
ASHBY,  Capt.  208. 
ASHMEAD,  Capt.  Jacob,  247. 
ATKINSON,  Archer,  160. 
AUSTIN,  332. 
BACHE,  Sarah,  171. 
BACON,  Eliza,  Epitaph   and  Arms 

of,  105. 

Nathaniel,  Epitaph  and  Arms  of, 

104. 

Nathaniel,  "  the  Rebel,"  140. 
Bacon's    Rebellion    in    Accomac 

county,  177 
Baggage,  Army,  in  the  Revolution, 

348. 
BAGWELL,  Augustus  W.,  311. 

Dr.  Thomas,  302. 
BAKER,  Benjamin,  145,  155. 

Blake,  145. 

Judith  Bridger,  146. 

Lawrence,  153,  155. 

Richard,  145,  155. 

R.  H.,  146. 
BALL,  Col.,  323. 
BALLARD,  Lieut.  William,  254. 
BANISTER,  Col.  John,  170. 
BARBER,  Col.  Francis,  362. 


Barges,  Battle  of  the,  299. 
BARNES,  Lieut.,  284. 
BARR,  Rev.  David,  157. 
BARRADALL,  Blumfield,  75. 
Edward,  Epitaph  and  Arms  of, 

75- 

BARTON,  R.  T.,  113. 
BATTLE,  Kemp  P.,  55. 
BAXTER,  George  A.,  37,  214. 

Sidney  S.,  172. 
BAYLY,  Thomas  H.,  310. 

Thomas  M.,  310. 
"Bel fie  Id,"  107. 
BELL,  220. 

BENJAMIN,  Adjutant,  246. 
BENNET.  Gov.  Richard,  107. 
Benn's  Church,  155. 
BERKELEY,  Lady  Frances,  92. 

Sir  William,  98  ;  Will  of,  141,  180. 
BERRY,  Sir  John,  199. 
BEVERLEY,  Robert,  197,  198. 
Bible,  Translation  of  the,  132. 
BIDDLE.  Col.  Clement,  340. 
BLAGGE,  Lieut.  John,  Notice  of,  213 
BLAIR,  Archibald,  78. 

Rev.  James,  78;  Epitaph  of,  92. 

Jean,  Epitaph  of,  78. 

John,  Notice  of,  78. 

Sarah,  Epitaph  of,  93. 
BLAND,  Col.  Theodrick,  371. 
Body-Snatching  in  New  York,  327. 
BOOKER,  Capt.  Samuel.  235,  246. 
Botetourt,  Statute  of  Lord,  90. 
Bowling  Green,  Virginia,  323. 
BOWMAN,  Col.  Abraham,  332. 

Col.  Edmund.  182,  187;  His  Pos- 
sessions and  Descendants,  276. 
"Bowman's  Folly,"  276. 
BOYKIN,  Andrew,  154. 

Catharine,  154. 

Francis,  154. 

Braddock's  Defeat,  116,  123. 
Brandyzvine,  Battle  of,  278. 
Branten's,  289. 
BRAY,  Col.  David,  Arms,  Epitaph 

and  Descendants  of,  79,  80. 

Judith,  80. 
BRECKINRIDGE,  Gen.  James,  229. 


378 


INDEX. 


,"  329. 
BRENT,  Frank  P.,  177. 
BRIGG'S,  Dorothea,  329. 

Gray,  329. 

John  Howell,  329. 
BRIDGER,  James,  142. 

Gen.  Joseph,    140  ;    Epitaph   of, 

142  ;  Descendants  of,  142. 

Samuel,  142. 

William,  153. 

British  Vandalism,  284,  297. 
BROADWATER,  Polly  and  William, 

289. 
BROCK,  R.  A.,  ix,  3,  31,  53,  55,  149, 

i?3.  203,  219,  319. 
BROCKENBROUGH,    Lieut.    Austin, 

Ancestry  of,  213. 

Dr.  John,  320. 

BRONAUGH,  Capt.  William,  212. 
BROOKS,  Capt.  of  The  Jolly  Tar, 

301. 
BROWN,  Alexander,  3.  55,  79,  133, 

154,  195- 

John,  76. 

Mrs.  Margaret,  Epitaph  of,  76. 

Col.  Samuel.  228. 
BRUIN,  Major  Peter  B.,  343. 
Bruton  Parish  Church- Yard,  67. 
BRYANT,  Catharine.  154. 
BUFORD,  Col.  Abraham,  360. 
BURGES,  Ann,  Epitaph  of,  69. 

Rev.  Henry,  69. 
BULLITT,  Lieut.  Thomas,  Notice  of, 

213- 

BURKE,  John,  171. 
BURR,  Aaron,  327, 
BURT,  Richard,  200. 
BURWELL,  James,  Arms  and  Epi- 
taph of,  105. 

Lewis,  Epitaph  of,  no. 

Major.  Lewis,  105. 

Nathaniel,  109,  156. 

Susanna,  Epitaph  of,  109. 
BUTLER,   Col.   Richard,  Notice  of, 

224,  232. 

Court-martial  of,  247. 
BYRD,  Mrs.  Lucy  (Parke),  86. 

Col.  William,  86,  210. 
CABELL,  Gov.  William  H.,  229. 
CAMM,  Rev.  John,  201. 
CAMPBELL,  Charles,  7,  53. 
Camp  Scavengers,  251. 
Canada,   Invasion  of  in  1775,  280, 

322,  327. 

Caps,  Military,  256. 
Card-playing,  237. 
CARLI,    Signer,    Performances   of, 

327- 
CARR,  Dabney,  7. 


Carr's  Hill  Burying-  Ground,  in. 
CARRINGTON,  Col.  Edward,  329. 

