Colonial Virginia, its people and customs

liOLONIALVIRGINI.

■' S PEOPLE AND CUSTOIV

BT

MARY NEWTON STANARD

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COLONIAL VIRGINIA
ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

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COLONIAL VIRGINIA

ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

BY

MARY NEWTON STANARD

AUTHOR OF "the DREAMER THE LIFE-STORY OF EDGAR ALLAN POE "

AND "THE 8TORT OF BACON's REBELLION"

WITH 93 ILLUSTRATIONS

PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY^

COPYRIGHT, 1917. BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 1917

PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS

PHILADELPHIA. U. S. A.

TO

W. G. S.

PREFACE

£> OW may we call to life the everyday
men and women of other times, obtain
glimpses of them in their homes, go-
ing about their business or pursuing
pleasm-e, know them as they were
known to their families and neigh-
bors ? Not by reading history. His-
tory records events and names a few of those who figured
in them, but no matter how ingeniously the string is pulled
these generally seem more like puppets than people — to be
made of bronze or marble rather than flesh and blood. A
gossipy letter, though crumbling and yellow, telling what
company the writer had for dinner and what there was to
eat, the jokes that were cracked and healths drunk; a frag-
ment of a diary giving the neighborhood news, the condition
of the crops or the latest political excitement; a tailor's
or a milliner's bill; a will; an inventory; a court record of
a lawsuit or a trial, will make a bygone day more real
than volumes of history.

Notwithstanding the lamentable destruction of early
records — all of those of a number of counties having been
lost — Virginia is rich in this graphic kind of material.
Much of it is preserved in still existing colonial county
records, in files of that quaint newspaper, The Virginia
Gazette, in collections of family papers, in old pamphlets,
in privately published and other books most of which are
now out of print, and in journals like the Virginia Maga-
zine of History and Biography and the William and Mary
College Quarterly Magazine. But these scattered sources
of information are inaccessible to the general reader — the
existence of many of them is known only to a few special
students — and no attempt has hitherto been made to gather

PKEFACE

wiiat is most illustrative from them all into one volmne,
with the piu*pose of giving a jiicture, or series of pictures,
of life in the colony from its settlement to the Revolution.

This is a tremendous — a daring — task, of course, like
attempting to make a few drops of w^ater illustrate the
character of the ocean, and has necessitated careful selec-
tion of the salient and elimination of every item that could
be spared; indeed, many items as interesting as those which
have been used have been rejected only because they would
have been duplications. For instance, it has been impos-
sible to name all the owners of Turkey-work chairs, silver
tankards, great looking-glasses and coaches-and-six, all
the wearers of silver-hilted sw^ords and gold-laced hats ; all
who sent their sons abroad to be educated or who be-
queathed propert}^ for the benefit of the poor or the estab-
lishment of free schools; all the owners of a "parcel" —
meaning a collection — of books, or of fine libraries, even.
And so in each case a sufficient nmiiber of examples to indi-
cate the w^hole has been given.

I have taken my data first hand from original manu-
scripts or printed copies of them to be found in the publi-
cations referred to. In the very few exceptions to this rule
credit to the writer to whom I am indebted has been given.

In my endeavor to give a true presentation of life in
the colony — to deliver a " round, unvarnished tale " — I
have had the incalculable advantage of the advice and
guidance of my husband, William G. Stanard, Secretary
of the Virginia Historical Society and Editor of the Vir-
ginia Magazine of History and Biography, who has aided
me at ev^ery step of my laborious, though fascinating,
research, and has placed at my disposal his own great mass
of notes from county and other records and his knowledge

PREFACE

of the Virginia people acquired by life-long study. I am
especially indebted to him for information and counsel
in the treatment of the Later Emigrants.

In the list of illustrations, acknowledgment has been
made to those who have kindly permitted the use of pic-
tures, but I desire in addition to thank them most cordially
for this courtesy.

M. N. S.

Richmond, Yirgixl\
July M, 1917

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE . 15

I. — The Founders of the Colony
II. — The Later Emigrants

II. HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION 55

III. HOUSEHOLD GOODS 77

I. — Furniture
II. — Plate

IV^ SOCIAL LIFE 102

I. — The Home
II. — Hospitality
III. — Festivities
IV. — Gaming, Taverns, Fairs, Etc.

V. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE 166

VI. DRESS 186

I. — Jewels

VII. VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND 213

VIII. THE THEATRE 229

IX. OUTDOOR SPORTS 252

X. EDUCATION 262

I. — Free Schools
II. — Private Schools
III.— Tutors

IV. — William and Mary College
V. — Studying Abroad

XI. BOOKS 295

XII. MUSIC 308

XIII. PICTURES 314

XIV. RELIGION 320

XV. FUNERAL CUSTOMS 341

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Children of Philip Grymes, of "Brandon," Middlesex County. From

a portrait (painted about 1750) in the collection of the Virginia Historical

Society Frontispiece

A Piece of Armor Dug up at Jamestown. From the original in the collection

of the Virginia Historical Society 16

A Palisaded Fort 16

Captain John Smith and Opecancanough. From Smith's " History of Virginia " 22
Typical English Homes of Many Virginia Emgrants 26

An Old London Street. 1638

A Farm House

A Cottage

A Village
Ancestral Homes of Some Virginia Families 32

Chilham Castle, Kent — Digges. From an old engraving

Leeds Castle, Kent — Lord Fairfax. From an old engraving
Ancestral Homes of Some Virginia Families 36

"Barlbrough Hall," Derbyshire — Rodes, Baronets. From "A Quaker
Post-bag" (Mrs. G. L. Lampson). By the courtesy of Longmans, Green
and Company

"Okewell Hall," Yorkshire — Batte. From "The Manor Houses of
England " (H. H. Ditchfield) . By the courtesy of Charles Scribner's Sons.

Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax 42

Sir Thomas Lunsford. From a print in the British Museum 46

Some Founders of Virginia Families 52

Robert Bolling, Formerly of the City of London. From a portrait

owned by Mr. Richard Bolling 52

Henry Corbin, Formerly of "Hall End," Warwickshire. From a
photograph by Mr. J. E. H. Post of the portrait at "Mt. Airy." By

courtesy of Mrs. Edward Shippen 52

A Log Cabin 56

The Robertson House, Chesterfield County. Built about 1750 56

House Near Williamsburg. A tjnpe of the earliest brick dwelling 60

Interior at "Bloomsbury," Orange County. Eighteenth century 60

"Stratford." By the courtesy of Mr. R. C. Ballard Thruston 65

Plan of "Stratford" House and Grounds. By the courtesy of Mr. R, C.

Ballard Thruston 68

Box Maze in the Garden at "Tuckahoe" 68

"Clifford Chambers," WARW^CK3HIRE. A Type of the English Model of

"Carter's Creek." From "Highways and Bywajs in Shakespeare's

Country." By the courtesy of the Macmillan Company 72

"Carter's Creek," Gloucester County. Originally an E-shaped House 72

"Carter's Grove," James City County. Showing Terraces 75

Stairway. "Westover" 80

"Elbow" or "Roundabout" Chair w^ich Belonged to Patrick Henry . 84

xiii

ILLUSTRxVTIOXS

Chippendale Chair. From the collection of the Virginia Historical Society . . 84
Dining-room at "Mt. Atrt." From a photograph by Mr. J. E. H. Post. By

the courtesy of Mrs. Edward Shippen 88

A "Great Bed." By the courtesy of Mr. David I. Bushnell, Jr 92

Some of the "Shirley" Silver. By the courtesy of Mrs. Alice Carter Brans-
ford 92

Governor Spotswood's Silver Tea-Caddt Be.uiixg His Crest and Arms.
By the courtesy of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of

Virginia 96

"Westover" Doorw.\t. By the couTicsy oi ihe Century Magazine 102

Evelyn Btrd. From the portrait at "Brandon," Prince George County . . . 106
A Colonial Doll. By the courtesy of the owner, Mrs. W. W. Richardson,

"Little Berkeley," Hampton, Virginia 112

"M.vmmy" by the Kitchen Fire at " Greenspring " 112

RiCH.uiD Lee. About 1660. From "Lee of Virginia." By the courtesy of the

author, Edmund J. Lee, M.D 116

Mrs. Rich.vrd Lee. Abottt 1660. From "Lee of Virginia." By the courtesy

of the author 122

The Dining-room at "Shirley" 126

Washington's Punch Bowl. By the courtesy of the United States National

Museum 132

A Coach and Six. From an old engraving 132

The Lee Arms. A Wood-carving Formerly on the Front Door of " Cobbs,"
Northumberland County. From "Lee of Virginia." By the courtesy of

the author 138

Armorial Tomb of Edward Hill, at "Shirley." By the courtesy of the

Century Magazine 138

Sir William Berkeley. About 1665. From a portrait in the Virginia State

Library 146

Stairway, "Tuckahoe" 150

John Tayloe, 2d. From a photograph by Mr. J. E. H. Post, of the portrait

at "Mt. Airy." By the courtesy of Mrs. Edward Shippen 156

H.\LL AT "Mt. Zion." W.\rren County. By the courtesy of Mr. R C. Ballard

Thruston 162

Chimney-piece in a Panelled Bedroom 162

Pocahontas. From the original portrait in the possession of Mr. Emlyn, Norfolk.

England 168

Sarah Harrison, Wife of Doctor James Blair. From a portrait at William

and Mary College 174

The Parlor at "Shirley" 180

WiLLi.iM MosELEY, OF LowER NoRFOLK CouNTY. .\bout 1640. From a por-
trait formerly in the collection of the late Burwell B. Moscley 186

John Page, of York County. About 1660. From a portrait at William and

Marj- College 192

ILLUSTRATIONS

Elizabeth Landon, Second Wife of Robert ("King") Carter. From the

portrait at "Sabine Hall" 196

John Parke .vnd Martha Parke Custis, Washington's Step-children.

From a portrait at Washington and Lee University 200

Martha CrsTis's Watch 204

Evelyn Byrd's Fan. Preserved at " Brandon " 20-i

Mrs. John Tayloe and Daughter M.^^ry, Afterward Mrs. Mann Page.
About 1756. From a photograph by Mr. J. E. H. Post of the portrait at

"Mt. Airy." By the courtesy of Mrs. Edward Shippen 208

Old London, the Mother of Virginia. From Visscher's View, 1616. . . . 214
London Shop Bill for Richahd Corbin. From original in the collection of

the Virginia Historical Society 218

London Shop Bill for Robert Carter. From original in the collection of the

Virginia Historical Society 218

Colonel Daniel Parke, 1704. From a portrait at Washington and Lee

University 222

Austin Brockenbrough. From a miniature 226

Advertisement of the Williamsburg Theatre. From the Virginia Gazette . 234
Mrs. Lewis Hallam, Sr., Afterward Mrs. Douglas, as "Daraxa," in
"Edward and Elenora." From "Social Life in the Colonies" (Edward
Eggleston). By the courtesy of Mrs. Edward Eggleston and Mrs. Elizabeth

Eggleston Seelye 240

Lewis Hallam, the Younger. From "Social Life in the Colonies" (Edward
Eggleston). By the courtesy of Mrs. Edward Eggleston and Mrs. Elizabeth

Eggleston Seelye 246

Entrance to the Stagg House, Williamsburg 246

John Baylor of New Market. From a portrait painted about 1721 when
he was at Putney Grammar School, England. By the courtesy of Captain

James B. Baylor 252

An Old Virginia Race Horse 258

Lord Fairfax's Riding Boots. From the collection in the Virginia Historical

Society 258

William and Mary College (Second Building), 1724-1859. From an old

painting 264

William Byrd, 2d. From the portrait at " Brandon " 270

Ralph Wormeley, of "Rosegill," Virginia, and of Trinity College,

Cambridge. By the courtesy of Harper's Magazine 276

John Baylor, Jr., of "New Market," Virginia, and of Caius College, Cam-
bridge. Bythecourtesyof Captain James B.Baylor 283

Thomas Nelson, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. When a Boy
at Hackney School, England. From a portrait by Chamberlin, London,

1754 290

Colonial Bible Owned by Mary Newton Stanard 296

Fly-leaf of this Bible Showing Owners for Five Generations 296

ILLUSTRATIONS

Some VincixiA Rook-puktes 302

Geouge Washington

William Stith

Ralph Wohmeley

Philip Ludwell
Robert Carter, of "Xomini Hall." From a photograph made at "Oatlands,"

Virginia, of the portrait by Reynolds 308

A Lady of the Moseley Family. From a portrait brought to Virginia in 1649 314

WiLLL\M Byrd, 1st. From a portrait brought from England 318

A Seventeenth Century Church — St. Luke's, Isle of Wight County. By

the courtesy of Miss Mary L. Garland 324

An Eighteenth Century Church — St. Paul's, King George County. . . 324
Interior of Christ Church, Middlesex. By the courtesy of Harper s

Magazine 330

The Oldest American Communion SER\acE, St. John's Church, Hampton,

Virginia 330

Plan of Pohick Church, Fairfax. From "The History of Truro Parish."

By the courtesy of Rev. E. L. Goodwin 334

Quaker Meeting House, Cedar Creek, Hanover County, Built 1770.

From "Our Quaker Friends." By the courtesy of Mr. R. O. Bell 338

Old Stone Church, Presbyterian, Augusta County 338

BuRWELL Tombs at Abingdon Church, Gloucester. Removed from "Car-
ter's Creek" 346

COLONIAL VIRGINIA
ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

I
THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

I— THE FOUNDERS OF THE COLONY

iHREE HUNDRED years ago, as
every school child knows, European
civilization was already compara-
tively ripe. England had her great
churches, her palaces, her univer-
sities, and had enjoyed golden ages
of chivalry and of letters. But
America was still a wilderness — its
only roads the trail of the Indian, the track of the deer,
the bear or other wild creature, its only sign of human
habitation clusters of bark huts and such patches of corn,
beans, and tobacco as savages were able to cultivate by
scratching the ground with the most primitive implements
of wood and stone.

What manner of men were the emigrants from that
old world to this new one who made the beginnings of
the change which in three centuries has become a trans-
formation?

We know that, charmed with travellers' tales of an El
Dorado, or aflame with the spirit of adventure, or with zeal
to add to their king's earthly dominions and win a heathen
people for a heavenly one, and with an eager curiosity hard
for a blase age like ours to comprehend, these men left
their familiar haunts, their more or less comfortable fire-
sides, their friends and relatives and the women they loved.
Crowded into toy ships in which they endured indescribable
miseries and were over and over again swept far out of
their course by violent gales, they crossed three thousand
miles of ocean and, in spite of dangers, disappointments,

15

COLONIAL VIIU.INIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

illness, famine, death, sowed here the seeds of the white
man's civilization — the white man's religion. Who were
they, and what was their condition in that distant land whose
manners and ways they transplanted to this?

The question is a difficult one, for the emigrant did not
concern himself about our interest in him, or stop to make
a family tree, though here and tliere an allusion in a will,
letter, or legal paper in Virginia or England, or a rare
reference in a foreign pedigree to a member of a family
w^ho had come to America, gives us a hint as to who one of
them was at home.

Thanks to the lively " Historic " of Captain John
Smith we have a comparatively complete record of the little
band of " first planters " who came in 1607 and the two
" supplies " added to them in 1607-08. These three parties
brought, in all, about 295 persons — the first settlers num-
bering 105, the first " supply " 120, and the second " sup-
ply " about 70, and Captain Smith gives us the names of
nearly all of them. Of the whole number ninety-two are
described as " gentlemen," forty-five as " laborers," four-
teen as " tradesmen," seven as " tailors," four as " car-
penters," three as " surgeons," two as " apothecaries," two
as " goldsmiths," tw^o as " refiners," two as " blacksmiths,"
a " jeweler," a " perfumer," a " gunsmith," a " cooper,"
a " sailor," a " barber," a " bricklayer,'* a " mason," a
" drummer," a " tobacco pipe-maker," six " boys," eight
" Dutchmen and Poles " and " some others," including
two women.

The term " gentleman " was a comprehensive one at the
time and was applied to men of widely var\nng social rank.
In England during the later Tudor and early Stuart
periods there was general aspiration for heraldic distinction
and it was the fashion for successful men to secure coats-

16

ARMOR DUG UP AT JAMESTOWN

-^..

A PALISADED FORT

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

of-arms. Prosperous merchants would buy land and be-
come country gentlemen; men of yeoman origin, like
Captain Smith, would become army officers and be styled
" gentleman " ; and of course the landed families of ancient,
as well as those of more recent, descent were included in
the gentry.

In regard to most of our ninety-two earliest of Vir-
ginia " gentlemen," there is but little known. Some of
them, like JVIaster George Percy, brother of the Earl of
Northumberland, and author of a " Discourse," which is
one of the valuable soui'ces of information in regard to the
first settlement, and Francis West, brother of Lord Dela-
ware, were younger sons of noblemen. Others bore the
names of good old English families. Of these were Master
Edward Wingfield, the colony's first President; "worthy
and religious" Captain Bartholomew Gosnold; Captain
Gabriel Archer, the ready writer, who, says Wingfield,
" glorieth much in his pennworke," and whose " True Re-
lation " is another illuminating contribution to the settle-
ment story; Harrington, Throckmorton, Pennington and
Waller. Some, like Captain John ^lartin, whose patent
for the plantation of " Brandon," later to become widely
known as the historic Harrison seat, is still in existence,
were sons of prominent Londoners ; but of a larger number
we have only names.

The embarking of so large a proportion of " gentle-
men " upon an undertaking which called for the severest
manual labor has caused many hard tilings to be said
about the colony. Captain Smith — who was a bundle of
energy and enterprise, with no tolerance for men less hardy
than himself — was their first and harshest critic.

True, it was to search for gold, not to cut down trees
and prepare the soil for crops, that most of these " gentle-

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

men " came adventuring to Jamestown. Dreams of vast
quantities of the precious ore had come true in countries
further south, and they hoped to see them come true in
Virginia. Yet when the need arose, they did their part
with the axe and the hoe, as well as in exploring the country
for food supplies and defending the colony against the
Indians. Of the very beginning of the Jamestown settle-
ment it is written :

" Now falleth every man to worke, the Councell con-
trive the Fort, the rest cut down trees to make place to
pitch their Tents; some provide clapbord to relade the
ships, some make gardens, some nets."

In the year following, as soon as the " Supply" arrived,
Captain Smith, who was then the President, took a party
of thirty of them down the river to learn to make clap-
board, cut down trees, and become hardened to sleeping
on the ground. Among those he chose were Gabriel
Beadles and John Russell, described as " the only two
gallants of this last Supply, and both proper gentlemen."
The quaint chronicler adds:

" Strange were these pleasures to their conditions; yet
lodging, eating and drinking, Avorking or playing, they
were but doing as the President did himselfe. All these
things were carried so pleasantly as within a weeke they
became blasters: making their delight to heare the trees
thunder as they fell; but the Axes so oft blistered their
tender fingers that many times every third blow had a
loud othe to drowne the echo; for remedie of which sinne,
the President devised how to have every man's othes num-
bered, and at night for every othe to have a cann of water
powred do^vne his sleeve, with which every offender was
so washed that a man should scarce heare an othe in a
weeke."

18

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

It was after nearly five months of discomfort and mis-
haps at sea that, on that memorable 13th of May, 1607, the
Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery were
moored to the trees in six fathom water before what was
soon to be Jamestown. Any one who now visits James
River in the month of May, when the temperature is balmy
and the wooded banks newly dressed with green and gar-
landed with bloom, may readily imagine the delight of the
sea-weary voyagers with the situation. A few days after
the landing *' Master Percy," walking with several others
in the woods, found " the ground all flowing over with
faire flowers of sundry colours and kindes, as though it
had beene in any Garden or Orchard in England," and
with '* Strawberries and other fruits unknowne." Walk-
ing on through " this Paradise," they came to an Indian
village where they were given berries to eat and shown
*' a Garden of Tobacco and other fruits and herbes," and
one of the Indians hospitably gathered some of the tobacco
and distributed it among them.

By June 15 the triangular shaped fort, with its bul-
warks mounted with artillery at each corner, was finished,
and most of their corn was planted. Thus fortified — as
they supposed — against the Indians and hunger, Percy
complacently remarks:

" This is a fruitful soil, bearing many goodly and
fruitful trees."

But conditions were not so favorable as they seemed,
and soon enough this enthusiastic sounder of Virginia's
praise was to tune his pipe to a different key. On June 22
Captain Christopher Newport, admiral of the little fleet
that brought the settlers over, sailed for England, " leaving
us," says Percy, " one hundred and foure persons verie
bare and scantie of victualls; furthermore, in warres and
in danger of the Savages."

19

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

With tlie departure of the ship on wliose stores they
had depended " there remained neither taverne, heere house,
nor place of reliefe, but the common Kettell," which —
equally distributed — provided " halfe a pint of wheat, and
as nnich barley boyled with water for a man a day."

Says Thomas Studley, anotlier of the " gentlemen "
whose observations had been preserved by Captain Smith:
"Had we beene as free from all sinnes as gluttony and
di'unkennesse, w^e might have beene canonized for Saints.
. . . Our drinke was w^ater, our lodgings Castles in the
ayre."

And so, for all the fairness and fruitfulness of the
country, there was no bread, and they soon found that with
water all around there was not a drop that was fit to drink.
As the spring mildness gave way to fierce summer heat
to which their bodies were not " seasoned," they were to
make another discovery. All unseen, there lurked in that
" paradise " a foe more deadly than the Indians were soon
to prove. Not only were there trees and fruits " un-
knowne " to the English emigrant, in the neighborhood
of Jamestown, but, invisible and undreamed of, millions of
malaria germs flourished in the undrained swamps — and
there was no quinine and little medicine of any kind.

Dysentery laid them low. The grim twins. Ague and
Fever, fell upon them, setting their teeth chattering, their
limbs quaking with cold, then burning and parching their
flesh with maddening heat and racking their bones with
aching, and finally leaving them weak of body and will,
dispirited and miserable and without nourishment or re-
storatives. The kind physician. Dr. Thomas Wotton, and
the godl}^ minister. Reverend Robert Hunt, did all in
their power to relieve and comfort them, but their huts —

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

hastily put up of green timber thatched with reeds from
the swamps — became houses of torture and of death.

"God (being angrie with us)," says Captain Smith,
" plagued us with such famine and sicknes that the living
were scarce able to bury the dead."

Under such conditions contentment would have been
impossible among any set of men in any part of the world,
and, though the naive humor with which even the most
dismal of their accounts is spiced indicates that the colonists
were well supplied with that wholesome preservative, mu-
tiny and discord were rife. Thej^ berated the authorities
in London for sending them out so poorly provided, they
berated President Wingfield and the Council, they be-
rated each other.

The sturdy Smith himself " tasted the extremity of the
Country's sickness," but he seems to have had unusual
recuperative powers, for he was soon up and doing again
and chiding his enfeebled and half-starved companions for
their idleness. Of course building and planting were
neglected, but the chroniclers, though sufferers themselves,
had not yet fully enough realized the debilitating effects
of malaria to make due allowance, and the colonists had
little sympathy from them or the " adventurers " at home
who, in return for what they had spent in fitting them out,
were anxiously awaiting a share in the products of so fruit-
ful a region as Virginia was reported to be. The wonder
to-day is that all effort was not abandoned and that the
infant colony should have, even feebly, held on to life.

Toward the end of the summer Master George Percj^
the late enthusiastic stroller through a " paradise," entered
in his note-book this pathetically eloquent necrology:

" The sixt of August there died John Ashhie, of the
bloudie Flixe.

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

" The ninth day died George Flowre, of the swelling.

*' The tenth day died William Bj-uster, Gentleman, of
a wound given by the Savages, and was buned the eleventh
day.

" The fourteenth day Jerome Alicoch, Ancient [En-
sign], died of a wound. The same day Francis Midxmnter
and Edward Moris, Corporall, died suddenly.

"The fifteenth day there died Edward Browne and
Stephen Galthorpe.

" The sixteenth day there died Thomas Gower, Gentle-
man.

" The seventeenth day there died Thomas Mounslic.

*' The eighteenth day there died Robert Pennington
and John 3Iartine, Gentlemen.

" The nineteenth day died Drue Piggase, Gentleman.

" The two and twentieth day of August there died
Captaine Bartholomew Gosnold, one of our Councell: he
was honourably buried, having all the Ordnance in the
Fort shot off, with many vollies of small shot.

" The foure and twentieth day died Edward Harring-
ton and George Walker; and were buried the same day.

" The sixe and twentieth day died Kenelme Throg-
mortine.

*' The seven and twentieth day died William Roods.

" The eight and twentieth day died Thomas Stoodie,
Cape Merchant.

" The fourth day of September died Thomas Jacob,
Sergeant.

" The fifth day there died Benjamin Beast.

" Our men were destroyed with cruell diseases . . .
and by warres, and some departed suddenly: but for the
most part they died of meere famine."

Master Percy adds : " There were never Englishmen

f:l0{!:

-iijmi

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OPEC ANC ANOL GH

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

left in a forreigne Countrey in such miserie as wee were in
this new discovered Virginia. Wee watched every tliree
nights, lying on the bare cold ground what weather soever
came ; warded all the next day : which brought our men to
be most feeble wretches. Our food was but a small Can
of Barlie sod in water to five men a day. Our drinke, cold
water taken out of the River which was at a floud verie
salt; at a low tide full of slime and filth."

The sick and dying men " night and day groaning in
every corner of the fort " were " most pitifull to heare."
Sometimes, continues the ghastly record, those " departing
out of the World " were as many as " three or fom*e in a
night," and in the morning their bodies were " trailed out
of their Cabines like Dogges, to be buried."

" From May to September," says Studley, " those that
escaped lived upon Sea-crabs and Sturgeon. Fifty in this
time we buried."

Ere long their pitiful store of provision was " all spent,"
and the sturgeon season was over. Even the Indians who
they hourly expected to destroy them in their weakness,
seem to have been touched by their " desperate extremitie,"
for it is written that God " so changed the harts of the
savages that they brought such plenty of their fruits and
provision as no man wanted."

With the aid of these unexpected supplies and doubt-
less helped also by the passing of summer with its burning
suns, the remnant of the original one hundred and five
colonists seems to have secured a firmer grip on life. Cap-
tain Smith, who was given control of alFairs, set some of
them " to mow, others to bind thatch, some to build houses,
others to thatch them."

Going off in " the shallop " on a search for food, he
succeeded in securing a helpful supply of game and corn

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

from the Indians, in return for beads, hateliets and " such
toys," and estabhshed a fantastic sort of trade with
Powhatan, which in spite of tlie fact that the wily old
" emperor " never ceased to view the dauntless Wliite Chief
with suspicion, nor to plot his destruction, kept the colony
from actual starvation until the arrival of the First Supply
from England. JNIoreover, Smith's reports of the plenty he
had seen and the love of Pocahontas for himself and the
colony, " so revived their dead spirits ... as all men's
fears was abandoned."

It is significant that chroniclers who found Virginia in
spring a paradise are silent as to the beauties of autunm.
There was no enthusiasm left with which to chant the praise
of the sunset-colored woods, the golden smishine, the soft-
ening, veil-like mists of Indian summer.

In the spring of 1607 the change from sea to shore
had made IVIother Earth doubly charming, but in the mid-
winter following it was the first glimpse of the white wings
of Captain Newport's returning ship that enraptured their
longing eyes. Enfeebled as they were, we may be sure
they found voices that made the woods ring with shouts of,
A sail! Newport! England has not forgotten us! We are
saved! Glory to God! Long live the king!

One hundred and twenty men, " well furnished with all
things that could be imagined necessary," both for them-
selves and the first settlers, landed on January 14, 1608.
But the joy they brought was shortlived, for three days
later, during freezing weather, Jamestown was destroyed
by fire. Buildings, arms and ammunition, bedding, clothing
and much of the provision went up together in smoke.
Their houses had been rough and comfortless, but had, at
least, afforded shelter; the church was barn-like and rick-
ety, but it had ser\^ed to remind them tliat God was still in

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

heaven, and in it they had daily said the prayers they had
learned in England. Say Thomas Studley and Anas Tod-
kill, contributors to Smith's " Historie ":

" Good Master Hunt, our Preacher, lost all his Library
and all he had but the cloathes on his backe ; yet none never
heard him repine at his losse."

And so the First Supply meant only over a hundred
more stomachs to fill, and according to Studley and
Todkill, they were again reduced to meal and water,
" whereby, with the extremitie of the bitter cold frost,
more than halfe of us dyed."

An outbreak of the gold fever caused necessary work
to be neglected and added to the general distress. Captain
Newport was infected and lingered at Jamestown to freight
his ship with a " gilded dirt " believed to contain the cov-
eted metal. The practical Smith, knowing that England
would expect to see the ship return laden with valuable
products, wished to load her witli cedar timber, for he said
he was " not enamored of their dirty skill," but the " gilded
refiners with their golden promises made all men their
slaves," and there was " no talke, no hope, no worke, but
dig gold, wash gold, refine gold."

Captain Smith had his way, and the ship was loaded
with timber, but later he too seems to have had a touch of
the gold fever. From June 2 to July 20, 1608, he, with
a party consisting of seven soldiers and seven " gentlemen "
— including a physician — were absent from Jamestow^n on a
voyage of discovery and trading for food supplies. They
went in an open barge with a sail w^hich they repaired
with their shirts when it had been badly damaged in a
storm. They explored Chesapeake Bay and the Poto-
mac River, " searching every inlet and bay fit for har-
bors and habitations " ; " digging and searching for gold ";

25

COLONIAL VmGL\L\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

parleying, trading or skirmishing with the Indians ; fisliing
— for want of nets — with a frying-pan, but finding it, as
they artlessly declare, " a bad instrument to catch fish
with."

They returned to the settlement on July 21 with the
thrilling news that they had discovered a gold mine and
that the Chesapeake " stretched into the South Sea, or
somew^hat neare it." They found the new Supply " all
sicke," while the remnant of the earlier settlers were " some
lame, some bruised, all unable to do anything but com-
plain " of Ratcliff e — the new President — who they charged
had " riotously consmiied " more than his share of the pro-
visions and, by setting them to work on " an unnecessary
building for his pleasure in the woods, had brought them
to all that misery."

Captain Smith put Scrivenor at the head of affairs,
distributed the provisions Ratcliffe had appropriated, and
set out with six gentlemen and six soldiers to make further
discoveries. Seven of this party were of the " last Supply,"
and not being " seasoned to the country," were soon " sicke
almost to death," but the only one that died was " ^Ir.
Fetherstone," who had " behaved himselfe honestly, vali-
antly and industriously." They buried him " with a volley
of shot," in a little bay to which they gave his name.

It was the custom of these Englishmen, exploring a
wilderness in an open boat, three thousand miles from
civilization, or the influence of woman, " daily to have
Prayer with a Psalme, at which solemnitie," we are in-
formed, " the poore Salvages much wondred."

Returning to Jamestown on September 7 they found
Master Scrivenor and divers others whom they had left
" exceeding sicke " with yellow fever, " well recovered."
But thev also found " many dead; some sicke."

A LONDON VrREET IN 1638

A FARM HOUSE

^^..

A VILLAGE

Typical English Homes of many Virginia Emigrants

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

Captain Smith resumed the presidency and set about
getting things at Jamestown into shape. The building of
Ratchffe's " pallace " was stayed as " a thing needlesse."
the church was repaired and the storehouse re-roofed, and
buildings made ready for supplies expected from Eng-
land. The " order of the watch " was renewed, and the
whole company di'illed every Saturday in a field near the
fort, " where sometimes more than an hundred Salvages
would stand in amazement to behold " the soldiers batter
a tree on which a target had been placed.

The boats, " trimmed for trade," and sent out with
Percy in conmiand, met Captain Newport's ship bringing
the Second Supply. This added to the colony seventy
persons, including the first two Englishwomen who had
seen Virginia — Mrs. Forrest and her maid, Ann Burras.
There came also Captain Ralph Waldo and Captain Peter
Wynne, " two ancient soldiers and valiant gentlemen," to
be added to the Council, " sundry skilful workmen from
foreign parts," and " many honest, wise, painful men of
every trade and profession."

But, alas, they brought little in the way of provision.
In a letter to the Treasurer and Council of Virginia in
London, entrusted to Newport on his retm-n trip, Captain
Smith complained of the inadequate amount of food fur-
nished the colony and the large number of men sent out to
consume it. He describes the colonists as " the one halfe
sicke, the other little better," and saj^s, " our dyet is of a
little meale and water, and not sufficient of that." He
begs that next time they will " send but thirty carpenters,
husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons,
and diggers up of tree roots," rather than a thousand such
as they have, and to send them well provided. " For
except wee be able both to lodge them and feed them

27

COLONIAL VIRGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

they wiU die for want of the necessities of life before they
can be made good for anything."

He also protests against the expectation of profit out
of Virginia so soon — reminding them that the colonists are
" but a many of ignorant, miserable soules, that are scarce
able to get necessaries to live, and defend themselves
against the inconstant Salvages/'

Captain Newport sailed for England again — carrying
Smith's letter — in December, 1608. Soon after his de-
parture the colonists witnessed the first English wedding
on Virginia soil. The bride was Ann Burras and the bride-
groom was John Laydon, a laborer, and one of the first
settlers. Hmiible folk they were, but though we have no
details of the wedding we may be sure that Jamestown
made as merry over it as was possible under the circum-
stances, and that when good ^Master Hmit spoke the solemn
words that meant the founding of the first English family
in the first English colony in America they fell on the ears
of his hearers with due significance.

Doubtless ^listress Forrest dressed the bride, acted as
her matron of honor and gave her away, and doubtless
too, she was godmother to little Virginia Laydon, the
colony's first baby, born to John and Ann in the following
autumn.

The colony was now in the middle of its second winter.
Realization that notwitlistanding the losses by death, there
were, with the last Supply, two hundred persons to keep
soul and body together on the pitiful provision so " af-
frighted " them with the prospect of famine that Captain
Smitli and others bestirred themselves more diligently tlian
ever to find food. This was growing more and more diffi-
cult, for the Indians frequently either refused to trade or
demanded swords and " sticks that speak," as they called

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

muskets, in return for their corn, and of course these were
denied them. In their bargaining, all the slirewdness of a
Smith was required to match the shrewdness of a Powhatan
or Opecancanough, and the hardships that were endured
to obtain a few bushels of corn or a few pounds of deer
suet are past description.

In December, with the ground covered with snow, their
" quarter " was the open woods.

" The snow we digged away and made a great fire in
the place ; when the ground was well dryed we turned away
the fire, and covering the place with a mat there lay very
warme."

At Werowocomico — Powhatan's seat on York River —
the barge went aground in half frozen shoals, " a flight
shot from shore," and, led by Smith, they waded " neere
middle deepe " ashore, through muddy icy ooze. They
" wrangled " ten quarters (eighty bushels) of corn out of
Powhatan for a copper kettle which had struck his fancy,
but as it was plain that he was " bursting with desire to
have Captain Smith's head," and Pocahontas came " in
that darke night through the irksome woods " to inform
her English friends of a plot to send them a fine supper
and then murder them while they ate it, they spent the
night " vigilantly " until it was high water and took their
departure.

At Pamunkey, Opecancanough, after entertaining
them with " feasting and much mirth," plotted to kill them,
but Captain Smith, with a mixture of tact, bluff, and
daring, saved their lives. He snatched the dread Opecan-
canough by the scalp-lock and pressing his pistol against
his breast assured him that if his subjects did not keep their
promises to load the barge with provisions, he would load
her with their " dead carcases," but if they would trade as
friends he would not hurt them.

3 29

COLONLAX VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

" Upon tills, away went their Bowes and AiTOwes, and
men, women and children brought in their Conmiodities.
. . . and whatsoever he gave them they seemed therewith
well contented."

Yet there are some bright spots in the story. In the
Indian towTi of Kecoughtan — the site of the present
Hampton — a week of " extreme winde, rayne, frost and
snow^ " caused the explorers to keep that Christmas of 1608
among the Indians and they " were never more merry, nor
fed on more plentie of good Oysters, Fish, flesh, Wild-
foule, and good bread; nor never had better fires in Eng-
land, than in the dry, smoaky houses of Kecoughtan."

Upon his return to Jamestown Captain Smith gave
the colonists a plain talk as to the necessity of the greatest
industry if they would live, and laid do^vn the law that " he
that will not work shall not eat," unless disabled by illness.

And now, runs the record, they so quietly followed
their business that in three months' time they made some
tar, pitch and soap ashes, produced " a trial of glass," made
a well in the fort " of excellent sweet water," built about
tw^enty houses, re-roofed the church, made fishing-nets and
weirs, built a blockhouse in the " neck " of the island
guarded by a garrison, " to entertaine the Salvages trade,"
and " digged and planted " thirty or forty acres of land.
They had now sixty-odd pigs and nearly five hundred
chickens which " brought up themselves without having
any meat given them."

In the midst of this lull in their hardships an examina-
tion of their supply of corn showed that it was " halfe
rotten," and the rest being consumed by " thousands of
rats," the first of which were emigrants from England.

" This did drive us all to our wits' end," and " occa-
sioned the end of all our worke, it being worke sufficient to

provide victuall."

so

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

A party of "60 or 80 " was sent down the river to
live upon oysters, and twenty to Point Comfort to try
fishing. Twenty more were sent to the falls, but nothing
could be found there but a few acorns, which were equally
divided among the men. They had for a time " more
sturgeon than could be devoured by dog and man," some
of which they dried and pounded and used for making
bread.

There were mm-murings against Captain Smith and
threats to abandon the country which he answered by
promising all runaways the gallows, reminding them that
he had never had more from the " store " than the worst
of them. He declared that he would divide what was left
of the English provisions among the sick and that the well
must gather for themselves " the fruits the earth doth
yield."

" He that gathereth not every day as much as I doe,"
said he, " the next day shall be set beyond the river and be
banished from the Fort as a drone, till he amend his con-
ditions or starve."

" This order many murmured was very cruell," but it
" caused the most part to so well bestirre themselves " that
only seven of the two hundred colonists died in that winter
and spring of 1608, " except they were drowned."

They had some help from the Indians, especially the
" honest, proper, good, promise-keeping king of the ]Man-
goags," who sent Captain Smith " many presents to pray
his God for raine or his corne would perish, for his Gods
were angry."

Living thus, literally from hand to mouth, the colonists
got through the slow, difficult months, until midsummer —
when temporary relief came from an unexpected quarter.
In ^lay, Captain Samuel Argall had been sent from Eng-

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

land to find a safer passage to Virginia and make trial of
the fishing in Chesapeake Bay and James River. On
July 23, in the midst of the sickly season when endurance
had been strained to the utmost, the eyes of the hapless
band at Jamestown were rejoiced with the sight of his sails.

" God having scene our misery sufficient, sent in Cap-
taine Argall to fish for Sturgeon, with a ship well furnished
with wine and bisket; which though it was not sent us,
such were our occasions we tooke it."

Captain Ai-gall also brought the ne^vs of the commis-
sion to Lord Delaware as Governor of Virginia, with Sir
Thomas Gates as his Lieutenant, Sir George Somers as
Admiral General, Captain Newport as Vice Admiral, and
a " great supply " in preparation for Virginia.

This supply — by far the largest that had been sent
out — sailed from England on June 18, 1609. There was
a fleet of nine ships carrying five hundred persons — men,
women, and children. They sailed by way of the Canary
Islands, and while under the tropic suns both yeUow fever
and the equally deadly London plague made their appear-
ance among the passengers. Many died and were buried
at sea. About the first of August, while crossing the Gulf
Stream near the Bahamas, a small vessel was lost, with all
on board, and the admiral ship, with Sir Thomas Gates,
Sir George Somers, and Captain Newport aboard, was
caught in a hurricane and cast away on the Bermudas.
The wreck of this ship, The Sea Venture, is believed
to have given Shakespeare the theme for his great drama,
" The Tempest."

The remaining seven ships arrived at Jamestown, in a
" miserable estate," late in August. Some of them had
lost their masts, some had their sails blo\^^l from their yards,
and much provision liad been spoiled by tlie seas washing
over their decks.

32

Chilham Castle, Kent— Digges

Loed^ (.astle, Kent— Lord tairfax
ANCESTRAL HOMES OF SOME VIRGINIA FAMIUES

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

Among the newcomers were " divers Gentlemen of
good meanes and great parentage," and also " unruly
gallants packed thither by their friends to escape ill des-
tinies." More unwelcome than these were the diseases
with which many of the passengers were infected and
which they added to the sufficiently formidable " country's
sickness."

Early in October Captain Smith, who had been pain-
fully burned in a powder explosion, decided to go to
England for treatment of his wounds, and Master George
Percy succeeded him as President. In the " Historic "
we have an account of conditions in the colony when Smith
left it. According to this there were four hundred and
ninety " and odd " persons — including of course the pas-
sengers in the seven ships. Jamestown was strongly pali-
saded and there were some fifty or sixty houses there and
five or six other forts or plantations. The harvest was
newly gathered, with the result that there was ten weeks'
provision in the store. There were five or six hundred
hogs and about as many hens and chickens, " some " goats,
" some " sheep, six mares and a horse; and they had fishing
nets, and tools for all kinds of work.

The list of arms and armor for defence against the
Indians is especially interesting. There were twenty-four
pieces of artillery, three hundred muskets, " snapchances
and firelocks " — primitive guns, a sufficient supply of
powder and shot and more pikes, swords, cuirasses and
morions — open face helmets — than there were men to use
them.

There were a hundred " well trained and expert sol-
diers " to whom " the language and habitations " of the
Indians were known, one carpenter, and three *' learners,"
two blacksmiths, two sailors, and a number of laborers.

COLONIAL VmGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

The rest of the men are described as " poore gentlemen,
tradesmen, serving-men, Hbertines and such like, ten times
more fit to spoyle a commonwealth than either begin or
help to maintaine one." But the chronicler more graciously
adds, " Notwithstanding, I confesse divers amongst them
had better mindes and grew much more industrious than
was expected."

Hard upon Smith's departure followed the " Starving
Time," and the earlier hardships of the colonists faded into
insignificance. The increased population soon devoured
the increased provision. Ague and fever proved as debili-
tating to the laborers with the last supply as they had to
the " gentlemen" with the first two, and, as has been said,
\^ellow fever and the " plague " had been added to the
" comitry's diseases." The Indians, finding that the
dreaded Captain Smith had left, robbed and murdered
them and instead of com and other provisions dealt them
" mortal wounds with clubs and arrow^s." Of the whole
population of about five hundred, there remained within
six months " not past sixty men, women and children, most
miserable and poore creatures, and those were preserved
for the most part by roots, herbes, acornes, walnuts, berries
and now and then a little fish." There was not a hog or
fowl left and they had even eaten the horses.^

Historians have doubted the assertions that there was
camiibalism at Jamestown at this frightful time. True
or not, statements that there was are certainly to be found
in contemporary records. One of these incorporated into
Smith's " Historic " tells us:

" So great was our famine that a wSavage we slew and
buried, the poorer sort tooke him up againe and eat him,
and so did divers one another boyled and stewed with roots

^ Strachey and Smith both testify to this.
34

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

and herbs: And one amongst the rest did kill his wife,
powdered [salted] her, and had eaten part of her before it
was knowne, for which hee was executed, as hee well de-
served; now whether shee was better roasted, boy led or
carbonado'd, I know not, but of such a dish as powdered
wife I never heard."

The same witness adds that what the settlers endured
at this time was " too vile to say," and declares that aU
would have perished within ten days more had not rehef
come to them.

"But God that would not this Countrie should be
unplanted, sent Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers
with one hundred and fiftie people most happily preserved
by the Bermudas to preserve us."

The " two noble knights " were so appalled at the con-
ditions they found at Jamestown that they decided there
was nothing to do but abandon it, and taking what were
left of the half-starved colonists aboard the ship they had
managed to build during their nine months' sojourn in
the Bermudas, but refusing to burn the town as many
wished them to do, set sail for England.

But " God would not have it so."

Early next morning, before they were out of James
River, they met Lord Delaware, coming as governor of the
colony, ^vith three ships *' exceedingly well furnished with
all necessaries fitting," and bringing with him Sir Ferdi-
nando Wainman and " divers other gentlemen of sort."

With this fleet they returned to deserted Jamestown.
This was on Sunday, June 10, 1610. All went ashore
and heard a sermon by Parson Bucke, after which his
Lordship read his commission as governor and " entered
into a consultation for the good of the colony." And
the chronicler piously observes, " Never had any people

35

COLONIAL VmGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

more just cause to cast themselves at the very foot-stoole
of God, and to reverence his mercie."

Heartened by the provisions his Lordship brought,
their hope of success renewed, all fell to work at the tasks
allotted them and " every man endeavoureth to outstrip
the other in diligence."

Jamestown was now three years old. There were in
the fort, in addition to the dwelling houses, a market-place,
a storehouse, a " corps-du-guarde " and a church — its best
building. The fort was built in the shape of a triangle with
its widest side facing the river and a row of houses running
along each of the other two sides within the heavy plank
palisades. The houses were exceedingly primitive, of
course, but their large " country chimneys " and the abun-
dance of wood made possible the cheerful log-fires dear to
the Englishman's heart.

The church was sixty feet long and twenty-four feet
wide and had a chancel of cedar and a communion-table of
black walnut. " All the pews and the pulpit were of cedar,
with fair broad windows, also of cedar, to shut and open as
the weather shall occasion." The font was " hewen hollow
like a canoe," and there were two bells in the steeple.
" Every morning, at the ringing of the bell, about ten
o'clock, each man addressed himself to prayers, and so at
four of the clock, before supper." ^

It is in connection with this little house of worship that
we have the first suggestion of ceremonious manners in
Virginia. Lord Delaware had it put in good repair and
" kept passing sweet and trimmed up with divers flowers,"
and " Every Sunday when the liOrd Governor went to
Church he w^as accompanied with all the Councillors, Cap-
tains, other Officers, and all the Gentlemen, with a guard

^ Strachey.

S6

From " A Quaker Post-Bag. " Courtesj of Lonifmati

Barlbrough Hall, Derbyshire — Rodes, Baronets

.. »>■ ■T"\ -v^

^ rum The Man..r Houses ot Eni:l,,n,l.' ' Cuurtesy of Clias. ^cnhner's S..n,
Okewell Hall, Yorkshire— Batte
ANCESTRAL HOMES OF SOME VIRGINIA FAMILIES

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

of fifty Halberdiers in his Lordship's Livery, fair red
cloaks, on each side and behind him. The Lord Governor
sat in the choir, in a green velvet chair, with a velvet cushion
before him on which he knelt, and the council, captains,
and ofiicers sat on each side of him, each in their place,
and when the Lord Governor returned home, he was waited
on in the same manner to his house." ^

Lord Delaware followed the fashion of blaming the
colonists for their misfortunes. In an address soon after
his arrival he charged them with " haughtie vanities and
sluggish idlenesse," and in his report to the Virginia Com-
pany in England, dated July 7, 1610, describes them as " a
hundred or two debauched hands ... ill provided when
they come and worse governed when they are here. JMen
of distempered bodies and infected minds." However, he
was already becoming acquainted with the real cause of
their condition, for in the same letter he speaks of the " sick-
ness of the country," with which a hundred and fifty of his
men had been afflicted at one time, and he is persuaded
he would have lost most of them had he not brought with
him good Dr. Bohun and a store of medicines which were
already nearly exhausted.*

The Lord Governor was soon to learn by bitter experi-
ence the effects upon the energies of malaria and other
ailments with which the colonists were only too familiar,
for, after nine months' residence at Jamestown, continued
ill-health drove him back to England. In a letter of
apology for deserting his post, he says that he was " wel-
comed to Jamestowne by a violent ague," and that three
weeks after he was cured of that he " began to be dis-

^ Strachey.

* Strachey, " History of the Travaile into Virginia Britania,"
Halduyt Society, p. xxxii.

37

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

teiii^^ered with other grievous sicknesses which successively
and severally " assailed him. Then ague and fever seized
him again with much more violence than before and held
him for more than a month, bringing him to " greater weak-
nesses' He was soon to be brought to a still more miserable
condition, for says he :

" The ilux sm-prised mee, and kept me many daies,
then the crampe assaulted my weake body with stronge
paines, and after that the gout."

Finally, scurvy reduced him to such a state that he was
" ready to leave the w^orld," but preferring a " hopefull
recoverie " to an " assured mine," and lacking " both food
and Physicke fit to remedie such extroardinary diseases,
on March 28, 1611, he " shipped " himself back to England,
taking along to attend him Dr. Bohun.

He says he left in Virginia " about two hundred " —
all that were left alive of some nine hundred and twenty-
five who had come out in the three years. He left the
colony in charge of " Captaine George Piercie, a Gentle-
man of honour and resolution," who was to act as governor
until the coming of Sir Thomas Dale.

The able Su- Thomas and his fleet of three ships with
men and cattle, " and all other provisions necessarie for
a yeare," entered Virginia waters on the tenth of ^lay.
At Jamestow^n he found " most of the companie at their
daily and usuall works, bowling in the streets; these he
imployed about necessarie w^orkes."

About the first of August there arrived, " to second
this noble knight," Sir Thomas Gates with a fleet of " six
tall sliips," bringing three hundred persons — twenty of
whom were women, and among them Lady Gates and her
daughters — a hundred cattle, and " all manner of provision
that could be thought needfull."

38

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

As a disciplinarian Sir Thomas Dale was a past master.
The martial laws he established at Jamestown were severe
in the extreme, but he made some wholesome improvements.
The colony had been managed from the beginning on the
commmiity plan — all sharing the work and such provisions
as were at command. Dale at once allotted all of the settlers
private gardens, in addition to the public ones, and in
1613 gave each man three acres of cleared ground to farm
for himself and his family, and we are informed that when
they were " fed out of the common store and laboured
jointly together, glad was he that could slip from his labour,
or slumber over his taske, he cared not how, nay the most
honest among them would hardly take so much paines in
a weeke as now for themselves they will doe in a day."

There was now a steady inflow of emigrants to Vir-
ginia, in smaller numbers. Englishmen may be said to
have secured a fairly firm foothold in the Red Man's land
and, in spite of continued high mortality, there was no
longer any doubt of the continuance of the colony. Little
settlements gradually extended along the river from Point
Comfort and Newport's Xews to the present site of Rich-
mond. Governor Dale established a new town at Henrico
on the Dutch Gap peninsula, and a hospital called " Mount
Malady " was built nearby. Though from 1611 to 1613
there were frequent contests with the Indians, the use of
armor by the Englishmen made their arrows almost harm-
less. The marriage of Pocahontas with John Rolfe, in
April, 1613, was followed by a peace with Powhatan and
his people, and says Rolfe:

" The great blessings of God have followed this peace
and it, next under Him, hath bredd our plentie — everie man
sitting under his fig-tree in safety, gathering and reaping
the fruits of their labors with much joy and comfort."

COLONML VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Iron works were established at Falling Creek and the
manufacture of salt and glass, and experiments in vine-
growing and silk-making begun. Encouraged by the hap-
pier conditions, the colonists actually undertook enter-
prises outside of Virginia, such as the sending of Captain
Argall, in 1614, to break up the French settlement on
the coast of Elaine, which saved New England for the
English.

In 1619 the cultivation of tobacco was begun, and in
the same year came the Virginia Company's best gift to
the colon\' — the right to have its o^^^l legislature. Any
one who reads the journal of this assembly's first session
must see that the representatives were independent, sturdy
Englishmen, honestly endeavoring to serv^e the people.
Early in 1622 justice was more fully brought home to the
people by the establishment of local courts in various parts
of the colony.

Plans had been formed and a beginning made for the
establishment of a school at Charles City — now City
Point — and a college at Henrico.

Upon this scene of fair promise suddenly fell the
frightful Indian IVIassacre of 1622, when about four hun-
dred of the twelve hundred and forty English then living
in Virginia were murdered. There was a temporary panic,
but the Virginians soon dauntlessly expressed the belief
that the colony would rise from its depressed condition
to greater things than it had yet attained to, and the Com-
pany in London replied that " this addition of Price had
endeared the Purchase and that the Blood of those People
w^ould be the Seed of the Plantation."

After the first year or two a much larger proportion
of laborers and mechanics was brought over. Those that
came with Sir Thomas Dale were described as " honest and

40

THE \TRGINIA PEOPLE

industrious men, carpenters, smiths, coopers, fishermen,
tanners, shoemakers, shipwrights, brickmen, gardeners,
husbandmen and laboring men of all sorts." Yet they stood
the diseases of the locality no better than those of the less
hardy class. According to John Rolfe's count, there were,
in 1616, only three hundred and fifty people in Virginia.
The historian, Alexander Brown, has made a calculation
showing that between Xovember, 1619, and February,
1625, forty-four hundred persons died or were mm-dered
by the Indians.

Gentlemen and laborers alike, the vast majority of the
earliest emigrants to Virginia died untimely deaths, leaving
in the land of their adoption only nameless graves upon
graves of which to-day we have no trace.

They are less than shadows — represented only by
groups of colorless figures. Yet we know that those fig-
ures stand for human beings like to ourselves save for the
excess of hardship that was their portion. As we ponder
over them, they seem to take on flesh and to plead for
interest and sympathy.

They blazed the way. They were the forerunners of
those who planted a civilized and Christian state in a
wilderness. Whatever sins were theirs they blotted out in
their own blood. All honor to them — saints or sinners!
Amid toil, abuse, want, terror, starvation, disease and
death, they held the land — a forlorn hope dying for the
sake of those to follow them.

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

II— THE LATER EMIGRANTS

The Census of 1624-25 forms a good starting point for
a study of the classes of emigrants to Virginia, for by
that time the colony had assumed, in a rudimentary way,
its later form.

The Census shows many names of men long afterward
active in colonial affairs. There were then in Virginia six
hundred and eight free people, four hundred and fifty-
seven white servants, and twenty-three negroes. Of the
freemen twenty-five left descendants in well-known fam-
ilies which can be traced to the present day and eight of
the servants were ancestors of Virginia families of some
standing. There may have been many others, both bond
and free, who left descendants that cannot be traced.

Among the freemen referred to were Thomas Savage
and John Proctor, who came in 1607; Edward Waters,
1 608 ; John Flood and Thomas Willoughb}^ 1610 ; Thomas
Harris, Commander of a plantation, 1611 ; Francis Mason,
1613; Abraham Persey, 1616; William Farrar, John
Wilkins and Matthew Edloe, 1618; Thomas Osborne,
Commander of a plantation, John Woodson and Thomas
Gascoine, 1619; Christopher Branch, 1620; John Utie,
John Chew, Anthony Barham, Daniel Gookin, Thomas
Purefoy, and John Chisman, 1621; John West, Samuel
Mathews and Christopher Calthorpe, and Sir Francis
Wyatt and Dr. John Pott, whose brotliers founded
families.

We have information about the English forefathers
of but few of those resident in Virginia at the time of the
Census, as in the earlier days. The father and grand-
father of Christopher Branch are styled " gentleman,"
but his great-grandfather was a prosperous mercer of
Abingdon. Thomas Baugh was a grandson of Rowland

42

THOMAS, SIXTH LORD FAIRFAX OF LEEDS CASTLE, ENGLAND,
AND GREENWAY COURT, VIRGINIA

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

Baugh, Esq., of Twining, in Worcestershire. Thomas
Pawlett was great-grandson of the first ^larquis of Win-
chester. Sir George Yeardley, who had been an officer in
the Low Countries, was the son of a merchant tailor of
London; and the father of his fellow-comicillor, Ralph
Hamor, was another Londoner in the same trade. John
Southern, Gent., was of Tichfield, in Hampshire. Eliza-
beth and Anne Southey were the widow and daughter of
Henry Southey, Esq., of Rimpton, Somerset, who had died
soon after his arrival in Virginia. John West was a
younger son of the second Lord Delaware. Thomas Farley,
Gent., was of the city of Worcester, and John Proctor was
brother of Thomas Proctor, a wealthy London merchant.
Edward Berkeley was the son of John Berkeley, who had
been killed by the Indians in 1622, and grandson of Sir
John Berkeley, of Beverstone Castle, Gloucestershire.
George, Paul, William, and Maurice Thompson were sons
of Ralph Thompson, of Walton, Hertfordshire, and
Maurice was grandfather of the first Lord Haversham.
Christopher Calthorpe was the son of Christopher Cal-
thorpe, Esq., of Blakeney, Norfolk. Nicholas Martian was
a Protestant Walloon who had been naturalized in England.
Thomas Spilman was a brother of Captain Henry
Spilman who had been killed by the Indians some years
before ; they were nephews of Sir Henr}^ Spilman. Edward
Waters had brothers and sisters living at Great Horn-
meade, Hertfordshire, and ^liddleham, Yorkshire. Adam
Thoroughgood was a brother of Sir Jolm Thoroughgood,
and his wife, Sarah, was a member of the great London
family of Offley and granddaughter of Lord INIayor Sir
Edward Osborne. Captain Francis West was another
son of the second Lord Delaware, and Captain John Mar-
tin the son of Sir Richard Martin, goldsmith, of London.

43

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Anthony Bonall was probably a Frenchman, as the Vir-
ginia Company gave him two shares for his pains in secur-
ing certain vine-dressers from Languedoc to go to Virginia.
Charles Harmer was a brother of Dr. John Harmer, Greek
professor at Oxford, and John Barnabe, a brother of
Richard Barnabe, merchant, of London. English connec-
tions of a number of others are known.

Of those of w^hose origin we know nothing the following
are termed " gentleman," in contemporary public records:
Thomas Hothersall, Raleigh Crashaw, John Barnham,
Edward Waters, Pharoah (or Farrar) FHnton, Giles
Allington, John Boush, Albino Lupo, Peter and John
Arundel, John Chisman, Robert Poole, John Southern,
Clement Dilke, Giles Jones, Thomas Willoughby, William
Perry, Robert Sw^eete, Jolm Howe, Thomas Harwood,
Elmer Phillips, James Davis, William Spence, Richard
Brew^ster, William Kempe (of Hawes, Leicestershire),
William Julian, John Burrows, Edward Grindon, Na-
thaniel Causey, William Harwood, Peter Strafferton,
Richard Kingsmill (whose amis appear on his widow's
tomb), Thomas Marloe or Marlott, Thomas Crispe (of
Kent), Hugh Crowder, Killibett Hitchcock, John Wilcox,
John Utie, John Baynum, Anthony Burrows, William
English, and Samuel Sharpe. There may, of course, have
been others entitled to the designation " gentleman," whose
names do not happen to appear in the scanty records of
the time.

Among other men of good standing were various mem-
bers of the Council such as Captain Roger Smith, who had
served twelve years in the wars of the Low Countries;
George Sandys, the poet, who was Treasurer of the Col-
ony; William Claiborne, of an ancient family at Cleburne,
in Westmoreland; Christopher Davison, son of Queen

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

Elizabeth's unfortunate secretary, who had died in 1623,
but whose widow was still Hving in Virginia, and Abraham
Persey, perhaps the wealthiest merchant in the colony.

Still another class of prominent men were those who
held military commissions, and who in lists and documents
are always given their rank. Among these were Lieutenant
Thomas Osborne, Ensign Isaac Chaplaine, Captain Wil-
liam Pierce, Captain Nathaniel Bass, Captain Thomas
Davis, Captain Wilham Eppes, Captain Thomas Graves,
and Ensign Francis Eppes.

It will not do to lay too much stress on the social mean-
ing of the term " mister," but its use always noted a person
of respectability. It seems to have been applied ahke to
gentlemen and prosperous yeomen. It appears before the
following names of men living in Virginia about this time :
Thomas Swift, William Bentley, Robert Langley, Thomas
Allnut, William Atkins, Thomas Hamor (a brother of
Ralph), Henry Home, Anthony Barham, John Smith,

Luke and John Boyse, Emerson, Jolm Upton,

Edward Cage, Tobias Felgate, Francis Chamberlain,
Bagwell, John Bates, and Robert Bennett.

Of these John Upton and John Bates were included
in the Census among the servants of Abraham Persey, but
there is evidence in contemporary records that they were
hired employes. Upton was soon afterward styled " gen-
tleman," and Bates " merchant."

Next to this upper class which we have been describing
come the yeomen and mechanics. Among those styled
yeoman were Adam Dixon (who had come to Virginia as
master caulker of the Company's ships), John Sipsey,
afterward prominent in Lower Norfolk; Thomas Sully,
William Spencer, John Johnson, Richard Taylor, John
Powell, Robert Salford, John Downman, Thomas Bouldin,

4 45

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

and others. Some of these aftei-ward became members of
the House of Bm-gesses. Among the mechanics were
Thomas Passmore, carpenter, and Richard Tree, carpen-
ter, who had come to Virginia as a foreman for Abraham
Persey.

Thirty of the freemen named in the Census were, or
became, men of sufficient importance to be members of the
House of Burgesses, but are otherwise so httle known that
in most instances we are unable to determine their social
standing either in England or in the colon3^ Of some
we know a little. John Powell, yeoman, seems to have
had a son of his own name, who was a burgess for Elizabeth
City 1666-76; Richard Tree, as has been said, was a car-
penter; Thomas Kingston was afterward Surveyor Gen-
eral; Rice Hooe, who appears as having business trans-
actions with Edward Bennett, of London, was ancestor
of a family prominent to the present day; Roger Dilke
had a son Roger, of SuiTy County, who was styled " gentle-
man"; and John Moon, at his death, in 1665, in Isle of
Wight Count}% left a considerable estate in Virginia and
lands in Hampshire, England.

We have now given a summary as far as one can be
made of social conditions among the freemen living in
Virginia in 1625.

Of the four hundred and fifty-seven servants we liave
information of only about thirty beyond the fact that they
were servants.

It is evident that some of them were merely teclinically
so classed. For instance, Richard Townsend liad come to
Virginia when a boy of fifteen, but we know tliat before
long he was apprenticed to Doctor Pott to be taught to be
a physician and apothecary. Adam Tlioroughgood, who
also came at fifteen, had two brothers who were knights —
one of them in the household of the Duke of Buckingham —

..Cooper sculp
SIR THOMAS LUNSFORD
From an unique print in the British Museu

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

and it was probably thi'ough this powerful influence that
some years later he received a grant of 3200 acres " at the
espetiall recommendation of him from their Lordships and
other of his Majesty's Most Hon'ble privie Councell."

Abraham Wood was brought to Virginia as a child of
six and in later years became a Major General of militia,
the greatest Indian trader of his time, and a leader in pro-
moting Western exploration.

While no doubt very many of the servants named in
this Census were laborers and menials, it is plain that many
others were of a different grade from those brought over
later. On account of the small amount of land which could
be cultivated in Virginia there was not in the early days
that intense desire for labor which later caused nmnerous
examples of kidnapping in England and the sliipping to
the colony of people gathered up in the streets of London.

Among the thirty servants of whom a little is known
were Robert Hallam (a brother of William and Thomas
Hallam, salters, of Essex and London) who in 1636 ob-
tained a grant of a thousand acres of land and who had a
grandson, Samuel Woodward, of Boston, Mass.; John
Trussell, who settled in Northumberland County and be-
came a burgess and colonel of militia ; Randall Crew — both
of whose names appear in the noble English family of
Crew — who was a burgess for Upper Norfolk; John Bates,
who in 1626 is styled "merchant"; John Upton who in
1626, as " Mr. John Upton," was ordered by the Council to
pay Abraham Persey for the eight months he was absent
from his service the year after the Massacre and who
became a burgess, commander of Isle of Wight and mint-
master general ; Randall Holt, who married Mary, daugh-
ter and heiress of John Bayly, and acquired a large landed
estate on Hog Island; Richard Townsend, whose career

47

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PP:0PLE AND CUSTOMS

has already been described; John Lightfoot (not ancestor
of the later family of the name), who must have been a
hired and not an indentured servant, as in a grant of land to
him in 1625 he is described as "an ancient planter who
came in the time of Sir Thomas Dale "; Abraham Wood,
already referred to ; David jNIansfield or JNIansell — de-
scribed in the Census as " a hired servant " — who became
a burgess; Wessell Webling, a son of Nicholas Webling,
of London, brewer, whose indentures show that he had con-
tracted to serve Edward Bennett for three years and at
the end of that time was to be given a house and fifty
acres of land; Thomas Curtis and some other servants of
Daniel Gookin, who seem from the records to have made
contracts with liim before coming to Virginia; Lionel
Roulston — both of whose names appear in an old family in
the north of England — who, in 1627, was buying and sell-
ing land as "gentleman," and who was a burgess; John
Hill, of Lower Norfolk, w^ho had been a bookbinder in the
University of Oxford; Stephen Webb, afterward burgess
for James City, whose father is said in several depositions
to have been of Breshley, Worcestershire, and a free-
holder of several lands in that manor; William Allen,
Anthony Pagett, and Thomas Jordan, who were also bur-
gesses; John Atkins, Thomas Barnett, Thomas Hawkins,
Anthony Jones, Francis Fowler, and others.

In later years when, as has ])een intimated, the demand
for laborers in the colony could hardly be met, there were
fewer servants who were not menials, but among this class
Virginia genealogists have found but two from whom
sprung people of any prominence. It is, of course, possible
that after becoming free, many servants became small
farmers and may have had descendants who rose in the
world, but if they did we have no record of it.

48

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

The treatment of the emigrants for the long period
between the Census of 1625 and the Revolution must
necessarily be more general.

The first subject to be considered is the origin of the
higher planting class. One of the most discussed phases of
emigration to Virginia has ever been that of the Cavaliers.
It should be clearly understood that " Cavalier " means
not only a class in society, but also a political party. Any
one acquainted with the history of England during the
Civil Wars must feel that after the defeat of the King
and the numerous fines, confiscations, and sales forced by
necessity, large numbers of the Royalists would have wished
to leave the country. After the Restoration, when so
many of them found their hopes of repaired fortunes dis-
appointed, the reason for their emigration continued. In
1649 there were sixteen thousand people in Virginia, and
in 1671 forty thousand, including six thousand servants.
During this period, though many servants came, including
Scotch and Irish prisoners of the Parliamentary Army,
and there was a considerable increase by births, it is evident
that there was an unusually large emigration of freemen.

No one was in position to be better informed in regard
to the Royalist emigration to Virginia than Clarendon. In
the 18th book of his History he says, " Sir William Berke-
ley, the Governor thereof, who had industriously invited
many gentlemen and others thither as a place of security,
. . . where they might live plentifully, many persons of
condition and good officers in the war had transported
themselves with all the estates they had been able to
preserve."

Governor Berkeley himself says in his " Discourse and
View of Virginia" (1663): "Another great imputation
lyes on the Country that none but those of the meanest

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

quality and corruptest lives go thither. . . .But this is not
all true, for men of as good families as any subjects in Eng-
land have resided there, as the Perseys, the Barkleys, the
Wests, the Gages, the Throgmortons, Wyatts, Digges,
Chichleys, JMoldsworths, jNIorisons, Kemps, and a hundred
others, which I forbear to name." There is no doubt that
the " imputation " referred to by Berkeley was long preva-
lent in England. It probably arose, in part, from the
exportation of convicts, but chiefly from the infamous
system of kidnapping so widely spread there.

While there is abundant proof that many gentlemen
of good family settled in the colony, and also many sons
and kinsmen of merchants, there is not yet sufficient evi-
dence to authorize positive statements as to the whole plant-
ing class. A good deal, however, is known. There was one
baron, Fairfax ; a son of an earl, Percy ; three sons of an-
other baron. Lord Delaware ; and the grandson and great-
grandson of two others, Henry Willoughby and William
Fairfax, whose descendants became Lords Willoughby,
of Parham, and Lords Fairfax. Four baronets, Beckwith,
Bickley, Pe}i;on, and Skipwith, came to Virginia and left
families in which their titles descended, and three families,
Bathurst, Booth — from the Dunham ]Massie line — and
Rodes, descended from younger sons of baronets, also
isettled in Virginia. Several knights, such as Sir Henry
Chichley, Sir Thomas Lunsford, Sir Fleetwood Dormer,
Sir Dudley Wyatt, and Sir John Zouch, came, not as
officials, but as settlers.

Among other emigrants of interesting or historic con-
nection in England were William Bernard, a nephew of
Sir John Bernard, who married Shakespeare's grand-
daughter; George Donne, a son of Doctor John Donne;
Henry Finch, brother of Sir John Finch, Speaker of the

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

House of Commons; Francis Lovelace, brother of the poet;
Nathaniel Littleton, brother of the Lord Keeper, and
Francis, Robert, and Richard Moryson, whose sister mar-
ried the famous Lord Falkland.

A very considerable number of the English gentry,
many of whom founded families of their own names while
others left descendants through daughters, settled in the
colony. As has been said, " gentleman " is a term covering
a wide field. Ancestors classed as gentry ranged from
ancient and distinguished lines like Brent, Calthorpe,
Chamberlayne, Chichester, Clifton, Coke, Digges, Evelyn,
Filmer, Isham, Littleton, Ludlow, Mallory, Wyatt, and
others of equal note, down through families like Batte and
Jenings which rose during later Tudor times, to those whose
*' gentry " was only a couple of generations old at the time
of emigration, and whose fortunes had been founded on the
successful exertion of merchant or tradesman, or of some
shrewd and thrifty steward of a nobleman's estate.

The Scotch emigration was smaller, but, like the Eng-
lish gentry, represented various grades. Some were de-
scendants of such families as Douglas, of Mains; Spots-
wood; Home, or Hume, of Wedderburn; Graham, of
Wackinston and Killearn; and Wedderburn, while others
were of much lower rank.

The families which can be traced to the mercantile class
constitute not quite so large a number as those descended
from the gentry. Some of them were of great merchant
families, like Bennett and Bland, of London, and Cary, of
Bristol. Though several of these, and others — like Boiling,
Byrd, Metcalfe, and Terrell — trace ultimately to the landed
gentry, little is known of the ancestry of many merchants
from whom Virginia families descend. As it was a com-
mon custom during the reigns of Elizabeth and the early

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Stuarts for younger sons of country gentlemen to be ap-
prenticed to trade, many more may have been of the gentry,
but there is an equal possibility that they were of humble
extraction.

A good number of prominent Virginia families — at
least forty — descended from ministers of the Church of
England living in Virginia, or from emigrant sons of min-
isters. In view of the common criticism of the Virginia
clerg}', it may be well to say here that as far as is known
every one of these founders of families was a man of good
character. Most of them of whom we have any detailed
record were college bred and many had well stocked
libraries. Like the other classes, they came of different
social grades. Some, like Bagge, Campbell, Foliott, Rose,
McRae, Semple, and a number of others, were of gentle
blood, while others still came from a lower rank. An
influential churchman in England sometimes founded the
fortunes of a family in the colony, as did John Robinson,
Bishop of London, whose brother Christopher settled
in Virginia.

A few families of note traced to physicians, lawy^ers,
army and navy officers, five or six to masters of ships in
the Virginia trade, three or four to master weavers or cloth
manufacturers, three or four to yeomen, and about
the same nimiber to mechanics. Servants who came after
1625 founded, as has been said, two well known Virginia
families, and there are traditions that two others descend
from indentured servants. One from a law student who
was kidnapped and sold into Virginia, and the other from
a young Scotchman of good family who, having run away
from college and bound himself to the master of a Vir-
ginia ship, was sold here to a rich planter and in time
became a prominent lawyer and married his former owner's
daughter and heiress.

52

I

Copyright, 1908, by J. E. H.

Henry Corbin, of Hall End, Warwickshire
SOME FOUNDERS OF VIRGINIA FAMILIES

THE VIRGINIA PEOPLE

Besides the families of the upper class which have now
been treated of, there was a much larger group — among
them a number of the most influential in the colony — of
whose ancestry over the sea we have absolutely no knowl-
edge. The emigrant members of a good proportion of these
are known, and all that are were freemen — many of them,
no doubt, sons of gentlemen or merchants. They came
to the colony as men of recognized position, had coats-
of-arms, and numbers of them soon became members of
the House of Burgesses or of the Council. They bore
such names as Aston, Ashton, Armistead, Ball, Ballard,
Beale, Beverley, Braj^ Duke, Eppes, Farrar, Bridger,
Browne (of Surry), Carter, Chisman, Churchill, Hill (of
" Shirley") , Lee, Parke, Pettus, and others of prominence.

In addition to all of these there was a large number
of emigrants of whose ancestral connections we cannot
make even a conjecture, and who may have been derived
from almost any grade of society in England; but not a
single instance of a Virginia family descended from a con-
vict has ever been found by any genealogist. Some con-
victs may, after the expiration of their term of service,
have become small landholders and left descendants, but
of such there is no trace.

Larger still than any of the classes of emigrants which
have been considered was the great mass of small farmers,
yeomen, mechanics, and free laborers who throughout the
Colonial period came from English towns and villages,
farmhouses, and cottages to Virginia, and who constituted
the bulk of the population then, as their descendants did
later. This middle class had various grades within itself
and later in the period, and after the Revolution, many of
its members acquired wealth and position. And let it be
emphatically asserted here that neither during the Colonial

S3

COLONIAL VIRGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

nor the State period was the popuhition of Virginia made
up mainly of hirge landowners and " poor whites." A
great majority of our people have always been the respect-
able, independent middle class.

This discussion has been devoted chiefly to emigrants
from England, for the few hundreds of Huguenots who
came over were soon merged in the surrounding English
population, and the very important Scotch-Irish and Ger-
man elements came too late to influence colonial manners
and customs except in the districts settled by them. Special
knowledge and research would be required for the special
study which they deserve.

II

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO
MANSION

OORLY provided in many ways as
were the first English Americans they
found ready for their axes and saws
great plenty of goodly timber upon
which they at once fell to work, and
Virginia pine and cedar trees speedily
^^ became roof-trees. The construction
of these is left to the imagination, but they were, of course,
the crudest and most primitive of shanties. Hastily put
together of green plank, they were soon warped and rickety
and it is not surprising that when Sir Thomas Dale came
out to be governor, in 1611, he should have found them
about to fall down on the heads of their owners.

Ere long the flimsy plank hut gave way to the sturdier
if equally primitive log-cabin, which deserves to be called
the earliest form of colonial architecture, for so much the
rule did it become that it was known as the " Virginia
house " — as the cloth the busy housewife wove for bed
linen and clothing was " Virginia cloth."

This original Colonial Dame was not conscious of any-
thing picturesque about the title which is hers by right,
for it had not then become redolent of mansions and min-
uets. She had a stout heart or she would not have
ventured so far from her native hearth-stone; and before
Jamestown malaria froze her blood and parched her flesh
and fear of the tomahawk haunted her sleeping and wak-
ing hours, her cheek was as ruddy and her eye as glancing
as cheeks and ej^es of wholesome English girls are like to
be. She was glad of her dwelling of logs with the bark
on, chinked with mud or with clay to keep the weather

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

out, and roofed with poles or with clapboard, and proud of
her chest of drawers and looking-glass, her pewter plates
and dishes, her brass kettle, candlesticks and fire-dogs,
brought from England, and also of the home-made settle,
table, or cricket which supplemented these, and the feather-
bed made of feathers plucked from her own geese. There
is no doubt that many a worthy burgess and his lady from
whom Virginians of to-day are proud to claim descent
found peace and content, when the day's work was done,
by the crackhng fire of such a home.

During these early days, and afterward in the settle-
ments in the western part of the colony, there were scat-
tered about small palisaded forts in which neighboring
families took refuge when in danger of Indian attack, and
immediately after the ^lassacre of 1622 the General
Assembly ordered that every house be pahsaded.

As time went on, the one-room log-cabin developed
into the double cabin with two rooms below and loft above
and a shed-room kitchen adding to its commodiousness, and
sometimes a shingled roof and weather-boarded sides, or
even a rude porch, gave it further comfort and sighthness.

Later, w^hen these primitive abodes were supplanted
by frame and brick houses with steep roofs and big chim-
neys like those the colonists remembered in old England
the " Virginia house " became and remained the home
of the very poor man and the frontiersman. These were
more scantily furnished — straw pallets or bear-skins laid
before the fire often taking the place of the prized feather-
bed, while much more frequent than the brass kettle was
the " great iron pot " in which such of the good man's food
as was not roasted or baked before the open fire was cooked,
and which was a cherished possession — a valued legacy.
For instance, in 17.5G James !McClure, a settler in The Val-

56

A L(K, ( AH1.\

THE ROBERTSON HOUSE, CHESTERFIELD COUNTY. BUILT ABOUT 175U
Frame dwelling with chimney twenty-five feet wide

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

ley of Virginia, bequeathed to his son James his " Bible
and big iron pot," and to his son Samuel his " next biggest
pot," and directed that his wife Agnes was " to have the
use of both pots." ^

On the frontier the cabin was often loop-holed for de-
fence against the Indians. If it was adorned and made
comfortable with skins of animals, the passer-by guessed
that its owner was a hunter. The diary of a JMoravian
missionary from Pennsylvania who, in 1735, visited the
western part of Virginia now occupied by the mountain
counties of Bath and Alleghany, tells of lodging in cabins,
sleeping on bear-skins in front of the fire, and eating bear's
meat which he says was to be found in every house in that
part of the colony. He describes the white people of the
region as living like the Indians — hunting being the chief
occupation of the men and their food " Johnny cakes,"
deer and bear's meat.^

Whether the Virginian's home was the earliest one-
room cabin or the fair mansion of a later day, its most
invariable characteristic was hospitality. Every good man
of a house and every good housewife stood ready to share
without apology such accommodations as were at command
with the stranger who chanced to come by as freely as with
the invited guest. Perchance the unknown was offered a
" great bed " with silk cm-tains and valance, perchance
sleeping space on a bear-skin or pallet in the one room
occupied by his host, hostess, and a numerous brood ; but
the spirit of the offering was the same — the cheerful giving
of the best the giver possessed — and the spirit of the
acceptance was the same.

Colonel William Byrd was a hospitable soul and

^ Chalkley's Augusta County Records, iii, 64.
2 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., xi, 123.

57

COLONL\L VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

enjoyed the hospitality of others — rich and poor. In the
lively diaries he kept during his horseback journeyings
about Virginia and North Carolina he described in detail
the kinds of entertainment offered liini in homes of varying
types. In November, 1733, travelling on the frontier in
what is now Brunswick County he spent the night in the
cabin of Captain Henry Embrey, who, in spite of the simple
life carried to excess described by Colonel Byrd, became
in after years a man of property and a member of the
honorable House of Burgesses. Says the graphic diarist :

" We found the housekeeping much better than the
house. Our bountiful landlady had set her oven and all
her spits, pots, gridirons and saucepans to work to diversify
our entertainment. The worst of it was we . . . were
obliged to lodge very sociably in the same apartment with
the family, where reckoning men, women and children we
mustered no less than nine persons who all pigged very lov-
ingly together."

This the cultured and wealthy Colonel Byrd — the mas-
ter of Westover!

At another time and place when he had been enter-
tained in like fashion he comments less amiably on " that
evil custom of lying in a house where ten or a dozen people
are forced to pig together in one room, troubled with the
squalling of peevish, dirty children into the bargain." But
he continues more cheerfully:

" Next morning we ate our fill of potatoes and milk
which seemed delicious fare to those who have made a cam-
paign in the woods."

And again: "Our bounteous landlady cherished us
with roast beef and chicken pie."

Still again he tells of being entertained at a poor
planter's house when " the good man " laid him and his

58

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

two companions in his own bed " where all tliree nestled
together in one cotton sheet and one of brown oznaburgs."

Washington, when a surveyor in The Valley of Virginia
in 1748, had a taste of log-cabin life in its roughest form.
In ^March of that year he and his party were thus enter-
tained in the neighborhood of Winchester :

" After supper we were lighted into a room and I not
being so good a woodsman as the rest stripped myself very
orderly and went into the bed as they called it, when to my
surprise I found it to be nothing but a little straw matted
together without sheet or anything else but only one thread-
bare blanket with double its weight of vermin. I was glad
to get up and put on my clothes and lie as my companions
did."

Writing to a friend in the following year he says :

" Since you received my letter of October last I have
not slept but three or four nights in a bed, but after walking
a good deal all the day I have lain down before the fire
upon a little hay, straw, fodder or a bearskin, whichever was
to be had, with man, wife and children; and happy is he
who gets the berth nearest the fire." ^

Long before these frontier experiences of Byrd and
Washington the log-cabin had, in the older part of the
colony, become identified with the poor white and the negro,
and weather-boarded frame houses with a good proportion
of brick ones were the rule among the well-to-do. In 1638
Governor Sir John Harvey, writing to the Privy Council
in England, reported that a convenient portion of ground
at Jamestown had been allotted to every person that would
"undertake to build upon it," and adds, " Since which
order, there are twelve houses and stores built in the
Towne, one of brick by the Secretary the fairest that ever

3 Sparks' "Washington," ii, 416.

COLONIAL VIUCINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

was kiiowne in this countrye for substance and uniformitye,
by whose example others have undertaken to build framed
houses and to beautifye the phice consonant to his Ma'ties
Instruction that we should not suffer men to build slight
cotta^'-es as lieretofore." *

Brickmaking began very early in the history of the
colony, and though a few small lots of bricks were brought
from England, most of those used for building Virginia
homes were of home manufacture.

Owing to the burning of Jamestown by Nathaniel
Bacon in 167C, and its abandonment as the colonial govern-
ment seat, none of the original houses remain there, but
many foundations have been unearthed. These show that
for three-quarters of a mile along the river front and
scattered about the island there w^ere quite a number of
brick houses, including one tenement-like row which were
doubtless stores or warehouses. A larger building at the
end of this row has been identified as the State House
before whose windows the thrilling scene of Nathaniel
Bacon's encounter with the royal Governor, Sir William
Berkeley, was enacted.

^lost of the foundations which have been unearthed are
about forty by twenty feet and show deep cellars. As
nothing more remains of the houses, it is impossible to say
what they were hke, but the tower and buttresses of the
church, finished about 1640, show that it was a well pro-
portioned building. Part of the walls and a chimney of a
small house believed to have been a contemporary^ of the
Jamestown dwellings were to be seen near Hampton until
the year 1907, when the bricks — of a fine glazed kind —
were used in the restoration of Jamestown Church. An-
other house of the same type may be seen a few miles above
Williamsburg.

* Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., iii, 29.

HOUSE NEAR WILLIAMSBURG
A type of the earliest brick dwelling

ROOM AT "BLOOMSBURY," ORANGE COUNTY

Showing corner fireplace

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

An example of the better class of brick house at James-
town and on the early plantations was " Malvern Hill," a
few miles below Richmond, built by a member of the Cocke
family early in the seventeenth century. Unhappily, this
beautiful httle mansion was destroyed by fire within the
last few years.

As every trace of most of the houses of the first half
of the seventeenth century has long since disappeared, we
must depend upon the inventories of the household goods
of their owners for an idea of their proportions. From
these it seems that the great majority of them were smaU,
with few rooms for their size. Matthew Hubard was a
prosperous merchant of York County and had seven Eng-
lish servants, seven horses, forty-one cattle, five pounds
worth of silver, and thirty-odd books — among which were
a Latin Bible and Prayer Book, Ben Jonson's plays,
" Purchas's Pilgrims," and the works of Captain John
Smith; yet his house contained only four rooms besides
kitchen and buttery.

Later in the seventeenth century and throughout the
eighteenth, the popular — and generally populous — frame
house in the towns and on the plantations varied in size
from the one-story, two-room cottage to homesteads of
such generous dimensions that they shared with the large
brick houses the title of " manor," " mansion " or " great
house." Most frequent, whether built of brick or of wood,
was the story-and-a-half house, with or without a wing at
the rear, and with a small square porch and a " shed-
room " kitchen. Many of these are still scattered about
the State — their steep roofs and hooded windows and per-
haps a great outside chimney at either end bestowing upon
them an air of quaint charm. Such a house, if of wood,
was generally painted white, and, with its embowering trees

5 61

COLONIAL MROLNLV, LIS J'LOPLE AND CUSTOMS

and yard enclosed by a white paling, made a pleasant pict-
ure of unpretentious home comfort. The two principal
rooms of a house of this character were the parlor, kept for
" company," and the hall used as dining and living-room,
suggestive of the reception hall of to-day. From it a stair-
way, with a turn of the foot and broken by a landing half
way up, led to attic-like chambers above.

Sometimes this house was elongated by an additional
room at one or either end. Such additions had the one-
story rectory of Accomac Church, built in 1633, which
was " forty feet wide, eighteen feet deep and nine feet in
the valley, with a chinmey at each end, and on either side
of said chimney a small room — one to be used as ye minis-
ter's study and the other as a buttery."

The oldest house now standing in Virginia whose date
can be positively identified is " Smith's Fort," in Sm-ry
County, across the river from Jamestown. It bears the
mark of time and neglect, but its thick glazed-brick walls
are in a good state of preservation. Its frontage of fifty
feet affords a spacious room on either side of the hall
through the middle, and plain as is its exterior its parlor is
panelled to the ceiling and has fluted pilasters framing
the chimney-piece and deep window seats. Thomas War-
ren, who built it in 1654, was a substantial planter, but not
one of the wealthiest men in the colony, and there is no
reason to suppose that his house was better than plenty of
others of its time.

Nearby, on the river bluff, are traces of the earthworks
of the " New Fort " built by captain Smith as a place of
retreat from the Indians should it become necessary to
abandon Jamestown.

The original farm was given by the Indian king to
Thomas Rolfe, son of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, who

62

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

sold it to Thomas Warren. " Smith's Fort " is now owned
and occupied by a negro farmer and his family.^

A house of about the same age, though its exact date is
not known, is " Parker Place," an early home of the Parker
family, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. It is interesting
as illustrating another type of dwelhng of the period — the
hip -roofed frame house, with glazed-brick gable-ends — and
also because it was there that the Governor took refuge
when he fled from Jamestown during Bacon's Rebellion.

The large plantation mansion house began to be built
toward the end of the seventeenth century and became
more numerous in the eighteenth.

" Carter's Creek," in Gloucester County, the earliest
home of the Bur well family, which is believed to have been
the first of these, met the fate which has overtaken so large
a number of Virginia country houses — destruction by fire
— only a few years ago. It was modelled after the small
English manor house of the sixteenth and early seven-
teenth centuries, frequently styled the E -shaped house, and
was unique in America. The cornice surrounding its walls
under the eaves and the tall, clustered, diamond-shaped
chimneys made it a remarkably elaborate house to be built
in a wilderness. On one of the chimney stacks appeared
the initials, in iron, L. A. B. — standing for Lewis and
Abigail Burwell — and the date 1692, which probably re-
fers to some improvement, as the house is believed to date
from an earlier year. Those who remember it speak of its
handsome interior, especially of a detail of the hall decora-
tion— wainscot carved to represent drapery caught at the
top by a human mask. This is extremely interesting as
it was probably the only instance in America of the use

5 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., xxi, 210, 211.
63

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

buildings connected by cuned passage-ways with wings
standing away to the front and forming a court, is " Mt.
Airy," near the Rappahannock — the home of the Tayloes,
who have owned and occupied it for two hmidred years.
" Shirley," on the James — the Carter home which has been
the roof-tree of one family for an equally long time — and
" Rose well," on the York, built by Mann Page in 1730
and destroyed by fire in 1916, had similar wings originally,
but they long since disappeared. " Rosewell " had, with
these wings, a frontage of two hundred and thirty-two
feet. The central building contained fourteen rooms
twenty feet square and nine rooms fourteen by seven feet.
There were nine passages, and the " great hall " and hall
over it were each large enough to have made thi'ee large
rooms. Much of this space was occupied by the grand
stairway, with its balustrade of mahogany richly carved in
fruits and flowers, ascending by easy flights to the cupola,
which commanded a wide view of York River and the sur-
rounding country. One of the many traditions that made
" Rosewell " interesting had it that in this cupola Jef-
ferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Indepen-
dence while on a visit to his hf e-long friend, John Page.

The main building at " Rosewell " had three full stories,
besides garrets and cellars.

" Warner Hall," also in Gloucester, the home of the
Warner and Lewis families, which was destroyed by fire
but has been rebuilt, was a three-story house, with wings,
containing twenty-five rooms, and was unusual in having
a roof of tiles — some of which are preserved in the collec-
tion of the Virginia Historical Society.

Among other mansions of more or less unique char-
acter were H-shaped, L-shaped, and T-shaped houses of
both brick and wood. " Stratford " on the Potomac, the

COLONIAL VIROIXLV, ITS PF.OPLE AND CUSTOMS

impressive seat of the I^ees, and " Tuckahoe," the Ran-
dolph lionie, near Kiclunond, are well-known examples
of the H-shape in wliieh the cross-bar is formed by a large
central hall connecting two long wings. " Stratford "
and its outbuildings are of glazed brick, wliile one wing
and some of the outhouses of " Tuckahoe " — including the
tiny one in which Thomas Jefferson went to school — are
of wood.

AVe have seen Colonel Byrd " pigging " in frontier
cabins, let us peep in on him at " Tuckahoe " and get a
picture of Colonial Virginia life of a different kind. Bad
weather overtook him in the neighborhood of this home-
stead and detained him several days as the guest of ^Nlrs.
Randolph, widow of Thomas Randolph. The lady not
only " smiled graciously " upon him and entertained him
" very handsomely," at her board, but confided in him
the tragical story of her daughter's humble marriage and
diverted him vdth a dish of gossip of " how the parish
minister was henpecked by his wife who made herself
ridiculous by trj^ing to be a fine lady."

Had the daughter " run away with a gentleman or a
pretty fellow there might have been some excuse for her
though he were of inferior fortune ; but to stoop to a dirty
plebeian without any kind of merit ! "

To reward this obliging hostess for her varied and
spicy entertainment the Colonel read to her and her
sister-in-law, ]Mrs. Fleming, from the popular " Beggar's
Opera." And so the rainy days and evenings on the re-
mote plantation were worn away.

" Chelsea," the home of Bernard ^loore, in King Wil-
liam County, is a fine example of the T-shaped house. A
long hip-roofed dormer- windowed building forms the stem
of the letter, while a more imposing structure, with upper

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

and lower porches, provides the cross-bar and is the main
building of the mansion.

Less attractive were the huge weather-boarded boxes,
with no beauty of line or proportion, but often, as in the
case of " Tazewell Hall," the Randolph home in Williams-
burg, and " Marmion," the Fitzhugh home in King
George County, made surprisingly beautiful within with
fine carved wainscoting which must have made a particu-
larly becoming setting for the grandfather's clock, the
corner cupboard, the fireside chair, and other picturesque
furnishings of the day.

In The Valley of Virginia the log house of pioneer
days was succeeded by small stone houses, many of which
still remain, and besides them some substantial mansions,
also of stone, built late in the eighteenth century. Among
these are " Springdale," the old Hite homestead; " Abra-
ham's Delight," the quaintly named house of the Hollings-
worths; and " Mt. Zion," the interesting home of the
Thrustons.

The eighteenth century house, whether in the low coun-
try or in the mountains, was usually entered through a
small square porch with sloping roof whose comer sup-
ports varied from a simple post to a fluted column.

There was often a " porch chamber," built over the
porch or adjoining it at one side.

Sometimes there was no porch, but only a flight of steps
leading to the front door — as at " Stratford," where the
stone steps are straight and steep, or at " Westover,"
where they are semicircular and lead to a stately doorway
with a carved pineapple — emblem of hospitality — within
a broken pediment, above it.

Contrary to the popular impression, the pillared portico
generally called colonial did not appear until just before

67

COLONIAL MRC;iMA, LIS PEOPLP: AND CUSTOMS

the Revolution or become frequent until after it. Indeed,
*' Mt. Vernon," " Nomini Hall" (the home of "Coun-
cillor" Robert Carter in Westmoreland), and "Sabine
Hall," the home of Landon Carter in Richmond County,
are among the few colonial examples known. "Nomini "
has long since disappeared, but a full description of it is
given in the diary of Philip Fithian, tutor to the Carter
children, as it was in 1773.

According to this witness it was a two-story house
seventy-six feet long and forty-four wide, with five stacks
of chimneys and was built of brick, covered with white
plaster. It had a large portico and a " beautiful jut "
supported by tall columns, and, as it stood on a high hill,
could be seen for six miles. A hundred yards from each
comer of the house stood a dormer-windowed, forty-five
by twenty-seven foot building. These were used as school-
house, laundry, coach-house, and stable, and each of them
formed the corner of a square of w^hich the " great house "
was the centre — a plan identicalh^ like that of " Stratford."
In the triangle made by the school-house, laundry, and
stable was a " bowling-green," levelled for the popular
game of bowls — or ten-pins as we would call it — and laid
out in rectangular walks paved with brick.

In front, the lawn — or yard, to use the less pretentious
term of the day — was terraced, and an avenue of poplars
three hundred yards long, which still exists, and is all that
is left of beautiful " Nomini Hall," led to the road. It is
easy to imagine that the view of the white pillared mansion
through this green aisle was, as Fithian pronounces it,
" most romantic."

The interior arrangement was the popular one of four
large rooms on a floor with a wide hall through the centre.
The dining-room " where we usually sit " and the children's

D

U

D

f^

PLAN OF "STRATFORD" HOUSE AND GROUNDS

BOX MAZE IN THE GARDEN AT "TUCKAHOE'

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

dining-room were on one side, while the " study," contain-
ing Mr. Carter's fine collection of books, and a ballroom
thirty feet long, were on the other. Upstairs were jMrs.
Carter's chamber, the young ladies' chamber, and two guest
chambers. The tutor and boys slept in chambers in the
upper story of the school-house. " Nomini " must have
been a cheerful abode, for Fithian describes the great num-
ber of windows with their many " lights " to flood the house
with sunshine by day, and the abundance of candlelight in
the evening; the twenty-eight fires that glowed and leaped
in open chimneys and set brass fire-dogs twinkling in cold
weather ; the music of harpsichord, violin, flute, and guitar
upon each of which one or more of the family played; the
frequent treading of the minuet and country dances ; meiTy
games in which old and young took part; pleasant gossip
of books, and of public and neighborhood affairs; the
coming and going of company, and an always bountiful
board.

In the Virginia Gazette of 1766 Lawrence Taliaferro
advertised for sale a plantation on the Rappahannock near
Port Royal, upon which was a house with four rooms on
the first floor and two above, and which had a twelve-foot
porch in front, and at the rear, facing the river, a portico
fifty-two feet long and eight wide.

An interesting characteristic of the colonial house was
its tendency to grow. Families grew apace in those good
old days, and with the need for more room wings thrown
out from any point that was most convenient rambled away
with charming irregularity of line.

The first mention of a garden in Virginia is in the
" Voyages " of De Vries, a Dutch sea captain who was
at Jamestown in 1633. He describes a visit to " Littleton,"
the plantation of George ISIenifee on James River seven

COLONIAL MIU.LXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

or eight miles from town, and its two-acre garden, " full
of Provence roses, apple, pear and cherry trees, the vari-
ous fruits of Holland with different kinds of sweet smell-
ing herbs such as rosemary, sage, marjoram and thyme."

Few remains of colonial gardens now exist and in-
formation regarding them is meagre. Robert Beverley,
the historian, writing about 1700, speaks of the ease 'with
which both fruits and flowers were grown in Virginia and
especiall}' mentions the tulips, the " perfection of flavor "
of " all sorts of herbs " and the " charming colors " of the
hmimiing birds revelling among the blossoms ; but he adds
that there are but few gardens in Virginia that he con-
siders worthy of the name.

In the Virginia Gazette of 1737, Thomas Crease, gar-
dener to William and jNIary College, advertises garden
pease, beans, and other seeds and also a choice collection
of flower roots and " trees fit to plant as ornaments in
gentleman's gardens."

" The circle," a driveway from porch to gate around
each side of a large or small circular or oval plot planted
more or less elaborately in trees, shrubbery, or flowers, was
the rule with Virginia farmhouses of all descriptions before
the Revolution and long afterw^ard. Beyond this, the
more ambitious houses had lawns, groves, and avenues of
trees secluding them from the road. At " Stratford "
there was an oval flower plot at both front and rear — the
one in front having in it a sun-dial.

Other favorite details of the colonial garden, whether
terraced or level, were the box-walk, tlie ])ox-maze, and the
rose-embowered summer-house — both dwarf-box and tree-
box being much in use. A dwarf-box maze at " Tuckahoe "
and one at ^It. Vernon may still be seen. Gone is the
original, beautiful garden at " Westover," praised by

70

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

Chastellux when with other French officers he visited the
Byrd family, soon after tlie surrender of Yorktown, but
some clumps of the ancient box-trees have survived, and
the flower garden and its wall have in late years been
restored.

Among directions for the " Governor's Pallace " in
Williamsburg it was ordered that the flower garden behind
the house as well as the courtyard before it be enclosed
with a brick wall four feet high with a balustrade on top.

Sometimes there was a large area devoted entirely to
flowers. Again, vegetable gardens would have walks bor-
dered "vvith flowers or the first terrace of a " falling " gar-
den would be devoted to flowers wliile those below would
contain grape-arbors and vegetable squares. To one side
or below it, and embowered with evergreen shrubs or ti'ees,
was often the family graveyard.

Fithian frequently mentions pleasant walks with the
Carter family in the garden at " Nomini." On March 16
he noticed that peas were up two or three inches, cowslips
and violets beginning to bloom, the English honeysuckle
was in leaf, and fig and apricot trees and asparagus beds
began to give promise of their delightful ofl'erings.

Colonel B\Td, in his " Progress to the Mines," writes of
the garden and " terrace walk " at Governor Spotswood's
home at Germanna, and George Braxton's letter book con-
tains a contract with a man whose profession was " the
laying out of ornamental grounds," for making a " falling
garden " and bowling green at " Newington," " accord-
ing to the best efforts of his art."

" Ceelys," the Cary home near Hampton, built in 1706
and burned by negroes soon after the Civil War, and
■" Society Hill," the home of Francis Thornton, King
George County, are also known to have had falling gar-
dens. Among gardens some of whose terraces remain are

71

COLOXIAT. VIU(.INIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

those at " Sabine Hall " and " Carter's Grove," while in
" Mt. Airy " f^arden, in which in Fithian's time stood " four
large, beautiful marble statues," may still be seen a sunken
bowling green and a picturesque ruin which was once a
conservatory. The terraced court-yard with its stone balus-
trade in front of the " iSIt. Airy " house, and the approach
through a deer park, make the grounds unusuall}^ elaborate,
and at both " Sabine Hall " and " Brandon," the storied
James Kiver home of the Harrison family, a park, shaded
with splendid trees, stands between the house and the road.
The flower garden at " Brandon " is justly famous. It
stretches from the rear entrance of the house to the river
and is unbroken by terraces, but with its broad " grass
walk " hedged with old-fashioned perennials of every kind,
its spaces of bloom and spaces of greensward, its masses
of shrubbery, its magnolia, mimosa, smoke, and other orna-
mental trees and its charming water view, it is a place to
dream in and to dream about.

Did the Colonial Virginia carpenters bring their skill
in woodwork from England or did they acquire it after
they came over? It is impossible to answer, but certain
it is that they were artists — though doubtless unconscious
ones — and their masterpieces in cornices, wainscoting, man-
tels, and doorways deserve a place in the annals of Ameri-
can art. In a great nimiber of houses small and large,
brick and frame, from the beginning to the end of the
period were rooms and halls panelled to the ceiling, chim-
ney-pieces and cornices of chaste design, graceful arch-
ways and balustrades, fluted pillars and pilasters — gen-
erally of pine or cedar, painted white.

In a few of the greater mansions the wood used was
mahogany and the carving correspondingly rich, but the

72

By courtesy of Macmillan & Company

E-SHAPED ENGLISH MANOR HOUSE

\R I F R ^ ( Rl Hv (.1 01 ( Fsl ER COUNTY

()riginill> m h -sh iped house

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO IVIANSION

sumptuous mahogany balustrade and panelling at " Rose-
well " and the richly carved doorways and cornices at
*' Shirley " are not more surprising than the artistic work
to be found in far smaller houses such as " Toddsbury,"
the early home of the Todds and Tabbs of Gloucester — an
ancient, wee homestead with a beautiful interior — to name
one of the many.

The interesting old Nelson House, at Yorktown, has a
spiral staircase built between the walls, winding from the
cellar to the top story, whose entrance to each floor is
concealed in the panelling, and " Nomini Hall " is also said
to have had a secret stairway. Sometimes panelling made
possible a secret closet such as one discovered but a few
years ago at " Brandon "; while an interesting feature of
" Stratford," is a secret room concealed, not behind wain-
scoting, but within a cluster of four massive chinmeys.

Although wood panelling and carving were the almost
universal decoration for walls of houses which aspired to
anything more aesthetic than whitewashed plaster, tapestry
was not unknown, for the inventory of Colonel Francis
Eppes shows that in 1679 he had " a suit of tapestry hang-
ings " valued at £lS 17/ at his home in Henrico County,
then on the frontier,^ and in 1683, William Fitzhugh, of
Stafford County, ordered through his London agent a
suit of tapestry hangings for a room twenty feet long, six-
teen wide, and nine high. Another letter mentions his
" three rooms hung with tapestr}^"

When the Governor's Palace, in Williamsburg, was
built and furnished, in 1710, one of the special orders was
that the " great room," in the second story, be hung with
gilt leather.*

^ Va. Mag. Hist, and Blog., i, 121.
* Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., xvii, 37.
73

COLONIAL VIR(;L\L\, LIS PEOPLE AXD CUSTOMS

There were a few houses with ceihngs ornamented with
molded and tinted plaster or papier mache — the most nota-
ble example being the extremely ornate ceiling in the parlor
at " Westover."

AVall-paper made its apjDearance in Virginia about the
middle of the eighteenth centm-y. The earliest I have
found was imported by George Washington for Mt. Ver-
non in 1757. In September, 1769, a Williamsburg mer-
chant announced in the Virginia Gazette that he had " just
imported from London a choice collection of the most fash-
ionable paper hangings for rooms, ceilings, and staircases,
and in December of the same year James Kidd, upholsterer,
of Williamsburg, advertised that he was prepared to " hang
rooms with paper or damask."

The correspondence of Robert Carter of " Xomini "
with London merchants shows that he had in his Williams-
burg house three parlors hung with papers whose descrip-
tions have quite a modern sound. One of these was " crim-
son colored," another white with a pattern of large green
leaves, while the third, with which the best parlor was hung,
was blue covered with large yellow flowers.^

A room was often called after the color of its hangings
and this is occasionally indicated in inventories, as in that
of ]\Irs. Elizabeth Digges, who, in 1601, left furniture in
a " yellow roome," a " large roome over against ye yellow
roome," and a " red roome," ^^ while the inventory of
Colonel John Tayloe, of " INIt. Airy," made in 1747, men-
tions " tlie green room," and that of John Spotswood, 17-58,
*' the blue room."

Interiors were given added charm by tlie cozy window
seats which thick walls afforded, and great chimney-pieces

^ Glenn's " Colonial Mansions," 266.
^^ Wm. and Mary College Quarterly, i, 208.
74

HOUSES FROM LOG-CABIN TO MANSION

which projecting into the room formed deep recesses on
either side. Some of these were left open and lighted with
many-paned windows, with the usual inviting seats, others
filled with built-in cupboards with wooden or latticed-glass
doors. Some of the older houses had corner fireplaces, a
few of which were tiled.

Rooms oftenest mentioned by name were the hall, the
parlor, the parlor chamber, the porch chamber, the room
over the parlor chamber, the hall room, the shed room,
garrets and closets. The principal bedroom was occupied
by the mistress of the house, and the importance with which
it was regarded is shown by the names by which it was fre-
quently called — " tlie chamber " or " the lady's chamber."
The inventory of Ralph Wormelc}^ of beautiful " Rose-
gill," in Middlesex, made in 1701, names, with various other
rooms, the lady's chamber, the room over the lady's cham-
ber, the nursery, and " the " old " nursery.

The omission of a dining-room in many inventories
indicates the use of the hall, which was parlor too in houses
too small to have a room kept for company, like that of
Arthur Allen, of Surry, whose inventory, made in 1711,
mentions fumitui'e in the chamber, room over the chamber,
the hall, room over the hall, east garret, west garret, porch
garret, cellar, entry, and pantry ; and that of William Fox,
of Lancaster, which according to his inventory had in
1718 a hall, a hall-chamber, hall closet, porch-chamber,
chamber above stairs, and kitchen. The " chamber above
stairs " was doubtless a shelving-roofed, dormer- windowed
room.

Another of the many inventories describing furniture
in houses which were evidently of the quaint and popular
stor}^-and-a-half type is that of Thomas Willoughby, of

1^ William and Mary College Quarterly, ii, 170.

COLONIAL VIIKJXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Norfolk Count3% wliich in 1713 names a parlor, a parlor-
chamber, liall, hall-chaiiiber, porch-chamber, garret over
the parlor-chamber, and garret over the hall-chamber.

Twice since Virginia ceased to be " his INIajesty's Col-
ony " has it been a battle-gromid. From Jamestown to
the Ke^'ollltion, and long afterward, it was a rural district —
its homes, standing apart from each other in plantations
small or large, or here and there in a straggling village
which ambitiously styled itself a city, have been at the
mercy of every spark which a wanton breeze could fan into
a flame, and changes of ownership following death or de-
cline in fortune have caused household goods to be scattered
far and wide.

And so it happens that to-day but a small percentage
of these homes and an extremely small percentage of
their equipment remain; yet so rich in information about
them are the old wills and inventories that but little effort
of the imagination is required to recreate them completely
furnished.

Ill
HOUSEHOLD GOODS

FURNITURE

10 the heart of the Virginian precious
were the sturdy furniture of the oak
age, or the later walnut and mahog-
any, and the good linen, pewter,
brass or silver " out of England "
for which, thi'ough a London agent,
he had exchanged his crop of tobacco
and which had come over sea to serve him. Whether tliis
furniture was carved or plain, it was made to endure, and
in his will he carefully divided it out for the use of his
" heirs forever."

It was natural that in a new country where hfe was
hard at best, a good bed upon which to lay down one's
weary bones was a possession of first importance, and " my
feather bed " or " my feather bed and furniture " — mean-
ing the bedstead, bed-clothing, tester, curtains, valance and
all the paraphernalia then supposed to belong to a proper
bed — was not only among the most frequent bequests, but
a prized heirloom.

It will be remembered that Shakespeare left his second
best bed to his wife. The Virginian made a better hus-
band, for he almost invariably left his best feather-bed
to his wife and his second best to a favorite child or friend.
For instance, in 1719 Orlando Jones, of Wilhamsburg,
bequeathed to his wife his best feather-bed and furniture,
and to his daughter his next best feather-bed and f m-niture,^
and in 1711, Joseph Ball, of Lancaster, left his wife his
" feather-bed, bolsters and all furniture thereto belonging,"
and his daughter INIary, the mother of Washington, " aU

^ William and Mary Quarterly, viii, 191.
6 77

COLONIAL MRGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

the feathers in the kitehen loft to be put in a bed for her."
AVhether the best bed stood in a chamber on the first
floor, " over against the parlor," or in a dormer- windowed
" room above stairs," and whether its sheets were of ozna-
burgs, dowlas or fine Holland, plain — as most of them
were — or trimmed with " Elgin lace ", like those left by-
James Sampson, of Isle of Wight, in 1689; whether its
curtains were chintz or kidderminster — like those of
Thomas Jefferson, great-grandfather of the immortal
Thomas — or yellow silk — like those of Mrs. Elizabeth
Digges, whose descendants living to-day, in Virginia and
outside of it, are legion — such a bed must have made an
appealing picture. The apartment in which it stood,
whether the one room of a log-cabin or the " lady's cham-
ber" of a mansion, was of generous proportions, for it was
intended to accommodate, not an individual, but a family,
if necessary, and not only did the " great bed " stand high
off of the floor to make room for the trundle-bed which
was rolled under it during the day and out again at the
children's bedtime, but often there were one or two more
large beds in the room. In the inventory of Philip Smith,
of Northumberland, 1724, fifteen bedsteads are appraised,
and that of Clement Reade, of Lunenburg, shows that he
left, in 1765, twelve beds " and furniture."

Less highly esteemed than the downy feather-bed
was the " flock-bed," stuffed with bits of wool or cotton
or with rags. Yet it, too, was of sufficient value to be
handed down by will. In 1652 Thomas Gibson left his
daughter his " best flock-bed with rug, bolster and pillow
and the fine pair of Holland sheets."

Bed coverings were important items and handsome
imported quilts, or quilts of her own handiwork, among
the housewife's treasures. In the inventory of ^lajor

78

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

Peter Walker of Xorthampton County, made in 1655, we
find " a coverlid of tapestry," cambric sheets and an " East
Indian quilt." Mrs. Nicholas Morris deeded to her son
in 1665 property including " one bed covering with Queen
Elizabeth's amies thereon," and Mrs. Ehzabeth Wormeley
left in 1702 " a crimson satin quilt." Home-made quilts
were, of course, far more plentiful, for quilt-making was a
favorite occupation and pastime of women of every class.
George Lee in his will, 1761, left one of his sons the quilt
" worked by his mother."

Another comfort for the bed in constant use was the
warming-pan to take the chill from the sheets.

Next in importance to the bed was the chest in all its
forms, from the plain or carved wooden box which served
the double purpose of seat and receptacle for clothing, to
the chest of drawers with or without a dressing-glass top-
ping it, or hung above it, to be found in large numbers in
wills and inventories. Late in the period it began to put on
airs and to appear under the Frenchified name of bureau.

It was natural that a people so fond of dress as our
transplanted Londoners should have valued looking-
glasses, and they were brought over in a variety of styles.
In addition to the dressing-glass of the chamber, the " chim-
ney-glass " and " great looking-glass " were used in any or
every room.

Chairs were rare in England until about the time of
the settlement of Jamestown. In earlier days there, only
the master of the house or the distinguished guest was
given a chair; less important persons sat on benches, settles,
or stools. The first chairs were ponderous things of oak
with solid square backs — which were often panelled and
gave them the name of " wainscot chairs " — solid wooden
seats and heavy under-bracing. Later came the chair made

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

also of oak, and oltcn elaborately carved — of the high,
narrow back with a panel of cane set in and a cane seat;
the rail-back and splat-back chair — with seat upholstered
with leather or Turkey work — and finally the light and
graceful Chippendale and Sheraton and the plainer but
worthy rush-bottom and Windsor chairs.

Since, then, the chair was still something of a novelty
in the mother country, it is not surprising that during early
settlement days it was a rarity in Virginia and that home-
made stools, benches, and settles were in general use.

The first chair in America of which there is any record
is the green velvet one in which Lord Delaware sat in
Jamesto\\7i Church. Probably the next is the " Wainscott
chaire " bequeathed in 1623, by Jolm Atkins of James-
town, to his friend Christopher Davison, Secretary of the
Colony.-

Absence of Virginia wills and inventories for the first
half of the seventeenth century makes information con-
cerning personal belongings extremely vague, but we may
be sure that with the passing of the log-cabin as the dwell-
ing of the man of property, passed the home-made seat —
the stool and bench became the poor man's and the fron-
tiersman's chair as the log-cabin was his home. The ear-
liest existing records of such things show that there were
soon chairs in great number and variety in homes of the
better class. There were great chairs, small chairs, high-
back chairs, low-back chairs, ami-chairs, elbow chairs, plain
wooden chairs, Russia leather chairs, Turkey-work chairs,
willow chairs, cane chairs, Dutch chairs, silk chairs, silver-
stuff chairs, but no rocking chairs. As the log-cabin was
called the Virginia house, the rocking chair might well be
called the Yankee chair, for it was evidently not known

'^ \'a. Ma^. Hist, and Biog., xi, 154.
80

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

until a later day when some ingenious New Englander with
more eye for comfort than beauty invented it to make
future generations sit down and call him blessed.

Inventories which remain show that Major Peter
Walker of Northampton County left as early as 1655 six
leather chairs, three Dutch chairs and "some willow chairs";
Colonel John Carter of Lancaster County, in 1679, fifteen
Turkey-work and twenty-one leather chairs, also eight
Turkey- work cushions; George Nichols, of Isle of Wight
County, in 1677 — among other interesting possessions — •
" a great joyned chair," evidently a wainscot chair. There
is no way of ascertaining the age of these or other pieces
of furniture, as there is no record of how long they had been
in the possession of their owners, but frequently the ap-
praisei*s specify that they were " old."

A few examples of chairs taken at random from a mass
of eighteenth century inventories, from scattered sections,
may prove of interest. Colonel William Churchill, of
Middlesex County, left in 1714 four wooden, twelve
Turkey- work, twelve Russia-leather chairs and a " great
green " chair; Peter Presley, of Northumberland County,
in 1719, eighteen leather chairs; Matthew Hubard, of
York County, in 1745, twelve " high back leather " ones;
Mrs. Elizabeth Stanard, widow of William Stanard, of
Middlesex, in 1747, ten high-back, two low-back, and
twelve cane chairs, and a cane couch; Clement Reade, of
Lunenburg County, in 1765, nineteen rush-bottom and
twenty-five leather chairs.

John Fontaine, describing in his diary a visit to Robert
Beverley, at his home " Beverley Park," in 1716, says:

" He hath good beds in his house but no curtains and
instead of cane chairs he hath stools made of wood."

81

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

This was evidently a siinplieity of life that was con-
spicuously unusual.

The chair commonly called " roundabout " was cer-
tainly familiar in Virginia, for a number of them still re-
main, though not under that name. It was probably the
" elbow chair " of the wills and inventories. Fit companion
for the stately canopied four-poster, frequently called the
" great bed," was the winged fireside chair, or " great
chair."

The popular Turkey-work upholster}^ was imported
into England from the Orient in proper sizes for chair
bottoms. Turkey carpets, too, were plentiful in England
and Virginia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
though they were not found on the floor, save in rare in-
stances W'hen they were laid beside or around the bed, but
were used as table-covers. Pictures of interiors by the
seventeenth century Dutch painters show tables of various
sizes covered with these beautiful carpets often reaching
to and sweeping the floor — their weight and richness of
color clearly indicated — and they explain the frequent
mention in a Virginia will of a " table with carpet of Tur-
key-work."

To quote a few of the many examples, Mrs. Amory
Butler, of Rappahannock, left in 1673 — along with a
"great looking-glass," " an oval table," " a napkin press,"
and other things which indicate refinement of living and
easy circumstances — " a Turkey carpet," w^hile in the in-
ventory of Edward Digges, of York, 1G92, we find two
Turkey-work carpets besides nine Turkey-work chairs
and a Turkey-work couch.

From an order of Court in 1641, enumerating articles
reserved for the widow of Captain Adam Thoroughgood,
of Lower Norfolk County, we may learn what was con-

8i

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

ceived to be " a fit allowance " for furnishing the chamber
of a gentlewoman of means at that early day. The lady
was given " one bed with blankets, rugs, and the furniture
thereunto belonging; two pairs of sheets and pillow-cases;
one table with carpet ; table-cloth and napkins ; knives and
forks; one cupboard and cupboard cloths; six chairs, six
stools, six cushions; six pictures hanging in the chamber;
one pewter basin and ewer; one warming pan; one pair
of andirons in the chimney; one pair of tongs; one fire
shovel; one chair of wicker for a child." The cupboard
was to contain the following pieces of silver: " One salt
cellar, one bowl, one tankard, one wine-cup, one dozen
spoons." ^

Very fortunate was this lady in being the proud pos-
sessor of forks, for these novelties were scarce even in
England.

Next in importance to the chamber was the dining-
room or hall, whose principal pieces of furniture besides
chairs were, of course, the table and the cupboard. The
earliest tables were like the benches and stools, hasty, home-
made affairs, and it is likely that they often consisted of
boards laid upon trestles at meal time and set aside when
not in use, after a time-honored English custom from which
the term " the board," meaning the dining-table, was de-
rived. The inventory of a small planter of Lower Norfolk
County shows that he left, in 1643, a " table frame and two
planks."

Dining, serving, and tea tables appear plentifully in
the wills and inventories later in the seventeenth century
and throughout the eighteenth. Colonel John Carter of
Lancaster left in 1670 " six Spanish tables."

Among housewives who could boast of a drawing table

Ya. Mag. Hist, and Biog., ii, 416, 417.

COLONIAL VIIUJLXLV, 11^ PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

was Mrs. Amory Butler, who left one in her will, in 1673.*
This interesting piece of furniture — the first form of ex-
tension table — had slabs at each end which could be folded
under when not in use and drawn out and supported by
wooden braces upon occasion.

Styles of cupboard frequently mentioned are the corner
cupboard and the court cupboard — a, short, tall cupboard
with a closet below and open shelves for the display of
table service above. Among early owners of court cup-
boards was George Xicholls, as his bequest of one in 1677
proves.^

In 1732 Colonel Thomas Jones, of Williamsburg,
settled on his wife, with other property, quite a complete
equipment for a dining-room — including a comer-cup-
board on which stood seven punch bowls — " all of which
things," says the deed, " are now in a room of the dwelling
of said Thomas Jones called the Hall, and most of them
are part of the usual furniture of the hall." ^

The inventory of Ambrose Fielding of " Wickocomoco
Hall," made in 1674, gives us quite a clear picture of the
interior of a well-furnished seventeenth century home
whose rooms, though they were doubtless large ones, num-
bered only five — three of which were downstairs, two
above.^ The "greate room," which was evidently the hall,
had in it a " long dining table," a serving table, a small
table, fourteen rush-bottom chairs, two chests, a cupboard,
a pair of andirons, a bottle case and bottles, a supply of
linen, earthenware, glass, and pewter, two brass candle-
sticks, a brass kettle, a brass mortar and pestle, spoons of

* Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., iii, 65.
'^ Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., v, 286.

* Jones Papers, Library of Congress.

' Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., xiv, 205, 207.
84

PATRICK HENRYS 'ELBOW CHAIR'

CHIPPENDALE CHAIR
Owned by the Virginia Historical Society

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

silver and of *' alchemy," a silver bowl and drinking vessels
of silver including a tankard and two tumblers marked
with the Fielding arms. There were also in this dining
hall a fowling piece, a musket, two pistols, a rapier, and a
hanger.

" Ye parlor chamber " contained a " great bedd," with
curtains and valance lined with silk, damask tester, silk
counterpane, linen sheets, a feather-bed and blankets; a
leather chair, a silk chair, a " carved chest with locks and
keys," a pewter basin and ewer, a looking-glass, a warming
pan, a brass candlestick, an ivory comb, two clothes
brushes. The two upper chambers were more plainly and
scantily furnished.

In the parlor were an oval table, a small table, seven
Turkey- work and three Russian leather chairs, a silk chair,
a Dutch carved chair, a tapestry couch, a court cupboard,
some books — including a large Bible — a Turkey carpet, a
pair of brass andirons, a pair of silver candlesticks, four
family portraits and three other pictures.

" Wickocomoco Hall " was in Northumberland, one
of the counties of the Northern Neck of Virginia, far from
the little James River metropolis, or from any other town.

Among handsome novelties to be found in eighteenth
century parlors were Alexander Spotswood's two japanned
chests on castors, japanned tea-table and six walnut chairs
with silver-stuff covers — all of which appear in his inven-
tory, made in Orange in 1740. Japanned tables and cabi-
nets were to be found in a good number of houses at this
period, and at about the same time the escritoire, or " scru-
toire " as it was often called, became a popular piece of
furniture for the parlor and other rooms. For instance,
Francis Eppes, of Henrico, in 1733, bequeathed to an
heir his " scrutoire standing in the parlor made of black

85

COLONIAL MRGLMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

walnut with gLass doors," in 174.6 Henry Lee, of West-
moreland, left one of liis sons an " escritoire made of
mahogany," while in the inventory of John Woodbridge,
of Kichmond County, 1769, we find a " desk and bookcase
with glass doors."

As time went on and fortunes and houses became
larger, correspondence between the Virginia planters and
London merchants, as well as other records, bear witness
that furniture and manners became more luxurious.

Of course it was to be expected that the house pro-
vided for the royal governor would be in keeping with the
dignity of his office as the king's representative in Vir-
ginia, but the orders of 1710 for the equipment of the
" Pallace " in Williamsburg seem surprisingly fine for so
early a day. The orders specify three dozen " strong
fashionable chairs," three large tables, three large looking-
glasses and four chimney glasses for the lower apartments.
Also " one marble bufFette or sideboard with a cistern and
fountain."

The " great room " in the second story was to be fur-
nished with gilt leather hangings and sixteen chairs to
match, two large looking-glasses with the arms of the Col-
on}^ on them " according to the new mode," two small
tables to stand under the looking-glasses, two marble tables
and eight glass sconces. A large looking-glass was ordered
for the largest of the bed-chambers, four chimney glasses
for the other chambers and a " great lanthorn " for the hall.*

The " great looking-glass " was a favorite ornament for
the parlor of the well-to-do Virginian, of both the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries, and it appears over and
over again in wills and inventories. George Nicholls left
one in 1677. Col. William Byrd, writing in his " Progress

® Va. Ma^. Hist, and Biog., xvii, 37.
86

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

to the Mines " of a visit to Governor Spotswood, in 1732,
says: " I was carried into a room elegantly set off with
pier glasses."

Jolin Hunter, of Winiamsburg, left in 1760, with a
house full of fine furniture, in oak, walnut, and mahogany,
a gilt pier glass and gilt sconces,^ and at about the same
date Councillor Carter of " Nomini " ordered from Lon-
don, for his splendidly equipped town house in Williams-
burg, a " great looking-glass " four by six and a half feet—
" the glass to be in many pieces agreeable to the present
fashion." The house had marble hearths, and stairway-
candles in wrought brass sconces with glass globes. ^'^

Especially interesting is an order from Washington to
a London merchant showing the style in which he fitted up
^It. Vernon in 1757. He was then Colonel Washington —
with the laurels won in the French and Indian War still
fresh — a bachelor and a beau. It was two years before
he won a bride, but his mind was running on matrimony
and it is more than likely that in importing furnishings
for the principal chamber in his house he was indulging in a
dream which doubtless came true of its becoming some day
his bridal chamber. He elected to make it a yellow room
and ordered for it " a mahogany bedstead with carved and
fluted pillars and yellow silk and worsted damask hang-
ings ; window curtains to match ; six mahogany chairs, with
gothic arch backs and seats of yellow silk and worsted
damask, an elbow chair, a fine neat mahogany serpentine
dressing table, with a mirror and brass trinmiings, a pair of
fine carved and gilt sconces."

For the parlor he ordered a marble chimney-piece and
" a neat landskip " to hang over it. In 1759 he ordered

^ William and Mary Quarterly, viii, 147.
^'^ Glenn's " Colonial Mansions," 266.
87

COLONIAL VIRGLMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

** two wild beasts not to exceed twelve inches in length,"
and " sundry small ornaments for the chimney-piece." The
London agent sent " a groupe of ^lEneas carrying his
Father out of Troy," a Flora, a Bacchus, two vases with
faces and festoons of grapes and vine leaves, " all neatly
finished and bronzed with copper," and suggested that the
^neas group be placed in the middle of the chimney-
piece, the vases on either side of it and the Flora at one
end, the Bacchus at the other. He also sent two lions
" bronzed with copper after the antique Lyons in Italy,"
and assured Colonel Washington that " of all the wild
beasts as could be made there is none thought better than
the Lyons."

And now appear floor coverings. In the ship that
brought the outfit for the yellow chamber came Wilton
carpets, wall papers, bed and window curtains of blue
chintz for a much simpler room, and also fifty yards of
best, yard wide, royal matting.^^ Councillor Carter had
Wilton carpets in his Williamsburg house a year or two
later, and some time before the Revolution Colonel George
William Fairfax had at " Belvoir," near ]\It. Vernon, a
" large Wilton Persian carpet."

" Belvoir " contained many other items of interest,
among them the equipment of Colonel Fairfax's dressing
room. In it were an oval glass in a burnished gold frame,
a mahogany shaving table, a mahogany desk, four chairs
and covers, a mahogany settee-bedstead with Saxon green
covers, a mahogany Pembroke table, firedogs, shovel, tongs
and fender. ^^

In a letter from William Nelson, of York, to Messrs.

" Mt. Vernon Inventory. Preface.

'^ " Barons of the Potomac and Rappahannock," M. D. Con-
way, 218.

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

Thomas and Rowland Hunt, merchants, of London, in
1772, he says:

" I am much obHged to you for the elegant mahogany
cistern as well as the convenience to preserve the gravy
warm, but do you observe that these elegancies are so many
incitements to luxury to which Virginians are but too
prone." ^^

Robert Beverley, the historian, writing of the Vir-
ginians about the year 1700, says:

" They are such abominable ill husbands that though
their country be filled with wood, yet they have all their
woodenware from England, their cabinets, chairs, tables,
stools, chests, cart-wheels, and all other things, even so
much as their bowls and birchen brooms to the eternal
reproach of their laziness."

Beverley must have been referring to the wealthier
planters, for there were after the earliest years numbers
of carpenters in Virginia among slaves, indentured servants
and free men. A quantity of homely but serviceable
furniture was made by them, and later plenty of good pieces
were of colonial workmanship.

In a list of articles to be sold in a private house in
Williamsburg in 1768 the Virginia Gazette advertises
" sundry tables and chairs of wild cherry." These and
the chests of drawers and other articles of cherrj^ men-
tioned in wills and inventories were doubtless of Virginia
wood — and make.

In 1766, " B. Bucktrout, cabinet-maker from London,"
announced in the Gazette that he was doing, in his shop
in Williamsburg, " all kinds of cabinet-work in the newest
fashions," and could furnish "the mathematical gouty
chair," and in 1769 a Norfolk merchant advertised that he

William and Mary Quarterly, vii, 29.

COLONIAL MIU;L\L\, LIS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

had just receivt'cl a cargo of " choice mahogany and log-
wood."

In 1770 a Williamsburg cabinet-maker named Atwell
made two bedsteads, three tables, and a dozen Windsor
chairs for "Councillor " Carter, and in 1772 Bucktrout
made him " eight mahogany chairs and fom* elbow chairs."^*

In the absence of details in regard to the work of these
early cabinet-makers we can only conjecture that they
used English furniture as patterns and we are supported
by Bucktrout's promise to reproduce the London fashions.
Chippendale and Sheraton were the fasliion there, and
much of such Colonial Virginia furniture as remains shows
the influence of these famous designers.

That ^"irginia occasionally patronized the cabinet-
makers of other colonies is sho\vn by an announcement in
the Gazette in January, 1739, that the sloop Buth, of
Rhode Island, had entered A^ork River with " four cases
of drawers, four desks and other things."

Though watches of gold and of silver were plentiful
in Virginia from quite an early day, clocks were rare until
the middle of the eighteenth century, when they added an
attractive as well as useful detail to the equipment of the
" great hall." One of the earliest appearing in the inven-
tories is that of Ralph Wormeley, of Middlesex, in 1701.
Among other owners of clocks in different parts of the
colony were Henry Lee, of Westmoreland, who bequeathed
one to a son in 1746; James Ball, of Lancaster, to whose
clock his grandson. Burgess Ball, fell heir in 1754; Mat-
thew LIubard, of A^ork, whose clock was appraised at
six pounds sterling in 1745; and Mrs. Ann Mason, of
Stafford, who left one worth twelve pounds in 1762.