Paul,  21. 
CARROLL,  Archer,  153. 

George,  153. 

Virginia,  153. 
CARTER,  Robert,  "King,"  212. 

Thomas,  170. 
^Carter's  Grove"  108. 
GARY,  Archibald,  170. 

Dorothea,  329. 
CATESBY,  Mark.  85. 
CHAMBERLAIN,  Mellen,  4. 
CHAMBERS,  Col.  James.  370. 
CHAMPION,  Captain,  243. 

John,  Epitaph  of.  97. 
CHAPMAN.  Maj  ,  257. 
CHARLTON,  Ann,  Epitaph  of,  68. 
CHISMAN,  Maj.  Edmund,  194,  197. 
Christ  Church,  Lancaster  county, 

147. 

CHRISTIAN,  Israel,  214. 
CHRISTIE,  Capt.  John,  234. 
CHURCH,  Capt.  Thomas,  337. 
Cincinnati,     Virginia    Society    of, 

309.  329,  370. 

CLAIBORNE,  Col.  William,  212. 
CLOPTON,  Isaac,  198. 
Clothing.  Soldiers,  347. 
COCKE,  Bowler,  330. 

James,  216. 

Capt.  Thomas,  212. 

Dr.  William,  Tablet  to  and  no- 
tice of,  84. 

Cock-fighting  in  1788,  289. 
Cold  Weather  in  1788,  325. 
COLEMAN,  Lieut.  Jacob,  235. 
COLLETT,  John,  Epitaph  of,  67. 
Colormen,  Camp,  337. 
Committees  of  Correspondence,  Co- 
lonial, 4. 

CONDON,  David,  199. 
Congress,  General.    By  whom  pro- 
posed, 17. 

CONNER,  Col.  Morgan,  346. 
CONWAY,  Moncure  D.,  35,  167. 

Gen.  Thomas,  345. 
COPELAND,  Joseph,  154. 

Rev.  Patrick,  154. 
CORBIN.  Col.  Coventon,  276. 

Col.  George,  295. 

Sabra,  276. 

Costumes  of  Colonial  Virginia,  117 
Council  of  Virginia,  Duties  of,  328. 
Court-martials  of  the  Revolution, 

236,  237,  241,  243,  245,  247,   258, 

334.  375- 

COURTENAY,  W.  A.,  255. 

COWPER,  F.  P.  P.,  155. 


INDEX. 


379 


COVVPER,  Capt.  John,  144. 

Capt.  William,  144. 
CRAIK,  Dr.  James,  324. 
CRAWFORD,  Lieut.  John,  237. 

Major,  358. 

CRITTENDEN,  Lieut.  John,  233,  249. 
CROPPER,  John.  183,  313. 

Gen  John,  memoir,  ancestry  and 

descendants  of,  273   276. 

Major  Sebastian,  277. 
Cropperville,  315. 
Culpeper  county,  92. 
Culpeper  Mimite  Men,  279. 
Cumberland,  Fort,  211. 
CUNNINGHAM,  R.  H.,  321. 
"•Curies,"  327. 
CURSON,  Mr.,  290. 
CURSONS.  Richard,  324. 
CURTIS,  Edmund,  287. 

Daniel  Parke,  Epitaph  of,  98. 

Frances,  86,  99. 

John.  86,  99. 

William,  Arms  of,  108. 
Dundebarge  Point,  248. 
DANDRIDGE,  Frances,  170 

Col.  John,  86. 

DANGERFIELD,  Col.  William,  331. 
DAVIES,  Col.  William,  294. 
DAVIS,  Cadet  Isaac,  370. 

John,  200. 

Lieut.  John  R.,  200. 

John  Slaige,  69. 

Major,  334,  363. 
DAY,  Adjutant  Benjamin,  365. 

Col.  C.  F.,  153- 

John,  155. 

DAYLEY,  Richard,  183. 
DAYTON,  Col.  Elias,  363. 
D'ARENDT.  Baron,  Col.,  351. 
DE  BEAUREPAIRE,  M.  Quesnay,  165. 
DE  BORRE,  Gen  P.,  338,  373. 
DEFLEURY,  Col.  Louis,  223,  226. 
D'HART,  Col.  William,  365. 
DE  LUCE,  M.,  290. 
Depredations  of  Soldiers,  349.  376. 
Deserters,  241,  288,  347,  364. 
DEW,  Thomas   R.,  Notice  of,  Life 

and  Works  of,  34 
DIGGES,  Cole,  107  ;  Epitaph  of,  108. 

Dudley.  Epitaph  of,  107. 

Edward,  Arms   of,   83;  Epitaph 

and  Notice  of,  107,  197. 

Elizabeth,  107,  197. 

Susanna  (Cole),  Epitaph  of,  109 

Capt.  William,  197. 

DlLLINGHAM,  Capt.,  288. 

Discipline  in    the    Revolutionary 

army,  250,  341,  344. 
DIXON,  John,  72. 


DOVE,  M.  D.,  John,  172. 
Dow,  Lorenzo,  160. 
DOWDALE,  Cadet  James,  370. 
Drama  in  fjSS,  The,  326. 
DRUMMOND,  Elizabeth,  Epitaph  of, 

98. 

William,  98. 
DUKE,  Henry,  200. 
DUNTON,  Capt.  William,  286. 
DYER,  Edward,  Epitaph  of,  78. 
Eagle  Tavern,  Richmond,  Ball  at, 

in  1788,  309 
"Edge  Hill,"  311. 
EGLE,  A.  M.,  M.  D..  Wm.  H.,  224. 
Emory  and  Henry  College,  38. 
Epitaphs  and  Inscriptions  in  James 

City  and  York  counties,  Va.,  61. 
ESHAM,  Daniel,  276. 
EUSTACE,  Lieut.  Hancock,  213. 
EVELYN.  George,  85. 