In ^Lirch, 1768, the Virginia Gazette advertised a lot-

^* Carter Papers, i, 98-129.

90

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

tery for disposing of furniture belonging to James Hamil-
ton, including " an eight-day clock," and in 1766 James
Gait, " clock and watch-maker, and jeweler," of Williams-
burg, announced through the same medium his intention
to remove to " Shockoe, near Richmond town," where he
*' would keep clocks in repair by the year at reasonable
rates."

In striking contrast to the state of ease and polite living
to w^hich people of means in eastern, and older, Virginia
had arrived by the middle of the eighteenth century was the
condition of the settlers across the mountains. It was in
1716 that Governor Spotswood and his " Knights of the
Golden Horseshoe " made their memorable journey to the
top of the Blue Ridge and white men looked upon the
beautiful Shenandoah Valley for the first time. Long
before that explorers and traders had blazed their way in
the southwest to a point some distance past the site of the
present city of Roanoke; but when Washington was fur-
nishing his best chamber at Mt. Vernon with carved
mahogany and yellow damask " The Valley " was still in
the pioneer stage, the dwellers in its cabins contending with
difficulties like to those with which the early settlers at
Jamestown were familiar, including fear of the Indians.
After the beginning of the French and Indian War they,
too, had palisaded forts to which the people could flee for
refuge ; but it was more difficult to haul furniture through
wood and stream and over mountains than to bring it across
seas in sailing vessels, and no wonder the log cabins of The
Valley were even more scantily supplied with conveniences
of living than had been those at Jamestown.

Waddell, the well-known historian of Augusta County,
tells us that these homes were for the first fifteen years or
more, hardly better furnished than the wigwams of the
Indians, and that while most of their owners had horses.

COLONIAL VIRGLXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

cattle, and Bibles, their minute inventories mention no fur-
niture. Kercheval in his " History of the Valley," draws
a similar picture. Instead of " feather-beds and furniture,"
these sturdy folk had pillows, bolsters, and bed-ticks filled
with straw or chaff, laid on the floor or on rude home-made
bedsteads, and it seems that these and such tables, stools,
and benches as necessity must have compelled them to knock
up were not deemed worth appraisement.

They had linen brought b\' the Scotch-Irish emigrants
from their own country — one of whom, Jean Bohannon,
in 1747, bequeathed her daughter Margaret "the table-
cloth brought from Ireland"; but not until ^^ 1749 does
the first table found in the records by Mr. Waddell appear.
This was the property of Patrick Cook, who had also two
table-cloths, seven chairs, three beds, a looking-glass,
wooden trenchers and dishes, one knife and two forks.
Joseph Walton and Samuel Cunningham each had knives
and forks two years before this, and Cunningham had nine-
teen pewter spoons and four pewter dishes. It was the
custom in The Valley, as in Eastern Virginia, to keep
pewter on hand for the moulding of table-ware, and many
spoon moulds are mentioned. In 1751 David Flournoy
left a dozen pewter plates.

In 1762 Delft ware appears in The Valley inven-
tories. The good man is now becoming thrifty, the good
wife must have something in which to keep her treasured
plates and dishes, and so, in 1764, we find a corner cupboard.
Perhaps this was made by George Inglebird, the clever
carpenter employed by John Latham, in 1766, to make
him a table " with four divisions in the drawer," and a
bedstead. ^° Chests of drawers and other comforts to make

^^ Chalkley's Augusta Records, iii, 7.
*® Chalkley's Augusta Records, i, 473.
92

A -'GRKAl HKl)

SOME OF THE "SHIRLEY" SILVER

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

glad the heart of the housewife made their appearance
about the same time, and some, like John Hall, who died
in 1767, had coifee-pots. In 1769 Thomas Beard be-
queathed his wife an elbow chaii', and by this token of
leisure we know that the prosperity ^' for which nature
destined The Valley had set in, the log-cabin age was soon
to be followed by the stone-house age and bareness to give
place to comfort.

The housewife of the older settlements was rich in table
and bed linens of various kinds and qualities. At a time
when forks were expensive rarities, napkins were necessary
for keeping their predecessors in handling food fairly clean.
Almost every inventory save those of the extremely poor
has its list of linen, and even the planter's wife of moderate
means had a good store of Holland or its cotton substitutes
— dowlas, canvas, and oznaburgs.

Mrs. Elizabeth Beasley, of Surry, seems to have been
especially well equipped in this line. In 1677 she com-
plained that she had lost during Bacon's Rebellion the year
before " twenty-two pairs of fine dowlas sheets, six pairs
of Holland sheets, forty-six pillow cases, twenty-four fine
napkins, two tablecloths and thirty-six towels, most of them
fine dowlas." ^*

There w^as no china in use in the earliest days of the
colony. Wooden trenchers and pewter plates, dishes and
liquor-vessels, with a tankard or two of the more precious
silver — which were passed around with happy unconscious-
ness of possible germs — made up the table service. The
inventory of William Stafford shows that he left, in 1644,
eleven pewter dishes, four pewter porringers, and one pew-
ter flagon, and in 1670 the wealthy John Carter, of Lan-

^^ Chalkley's Augusta Records.
18 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., v, 372.
7 93

COL()NL\L VIRGIMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

caster County, left a hundred and ten pounds of the " best
sort of pewter," sixty pounds of the " middle sort of pew-
ter," and five pounds of " old broken pewter."

Table knives were in use, but scarce, in the earlier time,
but as every man had his own knife in his pocket, the lack
was not seriously felt. Later, among the prosperous, ivoiy
handled knives and forks like the dozen of Mrs. Elizabeth
Stanard, of ]Middlesex, silver forks and *' silver hafted "
knives like the " dozen in a case " of Major Harry Turner,
of King George County, put the pocket knife — and fingers
— out of commission as table implements.

Early in the eighteenth century china began to appear
in good quantities. Edmund Berkeley, of Middlesex, left
in 1718, two china bowls, two sets of fine china teacups and
saucers, eleven chocolate cups and saucers, a china teapot,
a sugar dish of china and one of glass, and a china tea-
canister. Xumbers of inventories from this time on include
china and glass in various quantities from a " parcel of
earthenware " to complete equipment. Attractive items
from the collection in the well furnished house of ]Mrs.
Elizabeth Stanard are a dozen delft soup plates, a dozen
shallow delft plates, a dozen large delft bowls.

In a country where it was often necessary to provide
entertainment for a hungry traveller or a party of hungry
travellers on short notice, the kitchen furniture was vastly
important. Kettles of copper and of brass and " great iron
pots " appear frequently as heirlooms, and inventories show
pantrj'' and kitchen appointments of varying degrees, from
those of a poor man of early date who had only an oven, a
pot, a skillet, two knives, two forks, two tea-cups, and two
saucers, to those of Philip Ludwell of his Majesty's Coun-
cil. This gentleman had, in the late rich years of the eigh-
teenth century, at historic " Greenspring," where Sir Wil-

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

liam Berkeley, from whom the Ludwells inherited it, had
kept open house for the Cavaliers, the following aids in
the exercise of hospitality :

Twenty-two blue and white china dishes, seven and a
half dozen blue and white china plates, eleven red, white, and
gilt china dishes, thirty-seven red, white, and gilt china
plates, five red, white, and gilt bowls, eleven blue and white
bowls, three sets of red, white, and gilt cups and saucers,
two sets of blue and white cups and saucers, one set of
white cups and saucers, fourteen chocolate cups and sau-
cers, eight brown cups and two tea-pots, seven decanters,
eight fruit bowls, thirty-nine finger bowls, fifteen glass
tumblers, four glass salts, six cruits, two mustard pots.
Also, cider glasses, wine glasses, strong beer glasses, jelly
glasses, glass salvers. Also, blue and white earthenware,
stone sweet-meat pots, lead chocolate moulds, tart-moulds,
ivory knives and forks, dessert knives and forks, sweet-meat
knives and forks, tea-spoons, tea-boards, tea-chests and
canisters, coffee and chocolate pots, a coffee roaster and
toaster, a coffee mill, copper kettles, tea-kettles, fish-
kettles, and "other kettles "; a copper cooler, brass chafing
dishes, pewter plates, hot-water plates and dishes, plate-
baskets and hampers, nut-crackers, pie and cheese plates,
sifters, flat-irons and stands, a mortar and pestle, milk
pans, butter pots, pot-hooks, pot-racks, spit-racks, a roast-
ing jack, a Dutch oven, frying and dripping pans, pre-
serving, sauce and stew-pans, ladles, skimmers, and graters,
bell-metal skillets, gridirons, trivets, flesh-forks, pickle-
pots, spice mortars, and so forth.

The inventory shows that the rest of Colonel Ludwell's
house was as well equipped as his kitchen and pantry and
that he had what doubtless added much to his comfort there

95

COLONIAL VIRGL\L\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

in the neighborhood of swampy Jamestown, " mosquito
curtains." ^'*

Among household equipments of families of all degrees
was the powdering tub, used in salting meat. The cooking
of rich and poor was done on the wide hearth of the great-
chimney, in vviiich hung the pot-hooks and hangers and the
roasting jack.

PLATE

John Hammond, who spent a good many years in
Virginia, and wrote " Leah and Rachel " about the middle
of the seventeenth century, said in that quaint pamphlet
that there was a good store of silver in the homes of many
of the planters, but absence of records for the earliest years
and destruction of many of the later ones will always make
anything like a complete list of silverware in the colony
impossible. Certain it is, however, that there was an amaz-
ing quantity of plate in use, varying from the precious
little collection of the small planter who left each child a
spoon, to the owners of great estates whose silver was
appraised at from one hundred to over six hundred pounds
sterling. I find in my own incomplete notes names, with
dates, of nearly two hundred o'vviiers of silver — sixty-odd
in the seventeenth century and the rest in the eighteenth.

The earliest plate of any kind in the American colonies
was of course the Communion Service of Jamestown
Church. Doubtless Lord Delaware, with his noble rank
and his regard for the amenities of life, brought table
silver when he came out as governor in 1609, and very likely
Sir Thomas Gates and Sir Thomas Dale would have felt
it necessary to their dignity as knights and governors of
his Majesty's first colony to be so provided, but we have
no proof that they were.

'» Va. Mag. HistTand Biog., xxi, 415, 416.
98

GOVERNOR SPOTSWOODS SILVER TEA CADDY

With his arms and crest

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

The first family silver of which this witness has seen
record is that of Sir George Yeardly, who, dying in 1627,
left all his plate to his wife, Lady Temperance Yeardly.

Sir George was said to have brought only his sword
with him on his first coming to Virgina, in 1609, as
" George Yeardly, gentleman," but in 1618 when during a
visit to England, he was knighted and commissioned as
Governor of the colony, an enemy wrote of him that " he
flaunted it up and down the street with extraordinary
bravery, with fourteen or fifteen fair liveries after him."

John Pory, Speaker of the famous First Legislature
in America — convened by Governor Yeardly in 1619 —
writes in that year that when Sir George " and his lady "
were last in London he was able " out of his mere gettings "
in Virginia to spend nearly three thousand pounds to fur-
nish him for the return voyage. It is likely that the plate
bequeathed Lady Temperance was brought over then.

This indefinite bequest of " all my plate " to a single
heir, or to be divided among heirs, so often appearing in
the wills, is extremely tantalizing, but in many cases pict-
uresque items are named. Among the earliest of the re-
maining inventories is that of John Lanckfield, of Lower
Norfolk County, a man of moderate means who left, in
1640, a silver dram cup and a silver spoon.

When the estate of Captain Adam Thoroughgood, also
of Lower Norfolk, was divided in 1642, it included, with
other silver, two dozen spoons and two small bowls, and the
widow " did claim them as a gift given her by her brothers.
Sir John Thoroughgood, Knt., and Mr. Thomas Thor-
oughgood at her marriage with their brother Captain
Thoroughgood." This is doubtless the earliest reference
to silver as a wedding present in America.

To quote a few of the earliest wills which have been

97

COLONIAL VIRGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

preserved, in 1641 Anthony Barham, of Warwick County,
bequeathed his god-daughter Sarah Butler, daughter of hia
" friend and gossip, Wilham Butler," 30 shillings to buy
a wine cup; in 164-3 William Burdett, gentleman, of
Nortliampton County, left his son Thomas " the silver
spoons with his name engraved on them," and in 1653
George Ludlow, of York County, left to one friend " my
great silver tankard with my arms on it," and to another
the " silver tankard lately brought in."

As far out of the world as were the Virginians they
tliought much of keeping in the fashion. In 1655 Colonel
Ki chard Lee took some of his plate to London to have its
fashion changed. There was a law against exporting silver
from England, and when he was about to embark on his
homeward voyage the customs officers at Gravesend seized
his " trunk of plate," but on his affidavit that it was all
intended for his own use and that most of it had been
brought from Virginia a year and a half before, and that
every piece had his coat-of-anns on it, it was given back
to him.^^ The inference is that silver which had become
old-fashioned must have been here some time.

The McCartys, at their coming to Virginia, about 1660,
brought quite an array of silver with them from Ireland.
A handsome collection, most likely the same, appears in the
will of Captain Daniel McCarty, of Westmoreland County,
in 1724, and much of it came down in direct line to the late
Captain W. Page JNIcCarty, of Richmond. He was the
happy possessor of twelve tankards, six salt cellars, a tea
um, and a sugar dish — all engraved with the McCarty arms
and some of it bearing the date 1620.^^

Hannah Fox was one of the most fortunate young

""^ Lee's " Lee of Virginia," 21.
^' Haydcn's Va. Genealogies, 85.

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

women of her time. In 1662 her father, David Fox, of
Lancaster made a deed to take effect after his death, giving
her all the plate with which he was " then possessed withal "
— namely, three dozen large silver spoons, one large sylla-
bub dish with a cover, a tankard and a caudle cup, each
holding a quart, a sugar dish in the form of a scallop shell,
an engraved fruit dish with a foot, a plain fruit dish, a
large salt cellar, two small ones and one trencher salt, two
" large, substantial " porringers, a wine bowl, a sack cup,
a large dram cup, a basin holding a gallon, a plain caudle
cup with three legs.

During Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 some of his soldiers
seized the house of Mr. Arthur Allen, in Surry County,
and fortified it, and it has ever since been known as
*' Bacon's Castle." According to a deposition after the
Rebellion, one of the men was very inquisitive about Mr.
Allen's plate, " importuning the deponent to tell where it
was hid," ^^ which suggests that silver plate was supposed
to be found in a gentleman's house.

Interesting bequests made by Mrs. Katherine Isham
in her will made in 1686 and sealed with the Isham arms,
are her " best silver tankard," her " next best silver tank-
ard," her " small silver tankard," her " biggest silver tank-
ard but one," her " largest silver porringer," and her " great
silver cup." ^^

Novelty characterizes the description of plate be-
queathed by James Sampson of Isle of Wight, in 1689.
He gave his daughter Margaret a silver bowl and two wine-
cups, *' one with a foot and the other with a bulge," and
three silver spoons " with nobs at the ends." ^^

22 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., v, 370.

23 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., iv, 124.

24 William and Mary Quarterly, vii, 245.

99

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

"William Fitzhugh, of Stafford, had a great quantity of
plate bearing liis arms, which he bought not only for its
useful and ornamental qualities, but because he believed it
to be a safe investment for his children. In a letter to a
London merchant in 1090, acknowledging the safe receipt
of a lot of silver, he says it amved " just in time for a sev-
eral days' visit from the Governor." His will, made in
1700, disposes of fifty-eight pieces of massive silver table
service, besides spoons — including nineteen plates, three
bread plates, eight dishes, a set of castors, a " Montieth,"
seven candlesticks, two pairs of candle snuffers with stands,
and a chocolate-pot, and it is believed that he had already
given many pieces to his children.

Beer and wines were on every table — hence the popu-
larity of tankards and wine cups. With the use of tea -and
coffee, toward the end of the seventeenth century, silver
tea and coff'ee pots make their appearance in the records
and become numerous thereafter. In 1716 iSlrs. Elizabeth
Churchill, of ^liddlesex, bequeathed with much other plate
to her daughter Elizabeth a silver tea-kettle and tea-kettle
stand, and in 1733 the will of Captain Francis Eppes, of
Henrico, with a good supply of silver, including a " large
flowered tankard," names a teapot. The beautiful tea-
caddy of Cxovernor Spotswood, bearing arms, is still in
existence.

An advertisement in the Maryland Gazette for silver
stolen from the house of Mr. Thomas Lee, of Virginia, in
1728-20, mentions among the missing pieces a chocolate-
pot, a teapot, and a coffee-pot.

During the prosperous eighteenth centun^- there was,
naturally, a great increase in the quantity of silver brought
to Virginia. A cherished handful of teaspoons took the
shine off of the pewter in a large number of little farm-

100

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

houses, while in the " great " houses of the large planta-
tions the soft light of wax candles fell on cupboards and
newly acquired and new-fashioned sideboards sparkling
with plate of goodly weight and elegant design.

In 1769 the silver plate at " Westover " was valued at
six hundred and sixty-two pounds. It included an epergne
worth fifty pounds and many other fine pieces. The com-
plete list is worth quoting in full and here it is: "An
epergne, a pitcher and stand, a bread basket, ten candle-
sticks, a snuffer stand, a large cup, two large punch bowls,
two coffee pots, six cans, a sugar dish, a sugar basket, two
sauce boats, eight salt cellars and spoons, two sets of castors,
a cruet, a large waiter, two middle sized waiters, four small
castors, a cream boat, four chaffing dishes, a tea kettle, a
' reine,' two pudding dishes, a fish slice, a sucking bottle,
a large sauce-pan, a punch strainer, a punch ladle, a soup
ladle, a small sauce-pan, four ragout spoons, two large
sauce spoons, three marrow spoons, seven dozen knives and
six dozen and eleven forks, eleven old-fashioned table-
spoons, four dozen best large tablespoons, two dozen dessert
spoons, three pairs of tea tongs, two tea strainers, one mus-
tard spoon, one dozen new teaspoons, eleven second best
teaspoons, six camp teaspoons, seven old teaspoons, five
children's spoons, a large camp spoon, two small camp
spoons, a camp cup, a broad candlestick." ^^

In the latter part of the eighteenth century silver spoons
appeared in small numbers in The Valley, where as early
as 1746 Katherine Green was charged with stealing a silver
plate from " David Kinked, joiner, and wife." ^^

From this it would seem that making tables and chairs
was a thrifty trade in those parts.

25 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., ix, 81, 82.
^^ Chalkley's Augusta County Records, i, 431.
101

IV

SOCIAL LIFE

I— THE HOME

HE vast majority of Virginians
throughout the colonial period were
country people, born and bred. True,
many of the emigrant founders of
families built up their fortunes by
engaging in business as merchants
or as Indian traders, but even these
cultivated the profitable tobacco and other crops with
enthusiasm, and their sons, as a rule, aspired to be and
were planters only.

In 1666 Governor Berkeley, writing to Lord Arling-
ton of conditions in the colony, said:

" We live after the simplicity of the past age, indeed
unless the danger of our coimtry gave our fears tongues
and language we should shortly forget all sounds that did
not concern the business and necessities of our farms."

The county seat and warehouse were little centres of
public and private business, and of news, and during the
seventeenth centuiy Jamestown, with its fifty to sixty
houses, was known throughout the colony as " town." In
the later eighteenth century Norfolk became a prosperous
port with full-rigged ships and smaller craft constantly
coming and going, and several tliousands of inhabitants.
Williamsburg had about one thousand, and Petersburg,
Richmond, Fredericksburg, Alexandria, and some other
places on the rivers — none of which were more than large
villages — became busy marts of trade. But all of these
together made but a small part of the colony; the far
larger, rural population was composed of many classes,
from the great planter and slaveholder whose lands ex-

102

"WESTOVER" DOORWAY

SOCIAL LIFE

tended around his ample home as far as eye could see, to
the squatter on a few acres, in his one-room cabin. Much
more numerous than either extreme was the farmer of the
middle class living with no attempt at elegance, but in
plenty, and supphed with every real necessity.

Social lines were closely drawn and were recognized
bj^ all classes, but there was never any iron-bound caste
to forbid successful men from mounting the social ladder.
Political democracy prevailed and the Virginian of all
ranks was sturdily independent. In Northampton, in 1644,
there was a quarrel between Captain WilMam Stone, a
magistrate — who had been high sheriiF of the county and
was later Governor of Maryland — and Mr. Peter Walker,
a respectable citizen. The difficulty was taken to court
and a witness testified that he had heard Mr. Walker say
to Captain Stone:

" God's woimds ! I am as good a man as thee, and
better too, better borne and better bredde." ^

The attitude was typical. Indeed, the life encouraged
independence. Not only was the large or small planter's
house his castle, his plantation was his kingdom. He was
a man in authority bidding his one slave or his hundreds of
slaves and scores of white, indentured servants do his will.
To these he was master, to his household he was the head —
the authority from whom there was no appeal.

That the fmmdation of_aILsociaLlifei§^th£iamiLy_.,wa&
never anywhere more fully illustrated than in Virginia.
Distance between homes caused dependence of members
of the household upon each other and made large families
to be desired; the most fortunate parents were they that
had the greatest number of children. Grandmothers en-
joyed a position of honor, and other dependent relatives

Northampton County Records.
103

COLOMAl. MKCIMA, Ti^ TEOPLP: AND CUSTOMS

were welcome additions to the circle. If they were women
they generally helped about the housekeeping, if men they
found occupation enough in hunting and fishing; in either
case they provided relief from loneliness. There was
always plenty of food and plent}- of firewood, and the more
to enjoy them the merrier was the pleasant doctrine.

In 168G William Fitzhugh wrote Ills brother in London :

" God Almighty hath been pleased to bless me with a
good wife and five children and means to support them
handsomely." He had heard that his mother and sister
were in straitened circumstances in the old country, and
directed that his fortune be drawn upon to assist them " if
it be to the utmost farthing." In regard to his sister he
said, " I should be heartily glad of her good company,
with an assurance she shall never want as long as I have
it to supply her," and added, " I would desire and entreat
you that she come out handsomely and genteely and well
clothed, with a maid to wait on her and both their passages
paid."

In 1702 Samuel Griffin, of Northumberland County,
directed in his will that his kinsman, Samuel Godwin, have
" free accommodation " in his house for three years; and
Robert Beverley, of " Newlands," in his will made in 1733,
directed that his three maiden sisters " have board and live "
in his house after his death — as during his life — mitil mar-
riage, " without charge or expense," and gave them six
pounds a year and the produce of their own slaves, who
were to be permitted to work on his plantation.

If the presence of these and other " in-laws " made
discord in colonial homes there is no proof of it.

Wills are a fruitful source of information as to relations
between husbands and wives — careful provision for the
wife with unqualified tributes to her good qualities being

104

SOCIAL LIFE

the rule — and references of husbands and wives to each
other and to their children in letters, diaries, and other
records bear witness to the affection and confidence which
generally characterized home life. Among the earliest of
such testimonials is that given by John Rolf e, who, writing
from Jamestown, in 1617, of his sorrow at the death of his
wife, Pocahontas, expresses his great desire to have her
infant son with him as soon as he is old enough to be
brought from England, and speaks of the courage of the
mother at the approach of death, " Saying all must die, but
'tis enough that her childe liveth."

Dr. John Pott was a popular physician of Jamestown,
a member of his Majesty's Council and some time Gover-
nor, but his fondness for the cup that cheers got him into
trouble. It was charged that while under its influence he
branded other men's livestock as his own, and — though he
stoutly denied it — he was tried and convicted of cattle steal-
ing. Madam Elizabeth Pott made the long and dangerous
voyage to England alone, in midwinter, to plead for him
before the Privy Council, whose members were so impressed
by her devotion that they sent her home with a pardon for
her husband.

The records of Lower Norfolk furnish an instance of
a widow's loyalty to her husband's memorj^ and a quaint
picture of manners, as well. Women of prominence were
addressed as " Madam " while those of lower rank were
called " Goody." Goody Layton told IMadam Thorough-
good to her face that nobody could get a bill out of her late
husband. Captain Adam Thoroughgood. The widow in-
dignantly replied :

" Goody La\i;on, could you never get yours? "

" Yes," she admitted, and Madam Thoroughgood bade
her bring another that could not. At wliich Goody Layton

105

COLONIAL MRGIXL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

*' turned about witli a scornful manner and cried, 'Pish.' "

Then said Madam Thoroiighgood :

" Goody Layton, you nmst not think to put it off with
a * pish,' for if you have wronged him you must answer
for it, for though he be dead I am here in his behalf to
right liim."

She swore out a warrant and Goody Layton was or-
dered to ask her pardon kneeling, before the court and
people present there, and again in the parish church after
the first lesson at morning prayer, the next Sunday.

John Moon, of Isle of Wight County, in his will of
1655, thus appeals to his wife and children:

" And for you my children, I charge you all before God
and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the Quick and
the Dead that you demean yourselves loving, obedient, com-
fortable unto your Mother all the days of her life. And I
charge you my beloved wife that you provoke not your
children to wrath lest they be discouraged, but bring them
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and live
peaceably and lovingly together."

Francis Page, of Williamsburg, in his will, 1692, di-
rected that tombs to be erected over his " dear wife " and
himself be left to the discretion of his " honored ]Mother "
and his " dear and loving brother." He gave to his *' dear
and onl}^ child " all his estate and adds, '* I hereby commit
her next to the blessing of God to the care, tuition and
government of my honored ]Mother."

In 1716 another of this family, Mann Page, of " Rose-
well," wrote in his Bible:

" On the 12th day of December (the most unfortunate
day that ever befell me) about 7 of the clock in the morning,
the better half of me, my dearest dear wife, was taken

1 me." ^

Page Family, 63, 143.

106

EVELYN BYRD

SOCIAL LIFE

On the next day, December 13, 1716, we find Colonel
Byrd writing from London to inform his brother-in-law.
Colonel Custis, of the death of his first wife, his " dear
Lucy " Parke. " Gracious God," he exclaims, " what pains
did she take to make a voyage hither to seek a grave. No
stranger ever met with more respect in a strange country
than she had done here from many persons of distinction,
who all pronounced her an honor to Virginia. Alas ! how
proud was I of her and how severely I am punished for it ! "^

Richard Bray, in 1690, bequeathed most of his property
to his wife, Ann, with the wish that after his death she
would " go to England and live like a gentlewoman " ; and
Benjamin Harrison, disposing of a handsome estate in
1743, said:

" Forasmuch as my wife hath at all times behaved in
a most dutiful and affectionate manner to me — always
assisting me through my whole affairs, I therefore think
proper to give my dear wife as a small requital over and
above the thirds of my estate aforesaid. ..." Handsome
legacies follow — among them a coach and horses, a chariot,
a gold watch, and jewels.

In a majority of wills the wife is left sole executrix,
often without bond. For instance in 1669, the wealthy
Edward Digges, of " Belfield," York County, who had
been for some time in England, but was "now bound upon
a voyage to Virginia," made his wife, Elizabeth, his execu-
trix and gave her twelve hundred pounds sterling and
all the rest of his estate except two hundred and fifty
pounds each to his eight children. No wonder the lady
sought repose in a " great bed " canopied with yellow silk!

Provision against a grasping successor was frequent.
For instance, ]Major Robert Beverley, of Middlesex, in

^ Glenn's " Colonial Mansions," 34-, 35.
107

COLONIAL VIRGLXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

1686, made his " deare and loving wife Catherine," full and
sole executrix, " without security so long as she shall re-
main a widdow," but if she sliould marry or leave Virginia
she was to give bond; while Daniel Gaines, in 1757, left his
" beloved wife Eliza " his whole estate during her natural
life or widowhood, but added:

*' In case of my wife marrying, embezzling or squander-
ing any part of my estate that is left to her, it shall be
directly taken out of her hands to be taken care of for
the use of my six children." *

In his " Progress to the Mines " Colonel Byrd — then
married to his second wife, Maria Taylor, gives us some
pleasant glimpses of himself and of Governor Spotswood —
who married late in life — as family men. Leaving " West-
over " on September 18, 1732, he says:

" For the pleasure of the good company of Mrs. Byrd
and her little governor, my son, I went about half way
to the Falls in the Chariot " — to which he drove six horses.
This was about twenty miles; the rest of his journey was
made on horseback.

Arrived at " Germanna," he " spent the evening
pratthng with the ladies — " Mrs. Spotswood and her sister
Dorothea, or " Miss Theky," as she was called.

" I observed," he continues, " my old friend to be very
uxorious and exceedingly fond of his children. This was
so opposite to the maxims he used to preach up before he
was married that I could not forbear rubbing up the mem-
ory of them. But he gave a very good-natured turn to his
change of sentiments by alleging that whoever brings a
poor gentlewoman into so solitary a place from all her
friends and acquaintance would be ungrateful not to use
her and all that belongs to her with all possible tenderness."

* William and Mary Quarterly, v, 91.

SOCIAL LIFE

Nearing home again, on October the ninth, the traveller
writes :

" My long absence made me long for the domestic de-
lights of my own family, for the smiles of an affectionate
wife and the prattle of my innocent children."

Lord Adam Gordon, who visited Virginia in 1765
and recorded his impressions in his journal, said of the
women that they made excellent wives and he had not
heard of one unliappy couple.^

There were, of course, unsatisfactory husbands and
wives — as there have always been, in eveiy quarter. In
1625 Joseph Johnson was tried for wife-beating and put
under a bond of forty pounds to keep the peace. In 1714
Mr. John Custis and his wife Frances had a quarrel that
made necessary an agreement, now on file in Northampton
County, in which it was ordered that —

" Frances shall henceforth forbear to call him, ye said
John, any vile names or give him any ill language, neither
shall he give her any, but to live lovingly together and to
behave themselves as a good husband and good wife ought
to do and that she must not intermeddle with his affairs
but that all business belonging to the husband's manage-
ment shall be solely transacted by him, neither shall he
intermeddle in her domestic affairs but that all business
properly belonging to the management of the wife shaU
be solely transacted by her."

According to a deposition in the Lower Xorfolk records
of 1640:

" Matthew Hayward's wife did live as brave a life as
any woman in Virginia, for she could lie abed any morning
till her husband went amilking and came back again and
washed the dishes and skimmed the milk and ^Ir. Edward

^ " Travels in the American Colonies," Mereness, 406.
8 109

COL()MAI> VIlUilMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Florde would come in and say, ' Come, neighbor, will you
walk?'

"So they went abroad and left the cliildren crying, that
lier husband was faine to come home and leave his work
to quiet the children."

As there was no ecclesiastical court in Virginia there
were no divorces, but there were a few legal separations,
ordered by county courts. The Virginia Gazette of the
middle and latter part of the eighteenth centuiy contains
occasional advertisements of deserted husbands warning the
public against crediting their wives, and Colonel James
Gordon's diary informs us that in 1763 Captain Glascock
ran away from his wife and took a young woman with him.

But all of these are rare exceptions. There is abundant
proof that Virginia was a land of happy marriages — of
loving and trusting husbands and wives, surrounded by
children who w^ere objects of the utmost pride and devotion.

Robert Boiling, of " Kippax," concludes a Bible record
of the births of his children thus :

" That God Almighty may bless these blessings shall
be the continual prayer of their father."

William Beverley, writing of the death of a son in
1743, exclaimed, " Oh! that I had died in his room, for
tho' I know I ought to submit in patience, yet my melan-
choly increases and I believe it won't be long before I lie
in the dust with him who was the sweetest bov that ere was
bom."

Yet children were disciplined and especially were they
made to obey. The commandment to honor their parents
was drilled into them, and the maxim *' spare the rod and
spoil the child " was taken literally and followed faithfully.
Politeness was considered of first importance, and parents,

grandparents, teachers, and nurses all took a hand in train-
no

SOCIAL LIFE

ing boys and girls to mind their manners. A gentleman
of Middlesex, in making his will, cut his son off with a
sliilling " for some disrespect."

Colonel Daniel Parke, writing about 1702 to his daugh-
ter Frances, who afterward became Mrs. Custis — and for
all her careful training fell out with her husband — ad-
monishes her thus:

"Do not learn to romp but behave yourself soberly
and like a gentlewoman. ... Be calm and Obliging to all
the Servants, and when you speak doe it mildly, even to
the poorest slave ; if any of the Servants commit small faults
yt are of no consequence, doe you hide them. If you imder-
stand of any great faults they commit, acquaint yr mother,
but do not exaggerate the fault."

Fithian declared that liis pupils at " Nomini Hall "
were more polite to the servants who waited on them than
many ladies and gentlemen in his own colony were to each
other.

Interesting pictures of domestic life are afforded by old
letters and diaries and show the children of the long ago
colonial days to have been very human little people. In
1728 Mrs. Thomas Jones, of Williamsburg, went to Eng-
land in search of health, leaving her year-old baby, Dolly,
two-year-old Tom, and seven-year-old Bessy Pratt — the
child of an earHer marriage — to the care of her husband
and mother. In a letter from the husband, who was still
a lover, addressing her as " Dearest Life," and describing
his state of desolation in her absence, he says of his little
step-daughter :

" I asked her t'other day whether she would not rather
live with somebody else than with me, but she told me she
would not leave me to go to anybody or anywhere else,
and you know she is a plain dealer and not afraid of incur-

COLONIAL MRG1NL\, LIS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

ring my displeasure for anything she can say. She drinks
your health very cheerfully every day after dinner. Upon
a late visit she made to the Governor's Lady, passing
tlirough the Hall wliere the Governor, myself and several
more were Setting, she behaved so very prettily that he
cou'd not forbear taking particular notice of her. She
also behaves very handsomely at Church and all public
places, which I promised her to let you know." He says of
Tom, " There is great prospect of liis making a fine boy,"
and that Dolly is " as engaging as I think it possible for a
child of her age to be."

The grandmother, Mrs. Holloway, writing her daugh-
ter, says that little Tom " has fallen in love ^\dth his maid
Daffney. He kisses her and runs his head in her neck for
w'ch he is never ye sweeter or cleaner, but you know chil-
dren thrive on durt."

Of Bessy Pratt, the grandmother says, " she has made
a pocket handkerchief (as prettily as you can work) . She
is now hem'g a neck handkerchief for me."

This delightful little girl's older brother, Keith Pratt,
was at school in England, and here is a fascinating little
letter from her to him, written when she was' eleven vears
old:

Virginia, August 10th, 1732.
Dear Brother:

I was very glad to hear by both your letters to my Ma-ma that
you was well ; I wish there was not so much water betwixt us as I
am told there is, I wou'd come to see you, tho' as it is I cou'd
venture if my Ma-ma would come with me, and I shou'd think it the
greatest Pleasure in the world ; But as there is little hopes of that,
I must be contented till you are big enough to come and see me,
which I think will be more decent as I wear Petty-coats, but then
you will see so many fine and agreeable Ladies every day that
I'm afraid you will hardly think it worth while to come so far to
see a Sister; so tliat perhaps I may never see you at all, which

112

A COLONIAL DOLL

MAMMY BY THE KITCHEN FIRE AT "GREENSPRING'

SOCIAL LIFE

wou'd be a hard fate, only a Bro': and a Sister not to see one
another so long as we live; but to be as perfect strangers, not to
know each other tho' if by any accident (as they say) we were
to meet in a dish: However, as we can both write, I shall always
once or twice a year as opportunity offers let you know how I do,
and I hope you will do the same. I find you have got the start of
me in learning very much, for you write better already than I
expect to do as long as I live ; and you are got as far as the Rule
of three in Arithmetick, but I can't cast up a sum in addition
cleverly, but I am striving to do better every day. I can perform
a gTeat many dances and am now learning the Sibell, but I cannot
speak a word of French. I fear you will think my letter too long,
therefore shall only ad that all our Bros and Sisters that can
speak give their love and Service to you, and be assured that I am
Your most affectionate Sister." ^

A few samples from a fragment of a diary which has
been preserved kept by small Sally Fairfax, in 1771 and
1772, will serve to show us another very lively little colonial
girl:

" On thursday the 26th of decem. Mama made 6 ^lince
pies and 7 custards, 12 tarts, 1 chicking pye and 4 pudings
for the baU."

" On Satterday the 28th of decem. I won 10 shillings
of Mr. Wm. Payne playing chex,"

" On Thursday 2d of Jan. 1772, Margery went to wash-
ing and brought all the things in ready done on Thursday
the 9th of the same month. I think she was a great while
about them, a whole week if you will believe me, reader."

" On Friday the 3d of Janna. that vile man Adam at
night killed a poor cat of rage, because she eat a bit of
meat out of his hand & scratched it. A vile wretch of New
Negrows, if he was mine I would cut him to pieces, a
son of a gun, a nice negrow, he should be killed himself by
rites."

Jones Manuscripts — Library of Congress.
113

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

" On Friday the lOtli of Jan. Margery mended my
quilt very good."

" On Saterday, the 11th of Jan. Papa measured me
on the right side of the door, as you come out of the
chamber."

" On Saterday, the 11th of Jan. I made me a card
box to put my necklass in, & I put them in."

" On Thursday the 16th of Jan. there came a woman
& a girl and INIama bought 3 old hens from them & gave
them to me, which reduced the debt she owed me, which
was 5 and nine-pence to three & nine-pence, which she
now owes me, & she owes me fiveteen pence about Nancy
Percys ribon, which she never paid."

Little Sally was the granddaughter of Colonel William
Fairfax of " Belvoir " and daughter of Rev. Bryan Fair-
fax of " Toulston," who was, in 1800, recognized by the
House of Lords as the eighth Lord Fairfax. She died
while still a young girl.

Colonial children, like cliildren the world over, loved
toys and games. Doubtless most of the toys of earliest
times were home-made, but they had " store " toys too,
for Williamsburg shops advertised them in the Virginia
Gazette — tea-sets for little girls being especially mentioned.
In 1734 a jointed doll was imported for Betty Carter, and
in 1769 a runaway servant advertised in the Gazette had a
toy watch in his pocket. In a pleasant letter to her sister,
Mrs. George Braxton, of " Xewington," written about
1769, Anne Blair of Wilhamsburg tells of dressing a doll
for her little sister Betsy. She has " had hair put on Miss
Dolly," but finds it not in her power to keep her promise
to give her a silk sack and coat as the silk has been stolen
from her trunk. " Little Betsy is busy making a tucker." "^

' William and Mary Quarterly, xxi.
114

SOCLiL LIFE

jNIany of the quaint ring games, singing, kissing and
counting-out games en j oyed by boys and girls of later days,
with others, such as " blind man's bluiF," " fox in the war-
ner " (or warren), "prisoner's base," "cat," and " chur-
many " — as the old game of " rounders " was called here —
were legacies from colonial children whose fathers and
mothers played them in merry England and taught them to
their sons and daughters in the big rooms and on the green-
sward of Virginia plantations. Shakespeare mentions
prisoner's base, and Bunyan says that he was playing " cat "
when he heard a voice from Heaven warning him of his sins.

Nothing could be further from the truth than the idea
that the Colonial Virginia woman led a life of idleness.
True she had plenty of servants to relieve her of manual
work, even though her husband might be a man of moderate
means, but the training and direction of these servants —
white and black — the management of a large family and the
superintendence of home industries made the position of
mistress of a plantation one of importance and responsi-
bility. It must be remembered that all of the sewing was
done by hand and that most of the elaborate paraphernalia
worn by men, women, and children and all of the clothing
for the servants were made on the place ; much spinning and
weaving was done, many stockings were knitted. There
was milk to be looked after, butter to be made and a quan-
tity of pickles and preserves to be put up, and poultry and
garden also came under the supervision of " the Mistress."
Perchance her hair was brushed by one maid, her shoes
laced by another, while still another fanned her when she
sat down to read or sew, but at hog-killing time she assisted
her husband in personally looking after the putting up of
lard and sausage and curing of hams that were to grace
her table.

115

COLONIAL \1RGL\IA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Colonel Byrd says that wlien visiting the home of j\Iajor
Woodford, of Carohne County, he " surprised JNIrs. Wood-
ford in her liousewifery in the meathouse, at which she
blushed as if it had been a sin."

There was often a home school taught by a tutor who
was a member of the family; " the mistress " — and mother
— must see that this was properly conducted and that the
tutor's chamber, as well as the schoolroom, was comfortable.

In addition to all her other duties, she must have some
knowledge of the care of the sick, for she practised, upon
occasion, on both the wliite and black members of her
family, in the house and in the " quarters." For these
patients she not only made broth and gruel, but prepared
teas, balms, and ointments from medicinal herbs grown in
her garden, bandaged cuts and bruises, applied poultices
and plasters, and administered emetics and purges.

Her badge of office was the key-basket carried on her
wrist or placed upon her candle-stand or in some other
handy place, filled with keys of every description from the
little ones that unlocked the drawers of her sewing-table,
" scrutoire," or linen press, to the ponderous ones whose
grating in huge locks was open sesame to the cellar where
provisions were kept cool and sweet, or the smoke-house
from whose beams dangled row upon row of hams, jowls,
and sides of bacon.

In the earliest settlements, and later on the frontier,
the life of the housewife, if less varied in its responsibilities,
was rougher and harder. She must understand the use
of firearms and, in emergency, be both man and woman.
In 1622, during the absence of John Proctor from his home
— upon the southern side of James River, his wife, with
her servants, bravely defended the house against the
Indians. In 1710 the Commissioners to settle the boundary

116

RICHARD LEE
About 1660

SOCIAL LIFE

line between Virginia and Xorth Carolina passed the fron-
tier house of Mr. Francis Jones who was away from home,
but they were hospitably entertained by his wife and re-
ported of her:

" She is a very civil woman and shews nothing of
ruggedness, or Immodesty in her carriage, yett she will
carry a gunn in the woods and kill deer, turkeys, &c., shoot
down wild cattle, catch and tye hoggs, knock down beeves
with an ax and perform the most manfull Exercises as well
as most men in those parts." ^

This competent lady had several negro sei'vants.

So much for the woman of comfortable circumstances.
Those of poorer class who had no servants, and those of
the mountain settlements, did their own cooking, washing,
and housework, cared for their children, and not only made
with their own needles all the clothing of the family, but
wove the homespun cloth of which it was made. Kercheval
tells us that in The Valley there was a loom in everj^ house
and almost every woman was a weaver.

Byrd in his " Journey to the Land of Eden," in 1733,
came to the "poor, dirty house " of one Daniel Taylor,
" with hardly anything in it but children." He says, " The
woman did all that was done in the family and the few
garments they had to cover their dirty hides were owang to
her industry."

The next day he went to Brunswick Church, in the
neighborhood, and says:

" What women happened to be there were very gym
and tidy in the work of their own hands, which made them
look tempting in the Eyes of us Foresters."

* Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., v, 10.

COLONIAL MKGLMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

II— HOSPITALITY

Early and Late, east and west, the Colonial Virginia
woman knew that she must be a good neighbor and an
ever ready, always gracious hostess.

From the beginning of time, making the stranger wel-
come to roof and board has been an unwritten law in thinly
settled rural communities, and so liberally observed was
this law in his Majesty's first colony that at an early day
in its history Virginia hospitality passed into a proverb.
One of the first witnesses to this was the traveller, De Vries,
who writing on March 11, 1632, says:

" At noon we came to Littleton, where we landed and
where resided a great merchant named Mr. Menife, who
kept us to dinner and treated us very well."

In 1648 a writer calHng himself Beauchamp Plantage-
net said in an account of a visit to America that on reaching
Virginia he came to Newport's News, where he received
kind entertainment at the houses of Captain Matthews and
Master Fauntleroy and " free quarter everywhere."

Captain JNIatthews was a councillor and was afterward
governor of the colony. Another traveller who enjoyed
his hospitality has left a description of him, which, in a sen-
tence, sums up the ideal of old Virginia character: " In a
word, he keeps a good house, lives bravely and is a true
lover of Virginia."

The cordiality with which the Old Dominion received
Cavalier refugees is an oft-told tale. Toward the end of
1649 three such visitors, Colonel Henry Norwood, Major
Francis Moryson, and Major Richard Fox, landed in a
storm on the Fastem Shore, were made welcome at the
nearest plantation and heartily entertained on all sides.
Stephen Charlton *' would have the Colonel to put on a
good farmer-like suit of his own." A few days later they

118

SOCIAL LIFE

sailed across to York River where, at Captain Ralph
Wormeley's, they found several other Cavaher officers —
Sir Thomas Lunsford, Sir Henry Chichley, Colonel PhiHp
Honeywood, and Colonel Mainwaring Hammond — feast-
ing and carousing. Colonel Norwood declared of Gover-
nor Berkeley's hospitality to Cavaliers, " house and pui'se
were open to all such."

Writing of Virginia about 1700, Robert Beverley, the
historian, says:

*' The inhabitants are very courteous to travellers, who
need no other reconmiendation but the being human creat-
ures. A stranger has no more to do but to enquire upon
the road where any gentleman or good housekeeper lives
and there he may depend upon being received with hospi-
tality. This good nature is so general among these people
that the gentry when they go abroad order their principal
servant to entertain all visitors with everything the planta-
tion offers. And the poor planters who have but one bed
will very often sit up or lie upon a form or couch all night
to make room for a weary traveller to repose himself after
his journey."

Says Hugh Jones, in his " Present State of Virginia,"
1724: "No people can entertain their friends with
better cheer and welcome, and strangers and travellers are
here treated in the most free, plentiful and hospitable
manner so that a few inns or ordinaries on the roads are
sufficient."

Forty years later Lord Adam Gordon wrote in his
"Journal":

" The inhabitants are courteous, polite and affable,
the most hospitable and attentive to Strangers of any I
have yet seen in America."

So much for the Virginians and the strangers w^ithin

COLOMAL MRCilMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

their gates. Letters and diaries give more intimate pict-
ures of them with their friends and relatives. Those of
the upper chiss were hke one big, scattered family, for they
were ahnost all related either by blood or marriage, and
closely connected in all their interests. The casual caller
had often travelled a good distance, on horseback or in
carriage, and was always offered immediate refreshment
and not only invited, but urged, to spend the day and night
and to stay as much longer as was agreeable to him, and he
very often accepted — sometimes prolonging his visit for
days. If he came alone this meant entertainment for him-
self and his horse only, but as likely as not he came in his
coach, chariot, or chair, with anywhere from a pair to six
horses, a driver and perhaps postilions and outriders and
a maid or two to wait upon the family with which the
equipage overflowed. In Januarj^ 1735, Sir John Ran-
dolph and his family had been making such a visit to the
Byrds of " Westover," and upon their departure their host,
who had done everything in his power to keep them longer,
followed them with a letter to further assure them of his
kind feeling. He wrote:

" Dear Sir:

" In hopes you may be safe at Williamsburg by this
time and my lady up to the elbow in Sassages & Black
Puddings I can't forbear Greeting you well, and signifying
our joy at your arrival in your o^v^l chimney-corner. We
have had the good nature to be in pain for you ever since
you left us, 'tho in good truth your obstinacy in exposing
your wife and children to be Starved with cold and buried
in the mire hardly desen^ed it."

A letter bearing date November 25, 1765, from William
Byrd, the third, to his niece Maria Carter, of " Cleve,"
shows that " Westover " was keeping up its traditions of

120

SOCIAL LIFE

hospitality. After congratulating his " dear Molly " upon
her engagement to William Armistead, of " Hesse," Glou-
cester County, the writer says:

" I & the rest of your relatives here beg the Favour
of you & Mr. Armistead to spend your Christmas at West-
over, where many young People are to make merry; &
give our love to your Sisters & bring them with you. Our
coach shall attend you anywhere at any time."

In the towns there was much tea-drinking and enter-
taining at meals. Here is an invitation sent to the charm-
ing widow Pratt and her sister by one of her admirers, a
short time before she gave her hand to the adoring Thomas
Jones, of Williamsburg:
Pleasant Madam,

The favor of your company with Mrs. Ann's will be very accept-
able at Dinner, Supper and all other times to

Madam, Y'r most oblidged Serv't

Graves Packe.
May 23, 1725.
Queen's Creek.

The coming of a new Governor always stimulated
sociability. On November 23, 1751, President John Blair
of the Council recorded in his diary that he and Mrs. Blair
dined, by invitation, at " Ye Attorney's with the newly
arrived Governor Dinwiddle and his wife and daughters."
and that " many ladies and gentlemen visited them in the
afternoon."

On November 25 he writes: " The Governor, his lady
and Miss Dinwiddle, Mr. Attorney and his lady, the Coun-
cillor and his lady dined and supped with us this day."
And on December 31, "I invited the Governor and his
family to begin the year with us tomorrow."

In 1769 President Blair's daughter, Anne, wrote her
sister, Mrs. Braxton:

121

COLONIAL VIRGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

" I am to drink tea at the Attorney's; he breakfasted
with us this moniing. Tomorrow I breakfast with him
at his Quarters and on Thursday he has bespoke some
Firmaty at our lower j^lantation."

Even the hospitable Virginian had too much company
sometimes, though his training forbade him to acknowl-
edge it save to liis ever ready and supposedly safe confidant,
his diary.

We camiot forbear hearty sympathy with Colonel
James Gordon, of " Meny Point," Lancaster County, a
man of many aff airs and with an ill son-in-law in his house,
who has left the following record:

" March 2, 1761. ]Mr. Hunt came soon after break-
fast, and Captain Thornton, Captain Foushee and his wife,
Colonel Tayloe and Armistead Churchill after dinner, so
that we had the house full."

" ^larch 3. So much company I can't do any business."

" March 4. All the company went awa}^ after dinner."

We can almost hear the sigh of relief with which this
entry was made.

On March 29 he has had guests again — ten of them,
who stayed several days. On ^larch 30 all of these left,
but the respite was brief, for on April 1 the record began
again with " Armistead Churchill and his wife, Richard
Span and his wife and baby arrived," and continued thus:

" 3. Our Company still with us, with the addition of
^Ir. Wormeley, his wife and daughter, which is rather
troublesome at this time.

" 4. It blowed so hard that our company could not get
over the river.

" 5. Our company all went off, tho' we insisted upon
their staying till tomorrow."

Their ideal of hospitality^ and good breeding demanded

122

MRS. RICHARD LEE
About 1660

SOCIAL LIFE

this insistence, no matter how inconvenient acceptance of
the invitation might have been. On May 11 he wrote,
" 'No company, which is surprising/'' but was soon to add,

"13. Mr. Wm. Churchill his wife and five childi*en
came, & Mrs. Carter & her son & Miss Judith Bassett.

" 15. The Company all here yet."

On May 16, " Mr. Carter and Mr. Churchill & their
families went away." ^

It is evident that all of these visitors were miinvited
and unexpected. No mention is made of the horses and
servants they brought to be cared for on the plantation —
they were doubtless taken as a matter of course.

Colonel Landon Carter of " Sabine Hall," made a
regular practice of celebrating his birthday with what
would be called to-day a house-party and recorded in his
diary his enjoyment of these entertainments. On January
14, 1770, he writes of his sixtieth birthday feast:

" My annual entertainnient began on Monday, the 8th,
and held till Wednesday night, when except one individual
or two that retired sooner things pleased me much, and
therefore I will conclude that they gave the same satisfac-
tion to others. The oysters lasted till the third day of the
feast."

On January 22 he writes, " Colonel Fauntleroy's feast
day, where I suppose my family must go."

On January 16, of the following year, he describes
his birthday celebration with even greater gusto :

" From the 1st day of this month till this day we have
had prodigious fine weather indeed, so that I have enjoyed
my three days' festival, to wit: The 10, 11 & 12, \vath
great cheerfulness to everybody ; in all about 60 people of
whom were Mr. Carter of Corotoman & his Lady, my

9 William and Mary Quarterly, xi, 219, 220.
123

COLONIAL \ JIU.LNLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

nephew Charles Carter, Late of Nanzaticoe, & his Lady, my
nephew Fitzhugh, his Lady, CoL P. Lee, his Lady, & all
my neigliborhood except CoL Brockenbrough, although
invited ds: really j^romised to come."

In 177-i he simply says:

" As it was my 04th birthday I received the compU-
ments of most of my better sort of neighbors."

This constant and wholesale entertaining was made
easy for the Virginians by the abundance of almost every-
thing imaginable to eat — and drink — and the great nmnber
of negro cooks, whose natural turn for the culinary art
developed into genius under the training of the planters'
wives, with whom keeping a good table was a point of honor.
The woods were full of game of every description, the
rivers with fish, oysters, and crabs.

Hugh Jones, in his " Present State of Virginia," says
that the frontier counties abomided with venison and wild
turkeys and that though in the lower country venison was
not so plentiful there was " enough and tolerably good."

Burnaby in his travels — 1759-60 — writes of the sora
which, in season, " you meet with at tables of most of the
planters, breakfast, dinner and supper." He adds: "In
several parts of Virginia the ancient custom of eating meat
at breakfast still continues. At the top of the table, wliere
the lady of the house presides, there is constantly tea and
coffee, but the rest of the table is garnished with roasted
fowls, venison, game, and other dainties."

Every planter, in proportion to his means, made a
garden, set out an orchard, and raised poultry and hogs,
and the well-to-do raised also beeves and sheep. The
settlers in The Valley had their patches of corn, cabbage,
beans, and potatoes, and carried peach and apple trees on
pack horses across the mountains. In 1745 one of these,

124

SOCIAL LIFE

Christopher Zimmerman, carried a hundred and thirty-
seven apple trees a hundred and fifty miles and planted
them on his tract on the upper James River.^*^

Peaches were especially plentiful. As early as 1691
William Fitzhugh, whose pride in his fruit trees was
not exceptional, writes that his orchard gives him " from
its loaden boughs, a promised assurance of future grati-
fication."

The first comers to Jamestown learned from the Indians
the many uses of corn. They and their successors ground
it to make meal or crushed it to make hominy, and corn-
bread not only became and remained throughout the period
the staff of life to the poor-white and the negro slave, but
was popular in the great house as well and was especially
relished as the natiu-al accompaniment of bacon and cab-
bage or "greens." Virginia-cured bacon early became
famous, and " hog and hominy " — a homely but palatable
combination — was a mainstay of the poorer people tlirough-
out the low country and in the mountains and was far
from being despised by the prosperous.

To call Hugh Jones to the witness stand again, he says :

" They bake daily bread and cakes, eating too much
hot and new bread which cannot be wholesome tho' it be
pleasanter."

Smyth in his " Travels " — 1774 — describes the aver-
age planter in summertime as rising early, drinking a
julep " made of rum, water and sugar, riding around the
plantation viewing his stock and crops, and breakfasting
about ten o'clock on cold turkey, cold meat, fried hominy,
toast and cider, ham, bread and butter, tea, coffee and
chocolate."

^^ Chalkley's Augusta Co. Records, i, 431.
9 125

COLONIAL VUIGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Colonel Byrd had toast and cider for breakfast at
Major Woodford's.

All kinds of vegetables were grown in the gardens.
In his diary President Jolin Blair mentions dining at
Colonel Burwell's in February and eating " fine greens
that were planted about the first of September," having
asparagus on his own table in March and green peas in
September. He also says that he " gathered oranges at
Greenspring " — grown under glass, of course — in March.
Colonel Landon Carter tells of having at " Sabine Hall "
a '* great abundance of mushrooms."

As spices, almonds, raisins, and flavorings were im-
ported by the planters, and during the eighteenth century-
were to be bought in the home stores, and the housewives
had all the recipes that were in use in England, there was
nothing in the way of making " good things." In 1738
the versatile Mrs. Stagg, dancer and actress, of Williams-
burg, advertised in the Virginia Gazette, " Hartshorn and
Calvesfoot jellies fresh every Tuesday," besides other con-
fectionery, including " mackaroons. Savoy biscuits and
Barbadoes sweetmeats."

Williamsburg druggists advertised " white and brown
sugar candy," sugar plums, and comfits.

A prohibitionist in Colonial America would have been
considered a lunatic. It was a di-inking age. The English-
man or Scotchman made merry with his friends over the
flowing bowl at his favorite inn or in his home in the old
country, and when he crossed the sea he brought his con-
vivial habits with him and passed them on to his children.
Even Puritan and Quaker restraint did not extend to the
cup, for court records exhibit no more proof of drunken-
ness in one colony than another. In Virginia a julep before

126

SOCIAL LIFE

breakfast was believed to give protection against malaria,
and a toddy, or a glass of wine, punch, or beer at almost any-
time of the day or night to be good for the body as well
as cheering to the spirit and indispensable to the practice
of hospitahty.

Yet it was realized that drinking could be carried too
far, and as early as January, 1643, steps were taken by the
authorities to " prevent the importation of too great a quan-
tity of strong liquors " into Virginia from neighboring
colonies. In August of the same year an order of the
Governor and Council was proclaimed in the courts re-
citing that " in accordance with the instructions of his
Majesty against the excessive and scandalous importation
of strong waters into the Colony," laws had been passed to
prevent it, but had been evaded ; and because the intemper-
ance of certain persons was a " general scandal to the
Colony and to temperate and continent men, no debts for
wine imported nor for strong waters distilled and made
in the Colony should be recoverable in any Court in the
Colony."

A great part of our information in regard to drinking,
gambling and other offences is derived from the records
of county courts, and these show that juries faithfully and
fearlessly performed their duty and indicted and convicted
without respect to persons. There are instances of the
indictment of magistrates themselves for being drunk.

The wines most freely used were Madeira and Fial,
and in addition to these aU kinds of French and other
European wines — especially claret and port — were " plen-
tifully drank by the better sort." In 1739 Richard Chap-
man in ordering half a pipe of good Madeira to be shipped
to York River for him, wrote a London merchant that he
found it impossible to keep house in Virginia " without a

127

COLONIAL MUGL\L\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

little wine." In 1715 John Fontaine made a visit to
Robert Beverley, the historian, at " Beverley Park." After
breakfast they went out to see the vineyard and " were very
merry " with tlie wine of his host's making, and " drank
prosperity to the Vineyard."

The ^"irginians made a good deal of beer of the native
persimmon and more still of molasses from wliich they
brewed an " extraordinary brisk good tasting liquor at a
cheap rate." They also made malt beer and imported
Bristol beer which was consumed " in vast quantities." -

Cider was always a favorite drink. The planters made
great quantities of it from their own apples, and Virginia
cider, like the Virginia ham and Virginia peach brandy,
was often sent as a present to friends abroad. In a letter
to a correspondent in Barbadoes in 1743 William Beverley
sends thanks for a gift of rum and promises in return some
" good white apple cider."

The fondness of the negroes for the cheap native drinks
has been celebrated in the jingle,

Christmas comes but once a year ;
Every man must have his sheer
Of apple cider'n 'simmon beer.

Wherever there was drinking there was toasting of
royalties and other personages, as well as of friends far
and near, and in many homes the custom of proposing
toasts after dinner was as invariable as that of grace before
meat. Philip Fithian alludes over and over again to its
daily observance at " Xomini Hall," where each person at
table, in turn, toasted some one he wished to compliment.
The lovesick young tutor himself usually gave the name of
some neighborhood belle, though he confided to his diary
that in his heart he meant the faraway Laura. One day
there dropped in to dinner at " Nomini " a plain man " who

128

SOCIAL LIFE

seemed unacquainted with company, for when he would at
table drink our health, he held the glass fast with both
hands, gave an insignificant nod to each one at the table,
in haste and with fear, and then di-ank like an Ox. At
the second toast, after having seen a little of our manner,
he said, ' Gentlemen and ladies, the King,' but seemed
better pleased with the liquor than with the manner in which
he was at this time obliged to use it."

This inviting to his board of passers-by of all ranks
was one of the many indications that in the vocabulary of
the Virginian there was no such word as snob.

On another occasion Fithian says :

" Breakfasted with us a gentleman from Maryland.
At dinner he was joined by another from the same prov-
ince. They are both unknown."

John Harrower, an indentured servant, from Shetland,
bound to Colonel William Daingerfield, of Spotsylvania
County, for four years, to teach his three small children
reading, writing, and arithmetic, tells in his diary of the
gracious terms upon which he lived at " Belvidera." One
day he asked his master for a bottle of rum to treat two of
his fellow-countrymen who were coming to see him. The
Colonel gave it " very cheerfully " and told him to ask
for another whenever he wanted it and to bring his two
friends to the great house to dinner.

Transportation was a most important factor in the
exchange of hospitality between the scattered plantations.
Dwellers along the rivers frequently called upon each other
in sail or row boats, as did the Carters of " Nomini," who
not only made visits, but sometimes went to church, in a
boat rowed by four negro men. But most of the going
about was done on horseback or in carriages. Everybody

COLONIAL MllGLMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

that liad anything had something to ride — from the " one
old poore mangy, scabby horse " in the inventory of Grace
Sherwood, the witch, to the stables filled with highly bred
horses of the rich planter.

During most of the seventeenth century — and later in
the upper country — when the roads were mere bridle-
paths, almost all travel by men and women was done on
horseback. A wife often rode behind her husband, on a
pillion, but many women had good horses and saddles of
their own, and a riding horse was a frequent legacy to
either man or woman.

The first mention I have seen of a carriage of any de-
scription in Virginia is in 1677, when the Commissioners
sent by the English government to suppress Bacon's Rebel-
lion complained that when Sir William Berkeley sent them
in his coach from his seat, " Greenspring," to the wharf, he
insulted them by having the " common hangman " to act
as postilion. Governor Berkeley declared that he was as
innocent of such a thing " as the blessed angels themselves,"
but the charge has served to put him on record as the first
man in Virginia known to have had a coach.

In 1701 William Fitzhugh bequeathed to his wife and
son two coaches.

Hugh Jones, in 1724, says, " most people of any
note in Williamsburg have a Coach, Chariot, Berlin or
Chaise." And an anonymous writer in the London Maga-
zine, describing his travels in America in 1746, tells us that
he was struck by " the prodigious Number of Coaches that
crowd the deep, sandy Streets of this little City," and that
in Yorktown " almost every considerable man keeps an
equipage, tho' they have no concern about the different
colors of their horses."

Says the Virginia Gazette of July 13, 1749:

130

SOCIAL LIFE

" This day the Hon. John Robinson, Presid't. and the
rest of the G^nt. of the Council went all in Coaches to wait
on the Gov'r."

In 1756 William Stephens, a newcomer to the colony,
wrote to Nathaniel Philips, of London:

" If a man keeps his Coach the coachman, postilion and
footman are all blacks. They all drive with six horses."

Lord Adam Gordon, writing of the people he had met
in eastern Virginia, in 1764, says:

*' Their Breed of Horses is extremely good, and par-
ticularly those they run in their Carriages. . . . They all
drive six horses and travel generally from 8 to 9 miles an
hour — going frequently sixty miles to dinner — You may
conclude from this their Roads are extremely good. They
live in such good agreement that the Ferries, which would
retard in another Country, rather accelerate their meeting
here, for they assist one another and all Strangers with
their Equipages in So easy and kind a manner, as must
deeply touch a person of any feeling and convince them
that in this Country Hospitality is everywhere practised."

Naturally, the acquaintance of a visiting lord would have
been among the prominent and prosperous. It is impossi-
ble to say what proportion of these drove a coach and six.
Many did, but many also drove a coach, or chariot, and
four horses, many others a chair, or chaise, and pair.

I find among my own notes mention of about eighty
owners of coaches and chariots for four or six horses, and
could quote besides many wills like that of Moore Faunt-
leroy, of Richmond County, who, in 1739, left his wife his
" chariot and horses " without indicating whether the har-
ness was for four or six.