Rebecca,  85. 
FAIRFAX  Denny,  119. 

Thomas,  Lord,  119. 
FALKNER,  Rev.  Mr.,  148. 
Fast  and  Thanksgiving  Day,  First 

in  Virginia,  77. 
FAUQUIER,  Gov.  Francis,  Death  of, 

88. 

FEBIGER,  Col.  Christian,  232. 
Filson  Club,  The,  52. 
FINLEY,  Capt.  Ebenezer,  290. 
FISHBURNE,  Lieut.,  224. 
FITZHUGH,  William,  Arms  of,  75. 
FLEMING,  Col.  Thomas,  276. 

Col.  William,  214,  217. 
Flogging  in  the  army,  258,  347,  364. 
FLOWER,  Col.  Benjamin,  356. 
FOLIOTT,  Rev.  Edward.  200. 
FOOTE,  Rev.  William  Henry,  31. 
Forts,  Cumberland,  211 ;  Loudoun, 

116;  Montgomery,  232. 
FOUSHEE,  M.  D.,  John  H.,  230. 

William,  M.  D.,  170,  230. 
Fox,  Lieut.,  248. 
France,  King  of,  toasted,  282. 
France,   Provision  for  war  with, 

304 

Franchise  in  the    colony  of  Vir- 
ginia, 120. 

FRANK,  Ann,  Epitaph  of,  69. 
Graham,  69. 

FRANKLIN,  Benjamin,  171. 

Frederick  county,  Virginia,  \  16. 

French  Cannon  in  the  Revolution, 
3M- 

French  and  Indian  war.    Virginia 
officers  in,  203. 

French  Huguenots  in  Virginia,  31. 

French  Ordinary,  199. 


380 


INDEX. 


GAINES,  Richard  H.,  165. 

GAITHER,  Col.  H.,  370. 

GALE,  William,  160. 

GAMBLE,  Dr.  Gary  B.,  226,  264. 
Capt.  Robert.     Orderly  Book  of 
1779.  219;  sketch  of,  account  of 
family  of,  220;  return  of  his  com- 
pany at  Stony  Point,  227. 

GARNETT,  James  Mercer,  i.     His 
appeal  for  the  Society,  x. 

Gaspee.  Case  of  the,  6. 

Georgia  Historical  Society,  50. 

German  Battalion,  7^,347. 

German  race  in  Virginia,  The,  31. 

GIBB,  Joseph  W.,  311. 

GIBBON,  Maj.  James,   170;    Notice 
and  Descendants  of,  226. 

GIBBON,  Lieut.  James,  U.  S.    N., 
226. 
Mrs.  Mary,  Epitaph  of,  101. 

GILMER,  Dr.  George,  229. 

Gilmer  Letters,  The,  36. 

GIST,  Capt.,  255. 

GLEN,  Capt.,  Court-martial  of,  237. 

GODWIN,  Martha,  143. 

GOOCH,  Maj.  William,  Epitaph  of 
and  Arms  of,  102. 

GOUGH,  Rev.  John,  Epitaph  of,  94. 

Governor's  palace,  Building  of  the, 

73- 

GRACIE.  Archibald,  330. 
GRAHAM,  William,  36. 
GRAMBLE,  Surgeon,  284. 
Grand  Rounds,  358. 
GRATTAN.  John, descendants  of,  228 
Great  Bridge,  Battle  of  the,  332. 
GREENE,  Gen.  Nathaniel,  345. 
GREENHOVV,  Elizabeth,  77. 

John,  Epitaph  of,  77. 

Robert.  170. 
'•Green  Spring,"  98. 
GREENUP,  Gov.,  6.  229. 
GRIFFIN,  Cyrus,  326. 
GRIGSBY,  Hugh  Blair,  21,  150. 
GRINLEY,  James,  Epitaph  of,  71. 
GRYMES,  Mary,  109. 

Philip,  109. 

Guard  Mounting,  353. 
GWATHMEY,  Robert,  321. 

Temple,  321. 
HALE,  Benedict,  324. 
HALL,  Col.  David,  373. 

J.  Leslie,  61. 

Lieut.  John,  210. 
HAMBLETON,  Capt.,  Court-martial 

of,  237. 

HAMILTON,  Thomas  Lynch,  321. 
Hampden  Sidney  College,  31. 
HANDY,  Capt.  Joseph,  299. 


HANFORD,  Sir  Humphrey,  195. 
HANSFORD,  Charles,  199. 

John,  194,  200. 

Lewis,  M.  D.,  240. 

Richard, 194. 

Thomas,   191  ;  Ancestry  of,  195  ; 

Descendants  of,  199,  200. 

William,  195. 
HARCOURT,  Earl,  301. 
HARDIN,  Martin,  206. 
HARDY,  George,  149. 

Richard,  149. 

Samuel,   149,  160;  his  elegy   on 

M.  Young,  152. 
Hardy  cotinly,  Virginia,  153- 
Harpsichord,  The,  327. 
HARRISON,  Col.  A.  M.,  321. 

Col.  Benjamin,  94,  95. 

Benjamin,  of  "Wakefield,"  330. 

Capt.  Carter  H.,  Notice  of,  and 

family,  212. 

Gen.  Charles,  212 

Elizabeth  Hill,  154. 

Hannah,  94. 

Lieut.  James,  345. 

John  Nicholas,  330. 

Col.  Julian,  321. 

R.  H.  Munford,  320,  329,  330. 
HARVIE,  Col.  John,  170,  172,  229. 
HARWOOD,  Edward,  201. 
HAY,  Col.  Samuel,  249,  342. 
HAYS,  Major.  368. 
HAWKINS,  Lieut.  John,  262. 
HAYNES,  Lucy  Dudley,  201. 
HAYWARD,  Richard,  91. 
HENDERSON,  A.,  323. 

James,  79. 

Jane,  Epitaph  of,  79. 
HENLEY,  David,  323 
HENNEMAN,  John  Bell,  25. 
HENRY,  the  comedian,  326. 

James,  103. 

John,  Epitaph  of,  103. 

Patrick,  192,  352. 

William  Wirt,  ix,  x,   3,  55,    144, 

150,  152. 

Mrs.  W.  W.,  54- 
HETH,  Family,  The,  319. 

Andrew,  320. 

Beverley,  321. 

Henry,  320,  329. 

Gen.  Harry,  321. 

Henry  G.,  329. 

John,  320. 

Captain,  321,  370. 

Col.  William,   Orderly  Book  of, 

317  ;  Sketch  of,  319  ;  his  lampoon 

of  Thomas  Jefferson,  328. 

William  H.,  330. 


INDEX. 


381 


HEWITT,  William,  200. 
Hickory  Neck  Church,  106. 
HILL,  Richard,  187. 

Samuel,  200. 
HODSDEN,  Joseph  Bridger,  143. 

William,  148. 

HOG,  Captain  Peter,  Sketch  of,  211. 
HOGE,  Mary.  37. 

HOLLEMAN,  Joel,  l6o. 

HOLLIDAY,  Hon.  F.  VV.  M.,  320. 
HOLLOWAY,  Col.  John,  85. 
HOLT,  Randolph,  195. 
HOPKINS,  Stephen,  10. 
HORNSBY,  Margaret,  Epitaph  of,  72. 

Thomas,  Epitaph  of,  72. 
Horn  Town,  289. 
Hospital  Regulations,  358. 
Hospitality  of  Virginians,  324. 
HOUDON.  the  Sculptor,  174. 
HOWE,  Gen.  Robert,  225. 
HUBLEY,  Jr.,  Col.  Adam,  342. 
HUDDLESTON,  Ann,  197. 
HUDSON,  Capt..  245. 
HULL,  Gen.  William.  224,  233 
HUNT,  Rev.  Charles,  Epitaph  of,  74. 
HUNTER,  W..  324. 
HUTCHINGS,  John,  97. 
HUTCHINSON,  Robert,  187. 
HYDE,  John,  200. 

John  Hansford,  M.  D.,  201. 
Indian  Queen  Tavern,  325 
INGLIS,  Mungo,  So. 
Illinois  Regiment  from   Virginia, 

321. 

INNES,  Col.  James,  151. 
Iron,  price  of,  293. 
Isle  of  Wight  County,  Representa- 
tives from,  1 60. 
JAMESON,  David,  102. 

Mildred,  Epitaph  of,  102. 
James  City  County r,  Epitaphs  in,  63. 
Jamestown,  Epitaphs  at,  92. 
JANNEY,  Lightfoot,  330. 
"AQUELIN,  96. 
AY,  John,  327. 

EPPERSON,  Thomas,  20,  174,  328. 
EFFREYS,  Col.  Herbert,  199. 
ENIFER,  Capt.  Daniel,  183. 

Daniel,  of  St.  Thomas,  184. 
Johns- Hopkins  University,  54. 
JOHNSON,  James,  160. 

Lieut.,  320 

JOHNSTON,  Col.  Francis,  244,  337. 
JONES,  Jr  ,  Col.  C.  C.,  56. 

Gabriel,  119. 

Orlando,  Epitaph  of,  86. 

Richard,  190. 

Rev.  Roland,  Epitaph  of,  76. 

Rev.  William  H.  G.,  145. 


JOYNES,  Col.  Levin,  277,  301,  311. 

Dr.  Levin  S.,  312. 

Judge  William  T.,  312. 
KELLAM,  John.  286. 
KEMP.  Gov.  Richard,  Notice  of,  77. 
KENDALL,  Capt.  288. 
KIDD,  Commodore  John,  298. 
King's  Creek,  103. 
KINGSMELL,  Richard,  105 
KNIGHT,  John,  95. 

Mrs.  Mary,  Epitaph  of,  95. 
KNOX,  Lt.  George,  226,  246. 

Gen.  Henry,  326,  368 
LAFAYETTE,  Marquis  de,  173,  174. 
LAMB,  Gen.  John,  326. 
Lash  in  the  Army,   The,  258,  347, 

364- 

"  Latin  House,"  286. 
LAWSON,  Capt.  Benjamin,  248. 
Louisiana  Historical  Association, 

50,  52. 

LEAR,  Col.  John,  141,  143. 
LEE,  Arthur,  324. 

Gen.  Charles,  283. 

Francis  Lightfoot,  21. 

Richard  Henry,  7. 

Whitaker,  in. 

William,  Epitaph  of,  94. 
Lee,  Residence  of  JR.  E.,  conveyed 

to  the  Society,  x. 
LEWIS,  Gen.  Andrew,   Family  of, 

206,  231.  232. 

Col.  Fielding,  205. 

Col.  Charles,  Journal  of,  203. 

John,  205. 

Samuel,  206. 

Thomas,  206. 

Thomas  Waring,  205. 

Virgil  A.,  57. 

Warner,  205. 

William  L.,  205. 
LILBURNE,  Elizabeth,  200. 
LINCOLN,  Gen.  Benjamin,  342,  371. 
LINDSAY,  116. 
LINN,  John  Blair,  224. 
LIPSCOMB,  Capt.  Bernard,  337. 