Of course I do not pretend to have examined all the
records now in Virginia, to say nothing of the many which

131

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

have been destroyed There was a still larger number of
small carriages — chairs, chaises, calashes, and phaetons;
and there was the poor man's carriage — the ox-cart. A
good number of gentlemen had several pleasure vehicles,
among them Governor Spotswood, whose inventory shows
that he left, in 1740, a coach, chariot, and chaise; Benjamin
Harrison of " Berkeley," who, in 1743, bequeathed his wife
his coach, chariot, chair, and six horses; Philip Lightfoot,
of YorktowTi, who left in 1748 a two-wheeled chair, a four-
wlieeled chair, and a coach and six; Wilson Gary, who in
his will of 1772 gave his " dear wife Sarah " a coach, post-
chariot and horses, and a chair; and John Tayloe, of " Mt.
Airy," who in 1773 bequeathed to his wife not only a
coach and a chariot and six horses, but " their drivers."

While the wife ahnost always fell heir to her husband's
carriages and horses, a will sometimes provided that a child
should ride in state. For instance, in 1742 WiUiam Ran-
dolph bequeathed his daughter ^lary his " new chaise and
harness for six horses, together with six horses of her own
choosing." And in 1767 Willoughby Newton, of West-
moreland, gave his daughter Elizabeth his " coach and four
horses."

Colonel Landon Carter makes frequent mention of his
coach and six in his diary. On March 15, 1770, he writes
that the weather is bad, but his daughter and her Cousin
Nancy Beale insist upon going in the chariot to visit
Nanc\''s mother forty miles off, in Lancaster County.
Fithian tells of the arrival at " Nomini " of " our new
coach," which he says is " a plain carriage, the upper
part black and the lower sage or pea green." It cost a
hundred and twenty pounds sterling. Councillor Carter
had also a " strong, fashionable, travelling post coacli, lined
with blue morocco," a " chariot with six wheels," and a

WASHINGTON S PINCH BOWL

A COACH AND SIX

s

SOCIAL LIFE

chair. His coachman and postilions wore livery of blue
broadcloth with brass buttons/^

Let us see Phihp Fithian going a-visiting with the
" Nomini " family. Mrs. Carter invited liim to escort her
when she called upon the rector of the parish, and the
" Councillor " lent him his own *' beautiful grey riding
horse." They set out about ten o'clock, Mrs. Carter and
her daughters Prissy, Fanny, and Betsy in the chariot, Bob
and Mr. Fithian on horseback. There were also " three
waiting men — a coachman, driver and postilion." They
arrived at the rectory at a little after twelve and found
Mr. Smith away from home, but his wife and sister enter-
tained them, and they stayed to dinner. Imagine a party
of six with three servants and certainly six, probably eight,
horses descending imexpectedly upon a parson's wife and
staying to dinner ! It is to be hoped the Old Virginia cus-
tom of stocking the parson's larder with bacon, poultry,
and vegetables was observed in that neighborhood.

In 1739 Samuel Bowler, coaclimaker, from London,
settled in Williamsburg and advertised in the Gazette that
he was prepared to " serve Gentlemen in making and re-
pairing coaches, chariots, chaises and chairs, and harness
for them." In 1753 a second-hand chariot was sent from
London to Francis Jerdone, a Yorktown merchant, for
sale. Jerdone wrote the owner that he had sold it for
forty-three pounds sterling — the most he could get for it —
and adds:

" Second hand goods are no way saleable here, for our
Gentry have such proud spirits that nothing will go down
but equipages of the nicest and newest fashions. You wiU
not believe it when I tell you that there are sundiy chariots

" Glenn's " Colonial Mansions," 271.
133

COLONIAL MRGLNU, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

now in the country which cost 200 guineas and one that
cost 260." '-

Immediately after the death of William Nelson, of
Yorktown, in 1773, his widow ordered from London " a
genteel chariot with six harness, to be painted a grave
color, and the coat of arms of our family, the whole to
cost about £100 sterling."

The carriage door or harness was a favorite place for
displaying coats-of-arms, which were used by a great num-
ber of the more prominent families, but not all. Other
ways of making use of them were on seals, silver-plate,
rings, tombs, book-plates, snuff-boxes, painted for fram-
ing, and on hatclunents — tablets with the armorial bearings
of deceased persons which were hung in front of houses at
the time of funerals. Funeral hatchments seem to have
rarely been preserved, for the only ones now known to be in
Virginia are two at " Shirley." Occasionally, arms were
carved upon front doors — as those of the Lee family on
the door at old " Cobbs," in Northumberland County.

Sometimes a militia officer would have his coat-of-
arms painted on his drum. In the inventory of Colonel
William Farrar, of Henrico, 1677, the appraisers name
" one new drum w^ee think fitt to leave to the heir, it belong-
ing to ye family as by ye arms thereupon appears."

Among the comparatively few original papers which
remain in the files of the older counties may still be found
many with armorial seals. For instance, there is the fine
Isham seal at Henrico, that attached to the will of iSIajor
Robert Beverley, in JNIiddlesex, and the excellent impres-
sion of the Filmer arms on a paper now in the collection
of the Virginia Historical Society. To quote a few of the
great number of references to arms on rings, Leonard

" William and Mary Quarterly, xi, 238.
1S4

SOCIAL LIFE

Howson, of Northumberland, in 1704, bequeathed to Eliza-
beth Brereton " a small gold seal ring with her grand-
father Brereton's Coat of Arms." In 1711 Samuel
Peachey, of Richmond County, mentioned in his will his
" great silver tankard and sealed gold ring " — both having
his coat-of-arms upon them; in 1740, George Turberville,
of Westmoreland, left his son John his gold seal ring, with
his coat-of-arms; and in 1761 George Lee left his son
Launcelot " a seal set in gold with the family Coat of
Arms cut thereon, which was given me by my friend
Colonel Richard Lee."

Sixty-four armorial book-plates are known to me, and
there are doubtless others.

Notwithstanding the fact that tombstones had to be
imported from England and that many old ones have been
destroj'^ed, there were within recent years in Virginia
churchyards and family burjmig grounds — and most of
them still remain — at least a hundred and sixteen tombs
of the colonial period bearing arms.

Both the Father of his Country and the democratic
author of the Declaration of Independence were interested
in coats-of-arms. In 1771 Washington wrote to London
from Mt. Vernon, ordering his crest engraved on two
seals — one to be " topaz or some other handsome stone "
and the other " a plain stone " — and in the same year Jeffer-
son wrote from Monticello to Thomas Adams, merchant,
of London :

" One farther request and I am done, to search the
Herald's office for the Arms of my family. I have what I
have been old were the family Arms, but on what authority
I know not, it is probable there may be none, if so I would
with your assistance become a purchaser, having Sterne's
word for it that a coat-of-arms may be purchased as cheap
as any other coat."

135

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

III— FESTIVITIES

A:mong other things brought by the Virginians from
England was love of pleasure which asserted itself as soon
as the hardships of settlement days and the terrors of the
massacres were behind them. Firearms played an impor-
tant part in their life, not only for protection from the
Indians, but for giving dash to their frolics, and it was easy
enough to provide this when every man carried a gun upon
all occasions; for during the times of the red-skin menace
preparedness was, in effect if not in name, the w^atchword
of the colonist. It was against the law for a man to go
to church unarmed, and in 1626 the Governor and Comicil
ordered that no man work in the fields without arms and
an armed sentinel to keep watch.

The first suggestion of merry-making in my notes is
a proclamation, issued in 1627, against " spending powder
at meetings, drinkings, marriages and entertainments,"
because a war w^itli the Indians was expected. On October
23, 1719, being the anniversary of the coronation of his
Majesty George I, a negro slave, named Priemus, " had
his right arm shot off in firing the great gmis in Williams-
burg," and as late as 1773 Philip Fithian, the tutor, was
aroused from his slumbers at " Nomini Hall " on Christmas
morning by " guns fired all around the house."

White and colored in the colony loved anniversaries
and festivals. Francis Louis Michel, who wrote an account
of his " Journey " from Switzerland to Virginia, in 1701,
says that harvest time was one of the principal seasons of
festivity and that it was the " custom of the country "
when the harvest was ready to be gathered in to prepare
a big dinner and invite all the neighbors. As there were
often thirty to fifty persons cutting grain, the work would

186

SOCIAL LIFE

last only two houi's. The rest of the day was, of course,
given up to jollity/^

A similar festival for the negroes, which was held
throughout Virginia until the War between the States and
doubtless began far back in the colonial period, was the
com-shucking. For this, moonlight nights in October were
chosen. The negi'oes of a neighborhood gathered at each
plantation in turn, where plenty to eat and drink was pro-
vided, and, with laughter and song, antics and buffoonery
which would make a modern minstrel show appear tame,
would in a few hours' time shuck out the crop of corn which
had been cut and gathered in the barn ready for the frolic.

Let us see Mr. Blair, the honorable President of his
Majesty's Council, making holiday. According to his
diary, on January 8, 1751 — the fourteenth day after
Christmas — he " Dined at Col. Burwell's & staid all night
& danced & drew 14th cake." On January 11 he " Had
a dance & cake at Mr. Cocke's," and on February 2 spent
" a good Candlemas day. Had Company from ye College."

St. Andrew's Day and Shrove Tuesday — or " Pancake
Day " — were other popular merry-making occasions.
Colonel James Gordon, of " Merry Point," tells how his
wife visited Mr. Criswell's school in the neighborhood, in
1758, and " treated the scholars to pancakes and cider, it
being Shrove Tuesday, & prevailed on ]\Ir. Criswell to give
them play."

On New Year's Day, 1762, Colonel Gordon " had a
large company " at " Merry Point," and on " Twelfth
Day " Mrs. Conway and her children. Colonel Tayloe, and
Dale Carter dined and spent the night with him and his
family.

Fithian speaks of Good Friday as a '' general holiday,"

13 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., xxiv, 32.
137

COLOXL\L MRGLMA, ITS PEOPLE .\XD CUSTOMS

and writing on Easter Monday says, " The negroes are
now all disbanded 'till Wednesday Morning & are at Cock
fights through the countrj'."

The birthdays of members of the royal family were
special holidays in the loyal colony, especially in Wilhams-
biirg, as the local columns of the Virgina Gazette show.
For instance, in 1736 the birthday of the Prince of Wales
was celebrated by " firing of guns, displaying of colors
and other public demonstrations of joy, and at night his
Honor, the Governor, gave a ball and an elegant enter-
tainment to the ladies and gentlemen."

The King's birthday, a few months later, was cele-
brated in like fashion, while upon the night of his Majest\''s
birthday in 1752 " the whole city was illuminated " and
there was a ball at the " Palace," where were present " the
Emperor and Empress of the Cherokee's Xation with their
Son, the young Prince, and a brilliant appearance of
Ladies and Gentlemen. Several beautiful Fireworks were
exhibited in Palace Street by Mr. Hallam, Manager of
the Theatre in this Cit^', and the evening concluded with
every Demonstration of our Zeal and Loyalty."

L^pon another occasion the President of the Council
kept " the birthday " in an " extra manner, by adding to
his elegant entertainment for the ladies and gentlemen a
purse of fifty pistoles to be distributed amongst the poor."

In 1769, on the Queen's birthday, the " flag was dis-
played on the Capitol and in the evening his Excellency,
the Governor, gave a splendid ball and entertainment at
the Palace to a very numerous and pohte company of
ladies and gentlemen."

The proclamation of a new sovereign was an occasion
of even greater festivity than a royal birthday. The
staunchly protestant and libert^^-loving Virginians hailed

138

SOCIAL LIFE

with delight the accession of WiHiam and Mary. We
find among the records of Henrico County an account of
a meeting held at Varina, " where were present the Com-
missioned Officers of the County, civil and military, the
settled militia thereof and other inhabitants, when their
royal ISIajesties William and Mary were proclaimed with
firing of guns, beating of drum, Sound of trumpet and ye
universal Shouts and Huzzahs of ye people assembled."

Much more elaborate ceremonies, at Williamsburg,
commemorated the death of William and the accession of
Anne. On the 18th of May, 1702, the Governor called
together the militia of the six nearest counties, and repre-
sentatives from the Indians. Three stands were erected
in front of the College, two batteries were placed, and the
troops — horse and foot — were drawn up in line to the num-
ber of about two thousand. In the upper balcony of the
College were buglers from the warships, in the second
oboes, in the lower violinists, which at times played sepa-
rately and at times together. When the proclamation of
the king's death was to be made they played " very mov-
ingly and mournfully." The flags were covered with crape
and borne by men in mourning, and the Governor fol-
lowed on a white horse draped with black. Dr. James
Blair delivered a funeral oration, and after it the Governor
withdrew, but returned in a little while dressed in a blue
uniform trimmed with gold braid. The musicians now
played a lively air, flags were undraped, the accession of
Queen Anne was proclaimed, and a salute from small arms
and cannon fired.

The Governor then entertained all of the prominent
people " right royally," and " each ordinary person was
given a glass of rum or brandy." That night there were

139

COLONIAL MlUilXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

fireworks and the next day shooting matches and more mili-
tary niananivres.

The arrival of a new governor, the election of a mayor,
ever}' propitious event was an excuse for merry-making.
Says the Gazette of June 20, 1766:

" Our gratitude and thankfulness upon the joyful occa-
sion of the repeal of the Stamp Act and the universal
pleasure and satisfaction it gives that all differences be-
tween the ^lother Country and her Colonies are so happily
terminated was manifested here by general illuminations
and a ball and elegant entertainment at the Capitol, at
which was present his Honor the Governor, many of the
members of his ^Majesty's Council and a large and genteel
Company of Ladies and Gentlemen who spent the evening
with much mirth and decormu, and drank all the loyal and
patriotic toasts."

John Kello, in a letter to London from Hampton, Vir-
ginia, in 1755, declared, " Dancing is the chief diversion
here, and hunting and racing," and the English traveller
Burnaby said of the women, " They are inordinately fond
of dancing, and indeed it is almost their only amusement."
He ungallantly added, " in this they discover gi-eat want
of taste and elegance and seldom appear with the grace
and ease which those movements are so calculated to
display."

There is abundant evidence that dancing was by far the
most generally popular amusement in the colony. Wher-
ever there was " company " there was dancing. Every-
body danced. Girls and boys, men and w^omen capered
fantastically in jigs and reels, stepped forward and back
and turned their partners in the picturesque country dances
— later knowTi as square dances, or quadrilles — tripped

140

SOCLIL LIFE

thi'ough the rollicking and immensely popular Sir Roger
de Coverley — which under the name of the " Virginia
reel " was the last dance at every ball until long after the
War between the States — or courtsied low to each other in
the rhythmic minuet.

Indeed " company " was not necessary" where nearly
every family was large enough for an impromptu dance,
and probably as great a proportion of them as now have
phonographs could boast of negro fiddlers who could " call
figures."

Fithian tells how one night after supper at " Xomini "
" the waiting man played and the young ladies spent the
evening merrily in dancing."

Burnaby thought that the jigs were borrowed from the
negroes, but he was mistaken. The negroes had, and still
have, grotesque dances of their own, but it is much more
likely that they got their quaint jigs from the white people
w^hose forefathers had danced them time out of mind in the
old country. Here is Burnaby's description of jigs:

" These dances are without any method or regularity.
A gentleman and lady stand up and dance about the room,
one of them retiring, the other pursuing, then perhaps
meeting, in an irregular, fantastic manner. x4fter some
time another lady gets up and the first lady must sit do^vn,
she being, as they term it, cut out; the second lady acts
the same part which the first one did till somebody cuts
her out. The gentlemen perform the same manner."

In 1762 Charles Carter of " Cleve," in King George
County, directed in his will that his sons be sent to Eng-
land to be educated and his daughters " brought up frugally
and taught to dance."

Learning to dance was considered an important part of
education in the colonv, and throughout the eighteenth

10

141

COLOMAL MIK.IMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

century there were plenty of professional dancing teachers
• — men and women. In 1716 permission was given William
Levingston to use a room in William and Mary College
" for teaching the students and others to dance until his
own dancing school in Williamsburg be finished."

The Williamsburg players, Charles Stagg and his wife,
supplemented their income by teaching dancing and giving
balls and " assemblies," and after her husband's death
Mistress Stagg continued in the business, with, for rival,
another widow, Madame la Baronne de Graifenreidt,
whose husband, Christopher de Graffenreidt, of Berne,
Switzerland, had brought a colony of Swiss and Palatines
to North Carolina in 1709.

In 1735 Colonel Byrd, writing to Sir John Randolph
that IMadame la Baronne was hoping to succeed to part of
Mr. Stagg's business, said:

" Were it not for making my good Lady jealous (which
I would not do for the world) I would recommend her to
your favor. She really takes abundance of pains and
teaches well, and were you to attack her virtue you would
find her as chaste as Lucretia."

Between them these ladies evidently made the little
capital very gay, for advertisements in the Gazette show
that their entertainments were frequent and varied,
^ladame de Graffenreidt announced a ball on the 26tli of
April, 1737, and an assembly on the 27th — for both of
which tickets could be purchased " out at her house." On
the 28th and 29th of the same month Mrs. Stagg gave
assemblies, " at the Capitol," where tickets were " half a
pistole," and there were " several valuable things to be
raffled for." In March, 1738, Mrs. Stagg advertised an
assembly at the Capitol when " several grotesque dances
never yet performed in Virginia " were promised, some

142

SOCIAL LIFE

valuable goods would be put up to be raffled for, and " also
a likely young negro fellow."

Not to be outdone, ^ladame de Graif enreidt announced
for a few days later a ball at which would be put up to be
raffled for " a likely young Virginia negro woman fit for
house business, and her child."

"Queer people!" I hear the reader say. A more
fitting comment would be " queer times! "

The ladies had another rival in William Dering, who
advertised in 1737 that he could teach " all gentleman's
sons " to dance " in the newest French manner."

In the Gazette also appear references to frequent public
balls at the house of Mrs. Shields, the daughter of a French
Huguenot who kept a tavern in Williamsburg, and the
wife successively, of three husbands, the earliest of whom
was the first Grammar Master of William and Mary, the
other two tavern-keepers of Williamsburg. Both JMadame
de GrafFenreidt and Mrs. Shields have descendants among
prominent Virginia families of to-day.

Among later Williamsburg dancing teachers was Le
Chevalier de Peyronny who, in 1752, advertised in the
Gazette for pupils in " the art of Fencing, Dancing and the
French Tongue." In the same j^ear Alexander Finnic
announced that he proposed to have " a Ball at the Apollo,
in Williamsburg once every week during the Sitting of the
Assembly and General Court."

In 1750 Edward Dial advertised in the Gazette that he
would have an Assembly at his dwelling house, in Norfolk.

George Washington came naturally by a taste for
dancing. In 1754 his friend Daniel Campbell wrote him
of having " lately had the honor to dance " with his mother,
who was then a widow of forty-six and a grandmother.
Among balls in various places which her famous son's diary

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, 11^ PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

shows that he attended was one in Alexandria, in 1760,
where he says '* abounded great plenty of bread and butter,
some biscuits with tea and coffee which the drinkers of
could not distinguish from hot water sweetened. Be it
remembered that pocket handkerchiefs serv^ed the purposes
of tablecloths and napkins and that no apologies were
made for either. I shall therefore distinguish this ball by
the style and title of the bread and butter ball."

Kercheval tells us that even in The Valley, which was
settled chiefly b)^ Scotch-Irish and Germans who are sup-
posed to have had stricter ideas in regard to worldly pleas-
ures, dancing three and four-handed reels and jigs was the
principal amusement of the young people. They also had
a dance called " the Irish trot " from which it seems that
the word trot as the name for a dance is not so modern
after all. The Augusta Records bear witness that in 1763
there were at least two dancing masters in that mountain
county — Ephraim Hubbard and James Robinson, by name.

From the seventeen-fifties to the seventeen-seventies
there was in the colony a celebrated dancing master named
Christian who went about holding classes in country neigh-
borhoods. About the earliest mention of him is in 1758
when he was paid twenty pounds for teaching his art to
Priscilla and Mary Rootes, of King and Queen County.
In 1773 he had classes at several houses in Westmoreland
and the neighboring counties, among them " Stratford "
and " Xomini Hall," and Fithian's diary gives us a lively
picture of the one at " Nomini." The pupils arrived early
Friday morning and Fithian gave his own school holiday.
There were present eleven " young misses " wonderfully
arrayed, seven " young fellows," and several older people.
Under Mr. Christian's direction they danced most of that
day and the next. First there were " several minuets

144

SOCIAL LIFE

danced with great ease and propriety, after which the whole
company joined in country dances," and the tutor decided
that " it was indeed beautiful to admiration to see such
a number of young persons set off by dress to the best
advantage moving easily to the sound of well performed
music."

The lesson continued from immediately after break-
fast until two o'clock, when there was a rest until dinner,
which was served at half-past three. Soon afterward, all
" repaired to the dancing room again " and kept it up
until dusk, when there was another brief rest; but they were
on with the dance again from half-past six until half-past
seven, when Mr. Christian withdrew and the company
" played Button to get pawns for redemption " until the
half-past eight supper time. The scruples created by early
training had restrained the straight-laced Presbyterian
tutor from taking part in the dancing, though being but
human, and young at that, he could not help enjoying
looking on, but he joined in the game of " button " and
complacently remarks, " In redeeming my parvus I had
several kisses of the ladies." He continues :

" The supper room looked luminous and splendid; four
very large candles burning on the table where we supped ;
three others in different parts of the room; and a gay,
sociable assembly, & four well instructed waiters. After
supper the company formed into a semicircle around the
fire & Mr. Lee was chosen Pope, ;Mr. Carter, INIr. Christian,
Mrs. Carter, ]Mrs. Lee and the rest of the company ap-
pointed friars in the play called Break the Pope's Neck."

In an entry in his diary in 1774 Colonel Landon Carter,
of " Sabine Hall," rejoices that Christian has stopped his
dancing classes in the neighborhood, as the schoolboys lost
two days in every three weeks.

145

COLONIAL VIRGLXIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Fithian also tells of a ball given in January, 1773,
by " Squire " Richard Lee — then a bachelor — of " Lee
Hall," a few miles from " Nomini." It lasted four days —
from Monday morning until Thursday night — when the
*' upwards of seventy " guests, " quite wearied out," de-
parted, though their host " entreated them to stay longer."
" 3Irs. Carter, Miss Prissy and Miss Nancy, dressed splen-
didly, set away from home at two on Monday." They re-
turned on Tuesday night, but were off to " Lee Hall "
in time for dinner again on Wednesday, taking Mr. Fithian
with them. " The ladies dined first, when some good order
was preserved; when they rose each nimblest fellow dined
.first." The dinner was " as elegant as could be expected
when so great an assembly was entertained for so long a
time." The drinkables served were several sorts of wine,
lemon punch, toddy, cider, and porter. At about seven the
ladies and gentlemen began to dance in the ballroom to the
music of a French horn and two violins. First there was a
minuet; jigs followed, then reels, and last of all " country
dances with occasional marches."

Fithian was a fascinated observer of it all, but his knowl-
edge of dances was limited ; a country dance with occasional
marches was doubtless the Sir Roger de Coverley — or
\^irginia reel.

" The ladies were dressed gay and splendid & when
dancing their skirts & Brocades rustled and trailed behind
them." But all did not dance. There were parties in other
rooms — evidently of men — some of whom were " at cards,
some drinking, some toasting the sons of America and
singing Liberty Songs." One of these who was rather the
worse for his own part in the meriy-making, noticing that
the gentleman from Princeton neither danced, drank, nor

146

GOVERNOR SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY
About 1665

SOCIAL LIFE

played, more pointedly than politely asked him why he
came to the party.

A hundred years before Fithian made his sprightly
word-pictures of life at " Nomini," " Stratford," and " Lee
Hall," in old Westmoreland Coimty, the neighborhood was
a social one.

There is on record in the county a quaint " agreement "
between Mr. Corbin, ^Mr. Lee, Mr. Gerrard, and Mr. AUer-
ton, made in 1670. These four gentlemen were " for the
continuance of good neighborhood," to build a banqueting
house in which " each man or his heirs " in turn, had to make
" an Honorable treatment fit to entertain the undertakers
thereof, their wives, mistresses & friends, yearly & every

COLONIAL VIRGL\L\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

n—CJAMlXG— TAVERNS— FAIRS, ET CETERA

The Colonial age was a gambling age, and in Virginia,
as in Great Britain and the other colonies, men of all ranks
caught the infection. In addition to the betting at horse
races and cock fights, almost every kind of game became,
upon occasion, a gambling game. A few characteristic
items from a mass of evidence will serve as illustrations.

In 1646 John Bradshaw and Richard Smyth, of Lower
Norfolk County, were fined a hundred pounds of tobacco
for " unlawful gaming at cards." The Henrico County
records of 1681 show us JNIr. Thomas Cocke, Jr., a gentle-
man of prominence, playing ninepins " at the ordinary "
at Varina, with Richard Rathbone and Robert Sharpe —
" the first four games to win, 31 up " — for four hundred
pounds of tobacco, and in the following year we find him
playing again wdth Sharpe for a hundred pounds of tobacco
a game. In 1682 " Mr. Pygott," also of Hem-ico, w^on
seven hundred pounds of tobacco from Martin Elam and
'John ]Milner at a game of " Cross and pile," and in 1685
Giles Carter won five hundred pounds of tobacco from
Charles Steward at a game of dice, and Captain William
Soane fifteen pounds of tobacco from Mr. William Dear-
love at a game of " putt."

Taverns and inns — or " ordinaries " as they were most
commonly called — where there were billiard tables and
bowling alleys, were favorite places for indulging the
gambling rage. George Fisher says in his diar}^ that dur-
ing his horseback ride from Williamsburg to Philadelphia
he passed Chisw^ell's ordinary, in Hanover County, at about
eight o'clock in the morning, and that in the room he entered
two planters were " at cards." " Something after ten " he
reached " Ashleys," where he saw " a number of 2)lanters
at ninepins," and at Mills' ordinary, which he passed at

SOCIAL LIFE

three o'clock, there " were hkewise a great number of peo-
ple at ninepins."

At the Augusta County Court, in 1762, several persons
swore that they saw John Boyers, Gentleman, " gaming
at an unlawful game called hazard, or seven and eleven,
at the house of Francis Tyler, ordinary keeper in Stami-
ton" Another game played at Tyler's ordinary was called
" pass and no pass."

According to the " Recollections " of David ^Meade,
William Byrd, the third, of " Westover," the only son of
his distinguished father, went to England before he was
of age and there engaged in " all the prodigalities and
dissipations to which young men of rank and fashion are
addicted," but he gambled " as a fashionable amusement
merely — avarice being a passion alien to his breast."

Virginia gossip said that at a noted gaming table in
London this young gentleman lost ten thousand pounds
sterling at a single sitting to the Duke of Cumberland.
The memorandum book of President John Blair of the
honorable Council shows that he, in 1753, won of young
BjTd £19.7 at " Westover," and £192.8.6 at Williams-
burg.

Mt. Blair also won money of ]Mr. Armistead Burwell ;
£17.3 of Mr. Sackville Brewer, and £1.10—" at back-
gammon " — of ]SIr. Burwell Bassett, and lost £l7.3 to iSlr.
Thomas Swann, " at bilhards."

All of these were gentlemen of " quality."

In 1772 Colonel Landon Carter, suspecting that his
young sons had been at the gaming table, confided to liis
diary, " Burn me, if I pay anything more for such sport."

Apropos of taverns a quaint writer of the time of
Bacon's RebelHon said that most of the inliabitants of

COLONIAL VIRGLXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Jamestown made a living " keeping ordinaries at extraordi-
nary rates." The number of visitors constantly coming
to the little town by ship and over land doubtless made
tavern-keeping a brisk business, but the charges were fixed
by law. Here is a list of rates from the Middlesex records
of 1770:

Pursuant to Law the Court doth set the following Rates and
Prices for Liquors, Diet, Lodging, Provender, Stableage, Fodder
and Pasturage to be paid at the several Ordinarys in this County
for the

£ S D
Canary Wine or Mallaga, the quart 4

Slierry, the quart 3

Madeira Wine the quart 4

Claret the quart 5

White wine the quart 3

Rhenish the quart 1. 6

Nants or French Brandy the gallon 16

Rum the gallon 10

English or Virginia Brandy the Gallon 6

A quart of Arrack made into punch 10

A pint of rum made into punch with white sugar 1. 6

A quart of Madeira Wine made into Sangaree or

lemonade with the same 4. 6

A pint of English or Va. Brandy made into punch

with the same 1

English strong beer or ale, the bottle 1. 6

The same, the quart 1. 3

Virginia Ale the quart 7^/2

^'irginia Small beer the quart 4

Good Cyder, the gallon 1. 3

Good Hughes best apple Cyder the quart 8

A dinner with good small beer 1. 3

A breakfast or supper with good small beer 1.

A night's Lodging with clean sheets 6

Pasturage for a Horse for twenty-four hours 6

Stablage for a horse for twenty-four hours 6

Corn or Oats per Gallon 6

150

SOCIAL LIFE

Taverns at the county seats were throughout the period
centres of social and political hfe, especially upon court
days, which beaming hosts turned into feast days for the
guests that boisterously overflowed them. The most famous
of them all was the Raleigh Tavern, at WiUiamsburg —
a square wooden building with many dormer windows and
a leaden bust of Sir Walter Raleigh over the door. Its
chief pride was a wainscoted banqueting hall named after
an apartment in a famous London tavern, the " Apollo
Room," which was the scene of many brilliant balls and
assemblies and notable political gatherings, not only before
the Revolution, but long afterward. In 1742 the Raleigh
was kept by one Henry Wetherburn, whose fame as a
mixer of punch has been preserved by the Goochland
County records. WilHam Randolph of " Tuckahoe " sold
to his friend Peter Jefferson — the father of Thomas Jef-
ferson— two hundred acres of land for mine host Wether-
burn's " biggest bowl of Arrack punch." The deed was
duly recorded in Goochland where it may be seen to-day.

Fisher makes special mention of the unusually hand-
some furniture in a tavern in the town of Leeds which he
visited during his horseback journey in 1755. He says:

" The Chairs, Tables, &c. of the Room I was conducted
into was all of mahogany and so stuft with fine, large
glaized copperplate prints that I almost fancied myself in
Jeffries' or some other elegant print shop."

Among the many other famous colonial taverns were
the " Rose and Crown," in Hampton, and the " Rising
Sun," in Fredericksburg."

A form of gambling extremely popular and generally
countenanced in Virginia was the lottery for disposing of
property of various kinds and raising money for smidry

^* Now the property of The Association for the Preservation
of Va. Antiquities.

COLONIAL VIRC.IXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

purposes. In 1753 the Gazette advertised a lottery to raise
money for preserving the country against the French.
There were to be 25,000 tickets at a pistole each, and 2050
of them were to draw prizes. In 1768 Richard Graves
announced a lottery to dispose of his estate in New Kent
consisting of his plantation, furniture, livestock, slaves,
and a double chair and harness for two horses.

In liis advertisement he appealed to the public to take
chances and " have the pleasure of affording some relief
to a distressed but deserving family," declaring that his
" misfortunes were not occasioned by any want of industry
but by accidents and his too hospitable, friendly and gen-
erous temper, which all his acquaintance can testify."

Among other lotteries advertised in the Gazette of
1768 was one by William Byrd, third, for disposing of his
property at Shockhoe and Rocky Ridge, as Richmond and
jVIanchester were then called, and one " for raising the
sum of £900 to make a road over the mountains to the
Warm and Hot Springs in Augusta County."

The healing properties of the mineral springs with
which the Virginia mountains abound brought going to the
springs into fashion in the seventeen-forties, and thence-
forward many of the low comitry planters journeyed by
coach-and-six, over hill, over dale, to give their families the
benefit of the change to bracing mountain air and let them
drink of and bathe in the health-giving waters. In June,
1747, Henry Lee, of Westmoreland, was at Berkeley
Springs. During the same summer the Reverend L.
Schnell, a Moravian missionary of Pennsylvania, visited
them, and in his " Diary of a Journey to ^laryland and
Virginia " says he saw " many sick people " there.

In 1750 Dr. Thomas Walker, who also kept a diary,
" went to the Hot Springs and found six invalids there."

152

SOCIAL LIFE

In 1769 Fielding Lewis ^vrote to Washington:

" I hope you have had an agreeable Journey to the
Springs and that Miss Custis has been benefited by them."

Of course the accommodations at these watering places
were extremely primitive. Life at them was doubtless not
unlike that enjoyed in the mountain camps of to-day. In
addition to their taverns, doubtless some of the frequenters
of all of them, as at Capon Springs on North Mountain,
put up " cottages to shelter them."

Going to the fair is another diversion which began in
colonial days. It was, like the old English fair, a market —
its special object being to bring buyers and sellers to-
gether— but, also like the English fair, it was accompanied
by various amusements. As early as 1665 the Governor
and Council ordered that a fair be held twice each year
at Jamestown. In 1737 the Virginia Gazette announced
that a fair was to be held in Williamsburg twice yearly
and that prizes in money would be awarded for the best
display of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. The advertise-
ment continues :

" The fair is to hold three days and there will be horse-
racing and a variety of diversions every day, and the fol-
lowing prizes to be contended for. A good hat to be
cudgelled for. A saddle to be run for — a handsome bridle
for the horse that comes in second and a good whip for the
third. A pair of silver buckles to be run for, by men,
from the College to the Capitol — a pair of shoes to him
that comes in second, a pair of gloves to the third. A
pair of pumps to be danced for by men. A handsome
firelock to be exercised for. A pig with his tail soaped to
be run after and given to the person that catches him and
hfts him off the ground by his tail."

153

COLONLU. VIRGIXIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

The next issue of the paper told of the success of the
fair. The Gazette also contains a number of references
to the Fredericksburg fair, which seems to have been a
regular institution from the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tur}^ on. Fairs were held at several other places, and in
1762 Staunton in The Valley had one. During it Ehza-
beth Hog and Priscilla Christian went to Crow's store and
got as " a fairing " a present of ribbon from the clerk.^^

AVhile the constant arrival of English ships which came
into the principal rivers and delivered their consignments
almost at the planters' doors, encouraged the direct impor-
tation of goods from London merchants, Virginia women
were not altogether denied the delights of shopping, for in
the towns and in the country there were surprisingly well-
stocked stores. Many of the planters had on their estates
general merchandise stores managed by salaried or inden-
tured storekeepers, in which English and Virginia goods
could be bought, and tobacco was currency. Says ^Michel:

" When the inhabitants need something they go to the
nearest ^Merchant who gives them what they want. It is
recorded according to agreement. When the tobacco is
ripe the ^Merchant arrives to take what is coming to him."

Daniel Sturgis, a storekeeper who had been a servant,
wrote about fifty j^ears later :

" Stores here are much like shops in London, only with
this difference, the shops sell but one kind or species of
wares, and stores all kinds. These commodities we sell
planters and receive in return tobacco, a weed of very
little sen-ice to mankind as to its use, yet as it is the promoter
of a great trade, is of infinite advantage to Great Britain."^*

" Chalkley's Augusta Co. Records, i, 341.

^« Guide to Material for Amer. Hist, in British Pub. Rec.
Office, ii, 323.

154

SOCIAL LIFE

One of the earliest of Virginia merchants was Thomas
Warnett, of Jamestown, in whose wull, made in 1629, the
stock of his store and his personal belongings are so im-
partially mixed that the reader shall be permitted to exert
his ingenuity in deciding which is which. He makes be-
quests of " butter, salt, candles, pepper, ginger, meal, ink,
writing paper, silk stockings, white starch, blue starch, pins,
knives, a green scarf edged with gold lace, his best sword
with gilt belt, his second best sword, his felt hat, sheets,
towels, napkins, tablecloths, a gilded looking-glass, a black
beaver hat, a doublet of black camlet, a pair of black hose,
vinegar, thread of several colors, silk and thread buttons, a
pewter candlestick, oil, a black felt hat, a suit of grey kersie,
a weeding hoe, a ' bowing ' hoe, Irish stockings, bars of
lead, gunpowder, a Polish cap furred, a pair of red
slippers." ^^

In the records of Henrico County is an inventory made
in 1678, of the stock of a store in the little village of Ber-
muda Hundred — then almost on the frontier — which had
been owned by Henry Isham of that place and two London
merchants named Richards. Among the goods were
women's and men's shoes, " French falls," children's shoes,
axes, steel spades, a bramble saw, shovels and tongs,
hammers, reaping hooks, " scarlet cloth," tapestry, men's
woolen stockings, brown sheeting, lawn, " pintadales," fine
calico, tufted hollands, blue linen, gloves, women's bodices,
children's, women's, and boys' stockings, whalebone,
candlewick, thread of various colors, girls' and women's
hoods, pins, ribbon, ivory and horn combs, children's caps,
buttons, silk galloon, silk floss, " tammy," " East India
petticoats," canvas, wax, spoons, chains, brandy, guns.

Water's Gleanings, 39.

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

guiilocks, powder, nutmegs, pepper, trays, strainers, bel-
lows, salt, trenchers, milk-pails, and steelyards. Another
store which is heheved to liave been in Bermuda Hundred
and belonged to Colonel Francis Eppes, w'ho was killed by
the Indians in 1679, had an even larger and more varied
stock, including some books, among them " a Bible in
quarto, with the AjDOcrypha," " two play books," " The
English School-master," " The Orphan's Legacy," " The
Academy of Compliments," and " The Clerks Tutor."

Later the finest stores in the colony were, naturally,
at WilHamsburg. The Gazette of 1751 contains some
appealing advertisements of their wares. In that year
George Gilmer, Apothecary, announced :

" Imported in the Duchess of Queenshur?/ and just
come to Hand, a large Assortment of Drugs with all man-
ner of Chymical and Galenical ^Medicines, faithfully pre-
pared, also a quantity of Almonds in the soft shell, fresh
Currans, Turkey Coffee, Prunes, Tamerinds, Bateman's
and Stouton's Drops, . . . Cinnamon, Cloves, ]Mace, Nut-
meg, Black Pepper and all-spice, Annodyne Necklaces,
White and Brown Sugar Candy, Sugar Plumbs, Carra-
way Comfits, Candied Eringo, Citron, Allum, Vermicelli,
Sandiver, Borax, Ratsbane, Crucibles, Wine Stone Indigo,
Chocolate, Bohea, Congo and Green Tea, Strong and good
^Vhite Tartar Emetic, with ditto dark nice cut Sarfa,
Black Soaps, China Root, Saltpetre, Oriental and Occi-
dental Bezoar Sponge, Gold Leaf, ]Musk, Plenty of Vials
and Pots, Coltsfoot, Birdlime, Spanish Juice, Juice of
Buckthorn," et cetera. " To be sold at reasonable Rates
by the Subscriber, at his Shop nigh the Court House, the
Corner of Palace Street, Williamsburg."

In the same year John Mitchelson advertised, " Great
variety of Household Furniture of the newest Fasliions,

Copyright. 1908, by J. E. H. Tost

JOHN TAYLOE (^D) OF • -MT. AIRY

SOCIAL LIFE

London make, viz.: Mahogany Chests of drawers, Ditto
Dressing tables. Ditto Card ditto, Ditto Claw ditto, Ditto
Chairs; Ditto Bedsteads, some with silk and some with
Worked damask Furniture, Window Curtains, &c. &c.
Ditto tea boards & tea chests and a dumb waiter, fine
large gilt, carved and plain Sconce glasses, a Chimney glass
and dressing glass, Turkey Carpets, a Spinet, Sundry
pictures done by good hands. Likewise linens, Iron, Brass,
and Pewter wares of Sundry sorts for Home use."

In the following year James Craig, jeweller, imported
a new assortment of " silver work," diamonds, amethysts,
and " diamond, mourning and other rings," to be sold " for
ready money only."

In 1769 William Willess, " gunsmith from Birming-
ham," announced that he had " opened shop opposite the
playhouse in Williamsburg."

Among novelties imported by capital city merchants
for this year were " shapes, ornaments and mottoes for
desserts."

The dress goods and millinery advertised show that
town and visiting belles had close at hand ample provision
for making themselves ready on short notice, and according
to the latest demands of fashion, for one of Mistress Stagg's
or la Baronne de Graffenreid's " Assemblies," or a " birth-
night ball " at the Governor's Palace.

Among country stores which patronized the advertising
columns of the Gazette was one " in Sussex County, near
Peter's Bridge," which in 1766 had for sale " broad cloths
with full trimmings for suits, stuffs for gowns and mil-
linery ware."

Philip Fithian, before leaving " Xomini Hall," where
he had been not only well cared for but happy, went shop-
ping at a nearby store to buy parting gifts for the Carter
girls, who had been his pupils. He selected " a neat gilt

11 157

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, 11^ PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

paper snuff-box for INIiss Priscilla, a neat best clear hair-
comb apiece for !Miss Nancy and Fanny, and a broad,
elegant sash apiece for Miss Betsy and Harriet." For the
whole collection he paid fifteen shillings.

The merchants in importing stock usually ordered
" spring goods " in the fall and " winter goods " in spring.

In The Valley where no tobacco was grown the skins
of animals became currency. Wolves were troublesome
there as in other frontier districts of the colony, and the
Government offered rewards for their destruction. In
1734 Samuel Woods bought eleven and a quarter yards of
" Masquerade " and seven and a half yards of " Sagathee,'*
a heavy woolen stuff, at Samuel Smith's store, in Augusta
County, and in payment gave the merchant an order for
the bounty on two wolves' heads. In 1738 Michael Woods
bought a dozen Catechisms at the same store for six foxes,
seven raccoons and one beaver.

The Augusta Records also show that in 1770 one
" Captain Sawj^ers " had a " peddling store " in Bedford.

The peddler with his pack was a familiar figure in
Colonial Virginia, throughout the period. Perhaps he was
in the business for himself, perhaps was one of several like
him sent out by a store to show his wares from house to
house, and sell them if possible, but certainly to create a
ripple of the kind of excitement looking at new goods and
perchance securing a bargain brings to women in lonely
neighborhoods. The peddler himself was doubtless a wel-
come visitor, for he could hardly make his round without
picking up many a bit of gossip ; a call from him was as
good as a newspaper.

Among English fashions which the Virginians, very
happily, did not bring ^vith them was that of duelling, for

158

SOCIAL LIFE

though duels were frequent after the Revolution, they
were so rare in the colony that only two of them are known
to have been actually fought. The first of these was at
" Dancing Point," in Charles City County, in 1619, when
a sea-captain named Edward Stallinge was killed by Cap-
tain William Eppes. In the second, in 1624, George
Harrison died from a cut between the knee and garter
from the sword of Captain Richard Stephens.

In 1653 Richard Denham was the bearer of a challenge
from his father-in-law. Captain Thomas Hacket, to Mr.
David Fox, a magistrate sitting on the bench. For this
disregard of the law and of propriety Denham was given
six lashes on his bare back, and Hacket held without bail
and his case sent on to the next General Court.

There were other challenges, one of which resulted dis-
astrously. In 1765 John Scott, the eighteen-year-old son
of the rector of Quantico Church, who had himself been
set apart for the ministry, had a quarrel with John Baylis,
an older man. Baylis spoke so insultingly of young Scott
and his father that the youth sent him a challenge by his
brother-in-law and chosen second, Cuthbert Bullitt. Mr.
Bullitt tried to dissuade his " dear Johnny," but failing, de-
livered the challenge with the resolve to make another
attempt to patch up the quarrel at the meeting, which was
to be before sunrise, behind the church. This he did, and
so angered Baylis that he opened fire, which Bullitt re-
turned wuth " Johnnj^'s " pistol and instead of the duel
coming off as arranged, Bullitt gave Baylis a mortal
wound. He was acquitted on a plea of self-defence, and he
and his family sorrowed with the widow and children of
Baylis. Young Johnny Scott fled over the sea, where he
completed his education at King's College, old Aberdeen,
and while doing so lived up to his reputation for impetu-

159

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

ousness by marrying — secretly, it seems, though he was
forgiven — a daughter of one of the professors. Later he
was ordained and returned to America as chaplain to the
Governor of INIaryland and rector of the Parish of Ever-
sham, in that province.

While the colonists were much given to litigation and
the court records show innumerable and long continued
suits, the law>^er had no distinctive place apart from the
mass of the people. He was simply a planter who prac-
tised law. The justices of the county courts and judges
of the general courts were not men trained to the legal pro-
fession, but some knowledge of law was part of the educa-
tion of every gentleman.

With the doctors it was different. Their work, like that
of the clergj% set them apart; it was not, like that of the
lam' ers, in court and legislature, but in the home where
it placed them upon the most familiar and confidential
footing and made them a part of the daily life of the people.

It seems strange when, according to modern views, the
early colonial physicians were utterly ignorant of the true
principles of medicine, and when sanitation and germs
were alike undreamed of, that these doctors cured any-
body. They undoubtedly did make cures, though their suc-
cessors of to-day may be of the opinion that their patients
recovered in spite of them.

In 1622 Doctor Edward Gibson treated successfully a
number of patients at Falling Creek — among them
Thomas Fawcett, who was " farre spent with the dropsy."
When Doctor Pott was convicted at Jamestown for brand-
ing other men's cattle as his own, one reason given for his
pardon was that the Virginians should not be deprived of
his skill in treatment of the " epidemical diseases " of the

160

SOCIAL LIFE

country. He was a Master of Arts, as well as an M.D.,
and had been sent to Jamestown by the Virginia Company
of London, on accomit of his ability.

There were from the beginning some physicians in the
colony who had been regularly trained in their profession
as it was known in that day, but it is likely that most of
the colonial practitioners had studied as apprentices, and
no doubt the colonies were good fields for quacks. It must
be remembered that even in England many practising
physicians had no degree. Late in the period — for twenty
years or more before the Revolution — many young Vir-
ginians went to Edinburgh to study medicine, and the
character of the profession was decidedly raised.

As was natural, Virginia physicians made many ex-
periments with native plants. Early in the eighteenth
century Doctor John Tennant, of Williamsburg, acquired
local fame by his advocacy of rattlesnake root as a specific
for many diseases, especially pleurisy, and Doctor John
Mitchell, of Urbanna, Middlesex County, who died in
London in 1768, was not only a distinguished physician
but made a name for himself by liis valuable researches
and discoveries in botany. He was an author of scientific
books, a Fellow of the Royal Society and gave informa-
tion about American flora to Linnaeus, who named the
Mitchella repens after him. In 1737 this advertise-
ment appeared in the Virginia Gazette:

" Every Man his own Doctor Or the Poor Planter's
Physician. Prescribing plain and easy Means for Persons
to cure themselves of all or most of the Distempers incident
to this climate, and with very little charge, the medicines
being chiefly the Growth and Production of this Country."

Doctors were constantly employed to treat servants
and slaves, and planters were not permitted to neglect bills

161

COLONLVL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

for such serv^ice. On the same day — ^larch 30, 1640 —
the Lower Norfolk County Court ordered Robert Came
to pay the bill of " Thomas Bullock, Chirurgeon," and
John Drayton that of Thomas Sawj^er, for " physic "
adminstered to slaves.

In 1764 Colonel Theodorick Bland placed an epileptic
slave under the care of Doctor James Greenhill, of Stony
Creek, -vvho in giving up his patient after several months,
made a quaint report of his treatment, in a letter to
Colonel Bland.

" According to your request," rmis the letter, " I have
sent the negro home but altho he is much amended yet I
am apprehensive that the disease is not quite vanquished
& therefore must desire that he be permitted to continue
the course of medicines he is now under at least 6 weeks
or two months longer. . . .

" When first he came to me I put him on a course of
Cumabarine jNIedicines. I Bled him, in the fit, vomited
him afterwards and . . . gave him aorthrementics and
mercurial purges. All this seemed to do no good. I there-
fore Resolved to give him a shock from two Glass Spheres
fixed to an Electric ^lachine, but before I could get it
completely fixed I drew a blister on the scalp behind — upon
the Occiput, dressed it according to Art and made it per-
petual, at the same time putting him under a different
course of Medicines than had been tried before. The
Bhster ran Bountifully for a while; ])ut drying, I laid
another upon the nape with an Intent to Stimulate a
Branch of a Considerable Nerve Called par Vagum which
in that part Lays Something Superficial, continuing the
Medicines with little Alteration. This succeeded and the
next Cliange of the ^loon expecting the fit, as usual, he
missed them. The Medicines has been continued and he

MANTEL IN A PANKLLKI) HK1)K(»()M

SOCIAL LIFE

has missed the fits this last full moon again. The Blister
is almost dry hut I intend if the fellow stays with me to
di-aw a fresh one. It is something remarkable that the
fits has Usually returned when the Moon was in the Sign
Capricorn Even When it was a week before or after the
full or change."

There is little doubt that had the poor darkey been
given his choice he would have preferred fits at the change
of the moon to bleedings, vomitings, electric shocks, and
" perpetual " bhsters.

The customary doctor's charge in Virginia seems to
have been as in England, a guinea a visit — the fee re-
ceived by Doctor Pasteur, of Williamsburg, when he
treated the mashed finger of Lady Tryon, the wife of the
Governor of North Carolina, during her visit to the
Governor and his lady in Virginia.

The tourist, Burnaby, summing up his impressions
of the Virginia people in 1760, declares:

" The chmate and external appearance of the country
conspire to make them indolent, lazy and good-natured;
extremely fond of Society and much given to convivial
pleasures. In consequence of this, they seldom show any
spirit of enterprise or expose themselves wiUingly to
fatigue. Their authority over their slaves renders them
vain and imperious and entire strangers to that elegance
of sentiment which is so particularly characteristic of re-
fined and polished nations. Their ignorance of manhood
and of learning exposes them to many errors and preju-
dices. The pubhc or polished character of the Virginians
corresponds with their private one; they are haughty and
jealous of their liberties, impatient of restraint and can
scarcely bear the thought of being controlled by superior

163

COLONL\L VIRGINIA, ITS PP:0PLE AND CUSTOMS

power. ]Many oi' them eonsider the Colonies as independent
states, not connected with Great Britain otherwise than by
having the same common King." He adds a note:

" General Characters are always liable to exceptions.
In Virginia I have had the pleasm-e to know several gentle-
men endowed with many virtues and accomplishments."

" The women," he continues, " are upon the whole
rather handsome, though not to be compared with our fair
country women of England. They have but few advan-
tages and consequently are seldom accomplished; this
makes them reserved and unequal to any interesting or re-
fined conversation . . . They seldom read or endeavor to
improve their minds; however they are in general, good
housewives and though thej^ have not, I think, quite as
much tenderness and sensibility as the English ladies, yet
they make as good waves and as good mothers as any in the
"vvorld."

Bm-naby had a kindly feeling toward the Virginians,
but his opinions show^ how far British prejudice could go.
It must be remembered that he came from an England
where the morals of Tom Jones and the manners of Tony
Lumpkin w^ere far from being confined to fiction. " Sen-
sibility," in which he says Virginia women were lacking,
was a fashionable affectation with which the mistress of
a plantation w^as too busy to be afflicted. But let us hear
from another witness from the same part of the w^orld.
Lord Adam Gordon, writing four years later, says :

" The first settlers were many of them younger
Brothers of good Families in England, who for different
motives chose to quit home in search of better fortune, their
descendants who possess the greatest land properties in
the Province, have intermarried and have always had a
much greater connection with and dependence on the

164

SOCIAL LIFE

Mother Country than any other Province. ... I have
had an opportunity to see a good deal of the Country and
many of the first people in the Province and I must say
they far excel in good sense, affability and ease any set of
men I have yet fallen in with, either in the West Indies
or on the Continent, this, in some degree, may be owing
to their being most of them educated at home ( in England )
but cannot be altogether the Cause, since there are amongst
them many Gentlemen, and almost all the Ladies, who
have never been out of their own Province, and yet are as
sensible, Conversible and accomphshed people as one
would wish to meet with."

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

)HE first lover, in very truth " sigh-
ing like a furnace," of whom Vir-
ginia records give us a pictui'e, is
John Rolfe, gentleman, the earliest
tobacco planter in the colony, a
member of his Majesty's Council
and soon to be Secretary of State.
When the Indian maiden Pocahontas, who had been
sold to Captain Argall for a copper kettle by the perfidious
uncle to whose care Powhatan had entrusted her, was
brought to Jamestown and held there as a hostage. Master
Rolfe astonished himself as much as any one else by losing
his heart to her. No sonnet to his lady's eyebrow could give
relief to the agitation and perplexity into which so unprece-
dented a situation threw him, and which he feared would
bring upon him the wrath of Heaven, the censure of the
government, and the criticism of his fellows, so he wrote
instead a long letter to the Governor, Sir Thomas Dale,
explaining his plight, and begging approval of his mar-
riage with her whom, he declared, *' My heart and best
thoughts are and have byn a long tyme soe intangled and
entralled in soe intricate a laborinth that I was even
awearied to unw\Tide myself e thereout."

He was not, he wrote, " so voyde of friends nor meane
in Birth " that he could not make a match to his " greate
content " in England, and he had looked " warily and with
circumspection " for reasons to provoke him to fall in love
with one whose " education hath byn rude, her manners
barbarous, her generation cursed and soe discrepant in all
nurtriture " to himself, and " oftentimes with feare and
tremblinge " had concluded that his sentiments toward her

16G

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

were " wicked instigations hatched by him whoe seeketh
and delighteth in man's destruction."

But for all his conscientious scruples against marriage
with a heathen whose ancestors were in hell — for he was
far too orthodox to believe in a happy hunting ground for
unbelieving braves — Master Rolf e's love for the forest maid
tortured him by day and disturbed his rest at night.
Finally, he declared, thoughts of her had taken the form of
a " more gratious temptacon . . . puUinge me by the eare
and cryene why doest not thowe endeavour to make her a
Christian." Since when he had persuaded himself and
hoped to persuade Governor Dale, that it was his religious
duty to wed the Indian Idng's daughter.

Thej^ were married about April 5, 1614, in Jamestown
Church, and with the consent of the Governor and of the
bride's father, who sent to witness the ceremony two of her
brothers and an uncle who gave her away. Doubtless
it was the charm which captivated Rolfe that won so many
friends for this American princess when she visited
England.

There was much wooing and wedding at Jamestown
and thereabout, in 1619 and the two years following, during
which the Virginia Company sent out a number of English
maidens — about a hundred and fifty in all — to provide
wives for the lonely bachelors of whom the colony was in
great part comprised. These courageous girls were said
to be " such as were specially recommended to the Com-
pany for their good bringing up," and were to be given in
marriage to the " most honest and industrious planters,"
each of whom was to pay his bride's passage money — a
hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco. The Governor
and Council were urged to be " as fathers " to the maidens,
who were not to be forced into distasteful marriages, but

167

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

were to be placed in homes of people of repute until they
found husbands to their liking.

According to a letter from Virginia in 1622, all the
maidens had then been mated.

In 1623 the colony had its first breach of promise case,
which doubtless caused no end of hub-bub in high society.
Only a few days after the death of Captain Samuel Jordan,
of " Jordan's Point," on James River, the Reverend Gre-
ville Pooley, who had conducted the funeral services, went
a-courting the young and wealthy widow, Cicely, taking
with him Captain Isaac Madison as witness of the promise
he hoped to receive. The fair Cicely accepted him, and he
and she drank each other's health, after which he kissed her
and said:

" I am thine and thou art mine till death us separate."

The lady desired the engagement might be kept quiet
for a time as she did not wish it known she had bestowed
her love so soon after her husband's death. Mr. Pooley
promised to keep the secret, but was so elated by his success
that he could not help letting it out. Whereupon Madam
Cicely, saying that he " had fared better had he talked
less," without giving him any notice engaged herself to
jNIr. William Farrar, an honored member of his Majesty's
Council. The parson sued her for breach of promise, and
in spite of the damaging testimony of Captain ]Madison
not only lost his case but made and had duly recorded in
court a formal release of the charmer, binding himself in
the sum of five hundred pounds sterling " never to have
any claim, right or title to her."

The Governor and Council were moved by this unique
suit to issue a solemn proclamation prohibiting women from
engaging themselves to more than one man at a time. The
proclamation was disregarded at least once, for at a court
held the following year it was ordered that:

• t

i

■ ^

.-,..^, .._ ,.__

POCAHONTAS

From a photograph of the ori^'iiial portrail

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

" The next Sabbath day, in the time of divine Service,
Eleanor Spragg shall publicly, before the congregation,
acknowledge her offence in contracting herself to two sev-
eral men at one time and penitently confessing her fault
shall ask God's and the Congregation's forgiveness. To
prevent the like offence in others it is ordered that every
minister give notice in his church that what man or woman
soever shall use words amounting to a contract (or engage-
ment) of marriage to several persons, shall be whipped or
fined according to the quality of the person offending." ^

In later years when Mr. William Roscow, who evi-
dently recalled these famous cases but doubted the power
of the law to keep a Virginia belle faithful to any one of
her string of lovers, secured Sarah Harrison's promise to
marry him, he made her put it in writing and it was duly
recorded, " Aprull ye 28, 1687," as follows:

" These are to Certifye all persons in Ye World that
I, Sarah Harrison, Daughter of Mr. Benja. Harrison, do
& am fully resolved & by these presents do oblige myself
(& cordially promise) to Wm. Roscow never to marry or
contract Marriage with any man (during his life) only
himself. To confirm these presents, I the abovesaid Sarah
Harrison do call the Almighty God to witness & so help
me God. Amen.

(Signed) Sarah Harrisox.""

Notwithstanding which the fascinating but fickle Sarah
married only two months later the distinguished Doctor
James Blair, the founder of William and Mary College.
When in the course of the marriage ceremony the minister
instructed her to promise to obey she replied, " No obey."
Upon which he refused to proceed and a second time told
her to say obey. A second time she said, " No obey" and a

1 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., xix, 231, 234i; xxi, 142-145.
169

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

second time the minister refused to proceed. Yet the third
time she said, ''No obey," whereupon the minister went on
witli the ceremony.^

The bridegroom seems to have passively acquiesced.
Doubtless he dared not say a word lest he lose his lady,
even at the altar. There is nothing in the records to
suggest that he ever regretted that she jilted Mr. Roscow
to marry him, and all witnesses agree that no matter how
capricious Virginia belles of the day — who were often mere
children — may have been with their lovers, they were gen-
erally above reproach as wives and mothers.

Among the interesting sights of old Jamestown to-day
are the tombs, near the church, of Doctor Blair and his
wife, the high-spirited Sarah. A sycamore tree has grown
up between their graves carrj^ing part of ^Irs. Blair's
tombstone — embedded in its trunk — some distance in the
air, as if marble could not rest easy over the ashes of so
independent a lady. Let any who may believe that there
were no strong-minded women in the good old days remem-
ber Sarah Harrison Blair.

Perhaps the most desperate lover of the time was no
less a person than Sir Francis Nicholson, Governor of the
colony, who became so madly enamored of Martha Bur-
well, daughter of Lewis Burwell, the second, of " Carter's
Creek," that he vowed to her that if she refused to marry
him he would kill her father and her brothers. To Doctor
Blair he swore that if she married anyone but himself he
would cut the throats of three men — the bridegroom, the
minister who performed the ceremony, and the justice who
issued the license. The affair made a savory dish of gossip
and rumors of it spread to England, and brought Governor
Nicholson a letter of remonstrance from a friend there.

2 Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., vii, 278.
170

COURTSHIP AND IVIARRIAGE

The young lady braved all his threats and married
Mr. Henry Armistead, of " Hesse," and there is no record
of murder committed as a result.

Men and women married early and often in " Earth's
only paradise, Virginia." Unhealthy conditions and ignor-
ance of hygiene kept the dread reaper busy separating
husbands and wives, but the lonely survivor — however
devoted he or she may have been — was seldom slow to find
another mate. Cicely Jordan only flirted with Parson
Pooley, but on the very day — May 19, 1657 — when the
will of Thomas Brice, of Rappahannock, leaving his whole
estate to his wife, was proved, a marriage contract between
her and the Reverend William White, who officiated at
the funeral, was recorded.

The most married woman of her day was Elizabeth

, who had so many husbands that her maiden name

has been lost. She was the wife successively of Thomas
Stevens, Raleigh Travers, Robert Beckingham, Thomas
Wilks, and George Spencer — prominent gentlemen, all of
them — and is supposed to have been the Widow Spencer
who married in 1697 William Man, and by taking this, her
sixth, husband went Colonel John Carter, the husband of
five wives, one better. Elizabeth Travers, the daughter
of the aforesaid Madam Stevens -Travers -Beckingham -
Wilks-Spencer-Man by her second marriage, was second
wife of John Carter, Jr., and after his death became the
third wife of Colonel Christopher Wormeley. Exampleslike
this make it plain that the way of the genealogist who under-
takes to untangle Virginia relationships is not a smooth one.

Colonel Byi'd, writing to the Earl of Orrery in 1727,
tells him that matrimony " thrives so excellently " in Vir-
ginia that " an Old Maid or an Old Bachelor are as scarce
among us and reckoned as ominpus as a Blazing Star."

171

COLONIAL VIIKJNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

He adds that one of the most " antique Virgins " he knows
is his daughter Evelyn — who was then about twenty —
and says, " Either our young Fellows are not smart eno'
for her, or she seems too smart for them."

This is the earliest on record of the many attempts to
explain why the lovely Evelyn Byrd died a spinster.

The proposal was a formal and elaborate matter in
Colonial Virginia. The lover who had proper regard for
the conventions and for a comfortable provision for him-
self and his heart's desire, confided his hopes to his father,
who — if he approved — informed the father of the fair one
that his son would ask permission to besiege her affections,
and what estate he would settle upon him if he should be
successful. If the match was acceptable to the lady's
father, he replied stating what property he would settle
upon his daughter. When the matter had been arranged
to the satisfaction of both parents, the anxious lover was
free to try his fortune with the maiden.

Courting a widow was a simpler matter for she dis-
posed of her own heart, hand, and fortune as she pleased,
as did the sister of William Fitzhugh, whose second hus-
band, ISIr. Luke, married her in 1692 without asking any
by-your-leave of her family. The brother expressed him-
self as satisfied because where a widow of property was
to be courted " consultations for marriage portions " were
unusual.

When John Walker of " Belvoir " set his affections
upon iNIistress Elizabeth jMoore, the following correspond-
ence passed between his father and hers :

May 27th, 1764..
Dear Sir:

My son, Mr. John Walker, having informed me of his intention
to pay his addresses to your daughter Elizabeth, if he should be
agreeable to yourself, lady and daughter, it may not be amiss to

172

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

inform you what I feel myself able to afford for their support, in
case of an union. jMy affairs are in an uncertain state, but I will
promise one thousand pounds, to be paid in 1766, and the further
sum of two thousand pounds I promise to give him ; but the uncer-
tainty of my present affairs prevents my fixing on a time of pay-
ment. The above sums are all to be in money or lands and other
effects, at the option of my son, John Walker.
I am. Sir, your humble servant,

Thomas Walker.
Col. Bernard Moore, Esq.,
in King William.

May 28, 1764.
Dear Sir:

Your son, Mr. John Walker, applied to me for leave to make
his addresses to my daughter, Elizabeth. I gave him leave, and
told him at the same time that my affairs were in such a state that
it was not in my power to pay him all the money this year that
I intended to give my daughter, provided he succeeded ; but would
give him five hundred pounds more as soon after as I could raise
or get the money, which sums you may depend I \\all most punctu-
ally pay to him.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

Bernard Moore.
To Thomas Walker,

Castle Hill, Albemarle County, Va.^

In 1765 Colonel Warner Lewis, of " Warner Hall,"
gave young William Armistead, heir of " Hesse," who was
in love with Molly Carter, of " Sabine Hall," a letter to
Colonel Carter in which he said:

" This will be delivered to you by my nephew. Will
Armistead, who informs me that you are acquainted with
his errand, which I hope meets with your approbation. I
heartily wish my God Daughter JNIolly may like him, if
she does the sooner they are married the better." The
writer says it will give him " great pleasure to see Miss

3 Page's " Page Family," 224.
12 173

COLONIAL VIRGINM, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

jSIoUy ^Mistress of Hesse," and adds, " You have been
young j^ourself, for God's sake hurry on the Match."

Doubtless the happy pair thought Colonel Lewis the
most delightful uncle in the world.

Another man and maid for whom the course of true love
ran smooth were Nicholas Cabell and Hannah Carrington,
from whom a legion of Cabells and their kin trace descent.
In 1772 the young lover's father, Colonel William Cabell,
received this letter from Hannah's father:

Dear Sir: I rec'd yours by your son Nicholas, whose intended
marriage alliance to my family is agreeable to me. I have referred
him to my daughter and he can inform you what progress he has
made. He is a young man that I have a good opinion of, and if
they get together I am in hopes you will find her a dutiful child
and a satisfaction to you for the remaining part of your time here.
I am with respect

Y'r very hum'l servt.

George Carrington.

Boys and girls, young men and maidens were then as
they have been from the beginning, are now and ever
shall be. The ever popular dance afforded abundant oppor-
tunity for soft eyes to look love to eyes that spoke again,
long rides and drives, and walks in grove and garden for
whispered vows; and who dare wager there was never a
kiss stolen in curtained window-seat or rose-embowered
sunmier-house ? When the lover armed with parental con-
sent, presented himself to his lady it is not hkely that his
declaration was always a surprise.

The Virginia belle was not too quick to bestow her
hand, but kept her suitor on his knees long enough to make
him appreciate her condescension in considering his peti-
tion. Anne Elair, daughter of President John Blair, in
one of her gossipy letters to her sister, INIrs. Braxton, thus
describes the manner in which such a Lady Disdain received

174

SARAH HARRISON
Wife of Doctor James Bla

I

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

a letter containing a proposal from a certain Mr. Tunstall :
" She was in a little Pett, but it was a very becoming
one, let me tell you. A glowing blush suffused o'er her
face attended with a trembling, insomuch that in extending
her arm to reach me the creature's insolence I thought ye
Paper would have fallen from her Hand. The emotions
I saw her in did not fail of exciting ye cm'iosity in me
natural to aU om- Sex, so that a dog would not have caught
more eagerly at a bone he was likely to lose than I did at
the fulsome stuff (as she call'd it) tho' must own on peini-
sal was charmed with ye elegance of his stile ; & I dare say
he might with truth declare his Love for her to equal that
of Mark Anthony's for Cleopatra. She thought proper to
turn his Letter back again with just a line or two signifying
ye disagreeableness &c. &c. of ye subject. . . . There are
several others Dancing and coopeeing about her, may they
scrape all the skin off their shins stepping over the benches
at Church in endeavoring who sho'd be first to hand her
in the Chariot." ^

One more picture of the ways of men and maids from
the letters of Anne Blair. In 1768 she and her sister
Betsy were visiting another sister, JNIrs. Cary, in Hamp-
ton, and the officers of several Enghsh men-of-war wliich
happened to be in Hampton Roads were giving them the
time of their lives. The sprightly Anne wrote Mrs.
Braxton :

" Hampton is now more gay than the Metropolis. The
Rippon, the Lancaster & the Magdalene are all in Harbour
here; balls both b}^ land and by Water in abundance, the
gentlemen of the Rippon are I think the most agreeably
affable set I have ever met with, & really it is charming
to go on Board; the Drum and Fife, pleasing countenances,

-^ " Blair, Banister, & Braxton Families," 51.
175

COLONIAL \1RGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

such polite yet easy Behaviour all hespeak a hearty Wel-
come. This family receives a great many civilities from
all the gentlemen, presents on presents; if there happens
a day without seeing them there is so many comp'ts to
enquire after our Healths that indeed to be people of
consequence is vastly clever.

" ' How stand yr hearts Girls,' I hear you ask? Why,
I will tell you, mine seems to be roving amidst dear variety;
& notwithstanding there is such Variety do you think
Betsy Blair k Sally Sweeny does not contend for one?
Betsy gave her Toast at Supper Mr. Sharp (a Lieutenant
on Board ye Rippon) Miss Sally for awhile disputed with
her, at length it was agreed to decide it with pistols when
they should go to bed. No sooner had they got upstairs
than they advanced up close to each other, then turning
short round, Back to Back, marched three steps forward
& fired; so great was the explosion & so suffocating the
smell of Powder, that I quitted the Room, till by Betsy's
repeated shouts I soon learned she had got the better of
her antagonist. Both survive."

Notwithstanding the lively Betsy's mock duel over the
fascinating Lieutenant Sharp she finally looked over his
head and married Captain Samuel Thompson, Commander
of the Rippon.

Idle scribblings in old books have preserved glimpses
of very real young folk. On the fly-leaf of a record book
for the years 1671-1676, in the York County Clerk's
office, is written, *' Hannah Armistead is One of ye hand-
somest Girls in Virgin'a, by Thomas Frayser." And
under it,

" Hannah For Ever, David Chamberlayne."

On the fly-leaf of an old book in Gloucester County
appears,

176

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

"Jane Nelson is a neat girl; Betsy Page is a sweet
girl; Lucy Burwell is the devil, if not the devil, she is one
of his imps."

Many adoring swains declared themselves in acrostics
and complimentary verses in which the name of the beloved
was sometimes concealed, which were published in the Vir-
ginia Gazette.

This tribute to Lucy Cocke is a fair sample of the
acrostic :

L oveley dear Maid, my gen'rous tale approve —
U ntaught in verse to sing the fair I love ;
C ould you but know the dictates of my heart,
Y our gentle soul wou'd healing balm impart.
C onquer'd by you, what raptures seize my breast,
O say dear Charmer, will you make me blest ?
C onstant I'll prove as light to early day
K ind as bright Phoebus to his darling May,
E ach hour each moment shall my love display.
Other acrostics appearing during the same year — 1768
— were to Catherine Swann and Nancy Murray, while
Alice Corbin's name was concealed in a rhymed puzzle.

Here is the first stanza of a poetical effusion, " On
Miss Anne Geddy singing and playing on the Spinet,"
contributed by an anonymous admirer:

When Nancy on the spinnet plays
I fondly on the virgin gaze

And wish that she was mine:
Her air, her voice, her lovely face
Unite with such excessive grace,
The Nymph appears divine.
Still another bit of complimentary verse — also anony-
mous— was entitled,

" A nosegay addressed to Miss Polly B. — in King
William."

Letters and wills show us both Washington and Jeffer-

177

COLONLVL VDIGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

son as ardent lovers. Washington, at the age of fifteen,
wrote an acrostic on the name of Frances Alexander in
which he declared that

Xerxes wasn't free from Cupid's Dart,
And all the greatest Heroes felt the smart.

He himself felt the smart often, for young Frances
was the first of a succession of damsels by whose " sparkling
eyes " he was " undone." At sixteen he was in love with
a " Low Land Beauty " who may have been the " Sally "
to whom he wrote in 1748 from " Belvoir," when he was
surveyor for Lord Fairfax, begging for a letter from her
and saying:

" I am ahnost discouraged from -v^a-iting to you, as this
is my fourth since I received any from yourself," But
cheerfully adding, " I pass the time much more agreeably
than I imagined I should, as there is a very agreeable
young lady lives in the same house where I reside ( Colonel
George Fairfax's wife's sister) that in a great measure
cheats my sorrow and dejectedness, though not so as to
draw my thoughts altogether from your parts."

About the same time he wTote to a friend whom he
addressed as "Dear Robin":

*' My place of residence at present is at his Lordship's
where I might, were my heart disengaged, pass my time
very pleasantly as there is a very agreeable young lady in
the same house. Col. Geo. Fairfax's wife's sister, but that
only adds fuel to the fire, as being often and unavoidably
in company with her revives my former passion for your
Low Land Beauty. Whereas were I to live more retired
from young women I might in some measure alleviate my
sorrow by burying that chaste and troublesome passion in
oblivion, and I am very well assured that this will be the
only antidote or remedy."

178

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

The " agreeable young lady " was Mar}'- Gary, with
whom tradition says he was soon enough deeply in love,
but like his Lowland Beauty, she failed to see the future
hero in the susceptible youth, and gave her hand to Edward
Ambler. According to one tradition the " Low Land
Beauty " was Lucy Grymes, of Riclmiond County, who
became the wife of Colonel Henry Lee; another says she
was Betsy Fauntleroy, by whom also he was certainly
rejected, for in 1751 he wrote to her father, William
Fauntleroy :

" I purpose to wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revo-
cation of the former cruel sentence, and see if I can meet
with any alteration in my favor."

In 1756 Robert Carter Nicholas wrote to him from
Williamsburg :

" The snuiF-box was properly returned & I took the
Liberty of Communicating the Extatick Paragraph of
your letter ; what Blushes & confusion it occasioned I shall
leave you to guess."

How " the snufF-box " came to be in Washington's
possession, and the name of its fair owner, are not revealed.

In 1757 he was courting Mary Phihpse of New York,
whom he met during a visit there. In July of that year his
friend, Joseph Chew, who had lately been in New York,
wrote him :

" As to the Latter part of your Letter what shall I say?
I often had the pleasure of Breakfasting with the Charm-
ing Polly. Roger Morris was there (don't be startled)
but not always, you know him, he is a Lady's man, always
something to say, the Town talks of it as a sure & settled
affair. I can't say I think so . . . but how can you be
Excused to continue so long at Phil'a? I think I would
have made a kind of Flying March of it if it had only been

179

COLONIAL MRGL\L\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

to see whether the Works were sufficient to withstand a
Vigorous Attack, you a Soldier and a Lover."

Again Wasliington was disappointed, for the " charm-
ing Polly " chose his rival.

In ^larch, 1758, he made a visit to Williamsburg,
where he met and fell in love with the young, wealthy, and
recently widowed ^lartha Custis. He was engaged to her
before the first of April and ordered a ring for her, from
Philadelphia, in jNIay. ^lilitary duty called him from
her side, but he wrote her from the frontier, on the march
for the Ohio:

" A courier is starting for Williamsburg and I embrace
the opportunity to send a few words to one whose life is now
inseparable from mine. Since that happy hour when we
made our pledges to each other, my thoughts have been
continually going to you as another self. That an all-
powerful Providence maj' keep us both in safety is the
prayer of your ever faithful and affectionate friend."

They were married in the following January.

Jefferson, too, w^as unlucky in love, and finalty consoled
himself with a widow. He was, however, in youth, long
constant to his earliest flame, Rebecca Burwell of " Carter's
Creek," whom he fancifully called " Belinda." In 1762,
when a law-student at William and ^lary, he carried her
picture in his watch like any college boy of to-day, and
when it w^as injured by a wetting wrote of it to his chum
and confidant, John Page:

" Although the picture be defaced there is so lively an
image of her imprinted on my mind that I shall think of her
too often I fear for my peace of mind; and too often I
am sure to get through old Coke this winter." He adds,
" Write me very circumstantially everything that happened
at the wedding. Was she there? Because if she was I

180

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

ought to have been at the Devil for not being there too."
Further on in the letter he says :

" I would fain ask Miss Becca Burwell to give me
another watch paper of her own cutting which I should
esteem much more were it a plain round one than the
nicest in the world cut by other hands."

Jefferson was at this time in his life very much of a
ladies' man, fond of dancing and society and a favorite
with the girls, though he was devoted to but one. In the
letter quoted he charges Page:

" Remember me affectionately to all the young ladies
of my acquaintance, particularly the Miss Burwells and
IMiss Potters and tell them that though the heavy earthly
part of me, my bodj^ be absent, the better half of me, my
soul, is ever with them. . . . Tell — tell — in short tell them
all 10,000 things more than either you or I can now or
ever shall think of as long as we live." He sends a special
message to Alice Corbin, whom he has bet a pair of garters
— for himself — that a certain " pretty gentleman " is soon
to make his addresses to her.

John Page was at this time one of the numerous train
of the fascinating Anne Randolph, of " Wilton " on the
James, known to her circle as " Nancy Wilton." In Janu-
ary, 1763, the future author of the " Declaration of Inde-
pendence " wrote to the future Governor of Virginia:

" How did Nancy look at you when you danced with
her at Southall's? Have you any glimmering of hope?
How does R. B. do? Had I better stay here and do nothing
or go do^vn and do less? ... I have some thoughts of
going to Petersburg if the Actors go there in May. If I
do, I do not know but I may keep on to Williamsburg
as the birthnight will be near. I hear that Ben Harrison
has been at Wilton, let me know his success."

181

COLOMAL MUGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

In the following July the lovesick youth wrote Page:

" If Belinda will not accept my service it shall never
be offered to another. That she may I pray most sin-
cerely, but that she will she never gave me reason to hope."

On October 6 he and his " Belinda " were together at a
ball in the " Apollo room " at Raleigh tavern and he de-
cided to make a final trial of his fortune. On the day
following he gave vent to his disappointment in a letter
to John Page, in which he says:

"In the most melancholy fit that ever any poor soul
was, I sit do^vn to write to you. Last night, as merry as
agreeable company and dancing with Belinda in the Apollo
could make me, I never could have thought the succeeding
sun would have seen me so wretched as I now am! I
was prepared to say a great deal. I had dressed up in my
own mind, such thoughts as occurred to me in as moving
language as I knew how, and expected to have performed
in a tolerably creditable manner. But, good God! When
I had an opportunity of venting them, a few broken sen-
tences, uttered in great disorder, and interriqited with
pauses of uncommon length, were the too visible marks
of my strange confusion! "

His discouragement was so complete that he seems to
have made no further effort to win her, though a letter to
another chum, William Fleming, early in the following
year, shows that he was still hoping.

" Dear Will," he writes, " I have thought of the clever-
est plan of life that can be imagined. You exchange your
land for Edgehill, or I mine for Fairfields, you marry
S — y P — r, I marry R — ^a B — 1, join and get a pole chair
and a pair of keen horses, practice the law in the same
courts, and drive about to all tlie dances in the country
together."

182

COURTSHIP AND IVIARRIAGE

This was followed speedily by another letter written
" March 20, 1764,. 11 o'clock at night," when he was suffer-
ing with a violent headache and his candle was nearly
burned out, in which he says:

" With regard to the scheme which I proposed to you
some time since, I am sorry to tell you it is totally frus-
trated by Miss R. B.'s marriage with Jacquelin Ambler
which the people here tell me they daily expect. I say, the
people here tell me so, for (can you believe it?) I have
been so abominably indolent as not to have seen her since
last October, wherefore I cannot affirm that I know it
from herself. . . . Well, the Lord bless her I say! "

The fortune hunter was not unknown in Virgina. In
1773 Gustavus Brown Wallace of " Elderslie," King
George County, who was afterward a lieutenant-colonel
in the Revolution, wrote to his brother:

"Am just going to look up a wife among the High-
lands of Fauquier, but say thou not a word, she has a deal
of gowd and gear and is a bonnie muckle piece worth about
£3000, which would make Elderslie smile, but her faither
and mither are twa crooked people to deal with."

It is a pleasure to relate that ]Mr. Wallace failed to
secure his Fauquier County heiress.

The banns of matrimony were published three times in
Virginia as in England, though it was the custom for
couples of means and station to obtain a special license,
when the banns were omitted. The minister's fee was fixed
by law — two hundred pounds of tobacco or twenty shillings
in money being allowed for marriage by license, but only
fifty pounds of tobacco or five shillings where the banns
were proclaimed.

The wedding was attended by uproarious rejoicing and
merrymaking. Not only did all Virginia love a lover but

183

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

the pLinting of a new roof-tree, the establishment of a
new fireside, spelled happiness and growth to the thinly-
settled colony. In the earliest days salutes were fired as
part of wedding celebrations, but though it was soon made
unlawful to spend powder unnecessarily on account of the
constant fear of Indian warfare, there was never any em-
bargo on feasting, dancing, and the drinking of healths,
and these were often kept up for days, with the happy pair
as central figures in the festive scene.

Colonel James Gordon, of " ^Merry Point," tells in his
journal of the marriage of his daughter Xancy to Mr.
Richard Cliichester, in 1758. The wedding was according
to the usual custom with the well-to-do, at home, at eleven
o'clock in the morning. All of the guests, except the par-
son— seventeen grown people and some children — spent the
day and night. The next day was Sunday, and the whole
company, including the bride and groom, went to church —
Colonel Gordon himself and some of the gentlemen in his
boat, Mrs. Gordon, the bridal pair, and the rest " in chairs."
" All except ]\Ir. Tayloe " returned to "Merry Point" for
dinner.

The Augusta records mention a wedding reception
given to George Hylton, a Fluvanna County carpenter,
and his fifteen-year-old bride, Bethenia, in 1764.

In The Valley, where the ceremony was often per-
formed at the minister's house, the quaint Irish custom of
running for the bottle was in vogue. On the return of the
bridal party tlie young men, when a few miles from the
house, would spur their horses to a full gallop and race the
rest of the way. The winner received a bottle of liquor deco-
rated with white ribbon, and galloped back with it to meet
the rest of the party. Opening the bottle, he presented
it first to the bride and then to the groom, and when they

184

COURTSHIP AND IVIARRIAGE

had each tasted its contents it was passed around to all
the company.^

Neither parsons nor newspapers spared the blushes of
the newly married. Marriage sermons were fashionable,
though they must have been embarrassing to those in whose
honor they were preached, and local news items were even
more personal than they are now. The Virginia Gazette of
January 7, 1769, announced:

" On Sunday last Mr. William Nelson, Jr., and his
newly married lady made their appearance in Church for
the first time when the Rev. Mr. Dunlap delivered an ex-
cellent sermon on the marriage state."

Here are other news items from the Gazette of the same
year:

" We are informed that Mr. George Savage, lately of
the Secretary's office, is married to Miss Kendall, a young
lady possessed of an independent fortune of at least 6000
pounds."

" Yesterday was married in Henrico Mr. Wm. Carter,
third son of ^Ir. John Carter, aged 23, to Mrs. Sarah
Ellyson . . . aged 85. A Sprightly old girl with three
thousand poimds fortune."

And here is one from the issue of November 19, 1736:

*' Yesterday was Fortnight Ralph Wormeley, of Mid-
dlesex County, Esq., a young Gentleman of a fine Estate,
was married to the celebrated ^liss Sally Berkeley, a young
Lady of Great Beauty and Fortune."

In the following year the Gazette announced the mar-
riages of " Miss Betty Tayloe, a young lady of great
beauty and fortune," and " Miss Fanny Grymes, a young
lady of great merit and fortune."

s Kercheval's " History of the Valley of Va.," 58.
185

VI
DRESS

N the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies the apparel made the man, and
social distinctions were marked by the
quality and cut of clothing. A pas-
sion for dress was the natural result.

The American habit of keeping
up with European fashions began at
Jamestown. In England each new^ reign brought changes
in costume which were conveyed by the first ships to Vir-
ginia where they were looked for as eagerly as " at home "
and followed as faithfully as opportunity would allow,
^lerchants on both sides of the ocean took pains to adver-
tise to their colonial patrons that their goods were " fash-
ionable in London." The reign of James I was marked
by unusually few changes, and as the dress of Elizabeth
still prevailed when the colony named for her was settled,
there is no doubt that the first comers stepped ashore in
the huge ruffs associated with her name, or the broad turn-
over collars knowTi as " falling bands " which were con-
temporary wath and had begun to supersede them, the
slouch hats with brim turned rakishly up or down — cow-
boy fasliion — at the fancy of the wearer, the doublets and
hose and low, rosette-trimmed shoes of her time. In an
illustration in Smith's *' Historic of Virginia " represent-
ing the doughty Captain taking the King of Pamunkey
prisoner, his hat is sharply turned up in front and adorned
wnth a feather hat-band. Over his doublet is the sleeveless
jacket of leather for protection against sword cuts, kno^vn
as a buff* jerkin. Bagg}' hose meet smooth fitting stock-
ings below the knee, where they are fastened at the Side
with rosette-trimmed garters. He wears the short hair

186

WILUAM MOSELEY
About 1640

DRESS

and beard of the day ; and a linen falling band, a pair of the
fashionable hanging sleeves dangling from his shoulders,
leather gloves, rosetted shoes, and a sword complete his
costume.

Smith's " Historic " also gives us the equipment the
Virginia Company deemed necessary for the comfort of
the colonist. The list includes a Monmouth cap, three
falling bands, three shirts, one waistcoat, one suit of can-
vas, one of frieze, one of broadcloth, three pairs of stock-
ings, four pairs of shoes, and a dozen " points." A Mon-
mouth cap was a head covering made to resist the weather
and worn from an early date by seafaring men, and a
point was a lace of ribbon, leather, or worsted, with a tag
at one end, used for fastening clothing together and for
ornament. Doubtless our colonist wore his suits of frieze
— a coarse woollen stuff — and of canvas for every-day
work, and donned his broadcloth with gilt or silver buttons
on Sundays.

A suit of light armor, a sword, and a gun were recom-
mended for protection against Indian weapons, and the
Census of 1624-5 shows that there were then in use in the
colony three hundred and forty-two complete suits of ar-
mor, two hundred and sixty coats of mail and headpieces,
and twenty quilted coats and buff-coats. As late as 1654
the inventory of Cornelius Lloyd, of Lower Norfolk
County, names " one suite of Ai'mor and one case of pistols,
and fragments of rusty armor have been dug up at James-
town within recent years.

After the disappearance of armor the sword continued
to be part of the regular dress of the colonial gentleman
and it appears in a great number of Virginia wills and in-
ventories. Among many planters who bequeathed silver-
hilted swords — generally with belts — between the latter

187

COJ.OMAL VIRGINIA, ITS TEOrLE AND CUSTOMS

j)art of the seventeenth century and the middle of the eigh-
teenth were AValter Whitaker, John Scott, Corbin Grif-
fin, Henry Applewhite, Thomas Cocke, James Vaux, An-
drew jNIonroe, George Glascock and William Yomig. In
1733 Colonel Francis Eppes bequeathed a " silver-hilted
sword washed with gold," and the inventory of Governor
Spotswood, 1740, names " one silver-hilted sword, gilt."
Robert Beverley, who died in 1734, and John Spotswood,
in 17o8, each left two silver-hilted swords.

During Lord Delaware's time the crimson cloaks of
his bodyguard made a striking variation from the habitual
close-fitting doublet. In his lordship's portrait he wears
a plain linen falling band above his velvet, while that of
Captain George Percy, of his Majesty's Council, and that
of Pocahontas painted during her visit to England, show
collars of the same shape, but fashioned of rich lace. The
Indian princess has deep cuffs to match her lace band,
and carries an elegant fan of ostrich feathers, like any
noble English lady of the day. She wears the small velvet
cap or turban, which was an Elizabethan fashion, with a
stylish jewelled hatband around it. Steeple hats of beaver
with either a wide or narrow brim were more used by
both women and men, and were sometimes adorned with a
feather in addition to the jewelled, pearl, or silver hatband.

Variations of the doublet and hose made of the richest
materials that could be bought or of coarser stuff, accord-
ing to the estate of the wearer, were worn by Englishmen
at home and across the sea until the coat, waistcoat, and
knee breeches, the first of wliich appeared toward the close
of the reign of Charles II, succeeded them. The doublet
was often splendid with embroidery, slashings, gold or silver
laces or })uttons, and the upper part, or tnmk, of the hose,
of voluminous proportions and lined with a kind of crinoline

188

DRESS

called bombast, or stuffed with everything the wearer could
lay his hands on, until it became as great a monstrosity
as the farthingale worn by the ladies. In 1629 Thomas
Warnett, the Jamestown merchant, bequeathed a doublet
of black camlet — a handsome material of camel' s-hair
mixed with silk — a pair of black hose, silk stockings, and
a black beaver hat. He also left a green scarf edged with
gold lace, a sword with a gilt belt, and a pair of red slippers,
and he had been the fortunate possessor of a gilded looking-
glass in which to have the pleasure of beholding himself
thus gloriously arrayed.

The inventory of Major Peter Walker, of Northamp-
ton County, 1655, mentions a broadcloth doublet and hose
with silver lace. Major Walker also had a broadcloth
short coat with silver lace, and a broadcloth coat for a
horseman.

A passing fashion of the latter part of the reign of
Charles I was the wearing of petticoat breeches in which a
short skirt suggestive of a Highlander's kilt covered the
upper part of the hose in place of the padded trunk. As
late as 1768 the Virginia Gazette advertised a runaway
servant who wore when last seen " petticoat trousers."
They must have been an old pair rummaged out of some
attic to which change of fashion had long before relegated
them.

Another passing fasliion of this reign — a revival from
an earlier day — was the love-lock, a tress permitted to
grow long and hang down on one side of the head. It was
curled and tied with a ribbon which was generally a keep-
sake from some fair charmer, and was considered the van-
ity of vanities. In England tracts were wi'itten and
sermons preached against it, and it was worn to some
extent by gentlemen of fashion in Virginia for, in 1639,

COLONIAL MRGINM, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

during a quarrel between the Reverend Anthony Panton
and ]Mr. Richard Kempe, Secretary of State of the Colony,
who had been much at Court in England, the parson de-
clared that the Secretary's love-lock was tied with a ribbon
" as old as Paul's " — meaning the venerable St. Paul's
Cathedral, London — which may only have proved that
the gentleman cherished a proper sentiment for the gift
of his lady b}^ w^earing it even after it had long lost its
pristine freshness.

The dress of the Cavalier was dashing and picturesque.
His doublet was of silk, satin, or velvet, slashed up the
front, and had large loose sleeves. With it he wore a fall-
ing band of Vandyke lace. His hair was long, and, parted
in the middle, fell in loose curls on his shoulders, his beard
peaked, with small upward turned moustaches, and on
the side of his head was a broad-brimmed hat with rich
hatband and plume. A rapier hung from his sword-belt
or sash, a short cloak was thrown over one shoulder, and
sometimes an earring hung from one ear. Major John
Brodnax, of York Countj^ Virginia, who, according to
tradition was a royalist who had seen service in the Civil
AVars in England, bequeathed in 1657 his " Eare-Ring
with a diamond in itt."

In striking contrast was the Puritan with his close-
cropped head, plain cloth doublet and hose, narrow linen
falling band, and steeple hat minus gold lace, glittering
hatband, or waving plume.

Near the end of the reign of Charles II arose the
vogue to frizz, curl, and powder the hair, or dispense with
it altogether and wear in its place the new French head-
dress variously known as the wig, periwig, or peruke.
The rage for this freak of Dame Fashion's lasted in Eng-
land over a hundred years, and many Virginian portraits

190

j

DRESS

bear witness to his popularity in the colony. In 1657
Major Brodnax bequeathed a periwig along with his
diamond earring.

In 1752 William Gamble, wig-maker, of Williamsburg,
was arrested for debt and advertised in the Gazette that
he had taken into partnership Edward Charlton, " late
of London," who would carry on his business in his shop
" next door to the Raleigh Tavern," while he was in the
debtor's prison. In 1766 Wilham Godfrey, peruke-maker,
opened shop in Williamsburg, and in 1768 a Yorktown
merchant advertised that he had imported a " quantity of
brown human hair and black horse hair " and was prepared
to supply peruke-makers.

The craze for the wig began to decline about 1750, and
give way to the braided pigtail and queue worn in a bag.
with both of which powder was used and the hair around
the face frizzed or curled — especially for dress occasions.
Philip Fithian, writing at " Nomini Hall," 1774, says:

" I was waked by Sam, the barber, thumping at my
door. I was dressed, in powder too; for I propose to see
and dine with Miss Jenny Washington to-day."

With the wig and powdered hair appeared the cocked
hat which took as firm a hold on the affections of the
devotees of fashion — for it was worn until the Revolution.
In The Rambler for 1751 is printed a letter from a young
gentleman of London who says that his mother " would
rather follow him to the grave than see him sneak about
with dirty shoes and blotted fingers, hair unpowdered and
a hat uncocked."

With the coats and waistcoats, the wigs and cocked
hats of the " Merry Monarch's " time came cravats of lace
with square ends hanging from a knot under the chin, and
shoe buckles began to replace the long popular rosettes.

191

COLONLVL MRGIXIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

During the reigns of James II, William and Mary,
and Anne, the periwig flourished like the proverbial green
bay tree, and the square-cut coat with huge cuffs from
which hung lace ruffles became general and, with slight
variations, was the gentleman's dress throughout the re-
mainder of the colonial period. With the decline of the
wig the elaborate lace cravat gave way to the severe stock.

Woman's dress underwent fewer decided changes. The
starched ruff or more becoming falling band of linen or
lace, the ^nde or narrow brimmed sugar-loaf hat, the
close fitting and more or less ornate stomacher, the billow-
ing crinoline held sway for generations.

With the reign of Charles II these gave way to less
stiff, formidable attire — the low-necked bodice, the petti-
coat, to display which the voluminous gown parted in the
middle and often flowed out in a train behind; uncovered
curls. Up to this time my lady's hair had generally been
partly or altogether concealed by a "coif," " hood," or
"cap"; and caps of some description were fashionable for
women, young and old, throughout the colonial period.
Virginia portraits show them in great variety.

In 1629 Thomas Warnett bequeathed a "coif" and
a " cross-cloth of wrought gold," which had doubtless been
imported for sale. A coif was a close cap covering the
top, sides and back of the head, and a cross-cloth was worn
with it for ornament. In 1643 Robert Morton, of Lower
Xorfolk, bought two " Holland Quoifes."

With the reign of W^illiam and iSIary came more formal
costume for women — including the towering head-dress
constructed by combing the hair upward over a cushion
and decorating it with quantities of ribbon and lace. In
Queen Anne's time there was a return to the simpler and
more natural arrangement of tresses. Gowns were now

192

JOHN PAGE

About 1660

DRESS

flounced and furbelowed, and the hooped petticoat — suc-
cessor to the farthingale — appeared. With some varia-
tions, the fashions of this gracious lady's reign remained
through the period, but near its close the hair rose again
in mountains of puffs, curls, and powder, ornamented with
tufts of feathers, flowers, or ribbon known as egrets.

A majority of the colonial portraits of Virginia women
show costumes and head-dress of elegant and charming
simplicity; a favorite arrangement of the hair shows it
parted and pushed softly back from the face, with a loose
curl drawn over one shoulder somewhat after the fashion
of the love-lock, and sometimes called a " heart-breaker."

Fithian describes the dress of some of the girls he saw
at Chi-istian's dancing class at " Nomini," in 1774, when
the ornate top-knot was in vogue. Of Jenny Washington,
aged seventeen, he says:

" Her dress is rich and well chosen, but not tawdry,
nor yet too plain. She appears to-day in a chintz cotton
gown with an elegant blue stamp, a sky blue silk quilt,
spotted apron, and her light brown hair craped up with
two rolls at each side, and on top a small cap of beautiful
gauze and rich lace, with an artificial flower interwoven."

Aprons were frequently used for ornamental as well
as practical pm-poses in England and Virginia. According
to the inventory of Mrs. Sarah Taylor, of Lower Norfolk,
she left, in 1640, a " sea green apron," valued at one
pound four shillings — equal to at least twenty-five dollars
to-day. In 1769 a Williamsburg milliner advertised
flowered gauze aprons. A " quilt " was a quilted petti-
coat. Fithian continues:

" Miss Hale " — aged about fourteen — " wears a white
holland gown, cotton diaper quilt very fine, a lawn apron
and has her hair craped up and on it a small tuft of ribbon
for a cap."

193

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Betsy Lte, a child of thirteen, has on " a neat shell
calico gown," and her light hair is " done up with a
feather."

At a hall this ohsenant young Presbyterian divinity
student attended as an interested looker-on, " Miss
Ritchie " was apparelled in a " blue silk gown and her
black hair done up neat without powder."

Extravagance in dress was frowned upon by the law-
makers in the early days of the colony. The Assembly
of 1619 passed a law that every bachelor should be assessed
according to the value of his own apparel, and everj^ mar-
ried man according to that worn to church by himself
and his family. Notwithstanding which John Por}% who
presided over that famous gathering, said in a letter to
England :

" Our cowe-keeper here of James Citty, on Sundays,
goes accoutred all in fresh fflaming silke, and a wife of
one that had in England professed the blacke arte not of a
scholler but of a Collier, weares her rough bever hatt
with a faire perle hatband and silken sute there to corre-
spondent."

In 1621 the authorities in England directed the Gov-
ernor, Sir Francis Wyatt, " not to permit any but the
Comicil and the heads of hundreds to wear gold in their
cloaths or to wear silk till they make it themselves." This
was both to discourage display and to create interest in
the silk industry which the Virginia mulberry tree made
an early and long cherished dream of the colony and the
Company. On account of the low price of tobacco a law
was passed in 1661 forbidding, under penalty of confisca-
tion, the importation of silk either made up into garments
or by the piece, save for hoods and scarfs, of " bone lace
of silk or thread," or of ribbons " wrought with gold or

194

DRESS

silver"; but as this act is erased in the original record of
laws, it was prop ably vetoed by the Governor. It is some-
times difficult to determine just what is meant by " lace,"
as the word is used for both the tapes and cords extensively
employed in fastening clotliing together and lace with an
open-work pattern purely for decoration. Laces made
with thread wound on bone bobbins were called " bone
lace " in England and in the colonies.

In 1639 Henry Sewell, of Lower Norfolk County,
imported one-half piece of silk Mechlin and ten yards of
silver lace.

Here is a bill for lace brought in 1677 by William
Sherwood who, though he was Attorney General of the
Colony, was not one of the wealthiest planters.

£ s. d.

To 1 Cravat Lace cost 5 0 0

To 4 Yards Lace Cost 25 sh f yard 5 0 0

To 1 Yard of fine Lace for a pinner 1 10 0

To 3 Yards of Lace for Frills and falls Cost 16 sh.lSd. 2 8 0

To 6 Yards of fine plain ground Lace at 8s. 6d. . 2 11 0

To 3 Yardsof Point Lace for a Handkerchief at 6s. 6d. 0 19 0

To 1 Yard of narrow Lace at 0 2 0

To 2 Tiffany Whisks 1 0 0

£18 10 0

It should be remembered that money at this period
was worth three or four times as much as it is to-day.
" Frills and falls " were sleeve ruffles and collars, and a
" pinner " was a head-dress with lace streamers to hang
down on each side of the face, while a "tiffany whisk"
was a neckerchief of a gauzy silk fabric known as tiffany.

In 1724 Colonel Thomas Jones ordered from London
" a girls blew hatt " lined with silk and trimmed with a
ribbon band and " a rich open silver lace," and in 1728

195

COLONIAL \TRGESX1, ITS PEOPLE AXD CUSTONIS

wfaeQ >J-rs- Jonei was Ji England Mrs, ^lir-/ .S::th wrote
her frwn Yirginia :

^ When yoa eooie to London pray f stout me in vour
dKMoe €^ a sunt of pinners sohably dressed with a cross-
knot roil or whaterer the f ashion requires, with sintahk
mflEfes and handkerchief. I like a lace of some hreadtfa,
and of a heaotifQl pattern, that may be plainly seen,
fine enoQgli to loc^ wdl, hot not a superime costly lace.
And likewise he^ your cfamee ai a rery genteel fan."'

The handkerchief ^ suitable " to wear with the f ash*
iooafale pinners was eridently a neck handkerchief.

Ladies going abroad were often asked to diop for tiieir
friends;^ just as they are to-day. Li 1752 Lady Gooch, the
wife of Goremor Sir WTniani ^ — — ^ to F.ngTanH,
and at the request o: ::.c K .las Dawson,

rector of Bmtoo Chxni vr : _ > t for his

wife;. Madam Prisciik. E:^;c:- L_ ._. _ :^.3hionable
laced cap, handkerchief, raflks, and tuckers, a fashionaHe
brocade suit, a pair of stays, a Une satin petticoat, a scarlet
doQi nnder-petticoat, a pair of bhie satin shoes, fall
trimmed, a hoop, a pair of bine silk stockings, a fasfaim-
aUe sSher girdle, a fan.^

Washington was intimate with the Dawsons and rery
likdy danced tibe mimiet at an assembly or a ^ birthnight "
with this parson's wife in her London finery.

In spite of laws and regnlatioos, wiDs and inren-
tones dbow that the Virginia planter and his family had
an tibe lidi fabrics that were f asfaionaUe across the water,
as widl as the coarso- stuff's mannf actored for tiie poor
man's laimenL Amwig silk materials frequently named
are sarcenet, which was nsed principally for Hmng, bat
also for mantifs and gowns; tabby, which was watered;
madMmrjOiOegtQamxiaij, tv 124.

Kl.lMHKrH LAMH>N

DRESS

damask, which was flowered; ducape, which was corded;
Persian, which was flowered or " sprigged "; taffeta, heav-
ier than the modern fabric of that name ; Paduasoy, a rich,
smooth silk originally made in Padua; lutestring, a plain
silk widely used, and tifl'any.^ Satin, plush and velvet were
also imported as were several rich materials in which silk
and wool or silk and flax were combined. Broadcloth was
much used, and other handsome woollen fabrics were calH-
manco, prunella, a heavy material used for petticoats,
mantles, and women's shoes and drugget. A cheaper stuff*
was paragon, which was frequently red in color and used
for bodices. Cotton and linen fabrics were India calico and
cherridary, chintz, dimity, holland, blue linen, dowlas, and
lockram. Durable stuffs for men's wear were serge,
kersey, sagathy, fearnought, frieze, and duffels. For hard-
est wear leather breeches were often worn. Oznaburgs and
canvas were coarse linen materials imported in large quan-
tities for shirts, jackets, and breeches for rough wear, and
for the clothing of slaves. Spinning and weaving were
done on every plantation, and homespun was much worn
by everybody in the earliest days, and always on the frontier
and among the poorer classes.

The planters imported all sorts of goods by the piece
and stored them away in chests to be made up into gar-
ments as needed. In 1650 William Presley bequeathed
to his son, with " one of his best suits of clothes," a cloth
cloak, and " a piece of Lockram," and in 1675 Robert
Beckingham, of Lancaster County, left his father, in Eng-
land, " all the finest broadcloth bought of Mr. John Bosher
except as much as shall make my wife one suit."

^ For many of the definitions of names of materials and articles
of dress given I am indebted to Alice Morse Earle's " Costume of
Colonial Times."

197

COLOMAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Gay colors were popular for women and men — " sky-
color," sea-green, olive and scarlet being favorite shades.
Women wore mantles of crimson taffeta and hooded cloaks
called " cardinals " made of scarlet cloth. Perhaps this
fashion was set by Little Red Ridinghood. ]Mrs. Sarah
A\^illoughby, of Lower Norfolk, might have made a rain-
bow out of her varied wardrobe in 1675. She had petti-
coats of red, blue, and black silk, one of Indian silk, one
of worsted prunella, one of striped linen and one of calico,
a black gown, a scarlet waistcoat with a silver lace, a striped
stuff jacket, a worsted prunella mantle, a sky-colored satin
bodice, a pair of red paragon bodices, three fine and three
coarse holland aprons, and two hoods.^

The petticoat was, of course, not an undergarment, but
a skirt — often of the richest material or elaborately deco-
rated— with which was worn a parted or looped-up over-
dress. In 1668 Mrs. William Brown had, in a chest con-
taining " all necessary cloaths & Lynnen for a gent
woman," a taffeta petticoat, a tabby petticoat, a baize
petticoat, and a scarlet petticoat with gold lace.

In 1738 Mrs. George Charlton, mantuamaker, of Wil-
liamsburg, through the advertising columns of the Gazette,
offered " her services to the ladies " whom she would
" undertake to oblige with the newest and genteelest fash-
ions now wore in England." In 1766 a Williamsburg
tailor advertised that he could make ladies' riding habits.
In the same year " Katherine Rathall, a milliner, lately ar-
rived from London," opened shop in Fredericksburg and
advertised in the Gazette:

" Best flowered and plain satins, flowered and plain
modes, sarcenets and Persians ; flowered, striped, and plain

^ Bruce's " Economic History of Va. in the 17th Century,"
ii, 194.

198

DRESS

English gauze, a great variety of blonde, minionet, tliread
and black lace, joining blondes for ladies' caps and hand-
kerchiefs, wedding and other fans, a great variety of
ribands, French beads and earrings, ladies' caps, Hy caps
and lappets, egrets of all sorts, silk and leather gloves and
niits, summer hats and cloaks, cardinals, French tippets,
black gauze and catgut love ribands for mournings, silk,
thi'ead and cotton stockings for ladies and gentlemen,
gentlemen's laced ruffles, bags for wigs and solitaires, Irish
linens and tapes in variety, garnet, Bristol stone and pearl
sleeve buttons set in silver, garnet and gold brooches, a
variety of silver shoe-buckles in the newest fashion for
ladies and gentlemen, with knee-buckles for the latter . . .
and sundry other articles too tedious to mention."

What " gauze and catgut love ribands for mourning "
were I have failed to discover, so leave them to the gentle
reader's imagination. A " solitaire " was not a diamond
ring, but a broad black ribbon worn loosely about the neck
by gentlemen of fashion.

Other Virginia shops offered as varied and interesting
stocks. One in Williamsburg advertised, in 1766, with
other appeahng articles, cardinals and cloaks made of
flowered satin and spotted mode, white satin and calli-
manco pumps for ladies, paste shoe, knee, and stock buckles,
a very neat and genteel assortment of wedding, mourning
and second mourning fans, and breast flowers " equal in
beauty to any ever imported and so near resembles nature
that the nicest eye can hardly distinguish the difference."

The men were not behind the women in their love of
gay apparel. Gold and silver laced hats and broadcloth
coats with gold or silver buttons appear over and over again
in wills and inventories of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.

199

COLONIAL VIRGINM, ITS PEOPLP: AND CUSTOMS

Cloth, silk, and trimmings were made to last in the good
old days. Persons of all ranks in making their wills dis-
posed of their clothing, and in the inventories articles of
dress were carefully appraised. A husband usually gra-
ciously bequeathed liis wife " her own " clothes and jewels,
and distributed his masculine belongings among male rela-
tives and friends. In 1674 John Lee's will named a
gray suit trimmed with silver buttons and a pair of gloves
with silk tops. In 1674 James Sampson bequeathed to a
fair legatee a sky-colored watered tabby gown and a round
black scarf trinmied with Flanders lace, with a blue and
a red silk sash to two of his heirs male. In 1686 Matthew
Bentley, a prosperous shoemaker of Middlesex County,
bequeathed to John Willis his " broadcloth coat with gold
buttons on it," and in 1716 William Fox of Lancaster
County left to William and James Ball, relatives of the
mother of Washington, his broadcloth suit trimmed with
gold lace, his new silk suit, his new beaver hat and silk
stockings.

Upon the death of Doctor Alexander Mattheson, in
1756, one of his friends was the happy heir to a flowered
plush jacket.

In 1761 Washington, in ordering clothes from London,
wrote the merchant,

*' I want neither lace nor embroidery. Plain clothes
with gold or silver buttons if worn in genteel dress are all
that I desire." For Madam Washington he ordered a
salmon colored tabby velvet with a pattern of satin flowers,
to be made into a sack and coat; a cap, handkerchief,
tucker and ruffles, to be made of Brussels or point lace, and
to cost twenty pounds ; two fine flowered lawn aprons, two
double handkerchiefs, two pairs of white silk, six pairs of
fine cotton and four pairs of thread hose, one pair of black

200

JOHN PARKE AND MARTHA PARKE CISTIS

Washington's stepchildren

DRESS

and one pair of white satin shoes, " of the smallest fives,"
four pairs of callimanco shoes, one fashionable hat or bon-
net, six pairs of best kid gloves, six pairs of niitts, one
dozen knots and breast-knots, one dozen round silk stay-
laces, one black mask, one dozen " most fashionable " cam-
bric pocket handkerchiefs, pins and hairpins, six pounds
of perfumed powder, a " puckered petticoat of fashionable
color," a silver tabby velvet petticoat, two handsome breast
flowers, and some sugar candy.

In 1765 young Edward Hawtry, who was contemplat-
ing applying for the place of master of the grammar school
of William and Mary, was inforaied by a former pro-
fessor of the college that he would need in WilliamsbuLrg
" one suit of handsome full dress silk clothes to wear on
the King's birthday, at the Governor's."

In 1769 Lord Botetourt smrmioned the House of Bur-
gesses to meet him in the Council Chamber to discuss
weighty affairs of state and received them in " a suit
of plain scarlet " — plain evidently meaning without gold
or silver lace. In this year Mrs. Katherine Rathall adver-
tised " black, blue and buff silk for gentlemen's breeches,"
and " macaroni waistcoats."

The colonists were plentifully supplied with shoes,
gloves, and hats, of as striking appearance as the rest of
their clothing. ^lany wills and inventories of the seven-
teenth century mention beaver hats with silver hatbands,
and in the eighteenth the beavor or castor — another name
for beaver — remained in fashion and was to be had at Vir-
ginia stores. In 1737 Williamsburg could boast of a hat-
maker who could supply " Glen's Beavers of any Fashion
or Size, Woman's Beavers, White, Black, Shagged or
otherwise, and Castors of the best and neatest Sort." For
lighter wear there were palmetto and " Carolina " hats

201

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

anil — for women — " cane and silk hats and French flowers
for trimming them." Women also wore, in both centuries,
handsome silk hoods, and, in the eighteenth, calash bonnets.
In 1769 jNIrs. Rathall imported for their use " blue, green
and white riding hats."

Shoes were imported and made at home in large quan-
tities. In 1653 the demand for shoes was so great that
ships bomid for Virginia were permitted to carry a hundred
and fifty dozen shoes and their full number of passengers.
Besides their be-ribboned and buckled shoes men wore
jack-boots for rough service, and especially for riding.
Women's and children's shoes were made of prunella,
callimanco, damask, silk, and velvet, as well as of morocco,
Spanish and other leathers. In 1737 Wilham Beverley
ordered from London, for his wife, six pairs of flowered
damask shoes and for each of his young daughters, Eliza-
beth and Ursula, six pairs of callimanco and one pair of
silk shoes. At the same time he ordered " three fine thin
calf skins and two skins of white leather " to be made up
at home into shoes for his children.

Glen's gloves were most frequently made of buckskin
and gloves and mitts for women and children of kid, lamb-
skin, silk, and thread. Stockings were of silk, wool, cot-
ton, and tlii'ead, and of every color of the rainbow. Green
stockings are very often mentioned in wills and inventories.

Women wore masks to preserve their complexions in
Virginia, as in England, and black patches for the
piquancy of expression they were supposed to bestow, and
both masks and black court plaster were sold in colonial
shops.

Even in The Valley finery was not unknown. In 1747
Robert Bratton and James Kirk testified at Augusta
County Court that they had been robbed of an " orange

DRESS

colored sitting gown, a pale China gown, a striped blue
and white cotton gown, a petticoat, a light colored broad-
cloth coat, two beaver hats, a black velvet cap, a blue j acket
of home-made cloth, a hat of Bermuda plat with red
ribbon band."

In 1761 Robert McClanahan testified that he had lost
a sword mounted with silver and a sword-knot and belt,
the whole valued at eight pounds, and Alexander McClan-
ahan that he had lost a silver-hilted sword wliich was also
worth eight pounds.

Advertisements of runaway serv^ants and slaves fur-
nish many points on the dress of the day. They were
occasionally clad in fearnought or oznaburgs, but were
oftener wondrously arrayed. Whether their garments were
stolen from, or discarded by, their masters, or were their
own holiday clothes it is impossible to say. In 1766 the
Virginia Gazette advertised a woman runaway who when
last seen had on " a striped red and white callimanco gown,
a short white linen sack and petticoat, a pair of stays with
a fringed blue riband, a large pair of silver buckles and a
pair of silver bobs " — an old name for earrings. In 1768
one runaway convict servant w^ore " a blue coat with metal
buttons, a scarlet jacket, and red plush breeches," and
another a light colored wig, fine hat with black riband
and metal buckle around the crow^n, a blue surtout or New-
market coat, a claret colored coat and jacket, buckskin
breeches and very bad shoes," while still another is de-
scribed as " extremely fond of dress, but his holiday clothes
were taken from him when he first attempted to get off."

In 1775 a negro ran away in a " light colored Wilton
coat, a beaver cloth great coat and red plush breeches."

There were no special fashions for children past their
babyhood. They dressed as their parents did and looked

203

COLONIAL VIRGINM, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

like diminutive, quaint grown folk. In 1736 when Robert
Carter of " Noniini " was ten years old there were ordered
for him from London a suit of fine brown hoUand, a laced
hat, wliite gloves, and red worsted stockings, and for his
little sister Betty a gown of fine sprigged calico, Spanish
leather shoes, and a mask. When Miss Betty was fourteen
her guardian bought for her a cap, ruffles and tucker, a
pair of white stays, eight pairs of white and two pairs of
colored gloves, two pairs of worsted and three pairs of
thread hose, one pair of morocco, four pairs of Spanish
leather, and two pairs of calf shoes, a mask, a fan, a neck-
lace, a girdle and buckle, a piece of " fashionable calico,"
four j^ards of ribbon " for knots," a " hoop-coat," a hat, a
" mantua," and coat of " slite lute string."

Soon after Washington's marriage to Martha Custis he
ordered from London for his little stepson " Master Custis,
eight 3'ears old," " a handsome suit " of winter clothes, a
suit of summer clothes, two pieces of nankeen with trim-
mings, a silver laced hat, six pairs of fine cotton and one
pair of worsted stockings, four pairs of strong shoes, one
pair of neat pumps, one pair of gloves, two hair-bags and
one piece (a bolt) of hair ribbon, a pair of shoe and knee
buckles, a pair of sleeve buttons. Also " a small Bible
neatly bound in Turkey and John Parke Custis wrote in
gilt letters on the inside of the cover; a neat small Prayer
Book bound as above, with John Parke Custis as above."

Little " blaster Custis " had been given a negro boy
to wait upon him, and for him were ordered three pairs of
shoes, three pairs of coarse stockings, a suit of livery clothes
and a hat for a boy fourteen years old. Colonel Washing-
ton took pains to direct that the livery for his stepson's
servant should be " suited to the Arms of the Custis
family."

204

MARTHA CUSTISS WATCH

EVELYN BYRDS FAN

DRESS

For little " Miss Custis, six years old," he ordered a
coat made of fasliionable silk, a fashionable cap or filet, a
bib-apron, lace trimmed ruffles and tucker, four fashionable
dresses of lawn, two fine cambric frocks, a satin capuchin,
hat and neckatees, a Persian quilted coat, a pair of pack-
thread stays, four pairs of callimanco and six pairs of
leather shoes, two pairs of satin shoes with flat ties, six
pairs of fine cotton and four pairs of white worsted stock-
ings, twelve pairs of mitts and six pairs of white kid
gloves, one pair of silver shoe-buckles, one pair of neat
sleeve buttons, six handsome egrets, different sorts, six
yards of ribbon for egrets " a small Bible bound in Tur-
key and Martha Parke Custis wrote on the inside in gilt
letters, a small Prayer Book, neat and in the same manner,
and a very good spinet."

With all of this paraphernalia, including a pair of
stays, a variety of handsome egrets for the hair, a piano,
and a morocco-bound Bible and Prayer Book, the little
girl was to have a fashionably dressed doll to cost a guinea,
another to cost five shillings, and " a box of gingerbread
toys, sugar images and comfits."

In 1770 Wilham Nelson, of Yorktown, wrote to John
Norton that the revenue acts had taught the colonists that
they could make many things themselves and do without
many others that they used to indulge in. He adds :

" I now wear a good suit of cloth of my son's wool,
manufactured as well as my shirts, in Albemarle, my shoes,
hose, buckles, wigg & hat etc., of our own country, and in
these we improve every year in Quantity as well as
Quality."

14

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PP:OPLE AND CUSTOMS

JEWELS

What has become of the jewels that were in Colonial
Virginia^ Have most of them gone to the land of lost
pins and hairpins — wherever that may be — or are such as
have sm-vived two wars and innumerable fires cherished
as heirlooms by the descendants of their original owners
who are scattered through every quarter of the world?
Some of them can still be traced, of course, but these are
an infinitesimal proportion of what are known to have
existed. Wills and inventories that remain fairly bristle
with silver and jewelled hatbands, mourning rings, seal
rings with coats-of-arms, shoe, knee, and stock-buckles,
watches, lockets, hair ornaments, and snuff-boxes, and name
a goodly number of diamond rings and earrings, and pearl
necklaces, and an occasional diamond necklace, and this
notwithstanding the fact that many a wealthy man, like
Colonel John Tayloe of " Mt. Airy," simply leaves his
wife " all her jewels," without giving any indication as to
what they were. INIany of the portraits of the time show
handsome jewels.

The mourning ring, which was in fashion in both the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, had generally in-
scribed within it the name or initials of the person for whose
sake it was worn and sometimes a motto known as a " posy."
Many of them were plain gold, others more or less ornate
and frequent^ cost a handsome sum. Black enamel or
diamonds or a combination of both, or a tiny lock of braided
hair — under glass, and sometimes surrounded by diamond
" sparks " or by pearls — were favorite decorations for
them. The inventory of Edmund Berkeley — 1719 — men-
tions a hair ring with twelve sparks marked E.B., and one
with eiglit sparks marked N.B., besides twelve other mourn-
ing rings not described in detail. In 1736 the Gazette

DRESS

advertised as " lost " a mourning ring, with a black enam-
elled cross between fom* sparks, inscribed " H. Ludwell,
vid, 4 Aprilis, 1731. ^t. 52." In 1758 Mrs. Margaret
Downman, of Richmond County, bequeathed to each of
her four sons "a gold ring of a guinea value, inscribed with
her initials and the posy ' Prepared be to follow me.' "

By 1765 the fashion of giving mourning rings had
gone over the mountains to The Valley. In that year John
Mitchell bequeathed " an ancient family white stone ring
set in gold " to ISIiss Jennie McClanahan, and to five of his
other friends " a plain mourning golden ring each."

Less frequently mentioned was the mom'ning brooch
which almost always preserved a lock of hair. There
are in existence a mourning ring in the form of a hoop
of diamonds memorializing William Lightfoot, of " Ted-
ington," who died in 1764, and two brooches surrounded
with diamonds memorializing his wife, Mildred Lightfoot.

Wedding and betrothal rings also contained posies.
For instance, in 1736 Edward Moseley, of Norfolk County,
bequeathed a seal ring with his " coat-of-arms on it " and
his mother's wedding ring " with a posey in it." An unfor-
tunate dame advertising in the Virginia Gazette in 1739
was the loser of a green silk purse in which was a plain
gold ring with the posy "Let love increase to crown our
peace." A lost locket advertised in 1769 was doubtless a
gage d'amour^ and not a badge of mourning. It con-
tained a lock of " dark hair wrought in a cipher R. T., on
the one side and the imitation of a landscape set around
with garnets on the other." The landscape was doubtless
done in enamel.

It is possible to give here but a few examples from
a multitude of bequests of jewels, and as some of the most
valuable of these are from the very few records of the early

207

COLONIAL VIllGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUST0:MS

days of the colony which have escaped destruction, there is
no teUing what the great mass of lost wills and inventories
might have disclosed.

Among extremely early owners of rich jewels in Vir-
ginia were the Piersey girls, daughters of Abraham Pier-
sey, of his Majesty's Council. In 1625 jNIrs. Elizabeth
Draper, of London, left to her granddaughter Elizabeth
Piersey in the far-away colony "one diamond ring," and
to Mary " one diamond ring set after the Dutch fashion."

In 1650 Mrs. Susanna Moseley, of Lower Norfolk, sold
to Mrs. Frances Yeardley, for some cattle, a gold hat-
band, enamelled, and set with diamonds, bought in Hol-
land for five hundred gelders, a " jewel " of gold — prob-
ably a pendant — enamelled, and set with diamonds, worth
thirty gelders, and a diamond ring. In a letter she ex-
plained that she would not part with her jewels but for
her " great want of cattle," but had rather Mrs. Yeardley
would wear them than " any other gentlewoman in the
country," and wished her " health and prosperity to wear
them." Mrs. Moseley also had a ruby, a sapphire, and an
emerald ring.

Mrs. Yeardley had other costly jewels, for in her will
made in 1657 — the year of her death — she directed that
her " best diamond necklace and jewel " should be sent
to England to be sold, and the money they brought spent on
six diamond rings to be given to six of her friends, and
two black marble tombstones to be placed over her grave
and that of the second of her three husbands, Captahi
John Gookin; by whose side she wished to be buried.
Whether or not this mistress of a plantation in a then
remote section of the sparsely settled colony had a second
best diamond necklace this witness will not undertake to
say, but the inference is she had. Her tomb bought with

Copyright, 1908. by I. E. 11 Ptst

MRS. JOHN TAYLOE AND DAUGHTER MARY
Afterward Mrs. Mann Page. About 1756

DRESS

part of the " best diamond necklace " could be seen witliin
recent years in Lynnhaven Parish Churchyard. It de-
clared that beneath it lay " Ye body of Capt. John Gooking
and also ye body of Mrs. Sarah Yardley, who was wife to
Capt. Adam Thorowgood, Capt. John Gooking & CoUonell
Francis Yardley."

In 1669 Colonel John Carter, of " Corotoman," left
his wife Elizabeth her necklace of pearls and diamonds, and
to his son Robert " his mother's hoop ring and crystal
necklace."

In 1673 Mrs. Amory Butler bequeathed to various
heirs her wedding ring, two of her biggest stone rings, her
blue enamelled ring, two mourning rings, her small dia-
mond ring, her biggest diamond ring, her necklace with the
biggest pearls, her small pearl necklace, her silver bodkin
and her gilded bodkin, a pair of silver buttons, and a pair of
silver buckles. A bodkin was in those days an ornamental
hairpin.

In 1677 ^Irs. Elizabeth Howe, of London, who was
an ancestress of General Lee, left to her granddaughter
Henrietta ^laria Hill, of " Shirley," on James River, a
"necklace of pearle," to Sara Hill "a rose diamond ring,"
to Elizabeth Hill " a table diamond ring," and to her
daughter, Mrs. Edward Hill, the mother of these girls,
" a gold seal ring."

Among quaint bequests in the will of Mrs. Elizabeth
Eppes, in 1678, were two " stone rings " and a " thumb
ring."

In 1687 Thomas Pitt, of Isle of Wight County, be-
queathed to his " deare and lovinge wife," Mary, with " all
her wearing apparel," her wedding ring, two diamond
rings, an enamelled ring, and a necklace of pearls. The
question naturally arises wherewithal would a poor widow

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

have been clothed in good old times when even her wedding
ring was not her own, had her husband neglected to give
her in his last will and testament " her wearing apparel "?

According to the inventory of Colonel Edward Digges
he left in 1692 eight gold mourning rings, one diamond
ring, a small stone ring and " a parcel of sea pearls."

The inventory of Edmund Berkeley, 1718-19, men-
tions, besides the interesting mourning rings already de-
scribed, a large gold ring, a " set of ruby bobs," two neck-
laces of very fine, small beads, forty-four smaU silver
buttons, and a necklace of five strings of small pearls.

In 1706 Madam Frances Spencer, wife of Colonel
Nicholas Spencer, Secretary of State of Virginia, gave
her daughter a pearl necklace valued at eighty pounds
sterling — equal to at least a thousand dollars to-day.

In 1726 Robert (" King ") Carter directed in his will
that thirty pounds be paid for a gold watch and twenty-five
pounds for a pearl necklace for his daughter Mary when
she should arrive at the age of sixteen, and that diamond
earrings to cost fifty pounds sterling be imported for his
daughter Elizabeth, the wife of Doctor George Nicholas.
He directed that thirty of his friends be presented with
mourning rings.

In 1742-43 William Randolph, of " Tuckahoe," be-
queathed to his daughter Judith the " rings and trinkets
which were her mother's," and to his younger daughter,
Mary, two hundred pounds sterling " to be laid out in such
trinkets as her guardians shall think fit."

In 1747 John Gr\mies left a diamond ring worth fifty
guineas to the Right Honorable Horatio Walpole, an
uncle of the famous Horace, as an acknowledgment of
favors done him in England.

In 1751 Colonel Thomas Bray, of James City County,

1

DRESS

left a set of silver knee and shoe buckles, a silver collar
for a waiting man, a pair of gold sleeve buttons, and "about
twenty gold rings, several of them set with valuable stones."

In 1764 William Lightfoot, of " Tedington," left, with
many other luxurious possessions, a miniature of himself
in a gold frame ornamented with a bow-knot of diamonds,
also a gold snuff-box with a miniature of his wife inside.

There seem to have been quite well stocked jewelry
stores in the colony during the eighteenth century. In
1737 Alexander Kerr, of Williamsburg, advertised in the
Gazette a collection of j ewels to be sold by lottery during
the October Court. There were to be four hundred tickets,
eighty of which would draw prizes. Each prize would con-
sist of a group of trinkets, and among the articles in the
various groups described were diamond, emerald, ruby,
amethyst, and garnet rings, earrings, studs, seals, buckles,
and snuff-boxes.

The earliest mention of a watch in my notes is in 1697
when Richard Aubrey, of Essex County, bequeathed two
silver seals, one of which had been his grandfather's, and
his " Dudelum watch." There may have been others in
the seventeenth century, and certain it is that there were
plenty of them in the eighteenth. Leroy George, of Rich-
mond County, bequeathed one as early as 1700, and Tobias
Mickleborough, of Middlesex, another in 1702, and from
that time on gold and silver watches were frequent bequests.

An especially interesting watch was that presented
by Daniel Parke Custis to his seventeen-year-old bride,
Martha Dandridge, who was later the wife of George
Washington. Soon after his marriage Mr. Custis wrote his
agent in London:

" I desire a handsome watch for my wife, a pattern like
the one you bought for Mrs. Burwell, with her name

COLONIAL MIUHNIA, 1 IS PKOPLK AM) ( USIOMS

around the diaL There are just twelve letters in her
name, 3Iartha Custis, a letter for eaeh hour marked on the
dial-plate."

The watch, wliieh is presened at AVashington's head-
quarters at Newhurg-on-the-IIudson, has an open-faced,
gold case, inlaid with white enamel, and around the
dial — a leter over each numeral — may be read the name,

MARTHA CUSTIS.

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

-y^f

UK Colonial Virginian thougPit
and spoke of Kngland as " home/'
With no meaiLS of cominurjication
I save the primitive sailing vessels
, of the time, intercour.se with the
'^ Mo^.hfjf Countr\' was far more inti-
\y^ mate than now with fast steamers,
the Atlantic cahle, and wireless telegraphy. This was, in
part, of course, the result of being under one government,
but it was even more by reason of close business, social,
and family ties.

The settlement of Virginia had intrrxiuced into the
world's market an entirely new product — tobacco — which
caused as sensational a development of trade along a
hitherto unknown line in the seventeenth century as the
automobile has in the twentieth, and the colonists soon
realized that though they had not found gold they had
that for which men were willing to exchange gold — which
was as good for supphdng the necessities of life and more,
the luxuries that add to the enjoyment of life.

So fascinating did the new weed prove that it was diffi-
cult tfj grf>w it fast enough to satisfy the consumer across
the sea. It is said that when Doctor James Blair was
pleading for a charter for William and Mary College for
the sake of the souls of the Virginians, the English Attor-
ney General sent back the answer,
** Damn your .souls, plant tobacco! "
As the more of it they planted the more comfort in the
way of English-made goods appeared in their homes,
tobacco became and remained Virginia's principal staple —
the planter's chief source of income — and created constant

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

business intercourse with Great Britain. Every substan-
tial planter had one or more merchants in England or
Scotland to whom he regularly shipped his crop for sale
with a bill of lading like this:

" Shipped by the grace of God in Good order & well
conditioned by John Fitz Randolph in & upon the Good
ship Called the Constant Endeavor whereof is Master
under God for this present Voyage John Pawling & now
riding at Anchor in the River Rappahannock & by God's
Grace bound for the port of London, to say Tenn hogs-
heads of Virginia Tobacco . . . and so God send the Good
shipp to her desired port in Safety. Amen. Dated in
Virginia the 17th of October 74."