Capt.  Reuben.  337. 
Liquor,  Rations  of,  350. 
LITTLETON,  Col.  Souttiey,  183,276. 
LIVINGSTON,  Maj.  James,  210. 
LUCKIN,  Alice,  Arms  of,  82. 
LUDWELL,  Mrs.  Hannah,  Epitaph 

of,  95- 

Philip,  92,  95. 

Thomas,  Epitaph  and  Arms  of, 

76. 
LUNSPORD,  Sir  Thomas,  77. 

LUTTERBOCK,  Col.  H.  E.,  376. 

LUZERNE,  Chevalier,  174. 


382 


INDEX. 


Lynch's,  Virginia,  323. 

LYNN,  Margaret,  206. 

LYON,  Rev.  John,  294 

McCABE,  D.  D.,  Rev.  John  C  ,  139. 

McCLANAHAN,  Col.  Alex.,  231. 

MACON,  Gideon,  86. 

Martha,  86. 

MCDOWELL,  Lieut.  John,  232. 
MACKEY,  Dr.  Robert,  320. 
MACFARLAND,  W.  H.,  320. 
MCCLELLAN,  Capt.  Joseph,  259. 
MCCLURG,   Dr.  James,    170;    Wife 

of,  310. 

McHENRY,  Dr.  James,  290. 
MADISON,  Bishop  James,  90,  170. 
MAIS,  James,  326. 

Col.,  375- 

MALMADIE,  Col.,  363. 
MANYARD,  Lieut.,  240. 
Margaret  Academy,  315. 
MARSHALL,  Capt.  John,    132,   243, 

279,  32°,  328,  329. 

Col.  Thomas,  243. 
Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  310. 
MARTIN,  Col.,  365. 

Col.  T.  B.,  117,  320. 
Martin's  Hundred,  109. 
MARYE,  Rev.  James,  69. 
MASON,  George,  21,  323. 

Stevens  Thomson,  151. 
Maryland  Historical  Society,  54. 
MATHEWS,  Col.  George,  276,  373. 

Col.  Thomas,  172. 

Gen.  Thomas,  309. 
MATTHEWS,  Thomas,  "  T.  M.."  180. 
MAURY,  Maj.  Abraham,  231,  241. 
MAYNARD,  Emmett  W.,  157. 
MAXWELL,  Gen.  William,  353. 
MECRAGGIN,  Massacre  of  the  fam- 
ily of,  208. 

MEIGS,  Col.  R.  J.,  231. 
MERCER, George,Sketch  of,  118,  207 

James,  Sketch  of,  21,  173, 

John,  21. 

John  Fenton,  212. 
Middle  Brook,  N.  J.,  346.- 
MIFFLIN,  Col.  Jonathan,  376. 
MILLER,  Samuel,  228. 
MILNER,  Maj.,  141. 

Patience,   146. 
MINNIGERODE,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Chas., 

222. 

Minute  Men    of  the    Revolution, 

276,  279. 

Mix,  Rosina,  311. 
MODE,  Dr.  Giles,  200. 
MOFFETT,  220. 
MONTGOMERY,  Alexander,  172, 

Capt.,  244. 


MOODY,  Elizabeth,  200. 
MORDECAI,  Samuel,  171,  175. 

Jonas,  200. 
MORGAN,   Gen.    Daniel,   224,    278, 

279,  280,  320,  322,  332,  343',  357, 

360. 

MORRELL,  Maj.  Thomas,  356. 
MORRIS,  Lieut.  R.,  286. 
MORRISON,  Col.  F.,  199. 
Morris  Town,  290. 
MORTIMER,  Dr.  Charles,  323. 
MOSELEY,  Capt.,  288. 
Mount  Vernon,  324. 
MOYLAN,  Gen.  Stephen,  371. 
MUHLENBURG,  Gen.  J.  P.  G.,345. 
MULLEN,  Maj.  Thomas,  338,  373. 
Meeting,  Punishment  of,  258. 
Neats'-foot  Oil.  374. 
NEILSON,  Col.  John,  372. 
Negroes,  Prices  and  hires  of,  293. 
NELSON,  Chancellor,  Robert,  90. 

Thomas,  Epitaph  and   arms    of, 

100. 

Gen.  Thomas,  Jr.,  21. 

William,  Epitaph  of,  101. 

Col.  William,  331. 
New  Jersey,  Gallantry  of  militia  of, 

366,  367. 

New  York,  Riot  in  1788  in,  327. 
Nicholas1  Fort,  211. 
NICHOLAS,  Maj.  George,  366. 

Col.  John,  330. 

Robert  Carter,  20. 
NICOLSON,  George,  68. 

James,  Epitaph  of,  73. 

Mary,  Epitaph  of,  68. 

Robert,  M.  D.,  68. 
NORSWORTHY,  George,  146. 

Joseph,  146,  160. 

Joseph  C.,  146. 
Northampton  county,  275. 
North  Carolina  Historical  Society, 

50- 

NORTON,  John,  9. 
North-west,  Cession  of,  to  the  U. 

S.  by  Virginia,  322 
NorveWs  Virginia,  323. 
NOTT,  Gov.  Edward,  Epitaph  and 

notice  of,  73. 
OCCAHONE,  Jone,  185. 

Philip,  185. 
Officers  of   Virginia  regiments  in 

1755,  211  ;  1762,  217  ;  1781,  264. 
OGDEN,  Col.  Matthias,  345. 
Orderly  Books  of  the  Revolution, 

344- 

OSBORN,  Rev.  H.  S.,  104. 
PAGE,  Mrs.  Alice,  Epitaph  of,  82. 

Elijah,  228. 


INDEX. 


383 


PAGE,  Elizabeth,  81;  Epitaph  of,  84. 

Capt.  Francis,  Epitaph  of,  83. 

Col.  John,  Arms  and  notice  of, 

82. 

John,  1 68,  198,  328. 

Mary,  83. 

Thomas  Nelson,  55. 
PALMER,  Dr.  William  P.,  x. 
PARKE,  Col.  Daniel,  Tablet  to,  85  ; 

Notice  of,  86,  99. 
PARKER,  Ann  Pierce,  144. 

Col.  Josiah,  144,  160,  286. 

Nicholas,  154. 

Peter,  276. 

Col.  Richard,  336. 

Capt.  Thomas,  298  ;  his  bravado, 

301. 

PARADISE,  327. 

PARRAMORE,  Capt.  Thomas.  294. 
PARSONS,  Gen.  S.  H.,  365. 
Pay  of  Officers  in  the  Revolution, 

239- 

PEACHY.  Col.  William,  210. 
PEALE,  Charles  Wilson,  313. 
PEERS,  Capt.  Valentine,  339. 
PENDLETON,  Edmond,  20. 
PETTI  XT,  Margaret,  277. 

William,  284.  310. 
PETTUS,  Col.  Thomas,  So. 
PHILLIPS,  Ensign,  245. 
Piano  forte,  The,  in  1788,  325. 
PICKETT,  George,  321. 

Gen.  George  E.,  321. 
PIERCE,  John,  323. 

Thomas,  144. 
Pillage  by  the  Army,  251. 
Pioneers  of  the  Army,  357 
PITT,  Edward,  141. 

Col.  John,  141. 

Thomas,  141. 
PLEASANTS,  John,  329. 

Samuel  M.  D.,  325,  330. 
POE,  Edgar  A.,  39. 
POND,  Dr.  Samuel,  Epitaph  of,  no. 
POPE,  Ensign,  364. 
Port  Bill,  The  Boston,  17. 
PORTERFIELD,  Capt.  Charles,  320. 

Gen.  Robert,  320,  321,  343. 
Portrait  Painters  before  j8oo,    313 
POSEY,  Capt.  John,  231. 

Gen.  Thomas,  Notice  of,  231,  281. 
POULSON,  Ensign,  John,  213. 
POWER,  M^jor  Henry,  106. 

Susanna,  106 
POWELL,  Annabel,  Epitaph  of,  in. 

Benjamin,  in. 
Presbyterian  Influence,  in  Virginia, 

31,  38. 
PRICE,  Nathaniel  W.,  172. 


Proceedings  and    Constitution    of 

the  Society,  ix,  xi ;  Officers  and 

members  of,  xv,  xvi. 
PRYOR.  Col.  John,  309. 
Punishment  of  Soldiers,  364. 
PURDIE,  Alexander,  69. 

John  H.,  153. 

Dr.  John  R.,  144,  153,  156,  161. 

Mary,  Epitaph  of,  69. 
PUTNAM,  Gen.  Rufus,  234. 

QUESNAY  DE  BEAUREPAIRE,  M.,  165. 

Quibbletown  road,  337. 

Racing,  Horse,  293. 

RAE,  Robert,  Epitaph  and  arms  of, 

68. 
RANDOLPH,  Edmund,  170,  173,  328. 

John.  Att'y  Gen.,  90. 

Sir  John,  Mural  Tablet  to,  88. 

Peyton,  20,  90. 

Robert  Beverley,  321. 

Thos.  Mann,  170,  173. 
Randolph- Macon  College,  38. 
Rank  of  Revolutionary    Office?  s, 

Settlement  of,  339,  371,  375. 
RANSADALE,  Lieut.  Thomas,  345. 
Raritan  river  frozen  over,  325. 
Ratio?is,  army,  257,  261,  369. 
RAY,  Abraham,  197. 
RAWLINGS,  Col.  Moses,  343. 
READ,  Dr.  Calvin  H.,  311. 

Isaac,  151. 
READE,  George,  197. 

Henry,  183. 
Records  of  Counties  of  Virginia, 

Early,  to  be  copied,  x. 
Red  Lyon,  The.  289. 
Reformation,  The,  130. 
Revolutionary  History  of  Virginia, 

Early,  j 77 '£-4,  i. 
RICE,  John  H.,  37. 
RICHESON,  Col.  Holt,  372. 
Richmond's  First  Academy,  165 
Richmond  Lodge,  10,  A.  F.  &  A. 

Masons,  its  distinguished  mem- 
bership, 172. 
Richmond    College,    Geographical 

and  Historical  Society  of,  59. 
RIDING,  Thomas,  187. 
Riflemen,  of  the  Revolution,  346, 

357- 
RING,  Edmund,  104. 

Isaac,  104. 

Joseph.  Epitaph  of,  103,  104. 

Sarah,  104. 
"  RingfieldS'  103. 

RlTTENHOUSE,  MJSS,  325. 

Roanoke  College,  38. 
ROBERTS.  John,  196. 
ROBINS,  Col.  Obedience,  275,  345. 


384 


INDEX. 


ROBINS,  Thomas,  195. 

ROE,  Capt.  Jesse,  356. 

ROUELLE,  Dr.  Jean,  174. 

RUFFNER,  Henry,  31. 

Rum,  Importation  of,  2»8  ;  Rations 

of,  35°- 

RUSH,  Major,  370. 
RYAN,  Major  Michael,  341. 
St.   George's  Church-yard,  Frede- 

ricksburg,  86. 
Sanitary    Regulations    of  Camps, 

331- 

SANSUM,  Mary,  Epitaph  of,  101. 
SAUNDERS.  Hon   W.  L.,  55. 
SAVAGE,  Major  John,  311. 
SCARBOROUGH,  Col.  Edmund,  183, 

187. 