Another frequent conclusion was " God send the good
ship in safety to the haven where she would be."

With his precious crop the shipper sent orders for pur-
chases in infinite variety, from tacks to thoroughbred
horses, and the merchant acted as his purchasing agent —
buying the articles named from the retailers in London,
Glasgow, or elsewhere, and speeding them on their way to
Virginia, accompanied by his own general account and
the retailer's bills, or " shop-bills " as they were called. A
number of these shop-bills have been preserved in old
family papers, and possibly there may yet be tucked away
in the pigeon-hole of some ancient desk a Chippendale
shop-bill.

The last order sent by IMartha Custis to her London
merchant before she became IMrs. Washington, was for
purchases for her family and plantation to the value of
£309.8.5, and it would be difficult to name any article of
ordinary use not contained in it. Three months before
she had imported goods worth £103.1 .5. .5.

Mrs. Custis shipped her tobacco to Hanbury and Com-

214

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P*"^

if'^

p"

■.A

fc_.^ .

t

I

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

pany, Quakers, who were great merchants of London. On
October 1, 1759, they sent the newly- wedded Washington
this quaint expression of good will:

"Esteemed Friend:

" We are favored with Thine of June 12th, informing us
of Thy marriage with our friend Martha Custis, upon
which circumstance we heartily congratulate you both &
wish you a great deal of happiness."

Some planters made a point of not buying anything
in Virginia if they could possibly help it. George Lee,
of Westmoreland, directed in his will in 1761 that "the
goods, clothes and tools wanted for the use of the negroes
and plantations may be yearly sent for to England and
none purchased in the Country but what there is an abso-
lute necessity for."

Sometimes, it seems, wives of London merchants
would, as an especial favor, shop for the wives of Virginia
planters. In 1737 one of these — Mrs. Elizabeth Perry —
wrote to Mrs. Thomas Jones, of Williamsburg:

" I am very glad what I do for my friends in Virginia
pleases them. I have done my best endeavors that Misses
things should be what she likes, for a walking gown I have
bought a Turkey Burdet for I thought a Cery dery had
too mean a look and tho' what I have sent is something
dearer it will answer it in the wear, as for the piece of
sprigged muslin you wish for there is no such thing for the
money you allow. I have been, or sent, all over the town
and there is none to be got under double the price, so have
not sent you any."

An entry in Colonel James Gordon's diary tells us
that he had been " busy all day writing letters to England."

Every extensive planter seems to have kept copies of
his letters in a book provided for the purpose, and these

215

COLONIAL MRGIXL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

letters and the replies show that correspondence between
Virginians and their London merchants — often continuing
through years — resulted in business friendships which
sometimes grew into intimacies. The ^vriters exchanged
presents and bits of news and gossip and the merchants
looked after the planters' sons when they were sent abroad
to be educated and were hospitable to the planters them-
selves when they crossed the sea. Charles Goore, a Liver-
pool merchant, writing to Theodorick Bland, Sr., of Vir-
ginia, in 1758, acknowledged a " kind present of hams and
peach brandy" which were "very good," and a red bird
which " dyed " on the w\iy. In 1765 Mr. Bland thanks
a merchant for " eight very fine pineapples," and in 1767
John Hall, merchant of London, thanks ^Ir. Bland for
some "exceeding fine" hams, and sends him in return "a
cag of new red herrings."

Hams and tobacco w^ere the most frequent presents
from Virginians to friends and relatives in England
throughout the period, and doubtless none could have been
more acceptable. In 1689 C. Calthorpe sent his relative,
James Calthorpe, of East Barsham, in Suffolk, Eng.,
" two Rowles of Chawing tobacco " which he declared
" upon his word to be the best."

Various other characteristic gifts were sent " home.'
In 1686 William Byrd, the first, wrote to liis friend, John
Clinton, " According to your desire I have herewith sent
you an Indian Habitt for your Boy, the best I could pro-
cure amongst our neighbor Indians." This included a
" flap " — drapery worn about the waist — " a pair of moc-
casins, or Indian shoes, also some shells to put about his
neck and a cap of wampum " — all of which were sent in
an Indian basket with " a bow and arrows tyed to itt."
The happy little English boy who received this present was
possibly the first white child who ever " played Indian."

216

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

Virginia seeds and plants were often sent across the
ocean as presents. In 1690 Colonel Byrd wi'ote to Thomas
Wetherold that he had saved him many seeds, but all had
been ruined except the ones he sent — namely, " Poppeas
Arbor, Rhus Sentisei folius, Sassafras and Laurus Tulip-
fera."

In 1730 the distinguished naturahst, Catesby, wrote his
niece, Mrs. Thomas Jones, that he was sending her the
instahnents of his " Natural History " and that Virginia
cones, acorns, and seeds — "especially of poplar, cypress
and some long white walnut " — would be acceptable to
him. There is still in existence in Virginia a copy of
Catesby's work sent by him to John Clayton, the botanist.

Dwellers in the faraway colony were ever eager for
home news. In 1690 Byrd said in a letter to his brother-
in-law, Daniel Horsmanden :

" Wee are here at ye end of ye world & Europe may
bee turned topsy turvy ere wee can hear a word of it; but
when news comes wee have it whole sale, very often more
than the truth."

Eighty years later Roger Atkinson wrote to Robert
Bunn, merchant of London:

" Pray send me the newspapers & magazines & Political
Registers, regularly. ... I never desire to read anything
else except an Almanack, a Prayer Book and a Bible."
And in the same year another London merchant, Edward
Brown, wrote to Thomas Adams:

" Junius has wrote his last letter which being a very
bold one, addressed to the K-g, has made a great noise.
I intend to send it to you by Mr. Mosse who goes in Capt.
Walker's ship."

Sometimes correspondence between Virginians and
their relatives at home was kept up continuously for many

217

COLONIAL VIRGLNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

years — as in the case of George Home or Hume, of Wed-
derburn, whose letters to and from his family in Scotland
have been published/

A great part of the business done for and by Virginians
in London was transacted at the " Virginia Coffee House "
and on the " Virginia Walk " in the Exchange. This
coffee house was a favorite gathering place for visitors from
the colony, and provided them with a sort of club. In
1685 William Fitzhugh wrote a cousin in London:

" Upon the Exchange in the Virginia Walk, you'll
meet Mr. Cooper, a Virginia merchant, who will take care
of and convey your letters to me."

In 1769 Captain Robert Stewart, a regular corre-
spondent of \Vashington's, in London, sent his letters to
the Virginia Coffee House to be forwarded.

And now for a bit of gossip, plenty of which was heard
at the Coffee House. John Pratt, ^\Titing from London
in 1725 to his sister-in-law, the much courted widow, Mrs.
Ehzabeth Pratt, says:

" 3Ir. Robert Gary, last Thursday in the Virg'a Coffee
House told me, publicly, yt he had letters from several in
Virg'a yt you wer certainly to be married to ^Ir. Thom
Jones, Col. Bird was there present."

And Mrs. Pratt certainly was married to Mr. Jones
very soon thereafter. A few montlis later slie had another
letter from her gossipy brother-in-law in London in which
he told her that " Colo Spotswood was married about a
month ago to a daughter of ]\Ir. Braine who was formerly
Stewart of Chelsea College," and added:

" Ye young lady is said to be wonderfully pretty, but
no money."

While business took large numbers of Virginians to

^ Va. Mag. Hist, and Biog., xx, 381, etc.

218

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nil III II 1 1 III ■III— i^Mtiiiaii

LONDON SHOP BILLS
For goods for Virginians

I

I

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

Great Britain, others went for pleasui-e or improvement
in health. They frequented the theatres, and Bath was to
them, as to the English, a sort of Atlantic City of the time
to which they resorted both for physical benefit and diver-
sion. Young Samuel Griffin, of Williamsburg, was there
in October, 1771, and in a letter to Thomas Adams in
London, said:

" Bath is at this time very full of company, though
very few handsome Men and Women and no Fortunes
worth making a Bold Stroak for. . . . We have at this
time four Balls a week though I think they can't be sup-
ported as most of the Company think Two enough. The
new rooms have Mondays and Thursdays with Concerts
on Wednesdays and generally very full."

In the same year Mr. Adams had a letter from Isaac
Hall, a Virginia student of medicine at Edinburgh, show-
ing the writer's familiarity with London theatres.

" I have enjoyed," said he, " as good spirits as can
be expected from one who lately left your Playhouses, &c,
to become a retired, sedentary student in Edin'h. But
however heroically I may bear the want of such sublime
entertainments, I can't forbear enquiring after them, has
Garrick, the Pride and Boast of the Theatrical world,
appeared, & what characters? — has Barry yet recovered
his health? does his lady retain all her power of terrifying,
reforming & melting the Audiences, and does she shew
herself often— & Mrs. Yates?"

It is likely that the only acquaintances of most Vir-
ginians visiting England whose families had been in the
colony for several generations were the merchants, but
those who were born in the mother-land or had kept in
touch with their kinsfolk there had a far wider circle.
Among these was Mr. Thomas Jones who during a visit

219

COLONIAL VIIUJXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

to England when a young man was fortunate enough to
receive a gracious invitation from INIargaret, Lady Cul-
peper, wife of Lord Culpeper, who had been Governor of
Virginia, and was a friend of young Jones's father —
Captain Roger Jones. Here is the invitation :

Leeds Castle, December the 19th, 1706.
Sir

I received yrs of the 14 instant and am glad of your safe arrival
in England. I hope j'ou are come upon a good account that will
turn to your advantage. I shall be very glad to see you here if
it is no prejudice to your business and you shall be very wellcome
when you please to come. . . .

M}' daughter and her seven children are all very well this is all
from Sir

Yor affectionate friend & servant

Mar. Culpeper.
It is addressed :
For Mr. Thomas Jones
at the Virginia Coffee house
at London.

It is interesting to recall that in the course of time
Leeds Castle became the property of an emigrant to Vir-
ginia— Lord Fairfax — who inherited it from his grand-
father, Lord Culpeper. He erected at Leeds a sun-dial
so ingeniously contrived that it showed the time of day both
there and at " Belvoir," the Fairfax home in Virginia.

Another lucky youth was Peyton Skipwith, who at the
age of twenty — and the year before he became Sir Peyton
Skipwith, Bart. — went to England to see the sweetheart
who was later his wife. While on a visit to Bath he was
taken ill — he feared hopelessly — but was prevailed on by
his " good friend Mr. Hanbury Williams " to go with him
to his seat, " Coldbrooke," in Wales, where he recovered
his health. In a letter written from " Coldbrooke " to

220

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

Theodorick Bland, Jr., of Virginia — then a student at the
University of Edinburgh — young Skipwith says his host is
" heir to the great Mr. Charles H. Williams, and lives like
a prince in a most agreeable house that was his, furnished in
a more elegant manner than any house I have ever been in."

The Hanburj^ Williams family was one of great wealth
and social prominence, but for all their grandeur and their
kindness their guest from over the water seems to have
been a bit homesick. He entreats Bland:

" Pray don't be so devilish concise and lazy, but write
me all the news. . . . Pray make my comp'ts to your
cousin and his good family, Col. Ludwell and his, ]Mr. Din-
widdie and his and all other acquaintances, not forgetting
Mr. Burwell and his family. Pray, if you hear any Vir-
ginia news don't forget to mention it."

In 1726 Colonel William B\Td, the second, returned
to " Westover " from a long visit to England where his
daughters Evelyn, a nineteen-year-old girl of flower-like
beauty, and WiUiemina, a child of ten, had been made much
of in high society. Soon afterward he wrote to John,
Lord Boyle, son of his intimate friend the Earl of Orrery,
whose guests he and his family had been:

" My Young Gentlewomen like everything in the coun-
try except the Retirement, they can't get the Plays, the
Operas and the Masquerades out of their Heads, much
less can they forget their Friends. However, the lightness
of our Atmosphere helps them to bear all their losses with
more Spirit and that they may amuse themselves the better,
they are every Day up to their Elbows in Housewifery,
which wiU qualify them effectually for useful Wives and
if they live long enough, for notable women."

A year later Colonel Byrd wrote to the Earl of Orrery:

" My Lord — I am made obliged to your Lordship for

15 221

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

being so very good as to sweeten my Retirement by wi'iting
so often. Whenever my spirits sink at any Time below
the natural pitch Your Letters are Cordial enough to raise
them again, and make me as gay as the Spring. They all
bring to my Memory all the delightful scenes at Britwell
and Downing Street and for Variety make me look back
sometimes on the graver amusements at Will's. Mrs. Byrd
too, gives you a thousand thanks for your Favours to her
daughters."

In 1760 Arthur Lee went to England to study medi-
cine— arriving there two weeks before Christmas. On
Christmas Eve he met Samuel Johnson — probably at the
house of John Paradise, a friend of Doctor Johnson's who
had married a Virginia woman. The Doctor graciously
advised the young visitor as to the best place in which to
study his profession, and writing his brother, Richard
Henry Lee, of his London experiences, Arthur said:

" Last night I was in company with Dr. Johnson,
author of the English Dictionary. His outward appear-
ance is very droll and uncouth. The too arduous cultiva-
tion of his mind seems to have caused a very great neglect
of his body, but for this his friends are amply rewarded in
the enjoyment of a mind most elegantly polished, en-
lightened and refined ; possessed as he is of an inexhaustible
fund of remark, a Copious flow of words, expressions
strong, nervous, pathetic and exalted, add to this an ac-
quaintance with almost every subject that can be pro-
posed; an intelligent mind cannot fail of receiving the
most agreeable information and entertainment in his con-
versation." ^

Arthur Lee met Dr. Johnson at least once more —
dining with him on a famous occasion in May, 1776, when

^ Southern Literary Messenger, xxix, 62, 63.

222

( OI.OXKL DAMKL PARKK

I

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

Boswell, with whom Lee had formed a friendship at Edin-
burgh, upon which University his choice had faUen, was
much exercised as to how his adored Doctor and John
Wilkes would get along together.

But not all Virginians had such happy experiences
in the old coimtry. To some the temptations of the cities
proved too strong, while others got into financial straits
from living beyond their means, or from slow remittances
from home. To these Thomas Adams, a member of a
well-known family of Richmond, Virginia, who was for a
time a merchant in London, seems to have been a veritable
angel of mercy — his big heart and open purse making him
a very ready help in time of trouble. The letter written
him by Samuel Griffin, describing the delights of Bath,
was followed speedily by another showing a change of
mood, and appealing for aid in getting the writer out of
difficulties into which gambling had involved him.

" To be ingenuous," he wrote, " I have been imprudent
enough to suffer myself to be taken in by a set of D'd
knaves, however I have set a Resolution never again to
play at any kind of a game but for amusement."

In the same year George fiercer, of Stafford County,
Virginia, who had been a lieutenant-colonel in the French
and Indian War, and of whom a handsome portrait re-
mains, wrote in desperation:

" My dear Adams, you must by some means or other
procure me £50 by Tuesday morning, or I must go to the
Dogs." He was expecting a shipment of " a hundi-ed
puncheons of Shenandoah tobacco " from his estate in the
colony with which he hoped to pay all his debts. Mr.
Adams evidently helped him out, but he was soon in sti*aits
again. Nevertheless, he courted and won an Enghsh
girl and when her parents very naturally opposed the

223

COLONIAL MRGIXIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

match, eloped with her. The post chaise in which the pair
ran away in good old-fashioned style was overturned, but
as they were not hurt the accident " occasioned more
laughter than crying." At Yarmouth they stopped long
enough for the hopeful bridegroom to write Mr. Adams
telling him of two bills amounting to sixty pounds which
would fall due in a week, and begging his friend to get
him the money " by hook or by crook," to pay the interest
on them, and leave it with his housekeeper, as he did not
think it would " appear decent " to be arrested on his
" return home with Madam for such a sum as £60."

A postscript gives a glimpse of the bride-to-be.

" I have told her," it said, " I am writing to a par-
ticular Friend. She desires for Heaven's Sake and for
the sake of my own character, that I will not mention to
him that I have a giddy, hot headed, runaway Young girl
with me, especially if the friend has anything serious about
him."

Perhaps the most adventurous career of any Virginian
who travelled abroad during the Colonial period was Daniel
Parke, the younger, son of the Daniel Parke, Burgess,
Councillor and Secretarj^ of State, whose mural tablet may
be seen in old Bruton Church, Williamsburg. Like his
father, young Parke sensed as a member of the House of
Burgesses and of the Council, but public life in Virginia
offered too narrow opportunities to satisfy so tempera-
mental a gentleman, and after a stormy career in the
colony he went to England, where he bought an estate
and became a member of Parliament, but was unseated
for bribing voters. In 1701 he volunteered under Lord
Arran for the campaign in Flanders, and in 1704, at the
battle of Blenheim, h.e was aide to Marlborough and so
distinguished himself that he was sent with the first news

224

i

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

of the great victory to England. He received handsome
rewards, including a jewelled miniature of Queen Anne,
which he ever after wore on his breast, and which appears
in the two portraits of him now remaining in Virginia.
Governor Nicholson, in announcing the victory to the
colonists, told them with pride that the good news was
brought to England by " Colonel Parke, a gentleman, and
a native of this Colony."

Many Virginia wills mention English possessions or
make bequests to persons in England, and many English
wills name heirs in Virginia or bequeath property there.
Here are a few illustrations, taken at random :

In 1640 Edward Dewall, servant of Symon Cornocke,
of Warwicksqueake, Virginia, bequeathed his master an
inn called " The Rose," in Reading, England. In 1645
George Scott, grocer, of London, left a brother all his
lands at Martin's Hundred, Virginia. In 1648 Mrs.
Susan Perrin writes her son John in Virginia:

" Yor father hath departed this life and hath left you
a little house."

The fond mother also tells John that she has sent him
a barrel of " things," a servant boy, and a small piece of
gold for his wife, and adds, " There is a noate in ye barrel,
it lyeth at ye topp in ye new blankett."

The Northampton records for 1652 contain a power
of attorney from Doctor John Harmer, " Ye Greeke
reader to Ye University of Oxford, heir of Charles Har-
mer, now or late of Jamestown in ye Dominion aforesaid."

In 1672 Thomas Gerrard, of Westmoreland County,
Virginia, bequeathed land " lying in ye Kingdom of
England."

In 1684 Thomas Pope, " of Bristol, Merchant," left
land in Gloucester, England, and Westmoreland, Virginia.

225

COLONIAL \1RGL\L\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Also in 1684 Rev. John Lawrence, of Lower Norfolk
County, Virginia, a Presbyterian minister, left six tene-
ments in the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London.

In 1695 John Newton, of Westmoreland, bequeathed
lands at Carlton and Camelsforth, in Yorkshire, and a
house in Hull " which was my father's."

In 1696 Charles Lightfoot, of London, left fifty pounds
to his sister, Frances Lightfoot, in Virginia, " if she ever
come to England and demands it, not else."

In 1708 WiUiam Brent, of Stafford County, went to
England to recover the two estates of " Stoke " and
" Admington " to which he had fallen heir by the dying
out of the elder branch of his family.^

In 1713 Edmund Jenings resigned the office of Secre-
tary of State of Virginia, and went to England to claim
an estate which fell to him on the death of his elder brother.

In 1726 Richard Walker, of Middlesex County, Vir-
ginia, bequeathed his brothers John, Thomas, and Edward
Walker, at Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, and his sister Jane
Locket, in Staffordshire, twenty pounds each for " a suit
of mourning."

In 1742 Leonard Yeo, of Elizabeth City County, Vir-
ginia, left his cousin George Arnold, merchant, of London,
certain tenements in the borough of Hatherly " and the
plate I brought from England."

In 1750 ]Mrs. Elizabeth Caiy, of Chesterfield County,
Virginia, left two hundred pounds sterling to " John
Brickenhead, peruke-maker in Old Street, near St. Luke's
Church, London."

In 1753 John Chichester, of Lancaster County, left
his wife five hundred pounds out of his estate in England,

^ Va. Mag. of Hist, and Biog., xii, 442.
226

AUSTIN BROCKENBROUGH

VIRGINIA AND ENGLAND

and all of his estate in England " besides," to his brother,
Richard Chichester.

The intimacy between England and the Mother Coun-
try is sometimes illustrated by tombs in old English
churches, like that at St. Mary's, Bedfont, erected by
Colonel John Page, of Williamsburg, in memory of his
father, who died in 1678. Other memorials are to natives
of Virginia who died in England, like the tomb of Robert
Porteus, at Ripon Cathedral.

In 1703 Thomas Matthew, of " Cherry Point," North-
umberland County, Virginia, directed in his will:

" If I die in or about London to be buried as near as
possible to my son William, in the Church of St. Dunstan-
in-the-East."

In the Church of Little Paxton, Huntingdonshire,
England, is the tomb of Robert Throckmorton, Esq., who
died in 1699, with an inscription which says that he was
born in Virginia. In 1767 another of this family, Robert
Throckmorton, of " Hail Western," Huntingdonshire, be-
queathed the larger portion of his estate, valued at eight
thousand pounds, to his distant kinsman, John Throck-
morton, of Gloucester, Virginia, who went to England and
secured it.

The Virginia colonist frequently made bequests to the
poor of his birthplace or of his early and tenderly remem-
bered home in England. In 1655 John Moon, of Isle of
Wight County, left five pounds to the poor of Berry, and
the same amount to the poor of Alverstock, in Hampshire,
England, where he had lands, and in 1674 Captain Philip
Chesley, of " Queen's Creek," York County, left to every
person whose name was Chesley " inhabiting in Welford,
in Gloucester " — which was probably his birthplace — " each
one hogshead of tobacco."

227

CC)LOXL\L VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

In 1762 James Deans, of Chesterfield County, Vir-
ginia, bequeathed two hundred pounds to " the Infirmary '*
of Aberdeen, Scotland.

In view of the many close ties between Virginia and
England it is surprising that so few members of prominent
families of the colony took the side of the Mother Country
during the Revolution. Among those who did were John
Randolpli — the last royal Attorney General — John Ran-
dolph Gr\Tnes, Austin Brockenbrough — who had been an
officer under Washington in the French and Indian War —
Richard Corbin — the last Receiver General — and Ralph
Wormelev.

VIII
THE THEATRE

HEATRE-GOING is so peculiarly
a diversion of city folk that it seems
strange that the first play known to
have been presented on an American
stage was acted before an audience
of farmers in a remote country
neighborhood.
In far Accomac, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and
on the 27th day of August, 1665 — seventy-five years before
there is any record of a dramatic entertainment in New
York — " a play commonly called ye Beare & ye Cubb "
was performed, with Cornelius Watkinson, Philip Howard,
and William Darby as the principal, possibly the only,
actors. Either the Puritans or the serious-minded fol-
lowers of William Penn might have been expected to shake
their heads over the introduction of this unseemly amuse-
ment, and even in meiTier Virginia one Edward Martin felt
himself in duty bound to inform the King's attorney, Mr.
John Fawsett, of the matter. The three actors named
were summoned to court on " ye 16th of November," and
each in turn put through a rigid cross-examination and
ordered to appear at the December court, " in the habili-
ments they had acted in, and give a draught of such verses
or other speeches and passages which were then acted by
them."

And so " Ye Beare and ye Cubb " was presented a
second time in Accomac County, with " ye honorable
court " and — we may depend — as many others as the room
would hold, as spectators. The court finding the actors
" not guilty of fault, suspended ye payment of Court

229

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PP:OPLE AND CUSTOMS

charges; & forasmuch as it appeareth upon Ye Oath of ye
said ^Ir. Fawsett, that ujion ye said Martin's information,
ye Charge and trouble of that suit did accrew, It's there-
fore ordered that ye said Edward INIartin pay all ye
Charges in ye suit." ^

Whether, in spite of their acquittal, the experience of
these three gave play-acting in Virginia a check which was
felt for nearly half a century, or performances were given
of which there is no record, it is impossible to say. Dra-
matic entertainments would hardly have been discouraged
by Sir William Berkeley, the Cavalier Governor, for he
not only delighted in them when he was in London, but
was himself an author of plays. It is only known that the
next mention of a performance of a theatrical character
was in 1702, when the students of William and Mary Col-
lege gave " A Pastoral Colloquy " before the Governor ^ —
whether at the college or the " palace '' does not appear.

In the year 1716 residents in the colonial capital saw
erected the first playhouse in Virginia and in America,

" William Levingston, merchant," had for some time
conducted a dancing school in New Kent County. His
star pupils, Charles Stagg and his wife, ^Iar}% evidently
developed ability to do more than dance, for under contract
recorded at Yorktown, July 11, 1716, the merchant agreed
with this couple, as " actors," to build a theatre in Williams-
burg, and to provide players and scenery and music out of
England, " for the enacting of comedies and tragedies."
On November 21 he bought ground in Williamsburg, in
the neighborhood of the church and the courthouse, and

^ "Early Histor\' of the Eastern Shore of Virginia," J. C.
Wise, 325, 326.

2 « Williamsburg," L. G. Tyler, 228.
230

THE THEATRE

placed upon it a playhouse, a bowling-green, and a dwelling
house and garden.^

Governor Spotswood, in a letter written June 24 of the
next year, mentions giving a public entertainment at his
house, in honor of the King's birthday, and adds " a play
was acted on that occasion."^ What tliis play was he does
not say, but it must have been acted by the Staggs and
others, at Levingston's theatre.

As a practical enterprise, it seems that the theatre was
not successful, for in 1721 Levingston mortgaged the
ground on w^hich it stood to Dr. Archibald Blair for 500
years, and by his failure to meet his payments Dr. Blair
secured possession of the property two years later.^
Whether or not the performances of the company con-
tinued does not appear. Charles Stagg died in Williams-
burg in 1735, and after his death Mistress Mary Stagg, the
earliest leading lady of the American stage, earned her
bread and butter holding " dancing assemblies " for the
ladies and gentlemen of Williamsburg — charging a hand-
some admission fee.*^

Mistress Stagg, her dwelling house and garden, and
the playhouse figured interestingly in Mary Johnston's
novel, " Audrey," since when the quaint cottage has been
pointed out as " Audrey's house." One of its appealing
features is a window-pane bearing the inscription — evi-
dently written with a diamond — " Oh fatal day," and the
date " 1790."

Long before Miss Johnston's time, John Esten Cooke

8 "Williamsburg," L. G. Tyler, 224-226.
^ Letters of Alexander Spotswood, ii, 284.
^ " Williamsburg," L. G. Tyler, 226.
« Ih., 225.

231

COLONIAL VIRGIXLV, FfS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

found in the colonial theatre the theme for a romance
entitled " The Virginia Comedians."

In 1735 and 1736 the playhouse was used to a greater
or less extent by amateurs. " The Busy Body " had been
a fashionable play in London since its presentation for the
first time, in 1709, with Anne Oldfield as " Isabinda," the
leading character, and a letter from Col. William Byrd,
of " Westover," to Sir John Randolph, in Williamsburg,
written January 21, 1735, bears w^itness that it was being
acted there.'

" Which of yom- actors," asks the Colonel, " showTi
most in the play, next Isabinda, who I take it for granted
is the Oldfield of the theatre?

" How came Squire Marplot off? With many a clap,
I suppose, though I fancy he would have acted more to
the life in the comedy called the Sham Doctor. But not
a word of this for fear in case of sickness he might poison

you."

The part of " Marplot " was evidently taken by Sir
John's physician, at whom Colonel Byrd takes occasion to
have a playful fling.

The time-yellowed Virginia Gazette for September 10,
1736, contains this advertisement:

This evening will be performed at the Theatre, b}' the Young
Gentlemen of the College, The Tragedy of Cato.

And on Monday, Wednesday and Friday next will be acted the
following Comedies, by the Gentlemen and Ladies of this Countr}',
viz. The Busy Body, The Recruiting Officer, and the Beaux Strat-
agem.

Under date September 17 the Gazette for the same
year announces :

•^ Va. Mag. Hist. Biog., 240, 241.

THE THEATRE

" Next Monday night will be performed the Drummer;
or The Haunted House, by the Young Gentlemen of the
College."

Out of these performances and the atmosphere of merri-
ment which they created grew one of the earliest newspaper
"personals" on record. It appeared as an "advertisement"
in the Gazette of October 22, and was evidently intended
as a joke on one of the town beaux:

" Whereas a Gentleman who towards the latter end of
Sunmier usually wore a Blue Camlet coat lined with Red
and trimmed with Silver, a silver laced hat and a Turpee
wig, has often been observed by his Amoret to look very
languishingly at her, the said Amoret, and particularly
one night during the last session of Assembly, at the
Theatre, the said gentleman ogled her in such manner as
shewed him to be very far gone, the said Amoret desires the
Gentleman to take the first opportunity that offers to ex-
plain himself on that subject.

" N. B. She believes he has very pretty teeth."

Interest in these amateur theatricals is shown by a con-
temporary letter. Colonel Thomas Jones, writing on Sep-
tember 17, 1736, to his wife in the countr}^ sends this
message to his step-daughter:

'' You may tell Betty Pratt there has been but two
Plays acted since she went, which is Cato by the Young
Gent'n of the College as they call themselves, and the Busy
body by the Company on Wednesday Night last, and I
believe there will be another to Night, they have been at
a great loss for a fine Lady who I think is to be called
Dorinda, but that difficulty is overcome by finding her,
which was to be the greatest Secret and as such 'tis said
to be ]Miss Anderson that came to Town with Mrs. Carter."

233

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Some time after Stagg's death the playhouse, which
was not then being used, was bought by thirty-one promi-
nent men of the colony and presented to Williamsburg
as a town hall.^ And thus ended the history, as a theatre,
of the first theatre in America.

Six years later Williamsburg was given at once a new
playhouse and an opportunity to enjoy Shakespearean
drama. During the year 1750 a theatrical troupe known
as the " Kean and Murray Company " was acting in New
York," and one of the roles of Thomas Kean, its leading
man, was that of Richard III. Whether or not he was
of the family of that great interpreter of Shakespeare of a
later day, Edmund Kean, is not known, but the connection
of the name with the colonial theatre is interesting. In the
Virginia Gazette of August 29, 1751, may be seen the
following announcement:

" By permission of his Honour the President [of the
Council, who was acting Governor], Whereas the Com-
pany of Comedians that are in New York intend perform-
ing in this City; but there being no Room suitable for a
Play House, 'tis propos'd that a Theatre shall be built
by way of Subscription; each Subscriber advancing a Pis-
tole ^*^ to be entitled to a Box Ticket for the first Night's
Diversion.

" Those Gentlemen and Ladies who are kind enough to
favour this Undertaking are desired to send their Sub-
scription Money to Mr. Finnie's, at the Raleigh, where
Tickets may be had.

" N. B. The House to be completed by October
Court."

« " Williamsburg," L. G. Tyler, 226.
» lb., 228.

^° A Spanish coin in use in the Colony and worth about $3.80,
234

By peimi/Tion of the Woilhipful the Mayor of yWaffi/bur^]

At the old Theatre, rear the Capitol,

By the Virginia Company of Comedians,

6n Friday the 8th of Jprii will be prefented a TRAGEDY,

CALLED

Venice Preferved,

O R A

Plot Difcovered.

To which will be added a ballad OPERA, called

Damon and Phillida*

"^ r Mr. Bromaoci

/ I Mr, Godwin.

VbyJ Mrs. Osborne,

\ I Ml. Parker.

J L Mr. Verling.

ARCAS, -^ f Mr. Bromaoce

CORYDON,

DAMON,

CYMON,

MOPSUS,

PHILLIDA, by Mrs. Parker.
Tickets to be jiad of Mr. Jf^Hfiam Rujfell, ar his ftore next dooC
to the Poft Office, and at the door oi the Thtatie.

The doors to be opened at lix, and the play to begin at fcven
o'clock precifely.

Boxes 7s. 6 d. Pit 5s. Gali try 3s. 9d.

rhant Rex isf Regi-n.
U. B# No perfon whatever can be admitted behind the fceiies.

ADVERTISEMENT OF THE WILLIAMSBURG THEATRE
From the Virginia Gazette

THE THEATRE

A site just back of the Capitol building was selected,
and the promoters made good their word to have the house
ready by the October Court, when doubtless the town and
the visitors who thronged it at that time gave the players
generous patronage. Says the Gazette of October 21 :

" On Monday a company of Comedians opened at the
New Theatre near the Capitol, in Williamsburg with King
Richard III and a tragic dance composed by Monsieur
Denoier, called the Royal Captive."

From the same paper for December 19, of the same
year 1751, we learn that —

*' The Company of Comedians intend to be at Peters-
burg by the middle of next month and hope that the Gentle-
men and Ladies who are Lovers of Theatrical Entertain-
ment will favour them with their Company."

Later they went to Norfolk and in the spring were
back in the gay little capital, as may be seen from the
following advertisement from the Gazette of April 17,
1752:

By Permission of His Honour the Governor,
At the New Theatre in Williamsburg,

For the Benefit of Mrs. Beccely,

On Frida}', being the 24th of this Inst,

Will be performed a Comedy, called the

Constant Couple;

or a

Trip to the Jubilee.

The Part of Sir Harry Wildair to be performed

By Mr. Kean.

Colonel Standard

By Mr, Murray

And the Part of AngeKca to be perform'd

By Mrs. Beccely.

With Entertainment of Singing between the Acts.

235

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Likfwise a Dance, called the Drunken Peasant.

To which will be added a Farce, called the

Lying Valet.

Tickets to be had at Mrs. Vobe's, and at Mr. Mitchel's, in York.

They played at Hobb's Hole, as Tappahannock was
then called, from jNIay 10 to 24, and in Fredericksburg
during the " June Fair," which seems to have been their
last appearance in the colony. Their eight months'
stay had created much gayety and doubtless given great
pleasure.

But Virginians were not long to be deprived of the
form of entertainment for which they had acquired so keen
a relish. When they opened their Gazettes on June 12,
1752, their eyes were gladdened by this delightful an-
nouncement :

*' This is to inform the Public that Mr. Hallam, from
the New Theatre in Goodmansfield, London, is daily
expected here with a select Company of Comedians; the
Scenes, Cloaths, and Decorations are entirely new, ex-
tremely rich, and finished in the highest Taste, the Scenes
being painted by the best Hands in London, are excell'd
by none in Beauty and Elegance, so that the Ladies and
Gentlemen may depend on being entertain'd in as polite
a Planner as at the Theatres in London, the Company being
perfect in all the best Plays, Operas, Farces and Panto-
mimes that have been exhibited in any of the Theatres for
these ten years past."

On August 21 of the same year the Gazette's readers
were informed that the Company lately from London had
altered the Playhouse to a " regular theatre, fit for the
reception of ladies and gentlemen and the execution of their
own performance " and would open on the first Friday
in September with " a play called the ^Merchant of Venice,

230

THE THEATRE

written by Shakespeare." Ladies engaging seats in the
boxes were advised to send their servants early on the day
of the performance to hold them and " prevent trouble and
disappointment. ' '

On August 28 appeared the following advertisement,
giving the complete cast of the play :

By Permission of the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Esq., His
Majesty's Lieutenant Governor, and Commander in Chief of the
Colony and Dominion of Virginia.

By a Company of Comedians from London,

At the Theatre in Williamsburg,

On Friday next, being the 15th of September, will be presented

A Play, Call'd,

The

Merchant of Venice,

(Written by Shakespear.)

The Part of Antonio (the Merchant) to be perform'd by

Mr. Clarkson.

Gratiano by Mr. Singleton.

Lorenzo (with songs in character) by Mr. Adcock,

The Part of Bassanio to be perform'd by

Mr. Rigby.

Duke, by Mr. Wynell.

Salanio, by Mr. Herbert.

The Part of Launcelot by Mr. Hallam,

And the Part of Shylock (the Jew) to be perform'd by

Mr. Malone.

The Part of Nerissa, by Mrs. Adcock,

Jessica, by Mrs. Rigby.

And the Part of Portia to be perform'd by

Mrs. Hallam.

With a new occasional Prologue.

To which will be added a Farce, call'd

The Anatomist.

or.
Sham Doctor.
16 237

COLONLVL VUIGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

The Part of Monsieur le Medecin by
Mr. Rigby,
And the Part of Beatrice, by Mrs. Adcock.
No Person whatsoever to be admitted behind the Scenes.
Boxes, 7s. 6d. Pit and Balconies, 5s. 9d. Gallery, 3s. 9d.
To begin at Six o'Clock Vivat Rex.

The Gazette of September 22 reported that the drama
and the farce were " performed before a numerous and
polite audience, with great applause." The " new occa-
sional prologue " had been composed on shipboard by
Mr. Singleton, who played the part of " Gratiano," and
was spoken by Mr. Rigby, the " Bassanio." In it, after
a long preamble, the Muse is described as sending the
actors to Virginia to increase her fame :

Haste to Virginia's plains, my Sons, repair,
The Goddess said, Go, confident to find
An Audience sensible, polite and kind.
We heard and strait obey'd; from Britain's Shore
These unknown Climes advent'ring to explore:
For us then, and our Muse thus low I bend.
Nor fear to find in each the warmest Friend;
Each smiling Aspect dissipates our Fear,
We ne'er can fail of kind Protection here ;
The Stage is ever Wisdom's Fav'rite Care:
Accept our Labours then, approve our Pains,
Your smiles will please us equal to our Gains ;
And as you all esteem the Darling Muse,
The generous Plaudit you will not refuse.
On the ninth of November " the emperor of the Chero-
kee nation, with his Empress and their son, the young
prince, attended by several of his warriors and great men,"
were received at the "palace " by his honor Governor Din-
widdie, " attended by such of the Council as were in town,"
and were " that evening entertained at the theatre." The
play was " Othello," and it gave the Indians " great sur-

238

THE THEATRE

prise, as did the fighting with naked swords on the stage,
which occasioned the Empress to order some about her to
go and prevent their kiUing one another." ^^

On the next day Governor Dinwiddie celebrated the
King's birthday with a splendid entertainment at the
palace. A great company of ladies and gentlemen, the
Indian guests, and the actors were all present, and Mr.
Hallam was given charge of a display of fireworks in the
street in front of the palace. ^^

The Virginians were fortunate in having so excellent
a company to entertain them. Lewis Hallam and his wife
were good performers, and Mrs. Hallam was, besides, a
beautiful and graceful woman, while Rigby and Malone
were actors of established reputation in London. ^^ The
troupe remained in Virginia, playing with " universal
applause," for nine months, and when in the summer of
1753 they left for New York, Governor Dinwiddie gave
them a letter endorsing their ability as actors and their
personal conduct. ^^

For some years after the departure of the Hallam com-
pany there is little definite information in regard to plays
and players in Virginia, for there are no files of Virginia
newspapers in existence between 1752 and 1766, but it is not
likely that the dramatic muse suffered herself to be for-
gotten in the colony.

In May, 1767, Addison's " Cato " was played by the
" young gentlemen of the Reverend Mr. Warrington's
school, in Hampton," and an " Epilogue " in two parts,
written for the occasion, was spoken by his daughter,

" « Williamsburg," L. G. Tyler, 230.

12 76., 230.

13 Daly's " First Theatre in America " (Dunlap Soc), 13.
1^ " History of the American Theatre," Seilhamer, 45.

239

COLONIAL MRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Camilla Warrington. The first part refers to the play and
the second to the performers, as follows :

Now for our actors — little folks we are,

Who in a vast attempt too greatly dare:

We strive to be in air, in gait, in looks,

Statesmen and Princes — whom we've seen in books.

If here we fail forgive, and be content.

With thought and diction by the author lent.

These are the substance and without the Show

Aid lower life, as I already know:

For I, in exercising smiles and frowns,

To gain my Prince, have scarce a thought of crowns ;

But hope to make the better wife, when I

Obtain m^^ princely Colonel by and by.

In one petition join our fairy band.

Let love and patriot ardor bless the land.

If nothing please you else, you'll clap the zeal

Of brats who pant to serve the common weal ;

Each in th' allotted useful occupation.

When genius, time, and fortune point the station.^'^

This is the first admission on record of the dream of
every daughter of the Old Dominion to become the bride
of a Virginia colonel " by and by."

In Januaiy, 1768, a troupe known as " The Virginia
Company of Comedians " was playing in Norfolk, in a
frame structure originally built for a pottery. ^*^ The Vir-
ginia Gazette for February 4, of that year, gives the fol-
lowing prologue, " Spoken by ^Irs. Osborne at Norfolk,
on her benefit night, Tuesday, the 19th of January:"

With doubts — joy — apprehension — almost dumb.
Fearful — yet pleased — with trembling steps I come.
No florid speech to make, but just to own.
The Countless favors you to me have shown.

if^ Gazette, May 21, 1767.

i« " Lower Norfolk Co. Va. Antiquary," ii, 102.
240

MR& LE\M^ H\LL\M, ^R.
A3 "Daraxa ' .n 'Edward and tlciiora'

THE THEATRE

I'm told (what flattery to my heart!) that some
For Osborne's sake alone this night have come;
And yet, so poor am I, so much I owe,
I have but thanks to give — to you — and you.
In spite of better hopes, by fate decreed,
For ten long years this motley life I've led ;
And felt (as rapidly thro' life I've whirl'd)
All changes of this April-weather world !
One day have gaily basked in sunshine warm,
The next have shivered underneath a storm;
Yet though thus doomed perpetually to roam,
Still when in Norfolk thought myself at home;
And zcish'd, yes, often rcish'd, but oh! in vain,
With such dear friends, I ever might remain.
But fate decrees I no such bliss shall know,
Still bids me wander, and resigned I go.
For you, ye generous souls ! whom here I leave,
May every bliss be yours, this would I give !
And should kind Heaven indulgent to my prayer,
Once more restore me to my good friends here,
Oh may I find you all, some few years hence,
Still blest with health, and peace, and competence.

This year, 1768, was an especially brilliant one socially
in the colonial capital. The Governor held stately recep-
tions to which flocked ladies and gentlemen in coui't
apparel; there was no end of music, dancing, and private
entertaining, and there was a two months' theatrical sea-
son. The actors were " The Virginia Company of Come-
dians," and the old Gazettes give us their names, the plays
they presented, and the parts they played. The performance
began sometimes at six, sometimes at seven o'clock, and
must have lasted to a late hour, for the audience of that day
was not satisfied with one play, but expected, even at the
end of a long Shakespearean tragedy, an afterpiece in the
way of a farce or pantomime, or elaborate dances, and
sometimes dancing and singing between the acts.

241

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Mrs. Osborne seems to have been the bright, particular
star of the company, and played both male and female
roles. Other stars were Mr. and Mrs. Parker and Mr.
Godwin, who was the principal comic actor and an accom-
plished dancer. Mr. Parker was a singer, and others who
danced as well as acted were Miss Yapp, Mr. Walker,
Mr. Bromadge, and Mr. Charlton,

In the advertisements in the Gazette for this year the
new theatre near the Capitol, built in 1751 for the " Kean
and Murray Company " and improved in the year follow-
ing by the Hallam troupe, has become " the old theatre."
On April 14, " By permission of the Worshipful, the
Mayor of Williamsburg," the " Comedians " gave " The
Orphan," one of the favorite plays of the day, followed by
** a new comic dance called The Bedlamites," at " the old
Theatre, near the Capitol."

A slightly mutilated advertisement in the Gazette of
May 12 announces a benefit night, probably in honor of
Mrs. Osborne. Congreve's " The Constant Couple " was
the principal feature of this performance, but in addition
there were so many song and dance acts that the advertise-
ment suggests a modern vaudeville :

By Permission

Of the Worshipful the Mayor of

Williamsburg,

At the old Theatre, near the Capitol

By the Virginia Company of

Comedians,

For the Benefit of

On Wednesday

Will be presented

A Comedy Called

The Constant Couple

Or

242

THE THEATRE

A Trip to the Jubilee

Sir Harry Wildair Mrs. Osborni

Colonel Standard

Vizard

Alderman Smuggler

Beau Clincher

Clincher, junior

Dicky Mr. Farrell

Tom Errand Mr. Walker

Lady Darling Mrs. Dowthaitt

Angelica, Miss Dowthaitt

Parley, Miss Yapp

Lady Lurewell, by Mrs. Parker.

Between the first and second Act a Pro

Logue, in the Character of a Country

Boy, by Mr. Parker.

After the Second Act, a Dance, called

The Coopers, by Mr. Godwin, Mess

Bromadge, Walker, &c.

After the third Act a Cantata, sung by

Mr. Parker.

And in the fifth Act, a IMinuet, by Miss

Yapp, and Mrs. Osborne, in the Character of Sir Harry Wildair.

After the PLAY, a HORNPIPE, by Mr.

Godwin.

To which will be added
A Farce, called
The Miller of Mansfield.
King Mr. Verling.

Miller Mr. Parker.

Xord Lurwell Mr. Godwin.

First Courtier Mrs. Osborne

Second Courtier Mr. Charlton

Joe . Mr. Farrell.

243

COLONIAL \TRGINIA, 11^ PEOPLE AND CUSTOIMS

Madge Mrs. Dowthaitt

Kate Miss Dowthaitt

^^SSJ Mrs. Parker

Keepers, Mess. Walker, Farrell, &c.

Tickets to be had of Mrs. Osborne, at

Mrs. Rathell's Store, and at the Door

of the Theatre.

Boxes 7s. 6— Pit 5s. Gallery 3s. 9.

Vivant Rex & Regina.

To begin at 7 o'clock.

On June 3 the Company played " The Beggar's
Opera " and " The Anatomist, or Sham Doctor," for the
benefit of Mrs. Parker.

In the spring of 1771 the Hallams were back in Wil-
liamsburg, as members of " The American Company of
Comedians," organized and managed by an actor named
David Douglas. Mr. Hallam had died and ^Irs. Hallam
had married Douglas. During the season of 1752 in Wil-
liamsburg her son Lewis, then a boy of twelve years, had
made his first appearance on any stage, but when speaking
his single line had been seized with stage-fright, burst into
tears, and rushed out.^" Now, at the age of thirty-one, he
w^as not only the leading man of the company, but king
of the American stage, and his cousin, Sarah Hallam, the
leading lady, was its queen. They had lately played to
enthusiastic audiences in Annapolis, where the fine artist,
Charles Wilson Peale, had painted ^liss Hallam's portrait
as " Imogen," in " Cymbeline," generally pronounced her
best part, and the Mar^dand poets had celebrated her
beauty and genius.'^ One of these sings as follows:

" " Williamsburg," L. G. Tyler, 229.
'^ lb., 231.

244

THE THEATRE

" From earliest youth, with raptures oft

I've turned great Shakespeare's page;
Pleased when he's gay and soothed when soft
Or kindled at his rage.

" Yet not till now, till taught by thee,
Conceived I half his power!
I read admiring; now I see

I only now adore.

*******

" Methinks I see his smiling shade
And hear him thus proclaim,
' In Western worlds to this fair maid
I trust my spreading fame !
Long have my scenes each British heart

With warmest transports filled ;
Now equal praise, by Hallam's art,
America shall yield.' " ^^

On April 19, 1771, Col. Hudson Muse, of Middlesex
County, wrote his brother in Maryland that he had been
in Williamsburg eleven days and had " spent the time very
agreeably at the plays every night." He pronounces Miss
Hallam " superfine," but " must confess her lustre was
much sullied by the number of beauties that appeared at
that court. The house was crowded every night and the
gentlemen who have generally attended that place agree
there was treble the number of fine ladies that was ever
seen in town before — for my part I think it would be impos-
sible for a man to have fixed upon a partner for life, the
choice was too general to have fixed on one." ^°

He adds that he hopes to make another visit to Wil-
liamsburg, " as the players are to be there again."

A spinet or harpsichord probably did duty as orchestra

^^ " History of the American Theatre," Seilhamer, 290.
^^ William and Mary Quarterly Mag., ii, 241.
245

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

at these performances, as the music was furnished by Mr.
Peter Pelham, the organist of old Bruton Church, an
accomphshed musician, who was — by the way — the half-
brother of the famous painter, Copley.

The Diary of General Washington testifies that the
theatre was a favorite diversion of that august gentleman.
To find him, after busy days devoted to affairs of state,
whiling away the evening hours at the play, doubtless j oin-
ing heartily in the applause of the acting or in the laughter
at the whimsical farces and dances, and often going with
a merry party to a ball later on, is to turn the bronze
statue into flesh and blood. His ledger shows many entries
of expenses for " play tickets," at Williamsburg, Alex-
andria, Fredericksburg, Annapolis, New York — wherever
he happened to be. Indeed, so partial to playgoing was
the Father of his Country that Mr. Paul Leicester Ford
has written an elaborate monograph upon the subject.

Here are some fair samples of the exhibits in his
Diary: "'

On May 2, 1771, he " set out with Colo. Bassett for
Williamsburg and reached Town about 12 O'clock — dined
at Mrs. Dawson's ^~ & went to the Play." On the following
evening he " Dined at the Speaker's and went to the Play —
after wch Drank a Bowl or two of Punch at Mrs. Camp-
bell's." On the 8th he " Dined at Southall's with Colo.
Robert Fairfax & some other Gentlemen & went to the
Play &c."

In September of the same year the players were in
Annapolis, and Washington, happening to have business

21 Ford's " Washington and the Theatre," 19, 22.

^^ Mrs. Priscilla Dawson was the widow of Rev. Thomas Daw-
son, D.D., and a sister of Washington's brother-in-law, Col. Bur-
well Bassett.

246

LKWI- JIALI.W!, IR.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE STAGGS' HOUSE

THE THEATRE

there, saw them four times in six nights, on two of which
he went to a ball afterward. In the following month he
was in Williamsburg again, attending the session of the
House of Burgesses, and thus registers his Diary:

" Oct. 29. Dined at the Speaker's, went to the Play in
the Afternoon.
31. Dined at the Governor's, went to the Play.
Nov. 1. Dined at Mrs. Dawson's — went to the Fire-
works in the afternoon and to the Play at
night.
4. Dined with the Council and went to the
Play afterwards."
In 1772, just before the " American Company of Come-
dians " left Virginia for their Northern tour — and for the
last time — we have this from the Diary :

"Mar. 11. Dined at the Club and went to the Play.

17. Dined at the Club and went to the Play in

the afternoon.
19. Dined at Mrs. Dawson's & went to the Play

in the evening.
25. Dined at Mrs. Lewis Burwell's and went
to the Play.
Apr. 3. Dined at Mrs. Campbell's and went to the
Play — Then to Mrs. Campbell's again.
7. Dined at Mrs. Campbell's and went to the
Play."
Among dramas not already mentioned witnessed by the
gentlemen quoted and their friends in the autumn of 1771
were " West Indian," " Musical Lady," " King Lear " —
announced as never before performed in Virginia — " Every
Man in his Humor," " Damon and Phillida," " Jealous
Wife," and " Padlock."

It seems from one of Washington's letters to Mrs.

247

COLONIAL MRGINM, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

George William Fairfax that he occasionally took part in
amateur theatricals. He writes;

" I should think our time more agreeably spent, be-
lieve me, in playing a part in Cato, with the company you
mention and myself doubly happy in being the Juba to
such a Marcia as you must make."

In the spring of 1772 the " Comedians " were in Wil-
liamsburg again, and the Gazette of April 2 gives them
editorial comment:

" Mr. Kelley's new comedy of A Word to the Wke
was performed at our Theatre last Thursday for the first
time, and repeated on Tuesday to a very crowded and
splendid audience. It was received both nights with the
warmest marks of approbation; the sentiments with which
this excellent piece is replete were greatly and deservedly
applauded, and the audience, while thej^ did justice to the
merit of the Author, did no less honor to their own refined
taste. If the comic "writers would pursue Mr. Kelley's
plan, and present us only with moral plays, the stage would
become (what it ought to be) a school of politeness and
virtue. Truth indeed, obliges us to confess that for several
years past most of the new plays that have come under our
observation have had a moral tendency, but there is not
enough of them to supply the theatre with a variety of
exhibitions sufficient to engage the attention of the public;
and the most desirable enjoyments, by too frequent a repe-
tition, become insipid."

In the Gazette of April 9 appears this advertisement:

On Tuesday next, being the 14-th Instant

A New Comedy, Called

False Delicacy

By the Author of A Word to the Wise.

248

THE THEATRE

S^^It may not be improper to give notice that
the Theatre in Williamsburg will be closed at
the end of the April Court, the American Company's
Engagements calling them to the Northward from
whence it is probable they will not return for several years.

On April 21 they played " The Provoked Husband,"
followed by " the Farce of Thomas and Sally," and this
seems to have been their farewell performance. Just once
more they appear in the columns of the Virginia Gazette
whose New York correspondent, on October 14, 1773, gave
Mrs. Douglas the doubtful pleasure of reading her own
obituary.

" Last week," reads this notice, " died at Philadelphia,
Mrs. Douglas, wife of Mr. Douglas, Manager of the
American Company of Comedians, and mother of Mr.
Lewis Hallam : a Lady who by her excellent performances
upon the stage, and her irreproachable manners in private
life, had recommended herself to the friendship and affec-
tion of many of the principal families on the Continent and
in the West Indies."

In a " Supplement " bearing the same date, the news-
paper declares that the announcement of the death of
Mrs. Douglas was a mistake, " For by late advices from
Annapolis, in Maryand, where the American Company
of Comedians is now performing that lady was in very
good health and acting on the stage with her usual
applause."

And now ends the story of the theatre in Colonial
Virginia.

Already a wider stage was being set for the more
thrilling scenes of the American Revolution, and with the
rising of the curtain upon that great drama of real life the
toy playhouses in Virginia and the other colonies closed

COLONIAL VIRGIiNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

their doors. In 1774 the Congress which met in Phila-
delphia to discuss resistance to Great Britain resolved and
recommended to the people " to discountenance and dis-
courage every species of extravagance and dissipation,
especially all horse-racing, all kinds of gaming, cock-fight-
ing, exhibitions of shews, plays and other expensive diver-
sions and entertainments."'

And Sarah Hallam, the lovel}^ and gifted, what became
of her when j^oung, and at the height of her fame tliis
embargo was laid upon her art?

It is evident that she had made a place for herself as a
woman as well as an actress in the hearts of her patrons in
the Virginia capital, for, laying aside the roles in which
she had appeared so charmingly before them, she returned
to them in the character of herself and made her home
among them, earning her living conducting a fashionable
boarding school for girls.^^ In an advertisement in the
Gazette of August 18, 1775, she " begs leave to acquaint the
ladies and gentlemen " of Williamsburg that she " hopes to
be favoured with the instruction of their daughters " in the
" genteel accomplishment of dancing," which was evidently
considered an important part of a j'oung person's education
in Virginia, even with w^ar-clouds muttering.

With this advertisement the star makes her exit from
colonial records, but the personal charm to which she held
fast, even in old age, is among the traditions of Williams-
burg. Mrs. Randolph Harrison, a venerable lady of that
storied town, who when a small child visited Miss Hallam
in the modest cottage in which she was living at a great
age, and the pet of the place, as late as 1839, has given us
an appealing picture of her.

2^ William and Mary Quarterly, xii, 237.
250

THE THEATRE

"Though possessing no visible means of support," says
Mrs. Harrison, the actress " fared sumptuously every day."
A wealthy planter provided her with servants, and the
people of Williamsburg " vied with each other in supply-
ing her with comforts and luxuries."

The ladies of old Bruton Church " held weekly prayer
meetings in her chamber where she sat enthroned in her
old arm chair." Happy were the children who were
allowed to attend these services — not that they developed
unusual evidences of early piety, but " visions of sugar
plums danced through their heads." Not only were they
" feasted with dainties on their arrival, but on leaving each
child was presented with a paper bag of good things to
take home." It seemed to the fortunate little visitors that
Miss Hallam's sole occupation was making these bags, for
the pockets around her chair were kept filled with them.

" When this dear old lady was gathered to her fathers,"
adds Mrs. Harrison, " there was universal mourning in the
community." ^^

^* Letter quoted in William and Mary Quarterly, xvii, 66, 67.

IX
OUTDOOR SPORTS

)HE emigrants to ^"i^gima brought
with them the Enghshman's love of
outdoor hfe. Horses were intro-
duced early and increased rapidly,
and the planters became unsurpassed
riders. This perhaps accounts for
the charm they found in racing,
which they regarded as peculiarly a gentleman's diversion
and which became the reigning and raging sport of the
colony.^

Disputes over races settled in court and preser\'ed in
the comity records provide our earliest information on the
subject. For instance, in 1674 York County Court issued
this order:

" James Bullock, a Taylor having made a race for his
mare to runn w'th a horse belonging to Mr. ]Mathew
Slader for twoe thousand pounds of tobacco and caske, it
being contrary to Law for a Labourer to make a race,
being a sport only for Gentlemen, is fined for the same
one hundred pounds of tobacco and caske.

" Whereas ]Mr. ]\Iathew Slader & James Bullock, by
condition under the hand and Scale of the said Slader that
his horse should runn out of the way that Bullock's mare
might win, w'ch is an apparent cheate, is ord'ed to be putt
in the stocks & there sitt the space of one houre."

From which it seems that though the tailor was punished
for aspiring to indulge in the gentleman's sport, being a
gentleman did not save his adversary from the humiliation

^ For a comprehensive article on Racing in the Colony see the
Va. Magazine of History and Biography, ii, 293.

252

JOHN BAYLOR, OF "NEW MARKET"
Noted turfman. When at Putney Grammar School, England, about 17^1

OUTDOOR SPORTS

of the stocks when it was discovered that he won the stake
by cheating.

The earhest mention of a race in the records of Henrico
County, which are the most accessible to me, is the follow-
ing, in 1678:

" Bartholomew Roberts, aged 40 years or thereabouts,
Deposeth that July last yo'r Deponent being at Bermuda
Hundred, there being a horse race run between Mr. Abra-
ham Womock & Mr. Rich'd Ligon. Capt. Tho. Chamber-
laine bemg at ye end of ye race, he asked whether both
horses were ready to run, young Tho. saying yes, and
Abraham Childers being ordered to start the horses he bid
them go. Tho : Cocke's went about 4 or 5 lengths from ye
starting place, run out of ye way, and Tho : Cocke rained
him in and cryed it was not a faire start & Capt. Cham-
berlaine calling ye other man backe, Joseph Tanner made
answer, ye start is faire, onely one horse run out of ye way.'*

Henrico people seem to have been quarrelsome over
their races. Among others which they brought into court
was one in 1679 between Richard Ligon and Alexander
Womock, for three hundred pounds of tobacco; one in
1683 between Edward Hatcher and Andrew Martin — the
winner to have the other's horse; one in 1687 between
Mr. John Brodnax and Captain William Soane, and a
nimiber in later years.

Among the places where the races were run were
*' Varina," " Malvern Hill," and " the race-place commonly
called ye Ware." The usual distance for these early races
seems to have been a quarter of a mile, and they were run
by saddle horses; there is no evidence that horses were
kept especially for racing until some time in the eighteenth
century — probably about 1730.

17 253

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

The passion for racing increased as time went on.
Writing in 1724, Hugh Jones says:

" The common planters leading easy lives don't much
admire Labour or many Exercises except horse racing."

The Virginia Gazette of Januarj^ 11, 1739, contains
an advertisement of races — some at fom' miles— at JMr.
Joseph Sewell's, in Gloucester, for various purses, run-
ning as high as thirty pistoles. The managers were Wil-
liam Xelson, of York, and Ralph Wormeley, of ^liddle-
sex — two of the most prominent gentlemen in the colony.
The Reverend Andrew Burnaby, who was in Virginia
in 1759, commented on the horses thus:

" The Gentlemen of Virginia who are exceedingly fond
of horse racing, have spared no expense or trouble to
improve the breed of them by importing great numbers
from England."

Between 17-1-0 and 1775 the names of at least fifty
horses and thirty mares, imported to Virginia, are re-
corded, and there were probably many others. Among the
gentlemen who by these importations laid the foundation
of the Virginia race of thoroughbred horses, or who were
otherwise interested in such horses and the turf, were
William Smalley, Mr. Maclin, Capt. William Evans,
James Gibson, William Lightfoot of " Sandy Point," Col.
John Tayloe of " ^It. Airy," Alexander Spotswood (later
the Revolutionary General), Col. John Baylor of " Xew
Market," Col. John Syme of Hanover, Nathaniel Harri-
son of " Brandon," Sir ]Marmaduke Beckwith of Richmond
County, Col. Francis Thornton of " Society Hill," King
George County, Col. William Byrd of " Westover," Mor-
decai Booth of Gloucester County, Daniel jNIcCarty of
" Pope's Creek," William Fitzhugh of " Chatham," Wil-

254

OUTDOOR SPORTS

liam Brent of " Richland," Lewis Burwell of " Carter s
Creek," Ralph Wormeley of " Rosegill," Richard Lee,
James Balfour of Brunswick County, Capt. Littleburry
Hardyman of " Indian Fields," Charles City, Armistead
Lightfoot, Roger Gregory, William Churchill of "Wil-
ton," Edward Ambler of Jamestown, Col. Thomas Mann
Randolph of " Tuckahoe," Col. John Willis of Brunswick,
Capt. Henry Harrison of Sussex County, Thomson
Mason, John Fleming of Cumberland County, l^athaniel
Walthoe, Samuel Du Val, Col. John Mercer of " Marl-
borough," Francis Whiting, George Nicholas, Philip
Lightfoot Lee of " Stratford," George Baylor, I^andon
Carter, John Banister of " Battersea," Mann Page of
" Rosewell," Moore Fauntleroy, jNIaximilian Robinson of
Richmond County, William Hardyman, James Parke
Farley, Robert Goode of "Whitby," Benjamin Grymes,
AValker Taliaferro, Robert Slaughter, Col. Presley Thorn-
ton of " Northumberland House," and his son Peter Pres-
ley Thornton, Peter Conway of Lancaster County, John
Baird of " Hallsfield," Prince George County, Thomas
Minor of Spotsylvania, George B. Poindexter of New
Kent County, William O. Winston of Hanover, and
finally, the versatile George Washington, who, according
to the " Turf Register," was a steward of the Alexandria
Jockey Club and ran his own horses there and at Annapolis.
There are few files of the Virginia Gazette between
1740 and 1756, but those that remain, and the Maryland
Gazette, show that the sport was as much in vogue as ever
during these years. One of the most exciting races of
this period was in 1752 when William Byrd, the third,
issued a challenge to run his horse Tryall against, any for
five hundred pistoles — about eighteen hundred dollars.

255

COLONIAL VIKGLXLV, LIS PEOPLE .VND CUSTOMS

Five liorses were entered and the race was run at " Glou-
cester race ground," and won by Selima, belonging to
Colonel Tasker of ]\Laryland.

Racing news occupied a prominent place in the Virginia
Gazette from 1766 to 1775. One of the chief turf events
seems to have been the four-mile heat race for one hundred
pounds, run at Williamsburg each spring and fall. In
April, 1766, this was won by Colonel John Tayloe's Travel-
ler, and in October by the same gentleman's Hero. In
the spring of 1768 it w^as won by Captain Littleberry
Hardyman's Partner, and in the fall by Colonel Lewis
Burwell's Remus. J. F. D. Smith, an English traveller
who was in Virginia in 1772, and wi-ote his impressions,
mentioned the Williamsburg spring and fall races when
two, three and four-mile heats were run over an excellent
course adjoining the town, and said that annual races were
established in almost every considerable place in Virginia.

Racing in the colony closed with a most successful
season in 177-1. The Fredericksburg Jockey Club had
an especially brilliant meeting, when the " Jockey Club
Plate," the " Town Purse," and other races were hotly
contested by horses belonging to the foremost gentlemen
of the country.

What was perhaps the last great race before the Revo-
lution— the " Town & Country Purse," four mile heats —
was reported in quite modern style as follows:
William Fitzhugh, of Chatham's, ch. g. Volun-
teer, 140 lbs 4 4 1 1

Peter Conway, Esq.'s, gr. m. Mary Gray, 122 lbs. 1 3 dis.
Alex. SpotsAvood, Esq.'s, ch. g. Sterling, 122 lbs. 3 12 2
Thos. Minor, Esq.'s, s-h. Fearnaught, 140 lbs... 2 2 2 dis.
Robt. Slaughter, Esq.'s, bl. h. Ariel, 132 lbs dis.

A complete search of the newspapers, letters, and

256

OUTDOOR SPORTS

records of the tinie would be necessary for full illustration
of the almost universal interest in horses and racing. Lead-
ing men, even when not owning race horses, went regularly
to race meetings. For instance there is a letter to Wash-
ington from George ISIason dated " Race Ground at Bog-
gess's Saturday 6th May, 1758, 5 o'clock p.m."'

Naturally the passion for racing was injurious to those
who indulged in reckless betting, and this was felt by some
of the planters. Robert Page, of " Broad Neck," Han-
over County, in his will made in 1765, directed that neither
of his sons should be allowed to go to horse races.

From an early time the Virginians had field days given
up to all sorts of outdoor sports and exercises, and in 1691
Governor Sir Francis Nicholson appointed a regular day
for such recreations and offered prizes for those who should
excel in them, by proclamations published in the counties,
of which this is a sample :

" To the Sheriff of Suny County,

*' I desire that you give public notice that I will give
first and second prizes to be shott for, wrasttled, played
at backswords, & run for by Horse and foott, to begin
on the 22d day of Aprill next, St. George's day, being
Saturday, all which prizes are to be shott for &c by the
better sort of Virginians onely, who are Batchelors."

The Governor duly received a letter from " The Batche-
lors of Virginia," thanking him for his intention of " insti-
tuting annual games for the training of young men in
manly exercises and feats of activity."

The Virginia Gazette tells how Mr. Augustus Graham,
" a generous bachelor " of Scotch birth, living in Hanover
County, " provided a handsome entertaiimient for gentle-
men and ladies on November 30, 1736 — St. Andrew's

257

COLONIAL MRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE /\ND CUSTOMS

day — and I'or their diversion gave several prizes to be con-
tended for by several sorts of exercise and agility, all
at his own expense." He was " honored with a great deal
of Company who were so well pleased that it was then
resolved for keeping the same spirit of friendship and good
society to have an annual meeting " to be paid for by sub-
scription. And here is the programme, given in the
Gazette, for the " meeting " on St. Andrew's Day of the
following year.

Twenty horses were to be run around a three-mile
course for a prize of five pounds. A hat worth twenty
shillings was to be " cudgelled for." A violin was to be
played by twenty fiddlers and given to him that should
l>e adjudged to play the best; no person to play imless
he brought a fiddle with him. After this prize was won
all the fiddlers w^ere to play together, each a different tune,
and be treated by the company.

Twelve boys twelve years of age w^ere to run twelve
yards for a hat worth twelve shillings. A " Quire of Bal-
lads" was to be sung for by a number of songsters, the
best songster to have the prize and all to have liquor to
clear their windpipes. A pair of silver buckles was to be
wrestled for by a certain number of brisk young men, a
pair of handsome shoes to be danced for and a pair of silk
stockings to be given to the handsomest young country
maid that appeared in the field, and there were to be " many
other whimsical and comical diversions too tedious to men-
tion." A flag was to fly thirty feet high, and drums, trum-
pets, and hautboys were to play. A handsome entertain-
ment was promised the subscribers and their wives, and such
of them as were not so happy as to have wives would be
permitted to treat any other lady. After dinner " the

258

AN OLD VIRdlMA RACE HORSE

LORD FAIRFAX'S RIDING BOOTS

OUTDOOR SPORTS

Royal healths, his Honor, the Governor's, &c.," were to
be drunk.

Finally the advertisement announced, " as this niirth
is designed to be purely innocent and void of offence, all
persons resorting there are desired to behave themselves
with decency and sobriety. All immorality is to be dis-
countenanced with the utmost rigour."

Beverley, writing of the pastimes of the Virginians at
the beginning of the eighteenth century, says :

" They have hunting, fishing and fowling, with which
they entertain themselves in an hundred ways." He de-
scribes the hunting of wild horses, of deer, and other game,
including the " treeing," after dark, of opossums, of which
he says:

" In this sort of hunting they carry their great dogs
with them, because wolves, bears, panthers, wild cats and
other beasts of prey are abroad in the night."

The fox chase, with hounds — so dear to the Enghsh-
man's heart — was a favorite sport of the Virginians, and
the letters of the period contain many allusions to it. In
1756 William Stevens, of Hanover Comity, wrote to
Nathaniel Phillips, in London :

" This morning I went a fox hunting with some gentle-
men where we had an excellent sport, for after running
him four hours we killed him."

Washington was an enthusiastic fox hunter, as frequent
entries in his diary attest. In a letter to him from Bryan
Fairfax, in 1768, the writer says:

" I shall be glad of your Company at Towlston when
it is convenient to spend three or four days or more. I
can't say my hounds are good enough to justifie an Invi-
tation to Hunt."

259

COLONL\L MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

When Lord Fairfax was living at " Belvoir," a mem-
ber of his household sent the following note to a neighbor:

" Dear Sir:

" His Lordship proposes drawing Mudd Hole tomor-
row; fii'st killing a Fox; then to turn down a Bagged Fox
before your door for ye diversion of ye Ladies ; but I would
not have you think that we shall stop a long time at y'r
door, for if y'r dinner should be ready by two then we
shall pass through y'r door and enter y'r House ....

" If you should chuse Friday for our coming lett me
know. We took the Fox yesterday without Hurt."

A sport popular with men of all ranks from the mas-
ter to the slave was that of cock-fighting, and again we
find Washington stepping from the pedestal which evi-
dently often cramped his legs, to enjoy himself like any
gentleman of the day with perfectly good flesh and blood.
Writing in his journal in 1752 he says:

" A Great JMain of cocks was fought in Yorktown
between Gloucester and York for 5 pistoles each battle,
and 100 ye odd. I left with Colo. Lewis before it was
decided."

Says the Virginia Gazette of May 23, 1755 :

" On Tuesday, 6th of this inst., was determined at the
Xew Kent Court House, the great Cock Match between
Gloucester and New Kent, for 10 pistoles a battle and 100
the main. There fell eighteen of the ^Match of which the
Xew Kent men won ten and Gloucester seven, and one
drawn battle. Some James River cocks that fell on the
Xew Kent side distinguished themselves in a very ex-
traordinary manner."

The advertisement of a cock fight at Sussex Court
House, in 1768, ends, " At night there will be a ball for the
ladies and gentlemen."

260

OUTDOOR SPORTS

Boat racing was another popular diversion. Philip ,^

Fithian gives a lively account of one which he attended at ^^

Hobb's Hole — now Tappahannock — on the Rappahan-
nock River. He was one of a company of forty-five ladies
and sixty gentlemen who watched the race from the deck
of the ship BeaufoH and were given " an elegant enter-
tainment " by her Master, Captain Dobby. There was a
ball that night, at the house of Mr. Ritchie, a wealthy
merchant of the town — two fiddlers fui*nishing music for
the minuet and other dances. Says our faithful clu'onicler:

" Dolly Edmundson, a short, pretty, stump of a girl,
danced well, sung a song with great applause and seemed
to enter into the spirit of the entertainment. Mr. Ritchie's
Clerk, a limber, well-dressed, pretty handsome chap seemed
fond of her and she of him . . . and waited on her home,
in close hugg too, the moment he left the ballroom."

The company " got to bed by three, after a day spent in
constant, violent exercise and drinking an unusual quantity
of liquor."

EDUCATION

I— FREE SCHOOLS

HE group of Virginians, who as the
colonial period drew to a close stood
ready to bear a tremendous part in
securing freedom and constructing
a nation in America, is the best
evidence of the moral and intellect-
ual training which had been going
quietly on in his Majesty's first colony.

It is not necessary to name these men — their fame has
gone round the world and grows brighter with the passing
of the years. In them the seeds of Anglo-Saxon civiliza-
tion which their forefathers had brought across the sea to
plant and nurture in a new world flowered splendidly.

It is natural to ask what sort of educational system pro-
duced these soldiers, orators, and statesmen, for highly
developed genius such as theirs could never have sprung
from the uncultivated and unfertilized soil of illiteracy.

The destruction of Virginia records which began with
the burning of Jamestown, in 1676, makes it difficult to
report with any degree of completeness on educational
advantages in Virginia — especially in the earliest years —
as on other matters, but enough remains to indicate earnest
zeal for the training of youth, and every opportunity the
time and conditions made possible. A goodly number of
the emigrants had been liberally educated in the schools
and universities of England and Scotland, and these of
course saw to it that their children did not grow up in
ignorance. There was time to spare on the plantations,
and many a child was carefully taught by parents and

262

EDUCATION

guardians. Almost all homes but the poorest contained
books, few or many — historical, religious, scientific, and
literary works — and as there was practically no light litera-
ture, young people and their elders did more reading of a
kind to give them mental exercise, and persons of every
age, class, and condition drank far more deeply than now
of that well of English pure and undefiled — the Bible.

In addition to these cultivating influences, the planter's
child learned the three Rs or received a liberal education in
one or more of four ways : From a tutor under the parental
roof, from a local school — free or private — to and from
which he went each day, or in which he boarded, from a
school or college abroad, or — after 1693 — from William
and Mary College.

Toward the end of the period a few Virginia boys were
sent to Princeton and other Northern colleges.

Masters were made to see that orphaned and other
children apprenticed to them were taught to read and write,
and provision was made by both Church and State and in
wills of charitably disposed men and women that poor
children should attend the " old field " and other schools
free of charge.

This does not mean that everybody was educated in
even the most rudimentary way. It must be remembered
that universal education was then a thing undreamed of;
that in England, illiteracy among the poorer classes was
widespread, and that old letters bear witness that many
ladies of rank there could not spell. One fair test of liter-
acy is the number of persons in a community who can
sign their names. Philip A. Bruce has shown that in
Virginia in the seventeenth century over fifty per cent, of
persons on juries, sixty per cent, of men making deeds

263

COLONIAL VIRGLNLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

and depositions, and thirty-three per cent, of women could
write. ^ There was vast improvement as time went on.
Signatures in the printed volume of Spotsylvania County
records prove that from 1729 to 173-1 about twenty-three
per cent, of persons represented were illiterate. In the
ten years following only fourteen per cent, could not write.
This may be too high a proportion of literacy to be exact,
as many of the deeds were made by large landliolders, who
were generally men of education. Yet out of signers of a
hmidred and fifty-five deeds, not especially selected, in the
same county, onlj^ twelve made their marks. Alexander
Brown, referring to the period from 1740 to 1770, says:

" I have orders for entry or transfer of lands from
nearly a thousand different persons, and it was rare indeed
that they were not able to write their own orders. It is true
that some of the writing is very bad, but much of it is very
good." ■

There were no children in the colony during its earliest
years, but soon after the first birth, in 1609, ships with new
supplies of emigrants brought children, as well as men and
women.

Indian children were there from the beginning, how-
ever, and very early the Virginia Company of London
launched a plan to found a college in which to educate and
make Christians of them, and at the same time give the
planters educational advantages for their children. In
1617 King James ordered letters patent to be issued
throughout his kingdom to raise money, and a handsome
sum was contributed and invested for the proposed insti-
tution. The Virginia Assembly of 1619 discussed plans

^ Bruce's " Institutional History of Virginia in the Seven-
teenth Century," i, 450, 459.

2 Brown's " Cabells and their Kin," 190, 191.
264

EDUCATION

for it, the Virginia Company gave it a fertile tract of ten
thousand acres at Henrico, on James River, and by 1620
" the College lands " had been laid off into small farms
and a hundred tenants sent out from England to cultivate
them on shares — the rewards of their labor to be equally
divided between the College and themselves. In this year
came Master George Thorpe, a gentleman of his Majesty's
privy chamber, distinguished for godliness and learning,
who had been appointed manager of the College and as-
signed three hundred acres of land with ten tenants to
cultivate it.

Not only in Virginia and in England were plans for
education in the colony going forward. At the faraway
Cape of Good Hope the British ship Royal James, return-
ing home from India, met some vessels which had been to
Virginia and gave so favorable a report of the colony that
the Reverend Mr. Copeland, the good ship's chaplain,
passed around his hat among the passengers and mariners
and collected over seventy pounds sterling to be devoted
to building either a church or a school there. In 1621 this
gift, equal to at least seventeen hundred dollars to-day, was
turned over to the Virginia Company which appointed a
committee to consider what to do with it. The committee
decided that " as each plantation would have a church "
there was " greater want of a school," which would be " like
to prove a worke most acceptable unto the planters . . .
constrained at great cost to send their children home (to
England) to be taught."

The Company agreed to use the money " towards the
erection of a publique free schoole in Virginia," for which
they had already received an anonymous gift of forty
pounds sterling. They named it the East India School,
appointed Mr. Copeland as its rector, and gave it a thou-

265

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

sand acres of land in Charles City, a few miles from the site
chosen for the College to which it was to be a sort of annex,
and to which students from the school were to be advanced
into such scholarships and fellowships as should be en-
dowed. An architect and carpenter bringing his wife and
five apprentices came over early in 1622 to build the school-
house, but in IVIarch of that year plans for both school and
college were completely overthrown by the ghastly Indian
Massacre which came very near annihilating the colony
itself. Good JVIaster Thorpe was one of the hapless victims.

A year later the Virginia Company, evidently not real-
izing in far-away London the stricken state of the colony,
gave orders for the improvement of the College lands and
the construction of the College building, declaring, " The
work by the assistance of God shall again proceed." But
at the close of another year the revocation of the Com-
pany's charter put an end at once to its useful existence
and its plans for a school and a college on the James.

For some years no known attempts for providing edu-
cational advantages in the colony were made, but on
February 12, 1642-43, Benjamin Syms bequeathed two
hundred acres of his land and eight cows to found a free
school in Elizabeth City County. The profits from the
sale of the milk and of the first increase of the cattle were
to be used to build a schoolhouse and later profits to carry
on the school. The Assembly declared that the gift should
be used " according to the godly intent of the testator,"
and the school was successfully established by this first gift
for education in America by a resident in any American
colony. The good work evidently prospered, for a writer
describing conditions in Virginia in 1647 says:

" We have a free school with two hundred acres of
land, a fine house upon it, forty milch kine and other

EDUCATION

accommodations. The benefactor deserveth perpetual
mention, Mr. Benjamin Syms, worthy to be chronicled.
Other petty schools we have."

Elizabeth City was fortunate, for on September 20,
1659, another of its planters, Thomas Eaton, bequeathed
a farm of five hundred acres with everji:hing on it, in-
cluding houses and furniture, orchards, two negroes, four-
teen cattle, and twenty hogs, for a second free school for
children born within the limits of the county.

It is evident that only children of the poor were sup-
posed to attend these and other " free " schools of Vir-
ginia, without charge, but it was said in 1759 that a great
number of students whose parents were able to pay for
their education had been admitted gratis to the Eaton
School. There is much testimony to the benefits of both
the Syms and Eaton schools. They existed separately
until 1805, when they were combined under the name of
Hampton Academy and to-day survive in the Syms-Eaton
Academy which, with a handsome building and a little
fund of its own, is part of the public school system of the
town of Hampton.

From the middle of the seventeenth century on, many
wills, some of them of men and women of obscure position
and small estate, show bequests for founding schools or
aiding children of the poor in obtaining an education.
When in 1671 Governor Berkeley declared that he thanked
God there were no free schools in the colony, he gave
enemies of Virginia a weapon with which they have been
hacking away at her fair name ever since. What the embit-
tered old man meant will never be known. He certainly
was well aware of the Syms, Eaton, and other schools that
were by that time scattered about, but perhaps he deemed
them as nothing compared with the great schools of old

£67

COLOMAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

England. He was himself a scholar and an author, but
he was also an extremely narrow aristocrat, wrapped up
in a pride and caste feeling that made him spurn the
common people who he would probably have said had no
more right to learn to read than to wear gold lace. Robert
Beverley, the Virginia historian, wrote in 1705:

" There are large tracts of land, houses and other
things granted to free schools for the education of children
in many parts of the country, and some of these are so
large that of themselves they are a handsome maintenance
to a master ; but the additional allowance which gentlemen
give their sons render them a comfortable subsistence.
These schools have been founded by the legacies of well-
inclined gentlemen, and the management of them hath
commonly been left to the direction of the county court or
the vestry of their respective parishes."

Among the " well-inclined gentlemen " and women of
Virginia in the seventeenth century who are known to have
interested themselves in public education were " Mr. Lee,"
of Xorthumberland, whose plan for establishing a free
school there was approved by the county court in 1652;
Captain William Whittington, who in 1654 bequeathed
two thousand pounds of tobacco for use of a free school
under contemplation in Northampton County ; Jolm iVIoon,
who in 1655 left a legacy of cattle, and Henry King, who
in 1668 left a hundred acres of land for maintenance of
schools in Isle of Wight County; Richard Russell, a
Quaker, of Lower Norfolk, who about 1670 left part of
his estate for the education of children of the poor in his
neighborhood; Henry Peasley, who in 1675 bequeathed
six hundred acres of land, ten cows and a mare for found-
ing a free school in Gloucester County; ^Vlrs. Frances
Pritchard, wife of Richard Pritchard, a boatwright, who

EDUCATION

in 1680 left a legacy to found a free school in Lancaster
County; and William Gordon, who in 1685 gave Christ
Church Parish, Middlesex, a hundred acres of land on
which to build a free school.

This parish had at least two legacies for free schools
in the next century. In 1763 James Reed left it two lots
in the town of Urbanna and in 1768 Alexander Frasier
left it land in Middlesex County.

In 1704 William Rawlings, of King William County,
bequeathed his estate " for schooling of poor children."

About 1706 Mrs. Mary Whaley, of York County,
founded a free school in Williamsburg in honor of her only
child Matthew, or " Mattey." In her will in 1742 she gave
the " Mattey School," with over five hundred pounds ster-
ling for its maintenance, to Bruton Parish, and it did a
beneficent work in the colonial capital for many years.

In 1711 William Stark gave a quarter of an acre lot
in Yorktown " for the proper yuse of a schoule forever
and for no other yuse but for a public scoule to educate
children." In the deed he gives a list of gentlemen who
had been " benefactors " of the school. They were Will
He wit, Thomas Hansford, Thomas and Will Barber,
Joseph Walker, Lewis Burwell, Cole Digges, William and
Thomas Harwood, Robert Goodwin, Cuthbert Hubert,
Thomas Wade, Robert Crawley, Will Babb, Richard Pate,
Richard Butt and William Stark.

In 1723 John Mayo, of Middlesex, bequeathed prop-
erty for the education of children of the poor.

In 1753 Mrs. Ehzabeth Smith, of Isle of Wight, " did
by deed order " her trustee, Joseph Bridger, to invest part
of her estate in a lot in Smithfield and build upon it a
house for a free school. She also appointed three trustees
to employ a teacher and look after the school, and in her

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

will she left it a handsome sum of money — referring to it
as " my school."

In 1766 Joseph Royle, of Williamsbm'g, directed in
his will that in event of the death of his son his estate was
to be used to found " Royle's Free School," for which he
wished employed a teacher " of good character and capable
of teaching the English language with propriety, accent,
cadence and emphasis; civility, arithmetic and practical
Mathematics." This was one of a number of wills — early
and late — directing that property be devoted to educational
purposes upon the death of childless heirs.

In 1770 Colonel Landon Carter, of Richmond County,
mentions his " Charity school " in his diary, and in 1772
he writes, " Gave William Rigmaden £20, being his salary,
this day at my free school." Colonel Carter had a private
tutor for his own children.

In 1774 William Robinson left his estate for the edu-
cation of the poor of Halifax County, and Colonel Hum-
phrey Hill bequeathed five hundred pounds to St. Ste-
phen's Parish, King and Queen County, to be put out at
interest for the education of poor children.

WILLIAM BYRD, OF "WESTOVER'

I

EDUCATION

II— PRIVATE SCHOOLS

In addition to the free schools there were little private
schools scattered tlu'ough the colony, both in eastern Vir-
ginia and in the mountains. ^lany of them were taught by
parish ministers who were frequently college-bred English-
men or Scotchmen who thus placed their accomplishments
at the service of their flocks and at the same time added
comfortably to their own incomes. Others had school-
masters who came over with credentials from the Bishop
of London or were duly examined and licensed by his
Majesty's Council in Virginia. In the latter part of the
seventeenth century there were a number of these little
schools in Henrico, then a frontier county in constant
danger from the Indians — among them a boarding school
kept by a gentleman with the delightful name of Havaliah
Horner. The little Bland boys, Theodorick and Richard,
were there about 1673, evidently at a tender age, as their
mother sent a cow to the school to furnish them with milk.

In 1683 Nathaniel Hill, a Gloucester County school-
master, moved to Henrico and the county court ordered
that he be exempt from taxes for a year as an encourage-
ment to " able tutors " to settle in those parts. In 1688
Thomas Dawley, of Henrico, charged a patron thirty shill-
ings for teaching two children nine months. As to whether
or not they were young enough to have their cow go to
school with them the deponent fails to enlighten us. In
1699 the Council recommended Thomas Kingston, Thomas
Smythe, and Nicholas Sharpe to the Henrico authorities
as suitable persons for schoolmasters.

In 1687 Colonel Wilham Fitzhugh, of Stafford
County, wrote a friend in London that he found it difficult
to educate his children in that remote neighborhood, " and
better never be bom than be ill-bred." Three years later

271

COLONIAL MIIGIMA, US PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

lie wrote that he had intended sending his eldest son to
England to school, but meeting a French clergyman of
learning, in whose family only French was spoken, he put
the boy with him and he was getting on well in both French
and Latin.

While some of these country pedagogues were classical
scholars, others, of course, attempted only the rudiments.
In 1684 Valentine Evans, of York County, taught reading
and writing for twenty shillings a year. In 1699 Stephen
Lylly and Charles Goring, of Elizabeth City County,
" being found capable of teaching youth reading, writing
and arithmetick," were recommended to the Governor for
licenses as schoolmasters.

In 1712 Samuel Shepperd, of Princess Anne County,
was granted leave to build a school " on ye court house
land for common benefit." He is given " liberty to keep
School in ye Courthouse till a School house be Built." In
1716 George Shurly, also of Princess Anne, obtained per-
mission for his sen^ant, Peter Taylor, to keep school in
the courthouse and jury room, " Ye Court thinking ye
same to be a reasonable and usual practise."

From 1736 until 1739, inclusive, George Mason, the
author-to-be of the Bill of Rights, went to a Prince Wil-
liam County boarding school, paying a thousand pounds
of tobacco a year for board and eight hundred and forty-
five pounds for schooling and books. His sister Mary
went for three years, paying the same amount for board
but only two hundred pounds of tobacco a year for school-
ing. Neither in England nor in Virginia at the time were
girls supposed to need much education of an intellectual
kind; accomplishments such as music, dancing, and em-
])roidering being considered more feminine, and the amount
paid for Mary ^lason's " book-learning " suggests that it

EDUCATION

was of an elementary character. She was, however, sent to
a dancing school for a year and a half, which doubtless
finished her for colonial society.

In 1740 Reverend James Marye opened a school in
Fredericksburg to which in course of time went Washing-
ton, Madison, and Monroe.

Occasionally a colored servant was permitted to go to
school with the children of his master. Colonel and Mrs.
James Gordon, of Lancaster, were interested in a little
country school in their neighborhood, taught by a school-
master named Criswell, and frequently visited the school
and gave the children treats. On January 16, 1759,
Colonel Gordon records in his journal, " Sent Molly and
her maid, Judith, to school to Mr. Criswell." In 1760
this school had thirteen Latin and four English students.

Fithian took a youth who waited on the table at " Nom-
ini Hall " into school there.

The Reverend Jonathan Boucher, in his " Reminis-
cences," tells of his experiences first as a tutor in the home
of Captain Dixon, at Port Royal, Virginia, and later as
master of a country boarding school when he was rector of
St. Mary's Parish, Caroline County, from about 1763 to
1774. He says he had " nearly thirty " boys, " most of
them sons of persons of the first condition in the Colony,"
all of whom boarded with him.

The yellowed columns of the old Virginia Gazette show
advertisements for teachers for both schools and private
families, and those of various qualifications are wanted
from " a sober person of good morals capable of teaching
children to read English well and to write and cipher," to
" a single man capable of teaching Greek, Latin and the
mathematicks." In 1739 Thomas Brewer, of Nansemond
County, advertises that " any sober person duly qualified

273

COLONL\L VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

to keep a country school can be assured of twenty-four
scholars," and in 1775 a schoolmaster " unexceptionable in
point of character " and " able to teach the Enghsh, Latin
and Greek languages in their pui'ity and elegance, writing,
arithmetick, accounts and the mathematicks," is wanted to
open a school for boys and girls in Port Royal. The
advertisement adds that " a commodious schoolhouse has
lately been built and free use of it will be granted."

The great mass of family papers used by Alexander
Brown in " The Cabells and their Kin " throws much light
on education in the colony. AVhen Doctor William Cabell
settled near the Blue Ridge, within the present Amherst or
Nelson County, then a frontier section, schools were doubt-
less scarce there, but the correspondence between himself
and his wife during his absence in England, from 1735 to
1741, shows constant solicitude for the education of their
children. Their son WiUiam, at the age of eight, could
" read well and had commenced learning to ^vi-ite." In
1737 another son, Joseph, five years old, had begun to go
to school, and two years later he could read well. The
Cabell papers preserve the names of a number of early
teachers in this part of the colony, among them WiUiam
Ward, 1741; William Cox, 1762; John Clay, 1763-64;
Roderick McCulloch, 1768-69, and Reverend James
]Maury, to whose Classical School, in Albemarle County,
went Thomas Jefferson, Bishop Madison, John Taylor,
of Caroline, Dabney Carr, Sr., and other distinguished
men. Mr. Brown says:

" It was the custom of the landed gentry- of this region,
with their minor children, that first one and then another
of a circle of friends w^ould employ a tutor and take the
sons of the others as boarders. Thus in 1768-60 the tutor
was at ' Union Hill,' the home of Colonel WiUiam Cabell;

1

1

EDUCATION

in 1770-71, at Colonel Peter Fontaine's; in 1772-73, at
Colonel John Nicholas's, and in 1774-75 again at ' Union
Hill.' There were also teachers of music, of dancing and
of fencing who gave lessons by the month or quarter."

About 1750 Robert Alexander, a graduate of Trin-
ity College, Dublin, settled in Rockbridge County and
taught the first classical school west of the Blue Ridge,
and the Augusta Records show that there were a good
number of little schools across the mountains. About
1759 Frederick Upp, lay reader of the " Church on the
Fork," agreed with his flock to keep school for six months
at twelve shillings and a bushel of wheat for each child, but
residents of another neighborhood promised him thirty-
four children — a larger number than the congregation on
the Fork could assure him — and he went to them. In 1766
we find Charles Knight, another Valley schoolmaster,
agreeing with his patrons to teach for a salary of eighteen
pounds sterling a year and have every other Saturday or
half of every Saturday off, and " if any alarm of the
Indians comes they are to provide shelter, food and di'ink."

The very great number of wills of both the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries which direct that boys and girls
should be sent to school bear witness to both the general
desire to have children educated and the accessibility of
every part of the colony to schools of some sort. Men of
means who lived in remote or frontier counties were often
not satisfied with the elementary ones within their reach
and directed that their children be sent where they could
have better advantages. For instance, Philip Buckner,
of Stafford, in 1699, requested in his will that his brothers
who lived in York County " take his sons down with them
that they might have learning."

A few of the many whose wills provided for education

i75

COLONIAL ^TLRGINM, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

in the earlier century were Humphrey Clark, 1655; Ann
Littleton, widow of Colonel Nathaniel Littleton, 1656;
Richard Briggs, 1679; Thomas Parnell, 1687, who wished
two sons and four daughters to be " brought up in the fear
of the Lord and to learn to wright and reade," and Thomas
Brereton, 1698, who directed that liis son Thomas be " put
to school to be taught to read, write and cypher, and if pos-
sible, the Latin tongue."

]Many fathers, like Edmund Berkeley, of " Bam
Elms," in 1710, direct that their sons be " kept at school
until they arrive at ye age of twenty-one years." Others
like Reverend Charles Andrews, in 1712, desire their
" children to have a liberal education."

Wills of women show an equally careful provision for
the training of their children. In that of Mrs. Elizabeth
Churchill, made in 1716, she says:

" I desire that ]Mr. Bartholomew Yates undertake the
instruction of my son, Armi stead Churchill, and instruct
him in his own house in Latin and Greek." ^Ir. Yates
"is to be given j^early two of the best beeves and four of
the best hogs, over and above what he shall demand for
teaching and board."

Not all parents aspired to a classical education for their
sons. iSIany carefully arranged that they should have
practical training. In 1718 Samuel ^latthews, of Rich-
mond County, a man of considerable estate, and a de-
scendant of hospitable Governor Matthews, directed in
his will that his two eldest sons be apprenticed one to a
master of a ship and the other to a good house carpenter.

Thomas Lee, of " Stratford," one of the wealthiest men
in tlie colony and the father of six distinguished Lees, in
his will made in 1749-50, requested the guardians of his
sons to educate them as they thought fit, " Religiously and

276

I

RALPH WORMELEV, ()E ■RUSEGILL," VIRGINIA. AND Ol TRINITY COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE

EDUCATION

Virtuously," and, if necessary, to bind them to any trade
or profession, that they might " learn to get their living
honestly."

Some, like Edward Scott, a member of the House of
Burgesses for Goochland, and Matthew Hubard, a York
County planter of good family, directed that their sons
be given the best education their estates afforded " until
sixteen," and then bound out to a trade. Thomas Rey-
nolds, of Yorktown, in his will made in 1759, wished his
son to be educated " in writing and accounts and the most
useful branches of mathematics, as geometry, trigonome-
try, gauging, dialing, surveying, gunnery, with a knowl-
edge of the French tongue," and afterward "to be bound
to a good trading merchant such as trade to sea."

Others, like Cadwallader Dade, of Stafford, 1760,
simply desired that their sons " have as good an education
as the estate can afford." In this year Gawin Corbin of
" Peckatone," Westmoreland, directed in his will that his
only child, Martha Corbin, be given "a genteel education,"
and in 1765 Beverley Stanard, of Spotsylvania, ordered
that his " sons William and Larkin Stanard be put to
schools and continued at them until they are liberally and
genteelly educated."

A quaint direction was that of George Caplener, a
German settler in The Valley, who in his will in 1773 de-
sired that his two oldest sons " lorn the two youngest boys
to read through the Salter."

COLONIAL MUGLNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

III— TUTORS

^lany of the larger planters employed tutors for cliil-
dren who were not sent abroad to be educated, and some-
times for those that were, during their tender years. They
usually " kept school " in a wing of the great house or in
one of the smaller out-buildings which often provided not
only a school-room but lodgings for the tutor and some-
times for the boys of the family. The tutor generally had
leave to increase his income by additions to the school
of children of the neighborhood — rich or poor — and occa-
sionally yomig friends or relatives of the family from too
great a distance to come and go each day were taken as
guests or boarders in order that they might have the ad-
vantage of being under an accomplished teacher.

The tutors were educated men — or sometimes women —
from the mother comitry, or from other colonies, who came
to Virginia to seek a livelihood, or residents of Virginia
whose only fortune was a small or great store of learning.
Sometimes they were Englishmen " of parts " in such hard
luck that they sold themselves into servitude to keep soul
and body together. Colonel John Carter, of " Coroto-
man," directed in his will, made in 1669, that his son Robert
— the famous " King " Carter — be well educated that he
might be equipped to manage his estate, adding, " and he
is to have a man or youth servant bought for him that hath
been brought up in the Latin school and that he (the
serv^ant) shall constantly tend upon him, not only to teach
him his books, either in English or Latin, according to his
capacity (for my will is that he shall learn both English
and Latin, and to WTite) and also to presence him from
harm and doing evil."

Robert Carter's letters show that he was at one time
at school in England.

278

EDUCATION

In 177 4i John Harrower, a young married man of
blameless life, of the Orkney Islands, after a desperate
struggle to support his family, took ship for Virginia, and
sold himself for a term of years to Colonel William Dain-
gerfield, of " Belvidera," near Fredericksburg. His diary,
containing copies of affectionate letters to his wife and
expressing trust in God through all of his misfortunes,
shows that this " servant " tutor was treated as much like
a member of the family at " Belvidera " as was Philip
Fithian, the Princeton divinity student at " Nomini Hall."
Not so well satisfied was John Warden, a Scotchman,
educated at Edinburgh, and " a good scholar in Greek,
Latin, Philosophy, and Mathematics," who in 1769 was a
tutor for Colonel Thomas Jones. In a grumbling letter
to a brother of his employer, in London, he complained
that though he was much better treated than most of his
profession, he found he was " less looked upon as a Gentle-
man in Virginia " than before he became a tutor and he
was " much at a loss for a room to retire to at night to
study."

Colonel Jones replied that Mr. Warden was " put to
no inconvenience with regard to a place to retire to or any-
thing else," and continued: " He has a house about three
hundred yards from mine, 24 feet square, I think, with two
rooms, one his lodging room and the other the school room,
extremely warm and light, a plank floor, plastered and
white-finished walls, a brick chimney with two good fire-
places, has furniture — as good a bed as any in my house,
chairs, bookcase, &c. and a boy of 16 yrs. attends him . . .
he has candles when he pleases and generally burns three
large mould candles of myrtle wax and tallow in six nights,
has nobody to interrupt him, comes to the house by day
or night when he pleases, is company for every Gent, that

COLOXL\L MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

visits me . . . Fact is lie is a good Tutor and a good sort
of niaii, but that cursed pride so inlierent in these people is
most insufferable."

Occasionally the position of tutor was a stepping-stone
to becoming a planter, as in the case of one employed by
William Reynolds, of Xorthmnberland, in 1655, who in
addition to his board and lodging was to have, when his
three years of teaching were over, free use of land in which
to plant corn and tobacco and barns in which to store his
crops; and another w^ho, in 1666, was paid in land for
giving " one year's schooling " to the daughter of Francis
Browne of Rappahannock County.^

Among very early tutors whose names have been pre-
served were Samuel Motherhead, employed by Xathaniel
Pope, in 1652; John Johnson, by John Rogers, in 1655;
Robert Jones, by John Hansford, in 1662; Richard Burk-
land, employed by Richard Kellam, in 1663, to give his
daughter lessons in reading and writing and casting
accounts; Marj^ Coar, employed a little later to teach
Martha Willett; Richard Glover, employed by Francis
Browne; Henrv^ Spratt, by George Ashwell, in 1668;
Catherine Shrewsbur\% by Richard Tompkins, in 1693;
John Waters, to teach William Tunstall, in 1694; John
^latts, by Charles Leatherbury, in 1678. Many more
might be named for later years.''

In 1741 William Beverley, of " Blandfield," Essex
County, wrote his London merchant to send him a " school-
master " to teach his children to " read, write and cipher,"
adding that the usual salar\^ paid in Virginia for a Scotch

^ Bruce's " Institutional History of Virginia in the 17th Cen-
tury," i, 324.

■* Bruce's *' Institutional History of Virginia in the 17th Cen-
tury," 324, 329.

280

EDUCATION

master was twenty pounds sterling, with board, " but they
commonly teach the children the Scotch dialect, which they
never can wear off."

Here is a letter in which a lively little schoolgirl, Maria
Carter, of " Sabine Hall," tells her cousin Maria Carter,
of " Cleve," about her daily routine under a tutor:

March 25, 1756.
Mj Dear Cousin:

You have really imposed a Task upon me which I can by no
means perform viz: that of writing a merry & comical Letter:
how shou'd I, my dear, that am ever confined either at School or
with my Grandmama know how the world goes on.'' Now I will
give you the History of one Day the Repetition of which without
variations carries me through the three hundred and sixty five
Days, which you know compleats the year. Well then first begin,
I am awakened out of a sound sleep with some croaking voice
either Patty's, MiUy's, or some other of our Domestics with Miss
Polly Miss Polly get up, tis time to rise, Mr. Price is down stairs,
& tho' I hear them I lie quite snugg till my Grandmama uses her
Voice, then up I get, huddle on my cloaths & down to Book, then
to Breakfast, then to School again, & may be I have an Hour to
my self before Dinner, then the Same Story over again till twi-
light, & then a small portion of time before I go to rest, and so
you must expect nothing from me but that I am Dear Cousin,
Most Affectionately Yours,

Maria Carter.

Harry Turner, of King George County, directed in
his will that his son Thomas should have the best education
to be gotten in Virginia. His father, Thomas Turner,
who outlived him, made his will in 1757 directing that no
expense should be regarded in giving not only little
Thomas but all his grandsons a " finished education." He
wished them all to be taught by the same tutor, in a house
to be fitted up for them on his estate, and four negroes
selected to wait on them.

281

COLOXIAl. VlllGlNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

When Philip Fithian opened school in one of the brick
out-buildings at " Nomini Hall," he had eight pupils — the
two sons and five daughters of Colonel Carter, and a
nephew. The youngest daughter, Harriet, was " beginning
her letters, and the oldest son, Ben, studying Latin gram-
mar and reading Sallust. The second son. Bob, was in
love with one of the Tayloe girls of " Mt. Airy," and
begged Mr. Fithian to teach him Latin, as Mrs. Tayloe
had playfully told him that " without he understands Latin
he will never be able to win a young lady of Family &
fashion for his wife."

In addition to other tutors in the neighborhood of
" Nomini " the Corbins of " Peckatone " and the Turber-
villes of " Hickor)^ Hill " had governesses from England.

JOHN BAYLOR, OF "NEW MARKET, " VIRGINIA,
CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

EDUCATION

IV— WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE

The year 1660 saw a revival of interest in giving Vir-
ginians opportunities of liigher education within the col-
ony— originating this time with the General Assembly,
which proposed to estabhsh a " college of students of the
liberal arts." Governor Berkeley and members of the
Council headed the list of subscribers, but money was
scarce, the troubles which brought on Bacon's Rebellion
were already brewing, and the project fell through.

In 1689 affairs of both Church and State in Virginia
fell under the control of enthusiasts for education when
Francis Nicholson was sent over as Governor and James
Blair as Commissary to the Bishop of London — which
placed him at the head of the clergj^ The result was a
speedy revival of the " design of a free school and college "
whose special objects were to be the education of the col-
onists' sons, the education and conversion of the Indians,
and the training of ministers to fill the parish churches.

The Assembly responded with quick sympathy, plans
to raise money in the colony were made, and Doctor Blair
was chosen as agent for the projected college and sent to
England to procm'e a charter and endowment. He suc-
ceeded in interesting their Majesties King William and
Queen Mary, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury and
other dignitaries. "SVhen introduced to the King he knelt
down and, presenting the petition with which the
Assembly had entrusted him, said :

*' Please, your Majesty, here is an humble supplication
from the government of Virginia for your ^Majesty's
charter to erect a free school and college for the education
of their youth."

" Sir," replied his Majesty, " I am glad that the Colony

28S

COLONIAL MIUJXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

is upon so good a design, and will promote it to the best
of my power."

After being held up by much red tape the charter for
the College of AVilliam and ^Nlary was signed in Februar}%
1693, and Doctor Blair set sail for Virginia armed not only
with the coveted paper, but with sufficient endowment to
make the long delayed institution sometliing more than a
castle in the air.

A site " near the church in ^Middle Plantation old
fields " was selected, and the plan, " designed to be an
entire square when completed," was drawn by Sir Chris-
topher Wren; but not until 1697 were the front and the
north sides of the square finished. During its earliest years
the college was only a grammar school where boys were
taught reading and wTiting, Latin and Greek. Its faculty
consisted of the president. Doctor Blair; the grammar mas-
ter, Mr. ^lungo Inglis, who was an accomplished Master of
Arts; an usher who assisted him and a " writing master."
In 1698 a committee composed of members of the faculty
and four students addressed a letter to the " Speaker and
Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses," thanking them
in the name of the " President, INIaster and scholars of
William and JNIary " for gracing the college exercises " with
their own countenance and presence on INIay Day."

The first regular commencement was held in 1700, and
besides many planters with their families and some of the
Indians from the country around, it is written that visitors
came in sloops from New York, Pennsylvania, and Mary-
land.

After the long succession of discouragements and post-
ponements a college in Virginia seemed now to have made
a good beginning, but on an October night in 1705 a fire
broke out in the building and the hope and work of years

284

EDUCATION

went up in flames. However, the friends of education
plucked up courage again. Though the building was gone,
the faculty and students remained. Doctor Blair bestirred
himself to raise more money and declined to accept his
salary as President for some years, the Assembly levied
extra taxes, and William and Marj^ was rebuilt on its
original walls. The restoration was not complete until
1723, but the classes had been continued and the college
grew and developed in the meantime.

In 1711 a professor of natural philosophy and mathe-
matics was engaged. In 1712 there were twenty Indian
boys in attendance — among them the son of the queen of
Pamunkey and the son of the king of the Nottoways.

In 1723 the Brafferton Building was erected on the
campus to the right of the main building, out of the pro-
ceeds of the Brafferton estate in England — which was
part of the endowment of the college — and devoted to the
Indian school, and it was hoped that the Indian youths
christianized and educated would become missionaries to
their own people, but instead they returned to idolatry
and barbarism.

In 1729 the college could boast of a president and six
professors, and in 1732 a commodious home for the presi-
dent was built.

But the picture has its dark side. Almost from the
beginning William and Mary was embroiled in contentions.
Doctor Blair and Governor Nicholson — its earnest pro-
moters and friends, but both of them men of unyielding will
— soon fell out over it, and later the able but stubborn
President quarrelled also with the successors of the able
but stubborn Governor. Nevertheless, the college became
and remained the pet and pride of Virginia. As early as
1694 John Mann, of Gloucester County, bequeathed his

19 285

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

land — if his family should hecome extinct — " for ye main-
tenance of poore children at ye college." Many others
from that time on made it gifts or showed their regard
for it by directing in their wills that their sons be educated
there, and a long roll of distinguished Virginians and
Americans of the Colonial period, and after it, have
claimed old William and Mary as their Alma Mater.

EDUCATION

V— STUDYING ABROAD

An amazing number of Virginia boys and a few girls
were sent to England and Scotland to school or college or
both — the more amazing when the perils of the vo} age
and the long waits between letters to and from their parents
are considered. And new perils awaited them over sea —
smallpox was rampant in Great Britain. Michel greatly
exaggerated when writing, in 1701, of the education of
Virginians abroad, he says, " Not many of them came back.
Most of them died of smallpox." But in 1724 we find
Hugh Jones writing that more of them would be sent over
" were they not afraid of smallpox which most commonly
proves fatal to them."

Lord Adam Gordon says in his journal that most of
the gentlemen he met during his visit to Virginia a few
years before the Revolution were educated " at home " —
meaning in England.

It will be remembered that one of the reasons given
for the attempted founding of the East Indian School,
in 1621, was that planters had been " constrained " to
send their children " home " to be taught. The destruction
of the records makes it impossible to say who any of these
earliest Virginia students abroad and many of the later
ones were, and — wuth the exception of Oxford — such
records of English institutions of learning as have been
preserved have not been fully examined. When they are,
it is certain that the number — already large — of Colonial
Virginia boys known to have been educated at the famous
schools and great universities of the IMother Country will
be greatly increased. Among the earliest of these stu-
dents abroad of whom we have any testimony were Thomas
Willoughby, of Lower Norfolk, who was at the Merchant
Tailors' School in London, in 1644, and Augustine War-

287

COLONIAL MRCUMA, n> PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

ner, Jr., of Gloucester — an ancestor of Washington — who
was there in 1658.

John Lee, of WestmoreLand, entered Queen's College,
Oxford, in 1658, and was graduated as a Bachelor of Ai'ts
in 1662. He presented his college with a silver cup bearmg
the Lee arms, which may still be seen there.

A number of Virginia famihes sent generation after
generation of boys to school or college in England. For
instance Ralph Wormeley, Secretary' of State of the Col-
ony, entered Oriel College, Oxford, in 1665, at the age of
fifteen, and at the time of his death, in 1701, his sons,
Ralph and John, were being educated abroad. Interesting
letters from " King " Carter in regard to these boys, who
were his nephews — or " cousins " as he calls them — and
who became his wards, have been preserved. In one of
these, written in 1702 to Thomas Corbin, the London
merchant, he says :

" Am glad to hear my Coz'ns Ralph Wormeley and
Jno Wormeley thrive so fast in their learning." A month
later he suggests, " If you can Retrench their Expenses
what Reasonably you can twill be a kindness to the Boyes,"
adding that he had noticed when he was at school in
England himself that " those Boys that wore the finest
close and had ye most money in their pockets still went
away with the least learning in their heads. Yett I am
nott for too narrow a keeping."

In a letter to Corbin four years later he "v^Tites: " I am
sorry Mons'r Ralph is angrj- with us, if it be for ordering
his keeping within Suitable limits wee must take no notice
of it, he will in time see his o-vvti folly."

A third Ralph Wormeley, the grandson of Colonel
Carter's ward, went to Eton in 1757, and afterward to
Trinity College, Cambridge. An interesting portrait of

EDUCATION

hini in cap and gown, and many books containing his
armorial book-plate, remain.

Colonel John Catlett, of Rappahannock, who died
about 1670, directed in his will that his cliildren be educated
in England out of his estate there, and John Savage, of
Northampton, who made his will in 1678, was another of
the many — early and late — who directed that a son, or sons,
be educated in England without naming any special school.

Sometimes mere infants made the long, difficult voyage
for the sake of an English education. Letters of William
Byrd, the first, who was then living in Henrico County,
on the frontier, show that in 1683 his son William — nine
years old — and his daughter Susan — about six — were at
school in England and being watched over by their grand-
parents, the Warham Horsmandens, of Purleigh, in Essex,
and that in 1685 plans were making to send over his baby
girl Ursula, affectionately nicknamed " Little Nutty, "''
who was only four. In March of that year he wrote
" Father Horsmanden," as he called his father-in-law:

" We received yours by JNIr. Broadnax, which was a
great satisfaction to hear of you and our Children's Wel-
fare. My wife hath all this year urged mee to send little
Nutty home to you, to which I have at last condescended
and hope you'll please excuse the trouble. I must confesse
she could learn notliing good here in a great family of
negroes."

On the same day he wrote " Will":

" Dear Son, I received your letter and am glad to hear
you are with so good a Master who I hope will see you
improve your time and that you bee carefull to serve God
as you ought, without which you cannot expect to doe well
here or hereafter."

Ursula was sent over in charge of a maid and she and

COLONIAL MRGINLl, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Susan were at school at Hackney until 1691, but, alack-
a-day, the nut-brown Ursula had not long to enjoy the
accomplishments she w^ent so far to acquire, for ere she
was quite seventeen she lay in Jamestown churchyard,
under a stone bearing the arms of Byrd and Beverley
impaled and an inscription which said she had been the wife
of Kobert Beverley — the historian — and left a son. Wil-
liam remained long abroad receiving the polish for whicli
he was afterward noted. The epitaph on his tomb in the
garden at " Westover " says:

" He was early sent to England for his education,
where under the care and direction of Sir Robert South-
Mell and ever favored with his particular instructions, he
made a happj^ proficiency in polite and varied learning.
He was called to the bar in the Middle Temple, studied
for sometime in the Low Countries, visited the Court of
France and was chosen Fellow of the Royal Society."

It was not unusual for a parent to have several children
at school in England at the same time. One of these was
Colonel John Baylor, of Caroline County, who had re-
ceived his o^vn education at Putney Grammar School and
Caius College, Cambridge. In 1762 he sent his twelve-
year-old son, John, to Putney, and later entered him at
Caius College, where he was a friend and classmate of
William Wilberforce. He also sent his daugliters, Court-
ney, Lucy, Frances, and Elizabeth, abroad to boarding
school, placing them at Croyden, in Kent.

Among other families a number of whose members
were educated abroad were those of Robinson, Randolph,
Grymes, Bland, Meade, Corbin, and Lee.

Daniel McCarty, of Westmoreland, in his will, made
in 1724, said that his son Daniel was then in England being
educated, and that he wished his younger sons to be " one

290

THO.MAS NELSON'

Signer of the Declaration of Independence. \Yhen at Hackney School,
England, 1754

EDUCATION

a lawyer, one a divine, one a physician, chirurgeon, or
mariner, in the Secretary's office or any other lawful em-
ployment their inclination leads them to ; but rather to the
axe or the hoe than to be suffered to live in idleness and
extravagancy."

Robert Boiling, of " Chellowe," Buckingham County,
was at school in Wakefield, Yorkshire, under the *' cele-
brated Mr. John Clarke," from 1751 to 1755, and accord-
ing to his kinsman, John Randolph, of Roanoke, wrote
equally well in Latin, French, and Italian. Theodorick
Bland, grandson of the little Richard Bland, whose cow
went to boarding school with him in Henrico, was at school
and college abroad for eleven consecutive years. In 1753
when he was eleven, he was sent to Wakefield. Five years
later he was still there and the head-master reported that he
was in the second class and read Xenophon and Horace
with tolerable ease, but like most of the boys composed
wretchedly, especially in Latin. In 1761 he went to Edin-
burgh to study medicine.

Among the Bland papers are " Articles relating to
the Virginia Club — 1761," at Edinburgh. All members
were to be Virginia boys, who wished to take a degree in
medicine, and the club was " solely for the improvement
of the members in anatomy (which is justly said to be the
bones of Physic)." The same papers contain a letter in
Bland's handwriting, from the Virginia Medical Students
at Edinburgh, to the Council and Burgesses of Virginia,
asking that laws be passed to prevent unlicensed persons
from practising physic in the colony.

Peter Hog, of Augusta County, in The Valley, directed
in his will, made in 1773, that his sons be sent to Edinburgh
to be educated.

John and Landon Carter, sons of Charles Carter of

291

COLONIAL VIRGLNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

" Cleve," were being educated in England in 1764 when
their father made his will, directing that " They shall con-
tinue at school to learn the languages, mathematics, plii-
losophy, dancing and fencing till they are well accom-
plished and of proper age to be bound to some reputable,
sober, discreet practising attorney, till they arrive at the
age of twenty years and nine months," when they were to
return to Virginia. He desired that a suitable present be
made to the gentleman to whom they were bound, and that
they be " by their masters permitted to attend Commons
so as not to interfere with their studies and the practice
and business of an attorney," and added:

" I do earnestly desire their guardians, as much as in
their power lies, to prevent extravagance by limiting their
pocket expenses, after they arrive at the age of eighteen
to a sum not exceeding fifty pounds sterling money per
annum, as their fortunes depend entirely upon the seasons
of a most variable climate."

A suit in King George County records shows that John
Taliaferro, Jr., was in England for his education for three
years from 1764 to 1766, inclusive.

Here is as complete a list, with dates of entrance, as
I am at present able to make of Colonial Virginia boys at
college abroad:

At Cambridge:

{Trinity College) John Carter, 1714; Wilson Cary,
1721; Daniel Taylor, 1724; John Ambler, 1753; Robert
Beverley, 1753; Ralph Wormeley, 1757; Thomas Smith,
1759; George Riddell, 1759. (Christ's College) WiUiam
Spencer, 1684; Joseph Holt, 1716; Gawin Corbin, 1756;
Thomas Nelson, 1761 ; George Fairfax Lee, 1772. (Caius
College) John Baylor, 1722; Lewis Burwell, 1729; John

292

EDUCATION

Baylor, Jr., 1772. (Pembroke College) Thomas Clayton,
about 1720; John Brunskill, 1752.

At Oxford:

(Oriel College) Ralph Wormeley, 1665; Christopher
Robinson, 1721; his cousin Christopher Robinson, 1723;
Chichley Thacker, 1724; Bartholomew Yates, 1732 ; Robert
Yates, 1733; Peter Robinson, 1737; William Robinson,
1737. (Queen's College) John Lee, 1658; John Span,
1705; William Stith, 1724. (St. John's College) Mann
Page, 1709; (Christ's Church College) Henry Fitzhugh,
1722; (Balliol College) Lewis Burwell, 1765; (Brasenose
College) Bartholomew Yates, 1695.

At Edinburgh:

Valentine Peyton, 1754; James Blair, George Gilmer,
Arthur Lee, William Bankhead, Theodorick Bland and
John Field, in 1761 ; James Tapscott and Corbin GrifRn,
1765; Cyrus Griffin, about 1767; George Steptoe, 1767;
Walter Jones and Joseph Goodwin, 1769; Archibald
Campbell, John M. Gait, James McClurg and John
Ravenscroft, 1770; Isaac Hall, 1771; William Ball, 1773;
John Griffin and Philip Turpin, 1774; Lawrence Brooke,
1776; Richard Bland, date unknown.

At the Middle Temple:

William Byrd, the second, 1690; Peyton Randolph
(first President of the Continental Congress), 1739;
George Carter, about 1740; John Randolph, 1745; John
Blair, 1755; Gawin Corbin, 1756; William Fauntleroy,
1760; Gustavus Scott, 1767; Henry Lee Ball, 1769;
Arthur Lee, 1770; Walter Atchison and Cyrus Griffin,
1771; Henry Lee and Joseph Ball Downman, 1773.

At the Inner Temple:

Philip Alexander, 1760; Alexander White, 1762;
Philip Ludwell Lee, about 1747; Lewis Burwell, 1765.

293

COLONIAL MRGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

At Gray's Inn:

Henry Perrott, 1674; Sir John Randolph, 1715;
Joseph Ball, 1720.

At King's College, Aberdeen:

Gustavus Scott, 1765; John Scott, 1768.

^lany more boys, of course, attended the various
schools. They went in goodly number to Wakefield, in
Yorkshire; Putney Grammar School, ]SIile End School,
near London ; the ]Merchant Tailors' School, London ; St.
Bees Grammar School, Wood End Grammar School,
Scotland ; Dalston, Harrow, Appleby, Winchester, Leeds
and Eton.

Augustine Washington — father of George — and his
sons, Augustine and Lawrence, were at school at Appleby.

Among those who are known to have been at Eton are
Mann Page, 1706; Lewis Burwell, 1725; Arthur Lee,
1753 ; Ralph Wormeley, 1757; James Burwell, Philip Lud-
well Grymes, John Randolph Grymes, Alexander Spots-
wood and John Spotswood, all in 1760; Beverley Ran-
dolph and William Randolph, 1762.

In 1769 the " Academy at Leeds, York Comity, Eng-
land, ^Ir. Aaron Grimshaw, Master," advertised for pupils
in the Virginia Gazette.

XI
BOOKS

T ■ least two of the first comers to
Virginia in 1607 are known to
have brought books with them.
Smith's " Historie," describing the
bm*ning of Jamestown in the winter
of that year says:
" Good Master Hunt our Preach-
er lost all his Library."

In June, 1608, President Wingfield, in defending him-
self from the charge that he was an atheist because he
" carryed not a Bible with him," said that he had " sorted
many books " to take to Virginia, among them a Bible,
but could not say whether it was — like others he had missed
— " Ymbeasiled " from the trunk in which they were
packed before he left England, or " mislayed " by his
servants.

The inventory made in 1626, of Parson Bucke, who
officiated at the first marriage and the first christening
at Jamestown, mentions this library, and doubtless others
of the educated men who came over early brought books.
At least one of them, George Sandys, Treasurer of the
colony in the early sixteen-twenties, was the author of
highly praised works of the day in poetry and prose —
notably his " Travels," his metrical version of the Psalms,
and his translations of Ovid's JSIetamorphoses and the first
book of the iEneid, which were written at Jamestown soon
after the Massacre and published in England, first in
1626, and later, in folio, and richly illustrated, in 1632.

The student is again handicapped by absence of records
for the early years, and owing to the inaccessibility of many
of those that have been preserved few of them have been

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

thoroughly searched, but examples from Albemarle, West-
moreland, Amherst, ^liddlesex and other counties far re-
moved from each other show how widespread was the own-
ership of books. My own notes furnish proof of six
hundred collections, varying in size from two or three
volumes to several thousand.

The Bible and Prayer Book were evidently in nearly
every home, while other books, from " a parcel," valued
at a shilling or two, to " a library " worth many pounds
sterling, were bequeathed by a great number of those
who made wills and named in the inventories of a great
nmnber of those who left goods worth appraising. It must
be remembered that a parcel refers here to a lot or quantity,
not to a package.

In many instances no titles are given, but, where they
are, most of the collections show a preponderance of re-
ligious works, a good percentage of history, travel, science,
law, and philosophy, a good percentage of the classics and
of French and Spanish books, and a good percentage of
English literature. Here are a few characteristic samples
from early collections:

Doctor John Holloway, of Northampton County, be-
queathed, in 1643, all his physic and surgery books, all his
Latin and Greek books and his Greek Testament in folio.
In 1645 Arthur Smith, of Isle of Wight, simply bequeathed
" all " his books, and was one of many who thus vaguely
described their libraries. Michael Sparke, stationer, of
London, in his will made in 1653, gave to Virginia and
Barbadoes, each, one hundred copies of " the Second part
of Crums of Comfort with groanes of the Spirite and
Hankerchieff es of wet eies, ready bound to be distributed
amon.fjst the poore children there that can read." Poor
little children of Virginia and Barbadoes!

296

BOOKS

In 1655 William Brocas, of Lancaster County, left
a parcel of old torn books " most of them Spanish, Italyan
and Latin," appraised at a hundred pounds of tobacco. In
1669 Colonel John Carter, of " Corotoman," bequeathed
his wife " David's Tears, Byfield's Treatise, The Whole
Duty of Man and her own books." Poor Mrs. Carter! In
1690 his son John left books whose sixty-three titles in-
cluded works in English, French, Spanish, Latin, and
Greek. In the small collection of books left by Matthew
Hubard, of York County, in 1670, were John Smith's
" Historic of Virginia," Ben Jonson's " Remains," Pur-
chas's " Pilgrims," Donne's " Poems," and " Astrea, a
French Romance."

The inventory of Mrs. Sarah Willoughby of Lower
Norfolk County, 1674, describes " a parcell of books " in
her room appraised at fifteen hundred pounds of tobacco.
They were fifty-six in number and included religious
works — among them " A Sweet Posie for God's Saints,"
essays — among them IMontaigne's ; travels — among them
Sandys'; history, biography, astronomy, mathematics,
some of the works of Virgil, Ovid, and Cicero, " a book of
Latin verse," and iEsop's Fables.

John Baskerville, of York, left in 1675 " a parcel of
English books," appraised at three pounds sterling, and
" a parcel of Latin books," at one pound.

James Porter, of Lower Norfolk, seems to have been
an author, for in 1684 he left forty-two books and twelve
manuscripts.

In 1690 William Byrd, the first, was evidently laying
the foundation of the noted " Westover " library. In that
year he spent for books thirty-five pounds and fourteen
shillings — a sum equal to over five hundred dollars to-
day. In 1691 William Fitzhugh, of the remote frontier

297

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

county of Stafford, wrote to his brother who was on a visit
to England to bring him the third part of " Rushworth's
Collections," and " Cornelius Agrippa's Occult Philoso-
phy, in English if it can be had, if not in Latin," and
added " some of the newest books if they be ingenious, will
be mighty welcome." Among other additions to his large
library. Colonel Fitzhugh ordered from London, in 1695,
Virgil in English, and Horace, Juvenal, and Perseus in
Latin and English. In 1701 he bequeathed his " study
of books " to his two sons.

In 1690 Samuel Ball, of Lower Norfolk, left a hundred
and three books. In 1692 Thomas Osborne, of Henrico^
left " Josephus in quarto " and half a dozen other " old
books."

In 1692 John Sandford, of Princess Anne County, left,
in one parcel, twenty-three Latin and Greek books, in an-
other twenty-five English books, and in another five
Hebrew books and a Greek Testament.

In 1693 Nathaniel Hill, a schoolmaster of Henrico
County, on the frontier, left among his little collection of
twenty- three volumes a large Bible and " sixteen play
books." Henry Randolph of the same county left in 1693
twenty-nine folio volumes, eighty-seven quartos and fifty
octavos — the whole appraised at fourteen pounds ten
shillings, amounting to at least three hundred dollars to-
day. In 1697 Captain John Cocke, of Princess Anne, left
among his thirty-odd books — for the most part historical
and religious works — " The History of a Coy Lady." In
1698 John Washington, of Westmoreland, left " a parcel
of old books " valued at two hundred pounds of tobacco.
In 1699 Arthur Spicer, of Richmond County, left a good-
sized library — mainly law, religious, and Latin books, but
among them " Icon Basilice," Bacon's " Advancement of

BOOKS

Learning," Raleigh's " History of the World," and a copy
of " Macbeth."

As time went on, libraries became larger and more
varied in interest, and many Virginians kept in close touch
with English booksellers. Robert Beverley, writing of
his visit to England in 1703, speaks of " my bookseller "
as familiarly as if he lived in London, and about seventy
years later Jefferson says:

" I wrote to Waller last June for forty-five pounds
sterling worth of books. I have written to Benson Fearon
for another parcel of nearly the same amount."

In the eighteenth centur}% as in the seventeenth, it is
often impossible to get, from the reference, any idea of
the size or character of a library. For instance, George
Lee, of Westmoreland, in 1761, bequeathed his son George
Fairfax Lee " all his mother's and my books," and Wil-
loughby Newton, of the same county, in 1767, as vaguely
left his son John " all " his books.

Others were more definite, among them Wilson Gary
who in 1772 directed his executors to " send to England
for the following books, all lettered and bound in calf,
viz.: the- Spectator, Pamela, Clarissa, and Sir Charles
Grandison, which books I give to my granddaughter Sarah
Cary."

Susannah Livingston, in making her will in 1745, said:

" I give to Thomas Matthews the large Bible now in
my house (for the good of his soul)."

Innumerable inventories merely mention " a parcel of
books," like that of Charles Wortham, of Middlesex, 1743,
whose parcel is valued at eighteen shillings. By reason
of the varying degrees of knowledge — or ignorance — of
the appraisers the valuation gives no clue to the number
or character of books in these parcels.

COLOMAL VIR(;iXIA, ITS PEOPLE .VND CUSTOMS

In 1776 William Blackwell and William Venable, of
Albemarle, each left " a quantity of books." One " quan-
tity " is appraised at twenty-two shillings sixpence, and
the other at tliirteen shillings — and the reader is left guess-
ing. When the number of books is given, the valuation is
often distractingly variable, though there is occasionally
some regard to proportion, as where William Kilpin, of
Middlesex, 1717, is said to have had twenty books worth
one pound three shillings, and those of John Warnock,
of the same county, representing seventy-eight titles, are
appraised at four pounds seven.