SCARSBROOKE,  John,   198. 

Scotch  Irish  Race  in  America,  30. 
SCOTT,  Gen.  Charles,  345. 

John  F.,  156. 
'•'Scott  Hall,"  302. 
SCRIVENER,  Joseph,  Epitaph  of,  71. 
SEARS,  Col  John,  345, 
SEAYRES,  Mai.  John,  276. 
SELDEN,  Miles  Gary,  321. 
Sewanee  Historical  Society,  57. 
SHEILD,  Robert,  201. 

Rev.  Samuel,  201. 

William  H.,  M.  D.,  201. 
SHELTON,  332. 
SHEPHERD,  Capt.  290. 

Thomas,  nS. 

SHERWOOD, William,  Epitaph  of,  95. 
SHIELDS,  Dr.,  289. 
"Shilela"  329. 

Shingle  Roof ,  durability  of  the,  146. 
SHURMAN,  Col.  241. 
Silk  Manufacture,  Early,  107. 
SILL,  Lieut.  Col.  David  T.,  249,  254. 
SIMMS..COI.  Charles,  260. 
SIMPSON,  Maj.,  284. 
SKELTON,  Capt.  Clough,  237,  243. 
SLAUGHTER,  Capt.  Philip,  282.  319, 

SB- 
Rev.  Phillip,  D.  D.,  144 
SMALLWOOD,  Gen.  William,  373. 
SMITH  Family  Tree,  149. 

Col.  Arthur,  141,  160. 

Gov.  George  William,  173. 

Col.  Samuel,  356. 

Thomas,  148. 

Sir  Thomas,  149 
Smithfield(Va.)  Old  Brick  Church, 

127;    Rect'ors   of,  145,    148,    157, 

J59.  !63  ;  Vestrymen  of,  159. 
SNEAD,  Maj.  Smith,  298. 

Maj.  Thomas,  277. 

Capt.  William,  298. 


"Snow  Hill,"  289. 

South  Carolina  Historical  Society, 

50. 
Southern  History,  Recent  Work  in, 

47  ;  causes  of  inattention  to,  50. 
Southern  Literary   Messenger,   its 

Exponency,  39. 

Southern  Society  of  New  York,  52. 
SPOTSWOOD,   Col.  Alexander,  334. 

Gov.  Alexander,  210,  334. 

Col.  John,  334. 

Capt.  Robert.  210. 
Stage  Coaches.  Travel  in,  323 
STAIGE,  Rev  Theodosius,  69. 
Stamp  Act,  The,  4. 
STANARD.  W.  G.,  195. 
STEEL,  Mary,  200. 
STEINER,  Roland,  56. 
STEPHEN,  Gen.  Adam,  1 18,  211,356, 

358,  37i. 

STEPHENS,  Samuel,  92. 
STEUBEN,  Baron,  170,  327. 
STEVENS,  Col.  Ebenezer,  363. 
STEWART,  Maj.  John,  226,  246. 

Mrs.  John,  x. 

Maj.  Robert,  212 . 

Colo.  Walter,  224,  247. 

Lieut.  Walter,  209. 
STIRLING,  Gen.  Lord,  290,  358,  371. 
STITH,  Buckner,  Epitaph  of,  70. 

Elizabeth,  Epitaph  of,  70. 

Griffin,  70. 

John,  70. 

Mary  (Blackley),  70. 

William,  70. 

STONE,  Col.  John  H.,  373 
Stony  Point.  Storming  of,  222. 
STRATTON,  John,  182. 
STROTHER.  French,  320. 
SULLIVAN,  Gen.  John,  338,  371,  377. 
Suttlers,  Camp,  351. 
SWAINE,  Maj.,  366. 
SWEARINGEN,  Thomas  Van,  116. 
TALBOTT,  Capt.  Jeremiah,  234. 
TALIAFERRO,   Col.  John,   Epitaph 

of,  106. 

Lawrence,  Epitaph  of,  106 
TANNEHILL,  Col.  Josiah,  321,  333. 
TARLETON,  Col.  B  ,  360. 
Taxes.  Oppressive  Virginia,  291. 
TAYLOR,  Hannis,  56. 

Walter,  185. 
TAZEWELL,  Henry,  151. 
Tea,  Destruction  of,  at  Boston,  16. 
Temple  Burying  Ground,  102. 
Tennessee  Historical  Society,  50. 
Tents,  Apportionment  of,  340,  342. 
TETZEL,  John,  130. 
Thistle  Tender,  The,  284. 


INDEX. 


385 


THOMAS,  Jordan,  154. 

Richard,  154. 

R.  S.,  127. 

THOMPSON,  Adjutant,  247. 
THORNTON,  John,  Epitaph  of,  100. 
THORP,  Katharine,  Epitaph  of,  74. 

Otho,  74. 

Thomas,  Epitaph  of,  74. 
THORPE,  Otho,  198. 
TIMPSON,  Ann  Maria,  Epitaph  of,  99. 

Elizabeth,  99. 

John,  99. 

Mary,  99. 

Samuel,  99. 

William,  99. 
TOFT,  Annie,  184. 
Tomahaci'ks,  Use  of,  376. 
TORY,  Parker,  Trial  of,  284. 
TOTTEN,  D.  D..  Silas,  161. 
TOWLES,  Col.  Thomas,  320. 
TOWNSHEND,  Dr<  William,  197. 
Trains'    Burying- Ground,  Tombs 

in  the,  96. 
TRAVIS,  Champion,  97. 

Edward,  Epitaph  of,  96. 

Edward  Champion,  97. 

Susanna,  Epitaph  ot,  97. 
Travis' 's  Point,  99. 
TRENT,  W.  P.,  36,  41. 
TUCKER,  Beverley,  34. 

St.  George,  33,  194. 
TURNER,  SamuH,  329. 

John,  Epitaph  of,  102. 
TYLER,  Mrs.  Annie  Tucker,  191. 

John,  73,  173 

Lyon  G.,  x,  3,  55,  63,  150. 

TYLERS,  Mural  tablet  to  the,  87. 
TYNES,  Henry,  153. 

Robert,  153. 

University  of  Virginia,  First   fac- 
ulty of,  35,  38. 
UPSHUR,  Abel  P.,  30. 
UTIE,  Capt.  John,  105. 

Mary,  105 
"  Utirnaria,"  105. 
VARNUM,  Gen.  J.  M.,  365. 
VAULX,  James,  198. 
VERE.  Rev.  William,  277. 
Virginia,  Committee    of    Corres- 
pondence, i773'-4,  i. 

Colleges,   representation   of   by 

counties,  38. 

Convention  of  1774,  action  of,  20. 

Charters  of,  provision  for  religion 

in,  Early,  133. 

Church  edifices  of,  early,  134,  139. 

Currency  of,  forged,  9. 

Education   and   Literary  Effort, 

Historic  Elements  of,  in,  33. 


Virginia,  Historical  Society,  50. 
Hospitality  of,  324. 
Impoverishment  of,  302. 
Ministers  of,  early,  137.  163. 
North-West,  cession   of,  by,  322. 
Regiments,   officers   of,  in    1755, 
2ii ;  1762,217;  of  First  to  Sixth, 
inclusive,  264  ;  of  the  Ninth,  276  ; 
of  the   Eleventh,  279;  losses   of 
the  Seventh  at  Brandywine,  278. 
Religion  fostered  by,  133. 
Schools  of,  Early,  154. 
Settlers  of,  132. 
Social  system  of.  Charming,   324. 

Virginia  Antiquities,  Society  for 
the  Preservation  of,  54. 

VOWLES,  Adj't  Henry,  337. 

WADE.  Joseph,  200. 

WADDELL,  Hon  Jos.  A.,  220,  264. 

WADDILL,  William,  172. 

WAGGENER,  Capt.  Andrew,  210. 
Ensign  Edward,  210. 
Capt  Thomas,  210 

WALKER,  Lt.  David,  259. 
Nathaniel,  182. 
Robert,  M   D..  170. 

WALLACE,  Col.  323. 

WALLOP,  John,  189. 

WARNER,  Augustine,  205. 
Mildred,  205. 

Washing,  Regulations  of  Camp, 
252. 

WASHINGTON,  George,  21  ;  First 
election  to  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, 113;  Officers  in  his  regi- 
ment, 1775,203,205,211;  Marriage 
of,  117;  letter  of,  to  Col  John 
Cropper,  304,  314  ;  at  Monmouth, 
283. 

Lawrence,  205. 
Martha,  Parentage  of,  86,  98. 
Mary,  22. 

Washington  and  Lee  University, 
31,  44,  220,  309. 

Waxhaiv  Creek,  Battle  of,  360. 

WAYNE,  Gen.  Anthony,  223,  370. 
North-west  campaign,  321. 

WEEDON,  Gen.  George,  214,  323. 
John,  338. 

WEEKS,  Stephen  B.,  55 

WELTNER,  Col.  Lodowick,  347. 

WEST.  Hugh,  116. 
Maj.  John,  182. 

West  Virginia  Historical  Society, 

57- 

WHALEY,  Commodore,  298. 
James,  Epitaph  of,  Si. 
Matthew,  82. 
Maj.  Thomas,  194 


386 


INDEX. 


WHITFORD,  Robert,  161. 
WHITTINGTON,  Capt.  William,  183, 

187. 
WILCOX,  Eugenia,  nr. 

Hamlin,  in. 

James  M..  in. 

Mary  A.  S.,  in. 

Susanna,  in. 
William  and  Mary  College,  32,  38, 

4i,  64,  73- 
WILLIAMS,  James,  86. 

John  G  ,  172. 

Mary,  86. 

Gen.  O.  H.,  324. 

Capt  T.  Byron,  284. 
Williamsburg ,  Va.,  Epitaphs  in,  67. 
WILLIS,  Col.,  373. 
WILSON,  Christian,  195. 
WILLS,  John  S.,  155. 
Winchester,  Va.,  116. 
WINSOR,  Justin,  4. 
WINSTON,  John,  338. 
WIRT,  William,  229  ;  tender  letter 

of  condolence  from,  312. 
WISE,  Barton  H  ,  273.  ' 


WISE,  Gov.  Henry  A.,  187,  310. 

John,  187,  310. 
WITHERSPOON,  Maj.,  363. 
WOOD,  Basil,  172. 

Leighton,  172. 

Col.  James,  122,  360. 
WOODBRIDGE,  D.  D.,  George,  68 
WOODFORD,  Gen  William,  218,  288, 

290,  337,  370. 
WOODLEY,  Andrew,  154. 

Henry,  154. 

Thomas,  154. 

WOODRUFF,  Lieut.  Lewis,  339. 
WOODWARD,  Capt.  Henry,  206. 
WYNNE,  Sarah,  201. 
WYTHE,  George,  33. 
York  county,  Va.,  Epitaphs  in,  63. 
York -Hampton  parish,  100. 
YOUNG,  Francis,  156. 

James,  156. 

Nathaniel,  156. 

N.  P.,  145,  147,  148,  146. 

Michael,  Elegy  on,  152. 
YUILLE,  John,  Epitaph  and  arms  of, 

67. 


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