Many of the collections of medium size were valuable
and interesting. Among the books of Hancock Lee,
Northumberland County, 1710, were the first, second, and
third parts of " Pilgi'im's Progress"; among those of
Leonard Tarrent, Essex, 1718, was " Locke on the Human
Understanding." John Dunlop, Elizabeth City, 1728, had
twenty-nine volumes, including " The Spectator," " The
Rape of the Lock," and " The Constant Couple." Mark
Bannerman, ^liddlesex, 1728, had fifty- three volumes;
Charles Pasture, Henrico, 1736, had seventy-two volumes,
including " Clarendon's Historj^" " The Gentleman's
Magazine for 1735," and Pope's "Letters"; Joseph
Brock, Spotsylvania County, 1743, eighty-one books; and
William Phillips, Essex, 17-17, a collection in which sixty
titles were represented, among them some Greek books.

John Buckner, Stafford, 1747, had eighty volumes;
Sterling Clack, Brunswick County, 1751, books valued at
five pounds seven shillings — including the works of Pope
and Addison; and William Kennon, Chesterfield, 1757,
books appraised at ten pounds. George Hedgman, Staf-
ford, 1760, was one of the early Virginia readers of " Tom
Jones."

sop

BOOKS

Among the occasional inventories of libraries owned by
women was that of Mailana Drayton, of Middlesex, who
in 1760 had, among other volmiies, eleven French books,
" a parcel " of novels, " a parcel " of Latin books and six
picture books.

Edward McDonald, of Augusta County, in 1760,
Robert Burgess of Stafford, in 1761, and Richard Tutt of
Spotsylvania, in 1767, had " The Spectator " among their
books. And those of John Pleasants, of Cumberland,
1766, included " The Spectator," " Paradise Lost," " Para-
dise Regained," and Quarles' " Emblems." William
Walker, Stafford, 1767, had among his sixty-four
volumes Swift, Pope, " The Spectator," " Tatler," and
" Guardian."

One of the larger libraries in the colony was that of
Ralph Wormeley, of Middlesex, 1701, whose inventory
names upwards of five hundred book titles, including Bur-
net's " History of the Reformation," " fifty comedies and
tragedies in folio," Hooker's " Ecclesiastical Polity," the
works of Bacon, Fuller, Davenant, Jeremy Taylor,
Quarles, Waller, Montaigne, Baxter, Gower, Burton,
Camden's " Britania," Herbert's " Poems," " Every Man
in His Humor," " Hudibras," and " Don Quixote."

In the same year " Mr. Sehutt," a Huguenot, of Hen-
rico County, left a large Bible, a " great parcel of books,"
two bales of books, and a trunk of unbound books.

Thomas Lawson, of Princess Anne, 1704, had a hun-
dred and sixty-six volumes besides " some parcels of old
books." Richard Lee, of Westmoreland, 1715, had dis-
tinctly a scholar's library of two hundred and eighty-two
titles, containing works in Latin, Greek, and French and
some Italian — for in the list appear the " Pastor Fido "
and " Orlando Furioso." Among his English books were

20 301

COLONIAL VIIK.IXLV, LLS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Lord Bacon's works. Godfre}^ Pole, Northampton, 1716,
had a hundred and twenty-two titles, including Chaucer,
Cowley, Jeremy Taylor, Drayton, Waller, Hudihras,
Bacon's "Essays," and "Paradise Lost"; Edmund
Berkeley, Middlesex, 1719, a hundred and eight titles,
among them " Locke on the Human L^nderstanding," the
" Decameron," and Shakespeare.

Daniel ^IcCarty, of Westmoreland, left in 1724 a
valuable collection including Latin and Greek w^orks, law
books, and history; and " King" Carter left in 1726 five
hundred and twenty-one volumes consisting largely of
Greek and Latin books, theology, and history.

Tlie appraisers of the estate of Nathaniel Harrison,
Surry, 1728, made no pretence to knowledge of literature.
They dismissed his library with " in the study, books of
several sorts and sizes," but the fact that they were in a
" study " suggests a good-sized collection.

Robert Beverley, of Spotsylvania, at a time when only
a sparse population lay between him and the mountains,
had a library of two hundred and fifty volumes. It con-
tained much Latin and Greek, books by Tillotson, Locke,
Temple, Burnet, Bacon, Cliillingworth and Pope, Evelyn's
" Sylva," " Paradise Lost," Shaftsbury's " Characteris-
tics," the " Spectator " and " Tatler," " Hudibras,"
More's " L^topia " and the " Beggar's Opera." Doctor
Charles Brown, Williamsburg, 1 736, had five hundred and
twenty-one volumes which an advertisement in the Virginia
Gazette described as " the finest and most copious in the
branches of Natural Philosophy and Physick ever off'ered
for sale in the Colony," and Henry Fitzhugh of Stafford
had a librar}^ appraised in 1713 at over two hundred and
fifty-eight pounds sterling.

Richard Chichester, Lancaster, 174'-4, left two hundred

302

^^al.

ini}''y^

^

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SOME VIRGINIA BOOK-PLATES

BOOKS

volumes, and the inventory of Robert Brooke, of Essex,
1745, names a hundred and thirty-eight titles. Daniel
Parke Custis, New Kent, 1757, the first husband of Mrs.
Washington, left four hundred and ninety-nine volumes
including the works of Fuller, Smollett, Cowley, Claren-
don, Defoe, Dryden, Waller, Bacon, Pope, Swift, Taylor,
Herbert, Steele, Johnson, Shakespeare, and Milton. John
Waller, Spotsylvania, 1755, had a hundred and thirty-
seven titles, besides magazines and newspapers. Among
his books were " Paradise Lost," " Tale of a Tub," " Suck-
ling's Works," " Robinson Crusoe," " Hudibras," " The
Spectator," " The Dunciad," Dryden's " Satires," Pope's
" Satires," Shakespeare's " Poems," " The Tatler," and
Congreve's works. John Herbert, Chesterfield, 1760, had
two hundred and forty-seven volumes including — besides
Latin and Greek — Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Cowley,
Pope, Swift, Addison, Milton, Butler, Herbert, Pryor, and
Bolingbroke. Augustine Washington, Westmoreland,
1762, left with other books, Virgil and various Latin books,
Homer and Shakespeare.

In 1764 Colonel Wilham Cabell of Amherst County
ordered from England over forty-seven pounds worth of
books. He had a fine libraiy to which he generally added
about fifty books a year. Henry Churchill, Fauquier
County, 1762, left books valued at eighty-eight pounds,
and Clement Reade of the frontier county of Lunen-
burg, 1763, at twenty-five pounds. George Johnston,
Fairfax, 1769, who seconded Patrick Henry's famous
speech in 1765, left a hundred and eighty- six volumes.
Philip Ludwell, of " Greenspring," who had moved to
England to live some years before and doubtless carried
part of his library with him, left in Virginia, at his death,
in 1767, four bookcases, a trunk and a box of books valued
at two hundred and fifty pounds sterling. John Harvie,

COLONIAL VIRGLXLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

of Albermarle, 1769, had a hundred and eighty-nine titles
besides " a parcel of French and Latin books," and a num-
ber of books lent out.

John Baylor, of " Xew JSIarket," Caroline County, in
1770, bequeathed his son John "all" liis books and directed
that he should pay to his brothers George and Robert
twenty-five pounds sterling each to assist in a library
" which," he concludes, " I highly recommend to be yearly
added to." It was in this year that Thomas Jefferson lost
by fire, his library valued at tw^o hundred pounds sterling.
In the year following John fiercer, of " 3Iarlborough,"
Stafford, died leaving a library of fifteen hundred volumes,
of which a catalogue has been preserved.

Robert Carter, of " Xomini Hall," had in 1772 a thou-
sand and sixty-six volumes, among them the works of
Locke, Clarendon, Bacon, Sidney, Dryden, Cowley, Rob-
ertson, Chaucer, Wycherley, jNIontaigne, Gay, Somerville,
Thompson, Smollett, Donne, Sterne, Addison, Hume, Bur-
net, Moliere, Waller, Pryor, More ("Utopia"), Shake-
speare, Hobbes, Pope, Congreve, Vanbrugh, Swift, Shafts-
bury, and Milton, and much Latin and Greek.

Charles Taylor, Southampton, 1773, bequeathed his
"library of books." Jacob Hall, a tutor in the family of
Thomas Nelson, of Yorktown, in 1775, writes of Colonel
Nelson's " fine collection." At the same time Richard
Bland, of Prince George, had " a library of books," and that
of Ralph Wormeley, of " Rosegill," was noted.

The largest library of Colonial Virginia and the largest
private library in Colonial America was that at " West-
over," which contained nearly four thousand volumes. It
was collected chiefly by William Byrd, the second, but
some of the books were inherited from his father and others
added by his son, the third William.^

^ For catalogue see Bassett's " Writings of William Byrd."

304

BOOKS

All of the books mentioned so far belonged to persons
living east of the Blue Ridge. The Bible was in every
home in The Valley, as in the older parts of the colony,
and Waddell seemed to think it was the only book there,
but there were many more than he suspected. For in-
stance, the will of Hugh Thompson, 1757, the inventory
of Robert Clark, 1759, the will of Bryan McDonald, 1759,
and the inventories of John Buchanan and William Adair,
1763 — the latter having two bookcases — show modest col-
lections of books, while Thomas Lewis owned a large and
valuable library embracing many of the most important
works then extant.

Almost all of the ministers of the Established Church
were well educated men who had good collections of books.

The libraries of Robert Hunt and Richard Bucke, of
the Jamestown Chm-ch, have been mentioned. Other par-
sons who certainly owned books were Ralph Watson, of
York, who, in 1645, left thirty folios and fifty quartos;
Benjamin Doggett, of Lancaster, who in 1682 directed in
his will that his books be " packed in a great chest " and
sent to England for sale ; John Waugh, of Stafford, whose
library was appraised, in 1706, at three thousand pounds
of tobacco, or about seventy-five pounds sterling; St. John
Shropshire, Westmoreland, who left, in 1718, " a large
library of books," valued at sixty pounds sterling; John
Cargill, of Surry, who in 1732 left two hundred and sev-
enty-five bound books " besides newspapers and pamphlets
and books lent out " ; Reverend William Dawson, President
of William and Mary, who left, in 1752, " a choice col-
lection of books " ; Lewis Latane, Essex, 1737, one hundred
titles; William Key, Lunenburg, 1764, one hundred and
sixty-eight volumes; John Moncure, Stafford, 1765, a
himdred and thirty-seven titles; William Dunlop, King

305

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

and Queen, 1769, " several thousand volumes in most arts
and sciences "; James jNIarye, Albemarle, 1774, four hun-
dred books and forty-four pamphlets.

The Presbyterian ministers were also men of culture
and fond of books. Two early examples of those who left
valuable collections in various languages were Josias
JNlackie, Princess Anne County, 17*26, and Charles Jeffrey
Smith, New Kent, 1771.

In :May, 1768, ]Mr. William Rind, editor of the Vir-
ginia Gazette, announced in that paper:

" Gentlemen who chuse to subscribe to the Gentleman's
or London INIagazines, or for the Reviews will be regularly
supplied from January next if they leave their names soon
enough to have them imported by that time."

In July of the same year he offered for sale the " Vir-
ginia Almanack and Ladies' Diary for 1769, containing
among other things, enigmas, acrostics, rebuses, queries,
paradoxes, nosegays of flowers, plates of fruit and mathe-
matical questions," and in the following February adver-
tised for subscribers to a monthly " under the title of the
American ^Magazine " to be published in Philadelphia bj'
Lewis Xicola.

Fithian several times noted in his " Diary " the arrival
at " Xomini " of magazines from London and Philadel-
phia and of the AVilliamsburg papers. L^pon one occasion
he writes:

" In a ship arrived in the Potomac ^Ir. Carter received
half a dozen of the latest Gentleman's Magazines, with
several otlier new books," and again " The English jNIaga-
zines and Reviews arrived to-day."

In 1736 William Parks, then publisher of the Virginia
Gazette, established a book store in Williamsburg, and
among later capital city book stores was that of Dixon

BOOKS

and Hunter, who in 1775 published a Hst of more than
three hundred titles from their stock, including the works
of Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Addison, Pope, Bunyan,
Bacon, Josephus, Smollett, Gay, Swift, Blackstone, John-
son's Dictionary, Plutarch's " Lives," Smith's " History of
Virginia," " Gil Bias," " Robinson Crusoe," " Tristram
Shandy," " Tom Jones," the " Spectator," " Rambler "
and " Tatler."

The Gazette also frequently advertised books by Vir-
ginia authors published and sold in Williamsburg.

There were doubtless book stores, or stores where books
could be bought, in other Virginia towns in the eighteenth
century, and the inventories of countiy merchants show
that all of them had some books for sale.

XII

MUSIC

USIC of a simple and social kind —
principally sentimental songs, ballads
containing a stoiy, tmieful airs and
dances — entered largely into Colonial
Virginia life. In the seventeenth
century young women played on
Queen Elizabeth's instrument, the vir-
ginal, and in the eighteenth on the spinet and harpsichord.
^len, from the planter to his negro slave, scraped tunes
from the violin — or the fiddle, as it was more often called —
and everybody sang.

Captain John Utie, afterward a member of his
Majesty's Council, was seen to " play upon the viol at
sea " on his way to Virginia in 1620, and in much later
times Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry turned for
recreation to the fiddle and the bow.

In 1746 Henry Lee bequeathed among other servants
one known as ** the piper," and many an advertisement
of a runaway slave declared " he can play on the violin,"
or " he took his fiddle with him." Owing to the popularity
of dancing, ability to play on a musical instrument added
to the slave's usefulness and value. For instance, tliis
appeared in the Gazette in 1760:

" To be sold a young healthy negro fellow who has been
used to wait on a gentleman and plays extremely well on
the French horn."

In 1769 there was an advertisement for an " orderly
negro or mulatto man who can play well on the violin,'*
and the description of a runaway of 1775 declared:

" He played exceedingly on the banger and generally
carries one with him."

ROBERT CARTER, OF "NOMIM HALL"

From a portrait by Reynolds

IVIUSIC

In 1757 Philip Ludwell Lee offered through the col-
umns of the Gazette a handsome reward for the recovery
of a runaway named Charles Love — a white indentured
servant — who was described as " a professor of music,
dancing and fencing."

Musical instruments — especially violins — figure in wills
and inventories throughout the Colonial period. In 1688
Thomas Jordan, of Surry, left " a pair of very old vir-
ginals " and a bass viol.

In the prosperous years from the middle of the eigh-
teenth centmy to the Revolution a spinet or harpsichord
seems to have been generally found in the home of the
well-to-do planter, who had his girls taught to play, and
music on one of these instruments — often with the addition
of the flute or violin, or both — was a favorite diversion of
the evening hom-s in both country and town. Frequently
the instruments accompanied a love ditty sung by a fair
daughter of the house, a rollicking song or a familiar hymn
in which all the family joined, or broke into one of the
dance tunes for which the young folk were always ready
and in time to which the feet of the oldest within hearing
patted sympathetically.

William Downman, of Richmond County, wrote his
brother, in 1752:

" My little Rawlegh is a very brisk boy and sings
mightily. He can sing almost any of the common tmies
our fiddlers play."

It is evident from allusions to music in Fithian's
" Diary " that there were many harpsichords in the neigh-
borhood of " Nomini Hall," and that most of the girls of
the Carters' circle played on them. A music teacher named
Stadley taught in that part of the colony and spent several
days at a time at " Nomini," giving lessons to the girls.
According to Fithian, all the young ladies at " Mt. Airy "

COLONIAL MR(;L\IA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

played well and of the niiich admired Jenny Washington,
who was " about seventeen," he says:

" She plays well on the harpsichord & spinet, under-
stands the principles of music and therefore performs her
tunes in perfect time. . . . She sings likewise to her
instrument."

" A Young Lady Singing to the Spinet " inspired " A
Young Gentleman of Virginia " to an effusion in rhyme,
printed in the Virginia Gazette in 1737. Here is a speci-
men stanza from some " Lines on Hearing a Young Lady
Play on the Harpsichord " from the pen of one who " never
attempted before anything in the poetical way," which
appeared in that paper in 1769:

Wlien Suke>' to her harpsichord repairs
And, smiling, bids nie give attentive ears.
With bliss supreme the lovely maid I view.
But with reluctance forced to bid adieu.
Her charms, I find, are on my heart impress'd,
Nor time nor absence can regain my rest.

The Gazette contains an occasional advertisement of a
musical instrument for sale, for instance this, in 1752:

" Just imported from London. A very neat hand
organ in a mahogany case with gilt front, which plays six-
teen tunes, on two barrels ; it has four stops and everything
in the best order."

And this, in 1767:

" To be sold for prime cost, a complete Harpsichord,
with three stops, just imported from London, made by
Kirpman, the Queen's instrument maker, and supposed
by good judges to be the best in the Colony. Inquire of
the printer."

In 1771 Jefferson, who was devoted to nuisic, ordered
from a London merchant a clavichord. But quickly fol-
lowed his letter with another in which he says:

310

MUSIC

" I have since seen a Forte piano and am charmed
with it. Send me this instrument then, instead of the clavi-
chord : let the case be of fine mahogany, solid, not veneered.
The compass from Double G to F in alt. A plenty of spare
strings and the workmanship on the whole very handsome
and worthy the acceptance of a lady for whom I intend it."

Gay little Williamsburg was a music-loving town, and
the diary of President John Blair (1751) makes frequent
mention of the musical entertainments at William and
INIary College and in private houses. Mr. Blair himself
had a spinet on which the ladies of his family played, and
when he had friends to dine with him, or when he dined
out with friends, he took pains to record, " we had fine
music."

The inventoiy of Cuthbert Ogle, of Williamsburg,
shows that he left, in 1755, a fiddle and case, a harpsichord
and a large collection of music, including works of Handel
and other famous composers. Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, from
a study of Mr. Ogle's belongings, conjures up a quaint
picture of him in a green coat with flowing wig, tuning
his fiddle as he glances through his spectacles at his music.

Another acomplished musician of the little capital was
Peter Pelham, the organist of Bruton Church. In 1769
Anne Blair wrote her sister, Mrs. George Braxton, of
" Newington" :

" They are building a steeple to our church, the doors
for that reason are open every day and scarce an evening
but we are entertained with performances of Felton's,
Handel's and Vi- Valley's works, &c., &c., &c."

In 1770 Landon Carter, of " Sabine Hall," grouchily
confided to his diary — apropos of the popularity of music
in Williamsburg —

" I hear from every house a constant tuting may be
listened to from one instrument or another."

311

COLOXL\X MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

He evidently would not have found a congenial com-
panion in his nephew, " Councillor " Carter, of " Xomini
Hall " and Williamsburg, who took more interest in
" music, heavenly maid," than anybody of the time in Vir-
ginia. He was a man of broad culture and devoted to
intellectual pursuits. Philip Fithian says that his " main
studies" were law and music, and a catalogue of the fine
library at " Xomini " given in the tutor's diary bears wit-
ness to a remarkably versatile taste. According to it, there
were among his folios "17 volimies of Music by Various
Authors " and " Alexander's Feasts, or the Power of
Music, an Ode in Honour of St. Ceceeha by Dryden, set
to music by Handel," and among the octavos " Malcolm
on Music," " Handel's Operas for Flute, 2 Vols.," and a
" Book of Italian ^lusic." The Councillor's favorite even-
ing pastime was transposing music or playing on the flute,
viohn, or harpsichord. His children were all musical, and
the family at " Xomini " may be said to have made a little
home orchestra, content to be its own audience or ready to
perform for the pleasure of the company that often gath-
ered under that hospitable roof. The tutor caught the con-
tagion and tells of practising sonatas with the master of
the house and his sons. One of the boys, Ben Carter, a
favorite pupil of Fithian's, played well on the flute, and
the tutor paid him half a bit to read or play to him for
twenty minutes every night after he was in bed.

In 1770 the Comicillor ordered from London, for his
house in Williamsburg, an organ made according to direc-
tions of PeterPelham,andhe also had "an Armonica, one of
the new fashioned musical instruments invented by Mr. B.
Franklin, of Philadelphia," and " played on by Miss Davies
at the great room in Spring Garden." It was described
as " the musical glasses without water framed into a com-

S12

MUSIC

plete instrument, capable of thorough bass and never out
of tune."

The local and advertising columns of the Gazette show
that there were a number of professional musicians scat-
tered about the colony. In 1736 this paper announced
that:

" On Christmas Eve, died in Hanover County after a
very short Illness, Mr. John Langford, a noted and skilful
Musician. His Death is m^uch lamented by his Acquaint-
ance in general whose Love and Esteem he had Acquired
by his facetious, good Behavior, and the more so having
left behind him a poor Widow and six or seven small Chil-
dren, who tis hop'd will receive some comfort under their
affliction from the beneficent Hands of those Gentle-
men and Ladies whom he has often delighted with his
Harmony."

In 1752 John Tompkins was prepared to instruct " all
Persons inclinable to learn, a true Method of singing
Psalms, at the College of William and Mary, or at the
Church in Williamsburg," and in the same year " Mr.
Singleton proposed to teach the violin in Williamsburg,
Yorktown, Hampton and Norfolk."

In 1775 " a young lady lately arrived in Williams-
burg " desired " pupils on the guitar."

The accommodating Gazette also contributes the
following :

" To be performed at King William Courthouse. A
concert of instrumental Musick, by Gentlemen of Note for
their own amusement. After the concert will be a Ball
if agreeable to the Company. Tickets to be had at five
shillings each."

A few months later these unnamed " gentlemen of
note " gave a concert and ball " at Mr. Tinsley's, in Han-
over To\NTl."

313

XIII

PICTURES

^>J?T^^^g^^ICTURES in Colonial Virginia ran
' - — ^ largely to portraits, but there are a

goodly number of prints mentioned
in wills and inventories, though few
of them remain. ]Many of the por-
traits, too, have been destroyed by
fire and other accidents, and very
many of those whicli have been preserved are scattered
through Virginia and other states and known only to those
who have fallen heir to them and to their friends. Of the
interesting collections which have remained intact, like
those at "Brandon," " Shirley,'' and " Mt Airy," no lists
are in print, but from such as are, and are easily accessible,
a catalogue of more than two hundred and fifty could be
made. From other indications it is believed that at least
five hundred portraits of Virginians painted before the
Revolution are still in existence. Among the larger col-
lections were those of the Randolphs — about thirty-three
in number; the ]Moseleys, twenty-two — which were long
kept together and descended from generation to genera-
tion ; the Carters, twenty ; the Fitzhughs, about twenty ; the
Byrds, eighteen; the Boilings, sixteen; the Lees, twelve;
the Pages, ten or twelve, and a number of other groups
almost as large.

Some of the emigrants brought j^ortraits of their an-
cestors with them from England. The ^Nloseleys had one
of a gentleman in armor, and another, still existing, of a
lady of the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century,
wearing interesting jewels — among tliem a thumb-ring.
The descendants of Sir Thomas Lunsford ow^l a miniature
of that knight and one of his brother. Colonel Henry Luns-

314

A LADY OF THE MOSELEY FAMILY
From a portrait brought to Virginia, 1649

J

PICTURES

ford, of the Royal Army, who was killed in a charge at
Bristol, and the Fairfaxes have a number of portraits of
English members of their family. A descendant of the
Byrds has a charming full length portrait of the first
William Byrd, painted during his childhood in England,
dressed as a little Roman soldier.

]Most Virginia portraits of the seventeenth and early
eighteenth centuries are of men, as there were no painters
in Virginia during those years, and many more men than
women went " home " and had the opportunity of sitting
to English artists. Among women who did were the wife
and daughters of Edward Jaqueline, of Jamestown, who
was born in 1668. During a visit to England with his
famity, early in the eighteenth centurj^ he had painted by
" an artist of the greatest merit he could find," fine por-
traits of himself, his wife, his three daughters, and two
sons, with the family coat-of-arms and name and birthday
of the subject upon the frame of each picture.

Robert Carter, of " Nomini," when in England sat to
Sir Joshua Reynolds for a charming portrait which, hap-
pily, has been preserved. At least one other Virginian,
Warner Lewis, of " Warner Hall," Gloucester, was painted
by Reynolds, but the picture perished with historic " Rose-
well," destroj^ed by fire in 1916.

In later years Hesselius, Bridges and Wollaston
painted many portraits in Virginia and Peale a few —
notably that of Washington as a colonial colonel.

In 1736 Colonel Byrd wrote to Governor Spots wood
introducing Charles Bridges as " a man of good family,
either by the frowns of fortune or his own mismanagement
obliged to seek his bread in a strange land," adding, " His
name is Bridges and his profession painting, and if you
have any employment for him in that way he will be proud

COLOMAL MRGLMA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

of obeying your command. He has drawn my children and
several others in this neighborliood, and tho' he has not the
]\I aster Hand of a Lilly or Kneller, j^et had he lived so long
ago as when Places were given to the most deserving, he
might have pretended to be Sergeant Painter of Virginia."

Bridges was painting in Virginia for years, and a large
nmnber of portraits done by him have been preserved. His
women are graceful and attractive and generally wear the
popular single curl drawn over one shoulder. In 1738 he
rented a house in Williamsburg which he doubtless made
his headquarters. In 1740 he was employed to paint the
King's arms for the Courthouse at Caroline County at the
price of sixteen hundred pounds of tobacco.

Here is an advertisement which appeared in the Vir-
ginia Gazette in 1769:

Henry Wairen, limner, who is now in Williamsburg has had
the satisfaction of pleasing most gentlemen who have employed
him and should any in this place have a mind to please their fancy
with night pieces or keep in memory their families with family
pieces or anything of the like (landscapes excepted) may be sup-
plied by their humble servant.

If well you're pleased then sure you'll recommend
Your humble sers'ant to a tasty friend.

Among the possessions of Colonel Thomas Ludlow, of
York, who died in 1660, was " Judge Richardson to ye
waist in a picture," appraised at fifty pounds of tobacco.
John Brewer, of Isle of Wight, left " 12 small pictures "
in 1669.

Thomas Madestard, of Lancaster, who died in 1675,
was another early owner of pictures, while David Fox of
the same county left about 1690 " 3 pictures in the parlor
and 2.5 Pictures of the Sences in the Hall," and Edward
Digges, of York, in 1692 " 6 pictures."

316

PICTURES

Pictures were frequently handed down by bequest, but
wills are as tantalizingly indefinite as inventories. In 1700
William Fitzhugh, of Stafford, bequeathed to his son " my
own and my Wife's pictures and the other six pictures of
my relations," and to his wife " the remainder of my pict-
ures." A portrait of him owned by a descendant is
labelled " Colonel William Fitzhugh, aged 40, 1698. Copy
by J. Heselius." The date refers to the original.

John Swann, of Lancaster, dying in 1711, left two
small pictures and " a prospect of the City of London."
Andrew Monroe, of Westmoreland, a great-uncle of the
President, left in 1714 " 3 large pictures "; Richard Lee,
1714, " Richard's Lee's picture, frame and curtain, G. Cor-
bin's picture, the Quaker's picture, T. Corbin's picture;"
William Churchill, Middlesex, 1714, five pictures with gilt
frames and one gilt frame " with colors " — doubtless a
framed coat-of-arms. " King " Carter, in 1726, left por-
traits of his children, two portraits of himself and two of
his wife. He bequeathed each child " his own picture."

Among the household goods of William Gordon, of
Middlesex, who died in 1726, was " The Royal Oak in a
frame," and among those of Christopher Robinson, of the
same county, 1727, "a picture of the Bishop of London,"
who was his brother, while the inventory of Colonel ^laxi-
milian Boush, of Princess Anne County, 1728, mentions
portraits of Queen Anne and Prince George, one picture
in a large gilt frame, ten in small gilt frames, two in black
frames, two new Maps of London, and a picture of St.
Paul's Cathedral.

The inventory of Captain William Rogers, of York-
town, who died in 1739, mentions " a Dutch picture in a
gilt frame," seven " cartoons," four " glass pictures," three
" small pictures," and " a neat picture of Charles II."

21 317

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Tliat of Alexander Spotswood, Orange, 1740, has " 26
prints Overton's Theatrum Passion," a " Scripture piece
of painting, the History of the Woman taken in Adul-
ter}"— valued at thirty-six pounds sterling — *' 20 prints
with glasses " — valued at one pound four shillings — and
" 42 prints with glasses," at three pounds three.

Henry Hacker, of Williamsburg, dying in 1742, left
sixteen framed pictures, and jNIajor Harry Turner, of
King George Comity, 1751, sixty-nine pictures " in gilt
frames." The inventory of Colonel John Tayloe, 1747,
lists among articles in the dining-room " a sett of Rubens
Gallery of Lusenburgh."

In 1757 Washington ordered from London " 1 neat
Landskip 3 feet by 21 >^ inches." A landscape " after
Claude Lorraine" was sent him.

Colonel John Tabb, of Elizabeth City, according to
his inventory made in 1762, had one dozen prints in frames,
and John Pleasants, Cumberland, 1765, ** The Ten Sea-
sons," valued at five pounds, and " a prospect of Phila-
delphia," at eight shillings. George Johnston, Fairfax
County, 1767, left two unframed paintings valued at four
pounds each, six Hogarth prints, and a family portrait.
Hogarth's pictures were in at least one other house in the
colony. In a fragment of a letter preserved in the Jones
Papers, Colonel Thomas Jones requested his brother, who
was studying abroad, to buy him some more Hogarths
in London and gave him a list of those he already had.
They were " Midnight Conversation," " The Rake's Prog-
ress," " The Harlot's Progress," " The Roast Beef of Old
England " and — as well as can be made out — " Marriage
a la Mode."

According to the inventory of Adam ]\Ienzies, North-
umberland County, 1767, he had seven engravings from

318

WILLIAM BYRD, FIRST
From a portrait brought from England

PICTURES

Raphael's cartoons, four large prints in gilt frames, and
one small print.

In the same year the Gazette announced:

" Sometime ago the gentlemen of Westmoreland, by
subscription, ordered a portrait of the Right Honorable
the Earl of Chatham to be put up in their Courthouse. It
is now arrived and esteemed a masterly performance and
drawn by Charles Peak."

This picture, after a long visit to the Hall of the House
of Delegates, in the Capitol at Richmond, hangs again on
the walls of Westmoreland Courthouse.

In 1775 Professor Henley, of William and Mary Col-
lege, advertised for sale '* a portfolio of engravings, etch-
ings and Mezzotints — all fine impressions and many of
them proofs by the most celebrated IMasters," and in the
fine house of his contemporary^ William Hunter, of Wil-
liamsburg, were a " sea piece," a landscape, and a large
picture of the " Ruins of Rome," in gilt frames, nineteen
prints, and two small pictures " with glasses and frames."

In 1775 also John Champe, of King George County,
bequeathed to his wife, Anne — who was the daughter of
Charles Carter, of " Cleve " — the " four pictures drawn
last by Hesselius, to wit: Colonel Charles Carter and Anne
his wife, my own and the said Anne Champe."

A letter written from Virginia about this time men-
tions the family pictures drawn by Sir Godfrey Kneller,
and others, at Windsor," the home of the Claytons, in
New Kent County.

XIV

RELIGION

HILE his Majesty's first Colony was
not strictly a religious settlement, re-
ligious observances were so much a
part of the life of the people of the
day that such an enterprise could
hardly have been launched with this
element left out, and in the final orders
of the Virginia Company of London to the first colonists
before the three little ships set sail from England, they
were admonished to

" Serve and fear God the Giver of all Goodness, for
every plantation which our Heavenly Father hath not
planted shall be rooted out."

To this the founders of all the American colonies would
have said a hearty Amen, but among the incentives which
moved the emigrants to Virginia to seek a home in a new
world, desire to break away from the faith of their fathers
had no part — they brought with them not only the religion
of England but the Church of England. Allien they made,
at Cape Henry, their first landing on American soil, they
set up a cross and claimed the country for their chm'ch as
well as for their king — a ceremony which was repeated on
one of the islets in the tumbling waters of the James, at
the present site of Richmond, when their explorations
brought them there on that bright Whitsunday morning
a month later. An important member of the first settle-
ment group was Parson Hunt, the Chaplain, who, on
June 21 — the third Sunday after Trinity — gave them the
Commimion on the greensward at Jamestown under an old
sail stretched from tree to tree. Wherever these men cut
down trees and planted a settlement of cabins fashioned

RELIGION

of the green logs, they built a house better than their dwell-
ings for a church, where the familiar rites of the English
Prayer Book were used. On August 9, 1619, the earliest
legislative assembly in America met in the church at James-
town, as " the most convenient place they could find," and
it is written in the official journal of that historic gathering:

" Forasmuche as men's affaires doe little prosper where
God's service is neglected all the Burgesses tooke their
places in the Quire till a prayer was said by Mr. Bucke, the
minister, that it would please God to guide and Sanctifye
all our proceedings to his owne glory and to the good of
this Plantation."

There were two or three wooden churches at James-
town— the first " a homely thing like a barn set on crotch-
ets," and the last a more comely, weather-boarded struct-
ure— before the brick church with tower, buttresses, and
diamond-paned windows was built upon the same site. In
1623 the settlers in Accomac County worshipped in a small
building of " roughly riled logs, cemented loosely with
wattle; the whole enclosed by Pallysadoes for protection
against ye Indian tribes, an ever present menace to peace
and safety."

About 1614 a good frame church had been built at
Hem'icopolis and a brick one was planned. In 1624 a
church was under way in Elizabeth City which seems from
foundations which have been unearthed to have been, like
the last frame church at Jamestown, of wood on a brick
underpinning. There was a church in Charles City in
1625 and doubtless there were others, as there were then
five or six ministers in the colony.

A long war of words has been waged as to whether the
church at Jamestown or its counterpart in Isle of Wight
County was the earliest brick house of worship in the

321

COLONIAL VIRGLNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

colony — Isle of Wight having persistent traditions, the
date 1632 moulded into a brick in its walls and other evi-
dences to support its claim. It was in 1638 that Governor
Sir John Harvey in his report to England on conditions
in Virginia said:

" Out of our owne purses wee have Largely contributed
to the building of a brick church " — meaning of course the
one at Jamestown, which is believed to have been finished
about 1640.

In 1645 Lower Norfolk County had two parish
churches which were probably of wood, but in 1691 it was
ordered that a " good, substantial brick church " be built
for Lynnliaven Parish in that county. It was to be forty-
five feet long and twenty-two wide, within the walls, which
were to be thirteen feet high, with " brick gable ends to the
bridge of the roof " and a " brick porch ten feet square."
The roof was to have " good beams covered with good
oaken boards " and, inside, to be " well sealed with good
oaken boards, archwise, and whited with good lime." There
were to be " good and sufficient lights of brick, well glazed
with good glass " on each side of the church and " at the
east end a good large window fitt and proportionable for
such a church." There was to be a row of pews on each
side and also a " wainscott pew," for the use, of course, of
persons of importance, on each side. This tiny but well-
proportioned and dignified little temple, which has long
since disappeared, was doubtless a typical country parish
church of the period.

Beverley wrote at the beginning of the eighteenth
century :

" They have in each parish a convenient church built
either of timber, brick or stone and decently adorned with
everything necessary for divine service."

RELIGION

In large parishes there were also one or more small
chapels of ease for the use of persons living at an incon-
venient distance from the church. In building either a
church or chapel care was always taken to choose a site
near a spring of good water. In 1769 the vestry of the very
large parish of Camden, in Pittsylvania County, then on
the frontier, ordered at one time the building at different
points of three small frame churches — one of them to be
situated " at the most best and convenient spring near the
Road Ford of Leatherwood Creek."

During the eighteenth century many beautiful churches
were erected in the colony and a good number of them
are still in use, while others are in a state of deplorable
but picturesque ruin. Bruton Church, Williamsburg; St.
Paul's, Norfolk; St. John's, Hampton; Christ Church,
Alexandria, and St. John's, Richmond — each of which is
surrounded by a graveyard filled with interesting tombs —
are especially appealing town churches. Christ Church,
Lancaster County, is the finest example of a country church
remaining. It was built in 1732 by " King " Carter,
whose home, " Corotoman," was three miles away on the
Rappahannock River. From his house to his church he con-
structed a straight road enclosed on either side by a hedge
of cedars along which, in periwig and gold lace and sur-
rounded by his family in attire as dashing, this Virginia
grandee passed in his coach on Sundays.

The church, which is built of brick, with walls three feet
thick, is in the shape of a Greek cross, measuring inside
sixty-two feet from wall to wall each way. The ceiling,
which is thirty-three feet high, forms a groined arch above
the intersection of the wide aisles which are paved with
flagstones. The lofty pulpit with its winding stair, the
chancel and the high-backed, box pews, with seats running

323

COLONIAL MRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

all around them, are of black walnut. There are twenty-
two of these with a seating capacity of twelve each, and
three — which were reserved for the Carter family and dig-
nitaries— that will seat twenty persons each. There were
other countr}^ churches nearly as impressive as this — nota-
bly 3Iatapony, in King and Queen County, and Abing-
don, Gloucester County. Many others still were plain,
frame buildings, but while some of the more primitive ones
doubtless had simple benches, it seems from the records
that most of them were equipped with square pews, high
pulpits, sounding boards and other churchly furnishings.
Pews and sometimes galleries were owned by individuals.
In 1735 Edward ^loseley, of Lynnhaven Parish, was given
permission " to erect a hanging pewe on the north side of
the new church at his own cost," for the use of himself
and his family, and in 1772 Wilson Car\^ directed in his
will that his pew in St. John's Church, Hampton, should
" go doT\Ti with his home to his heirs forever."

Many of the churches had bells which were sometimes
gifts. For instance, in 1760 Alexander Kennedy, of Eliza-
beth City County, bequeathed forty pounds sterling for a
bell for the parish church. Some, though perhaps not so
many, had organs. Among these was old Petsworth Church
in Gloucester, not a brick of which now stands, whose
vestry made " great subscriptions " for the purchase of
an organ in 1735 and ordered that seven hundred gold
leaves be bought for the use of the painter. Some time
before the Revolution an organ was carried over the moun-
tains to the old Lutheran Church in what is now Madison
County.

In 1040 Adam Thoroughgood bequeathed a thousand
pounds of tobacco to Lynnhaven Parish Church " for the
purchase of some necessary and decent Ornament."

S24

A SEVENTEENTH CENT r in- (ill H( H -T. I.I KH'S,
ISLE OF WK.HT ( (HM^

AN EIGHTEENTH CENTIRY CHrRCH— ST. PAULS, KING GEORGE COUNTY

RELIGION

A favorite interior decoration for houses of worship
throughout the Colonial period was the framed Lord's
Prayer, Creed, or Ten Commandments, which was often
provided by bequest. In 1675 John Washington, of West-
moreland, bequeathed the Lower Church of Washington
Parish " the Ten Commandments and the King's Arms,
to be sent for out of England," and in 1716 William Fox,
of Lancaster, left to St. Mary's White Chapel a font and
" the Lord's Prayer and Creed well drawn in gold letters,"
with his name under each of them, set in black frames.
There was a rare attempt at elaborate decoration. Old
Petsworth had over the chancel a fresco representing the
Last Judgment. The picture showed a crimson curtain
drawn back and disclosing an angel with a trumpet in his
hand, surrounded by rolling clouds from which looked other
angel faces. ^

About 1764 Mrs. Elizabeth Stith, of Surry County,
bequeathed fifty pounds sterling to buy " an altar piece "
for the Lower Church in Southwark Parish. Her direc-
tions were that " Moses and Aaron be drawn at full length
holding up between them the Ten Commandments and,
if the money be enough, the Lord's Prayer in a small frame
to hang to the right over the great pew, and the Creed in
another small frame to hang on the left over the other great
pew."

There were many gifts and bequests of silk and velvet
pulpit hangings and cushions. Among these were pulpit
cloths and cushions for the upper and lower Machodick
Churches, in Westmoreland, bequeathed by Lawrence
Washington, the grandfather of George, in 1697. As early
as 1617 Mrs. Mary Robinson, of London, bequeathed to
the Church at Smith's Hundred two hundred pounds ster-

^ Meade's " Old Churches and Families of Virginia," i, 323.
325

COLONIAL VIRGINM, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

ling with part of which was bought a " Yellow & blue
Cheiny Damaske Carpett wth a Silke fring," a " white
dainaske Communion Cloath," and a " Surplisse," and
also a " Communion Silver Guilt Cupp & two little Chal-
ices in a black leather cover." This oldest colonial com-
munion service in America may still be seen at venerable
St. John's Church, Hampton.

A silver communion service in a cloth of gold cover,
a crimson velvet " carpet," or pulpit hanging, with gold
and silver fringe, and a damask communion cloth which
were, about 1621, sent from England for use in the chapel
of the ill-fated college at Henrico, were in existence in
1627. In later years there were many bequests of com-
munion silver to Virginia churches — usually bearing the
name of the donor and frequently his arms. Among them
were the gift of William Burdett, gentleman, to the
Lower Parish of Northampton County, in 1643, that of
David Fox, to St. Mary's, White Chapel, in 1669, and
that of Hancock Lee " to ye Parish of Lee " in 1711. The
Reverend John Farnifold left " each church " in his parish
in Northumberland County a chalice of silver. Augustine
Warner gave a handsome service to Petsworth Church,
and Ralph Wormeley one of five pieces to Christ Church,
Middlesex. In 1741 John Allen, of Surry, left thirty-five
pounds sterling to each of the two parishes in that county
to buy services, and in 1748 Philip Lightfoot fifty pounds
current money for a " handsome flagon and chalice " with
his " arms thereon " for the Church at Yorktown. It is
evident that there were silver services in every parisli and
a goodly number of colonial silver communion services are
in use in Virginia churches to-day.

There are frequent references to surplices as gifts, and
in 1752 the Virginia Gazette advertised as " stolen out of

326

RELIGION

Ware Church, in Gloucester County, Communion table
and pulpit cloths of crimson velvet, double laced with gold,
and also a surplice and gown."

Sunday observance and church-going were enforced
by law in Colonial Virginia. In the earliest days at James-
town attendance on morning and evening prayer was re-
quired on week days as well as Sundays, and every day
in the week, and in 1616 the Governor and Council issued
a proclamation that every person must go to church on
Sundays and holy days or " lye neck and heels " in the
guard house all night and be a slave to the Colony for a
week." For the second offence the sinner would be re-
quired to serve the colony for a month; and for the third,
a year and a day.

In 1626 the Council further ordered that " the Com-
mander and Church Wardens of each plantation take a
list of the inhabitants and see that the service of God be
duly performed and any found delinquent punished as
provided by law." Any man who came to church without
his arms was " to receive the same punishment as if he
had stayed away," and " every master of a family must
call his people together for prayer twice, or once a day,
at least."

The General Assembly was as explicit as the Council
of State in its insistence upon religious observances. In
1623 it made absence from church punishable by fine of one
pound of tobacco for a first offence, or fifty pounds for
absence for a month. In 1631 church- wardens were or-
dered to '* lev}^ one shilling for every tyme of any person's
absence from the church havinge no lawfull or reasonable
excuse to bee absent," and in later years there were re-
peated acts compelling church attendance.

In 1642 one was passed making it unlawful to " take a

327

COLONIAL VIRGINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

voyage " on the Sabbath day " except it be to church or for
other causes of extreme necessitie, upon the penaltie of
the forfeiture of twenty pounds of tobacco." In ITO-t
York County Court made it milawful for inn-keepers to
" sell strong drink or suffer any drunkenness in their
houses on the Sabbath."

And these laws were enforced, as hundreds of entries
in the council and county court records show. For in-
stance, in 1624 his ^Majesty's Council ordered that Thomas
Sully, who had broken the Sabbath by " going a hunting,"
should pay " five pounds sterling in good tobacco " toward
the support of the church and acknowledge his fault in tlie
presence of the congregation. In the same year William
Newman and John Army were fined " for not coming to
church, according to the act of Assembly," and in 1626
Thomas Farley, Gentleman, was fined a hundred pounds
of tobacco " for not coming to church on the Sabbath day
for three months." In 1679 the grand jury of Henrico
presented Joseph Royal for playing cards, John Edwards
and " one of Mr. Isham's servants " for playing checkers,
Henry ]Martin for swearing and Charles Fetherstone and
Edward Stratton for getting drunk and fighting on Sun-
day, and some years later Henry Turner was tried in the
same county for stripping tobacco on that day. In 1704
the grand jury of Middlesex County indicted Thomas
Sims for " travelling on the road with a loaded beast " and
William ^Montague and Garrett INIinor for " bringing
oysters on shore on the Sabbath."

Later in the period Sunday observance was less strict —
especially on the part of the laboring people. Philip
Fithian -WTote in 1774:

" Sunday in Virginia don't seem to wear the same
dress as our Sundavs to the northward. Generallv here bv

RELIGION

five o'clock on Saturday every face (especially the negroes)
looks festive and cheerful. All the lower class of people
and the servants and the slaves consider it a day of pleasure
and amusement."

One Sunday when he and the Carters went to church in
a boat he recorded in his diary, " The Nomini River alive
with boats, canoes, etc., some going to church, some fishing,
some sporting."

All sorts of surprises awaited the church-goer in the
early days of the colony, and the preacher who could hold
the attention of his audience must have been eloquent in-
deed. Many oiFences were considered crimes against the
Church as well as the State, and it was deemed proper that
pmiishment, or a part of it, should be inflicted within the
sacred building and in the presence of minister and people.
For instance, in 1641, Christopher Burroughs and Mary,
his wife, were ordered to do penance in their parish church
" standing upon stools in the middle alley, wrapped in
white sheets and holding white wands in their hands, all
the time of divine service, and to say after the minister
such words as he should deliver unto them." In the same
year Edy Tooker was sentenced to do penance in church
and " during the exhortation delivered unto her by the
minister admonishing her to be sorry for her foul crime
did, like a most obstinate and graceless person, rend and
mangle the sheet in which she did penance." For which
she was " ordered to receive twenty lashes and to do pen-
ance according to the spiritual laws and forms of the church
of England in the same Chapel Sunday come fortnight."

In 1643 Bartholomew Haynes and a woman named
Julian Underwood were presented by the churchwardens
of Elizabeth River for immorality and were —

" Ordered to stand forth in white sheets in the parish

329

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

church at Sewell's Point and, in the face of the minister
and congregation in the time of divine service, between
the first and second lessons in the forenoon, make a public
acknowledgment of their fault and ask Almighty God for-
giveness in these express words : ' I, Bartholomew Haynes
and Julian Underwood, do here acknowledge and confess
in the presence of the whole congregation that I have
grievously sinned and offended against the divine Majesty
of Almighty God and all Christian People in committing
a foul and detestable crime, and am heartily sorry and
truly penitent for the same and do unfeignedly beseech
Almighty God of his infinite goodness to be merciful unto
me and forgive this my heinous oiFence, and I do heartily
desire the congregation and all good people to forgive and
pray for me/ "

An ingenuity which would have delighted the heart of
a Dante was often shown in making the punishment fit the
crime. In 1648 Robert Warder, for getting drunk, was
sentenced to stand at the door of Nassawattocks Church,
Northampton County, " with a great pot tied about his
neck," and Samuel Wyard, of the same county, who had
stolen a pair of breeches, " to appear during the whole
time of service for three Sundays, with a pair of breeches
tied around his neck and the word Thief, written on his
back."

The colonists evidently believed that heathen should be
punished with few (or no) stripes in this world, as the Bible
gives us to believe they will be in the next. In 1695 Joane
Scot, the first Gypsy mentioned in the records, was brought
before the grand jury for immoral conduct, but was dis-
charged, as the Court was of the opinion that " the law
did not touch her — she being an Egyptian and no Christian
woman."

courtesy of Harpers Magazine

INTERIOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, MIDDLESEX

THE OLDEST AMERICAN COMMUNION SERVICE

St. JohD's Church, Hampton

RELIGION

The earliest day of public thanksgiving known to have
been celebrated in Virginia was March 23, 1623 — the first
anniversary of the Indian Massacre — and was appointed
by Act of the Assembly to commemorate the preservation
of the colony from entire destruction. It was ordered that
the day be " Yeerly solemnized as holliday," and in 1624
the statute declared with ingenious variation as to spelling :

" It is ordered, that the 22d day of March be yearelie
kept Holy day in commemoration of our deliverance from
the Indians at the bloodie Massaker which happened upon
the 22d of March 1621 "-2.

On April 18, 1644, occurred the second massacre, and
the year following we find an act of Assembly:

" That the eighteenth day of April be yearly cele-
brated by thanksgiving for our deliverance from the hands
of the Salvages."

At the same session the pious lawmakers ordered " for
God's glory and the public benefit of the Collony," that
" the last Wednesday in every month be sett apart for a
day of ff ast and humiliation, And that it be wholy dedi-
cated to prayers and preaching."

The two annual thanksgiving days were continued by
later Assemblies, but gradually fell into disuse, though
throughout the Colonial period, days of thanksgiving or
of fasting and prayer were occasionally ordered by procla-
mation of the governor. For instance, in March, 1692,
Governor Sir Edmund Andros appointed " a Solemn fast
to implore the blessings of God upon the Consultations of
the Assembly," and in April of the same year another " to
avert God's Judgment upon the Country being sorely
afflicted with measles."

April 8, 1760, was made a day of public thanksgiving
for the " signal success of his Majesty's arms."

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

In a country wlicie there was plenty of room for every-
body, plenty of timber for building log and frame houses
and for firewood, and plenty to eat, want was almost un-
known, yet " the poor of the parish " are remembered in
many, many wills, early and late, and such gifts were
looked after and dispensed by the vestry and church war-
dens. Here are a few characteristic examples:

In 1625 James Carter bequeathed forty shillings to the
poor of tlie parish and fifty acres of land " bought of my
Lady Dale in Shirlej^ Hundred Island " for a " place of
residing for the minister." In 1667 Daniel Boucher, of
Isle of Wight, gave " to the poorest people in the parish
. . . one oxe commonly called Brand, wdth a good loaf
of bread to each of the poor people aforesaid." In 1674
Richard Bennett, of Xansemond, w^ho had been Governor,
left to his parish three hundred acres of land, the rents
from which were to be received by the chm'ch wardens
and used for the relief of " four aged and impotent per-
sons," and in 1749 Richard Bennett, then of Maryland, left
thirty pounds sterling a year to the poor of the same parish,
where he had long lived. In 1683 Robert Griggs, of Lan-
caster County, bequeathed twenty thousand pounds of
tobacco " to those that are indeede truly poore," in 1684
William Gordon, of ]Middlesex County, a hundred acres
of land and two cows to Christ Church parish, and in 1691
George Spencer, of Lancaster, ten thousand pounds of
tobacco to the poor of White Chapel parish and twenty
pounds sterling for a communion plate. In 1726 " King "
Carter directed in his will that some of his " friends and
poor neighbors " be excused from paying his estate *' sun-
dry debts and balances " which they owed him. and that
forty pounds worth of coarse goods be "distributed amongst
the poor necessitous people of the parish."

332

RELIGION

In 1750 Griflin Fauntleroy, of Xorthumberland
County, left six cattle " to the poor house-keepers of
Cherry Point Neck," in 1751 Frances Stokes, of Amelia
County, twenty-five pounds to the poor of Raleigh parish,
in 1762 Charles Carter, of " Cleve," " twenty-five pounds a
year for eight years to be divided among the needy families
of King George County," and in 1760 John Newton, of
Westmoreland, twenty pounds to the poor of Cople parish.

Colonel John Tayloe, of " Mt. Airy," making his will
in 1744, and his son, John, thirty years later made
unusually interesting bequests to the parish of Lunen-
burgh, in Richmond County. The father left to the vestry
three hundred pounds current money, part of which was to
be spent upon two young negro men and four young negro
women who were to be placed upon the glebe to work for
the use of the parish, while the remainder of the money
was to be spent in tobacco and corn " to clothe the naked
and feed the poor of the parish, not intending to lessen the
usual parish allowance to the poor." He also gave two sows
and pigs, ten young cows and a bull to be placed upon
the glebe. The son left to the minister and vestry five
hundred pounds sterling, in trust, " for the use of the
poorest inhabitants of the parish, being honest people, to
be put on interest and the profits to be distributed every
year at the door of the lower church of said parish on
Restoration day," when the minister was requested to
" give them a prayer and sermon, not mentioning this be-
quest." He directed that the legacy should " continue
forever."

It does continue to-day and the parish still uses a hand-
some silver communion service presented to it by one of
these masters of beautiful old " Mt. Airy."

Bishop Meade's valuable and widely read work on old

22 333

di^i

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

churclu's in Virginia has produced upon the minds of those
unfamih'ar witli the original records an erroneous impres-
sion of the ministers of the colony. The great Bishop was
of the extreme evangelical, low church type, and judged
the clergy not by the standards of their own time but
according to his private opinions. Measured thus even,
he was able to brand as men of bad character only some
fourteen or fifteen out of hmidreds. Among these were
a few like Gronow Owen — the distinguished Welsh poet —
and Commissary Thomas Dawson, who furnished strange
instances of ministers who drank to excess, but were, apart
from this weakness, good men.

Some men probably went into the Church in Virginia,
as in England, simply as a profession and there were doubt-
less others who were mere adventurers and would have
been unfit for the ministry at any time. But thorough
study of all existing evidences makes it plain that the great
mass of the Colonial Virginia clergy were well educated
and worthy men.

True, the records sometimes show us zealous parish
priests censuring their colder and more formal brethren,
and during Governor Spotswood's administration, when
factional feeling ran high, we find the House of Bur-
gesses, who were bitterly antagonistic to the Governor,
condemning the ministers for adhering to him and
declaring:

" The Clerg)" in Virginia are in such precarious cir-
cumstances and many of them so obnoxious that if they do
not keep in the Governors' favor they run the hazard of
losing their benefices."

But from such light as we have on the character of
the clergy of that time no ground for these charges of the
House can be found.

334

PLAN OF WASHINGTON'S PARISH CHURCH

RELIGION

When a clergyman was guilty of conduct unworthy
of his calling, there was quick action on the part of the
vestries or of the Governor and Council of State. The
earliest known instance of such misconduct was in 1625
when the Reverend Greville Pooley — the same that was
jilted by the widow Cicely Jordan — and Mr. Thomas
Pawlett were brought before the general court for quarrel-
ling in the church at Charles City. According to the tes-
timony, upon St. Stephen's Day, ^Ir. Pooley and his flock
met to pray and also to consider removal of the church
to another site — a subject which has always been and
always will be productive of bitter feeling among church
members. Dm*ing the discussion a violent quarrel arose
between Mr. Pooley and Mr. Pawlett. Mr. Pooley gave
Mr. Pawlett the lie, to which Mr. Pawlett replied that
the minister was a " proud priest," a " purjured man " and
a " blockhead parson who spoke false Latin and taught
false doctrine."

The court condemned the behavior of the priest as
severely as that of his parishioner. Councillor Francis
West said that in his opinion " the grossest words ^Ir.
Pawlett gave ^Ir. Pooley could not equal the lie, which
word toucheth his reputation in the highest nature of a
gentleman, valuing it as near and dear unto him as his
life." Both offenders were sentenced to ask the forgive-
ness of the congregation, and Mr. Pawlett was ordered to
pay Mr. Pooley three hundred pounds of tobacco.

An example of how the Governor and Council disposed
of ministers shown to be men of evil life is found in 1742,
when the Reverend Mr. Blewit, of North Famham Par-
ish, Richmond County, was tried for " drunkenness, pro-
fane swearing and other immoralities and misdemeanors."
The charges were proved and the court declared that he

COLONIAL MUOINLV, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

was a " scandal to his function " and recommended that
the Commissary deprive him of his charge and the Gover-
nor appoint another in his place.

A heautiful church in Xorth Farnham Parish has long
been in ruins, but is now undergoing restoration.

Sometimes dictatorial and unreasonable conduct of a
vestry made the life of the minister uncomfortable. The
vestry was all-powerful. It was composed of the most
influential men in the parish, built and equipped the
churches and chapels of ease, chose the minister and, upon
occasion, dismissed him, collected his salary and provided
his glebe, cared for the poor, and looked after the morals
of the community.

Some of the complaints made against ministers seem
to-day to have been for extremely trivial causes. The
vestry of St. John's Parish, King William County, " sol-
emnly declared " to Governor Nicholson that their objec-
tion to the Reverend John Monro was not " on account
of his being of the Scottish Nation." Nevertheless, they
naively added, " Tho we must confess an Englishman
would be more acceptable." In 1743 the vestry of Charles
Parish, York County, brought charges against the Rev-
erend Theodosius Staige, for refusing to christen ille-
gitimate children and opposing singing the new version
of the Psalms, and prayed the Governor and Council to
remove him. The Council found him "guilty of the sev-
eral misdemeanors charged against him " and ordered that
he comply with the wishes of his vestry or be allowed six
months to provide himself with another charge. He not
only found a new parish, but gave entire satisfaction in it.

Church music seems to have been a vexed question
then, as since. In 1774 the grand jury of Chester-
field County actually indicted the Reverend Archibald

RELIGION

McRoberts, of Dale Parish, for " Making use of Hymns
or poems in the Chm'ch service instead of David's Psahns,
contrary to law." The petit jury found that he had used
such hymns after the communion service and after the
sermon.

But there is abundant evidence of the high regard in
which many colonial clergymen were held. To illustrate:
Commissary William Dawson — himself a man of learning
and exemplary life — writing to the Bishop of London,
in 1734, of the death of the Reverend Bartholomew Yates,
says :

" Piety to God and beneficence to men were the only
acts of his excellent life. In him wisdom and goodness were
eminently conjoined."

In 1730 Governor Sir William Gooch wrote that he
had so good an account of the behavior of Reverend Chi-
chely Thacker while at the University of Oxford, that
he had no doubt he would prove an acceptable minister,
and in 1745 he declared that the Reverend James Scott
" was a man of discretion, understanding and integrity
and in every way qualified to discharge the sacred office."

In 1764 the celebrated George jMason wrote a most
affectionate letter to the widow of Reverend John Mon-
cure, who had just died, expressing warm admiration of
her husband. Plenty of other instances might be given.

As has also happened in later times, pretenders occa-
sionally tried to impose upon the Church. In 1755 this
advertisement appeared in the Virginia Gazette:

"Asa Person pretending to be the son of the late Duke
of Wirtemberg, and in holy Orders, and taking upon him-
self the Names and Titles of Carolus, Ludovicus, Ru-
dolphus, Wirtemherg , princeps, A.M., M.D., hath ob-
tained Liberty, according to his report of preaching in

COLONIAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

several Churches within this Dominion. This is to give
notice to all Ministers and others that the said Person is
an Impostor. He is a short, middle-aged Man, a most
Notorious Liar and affects to speak broken English. In
order therefore to put a stop to this and the like shameful
irregularities for the future, His Honor the Governor
hereby strictly charges, and commands all Ministers, or in
their Absence the Church Wardens, not to allow a
Stranger, or any itinerant Preacher, under any Pretence
whatever, to officiate in their churches or chapels, unless
they have previously qualified themselves, as the Constitu-
tion and Canons of the Church of England and the Law
of this country expressly provide."

For a few years of the first half of the seventeenth
century there were quite a number of Puritans in Nanse-
mond and Lower Norfolk counties, but most of these
soon removed to Maryland or conformed to the Established
Church. During the greater part of the Colonial period
there were in Virginia but few dissenters from the Church of
England, with the exception of the Quakers — who had all
the virtues of their sect, but, save in certain customs
peculiar to them, they seem to have lived very much
like their neighbors. In the seventeenth century they were
subjected to sharp persecution and some of them were
whipped, others imprisoned or banished, yet as long as this
lasted they increased and prospered. There was happily
a cessation of the persecution after James II's decla-
ration permitting liberty of conscience, which was pro-
claimed in Virginia and ordered to be " celebrated with
beate of Drum and the Firing of ye Great Gunns, and
with all the Joyfulness that this Collony is capable to
Express."

During most of the eighteenth century the Quakers

338

QUAKP:R meeting house, cedar creek, HANOVER COUNTY

Built 1770

OLD STONE CHURCH (PRESBYTERIAN), AUGUSTA COUNTY

ass

RELIGION

were permitted to quietly attend their meeting houses,
but, hke all dissenters, were taxed for the support of the
Established Church. Though they far outnumbered any
other dissenting body in the colony during most of the
period, they were too few to produce any noticeable effect
on the manners and customs of the general population.

Before the middle of the eighteenth century the great
religious revival which had begun in England spread to the
colonies. We have accounts of Whitefield's preaching at
Bruton parish church, and at Blandf ord — when the negroes
in the gallery were moved to tears — but it was not until
close to the end of the Colonial period that the Virginia
Methodist and Baptist churches were founded. These
great denominations — which when once started rapidly
grew and later became immensely influential for good —
just touch the period treated of in this book. The
Methodists, indeed, did not regard themselves as a separate
body until after the Revolution, for in 1776 they sent a
petition to the General Assembly of Virginia protesting
against the disestablishment of the Colonial Church and
declaring that their denomination, three thousand strong,
was " a Religious Society in Communion with the Church
of England."

In the latter half of the eighteenth century by far the
largest dissenting churches were the Presbyterians and the
various denominations of German Protestants. In the
eastern and central parts of the colony the glowing, evan-
gelistic preaching of Samuel Davies and James Waddell,
men of great eloquence and ability, contributed largely
toward laying the foundation of the Presbyterian Church,
but the homes of those who became Presbyterians and of
the Presbyterian emigrants into these sections were scat-
tered about among those of adherents of the Established

339

*»*.. f-;-«?t.-wi'-

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Church, and but for their religious beliefs and possibly a
somewhat greater strictness in regard to amusements, their
lives were much the same.

In The Valley it was different. There, in Augusta,
Rockbridge, and neighboring districts the population was
made up almost entirely of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians,
while in many places lower down it was composed largely
of Germans. These people had their own churches and
schools — some of the chm'ches being of stone and palisaded
for defence against the Indians — and their habits of life
were decidedly different from those of the dwellers east of
the Blue Ridge; but by reason of the remoteness of their
situation they had little or no influence on the manners of
the colony beyond their own limits.

The people of Eastern Virginia, where the Church of
England prevailed, have been repeatedly charged with
failure to live up to its teachings. It would be foolish to
contend that they always did, for Virginia both east and
west of the mountains, was settled by human beings, not
by saints or angels, and it may be as well to add that any one
w^ho imagines that every Scotch-Irishman in The Valley
was a godly Presbyterian is vastly mistaken.

In looking back to those days when intense feeling
created by differences of creed and opinion carried men
in Euro})e as well as in America any length, it is a subject
of gratification to Virginians that, though there was in the
colony much irritating and troublesome persecution in the
way of fines, and some banishments and imprisonments,
no one was ever put to death within its borders for either
religious views or witchcraft, nor with the exception of
some whippings — not many apparently — and where witch-
craft was the charge, a few duckings, were such offenders
made to submit to corporal punishment.

340

XV
FUNERAL CUSTOMS

I^X Colonial Virginia funerals were
social as well as solemn occasions.
When death entered the planter's
home, messengers were sent on horse-
back over land, or by sail or row boat
up and do-v\Ti the rivers to notify
friends and relatives, while in the
kitchen the big pot was put into the little one ; for not only
did the colonists bring with them the English custom of
the funeral feast, but nmch of the company that would be
ere long at the door would arrive hmigrj^ after a journey
of many miles and would remain several days, consuming
a great quantity of food and drink. The funeral expenses
of John Smalcombe, who died in 1645, included a steer
about four years old and a barrel of strong beer, which
together cost nine hundred and sixty pounds of tobacco —
nearly four times as much as the coffin, which cost two
hundred and fifty pomids. Powder " spent at this funeral"
cost twenty-four pounds of tobacco.

The firing of guns seems to have been a regular part of
the ceremony, as an act passed by the Assembly in 1655
forbids the wasting of powder at entertainments, " mar-
riages and iFunerals onely excepted."

Among the provisions of the funeral feast of Mrs.
Frances Eppes, in 1678, were a steer, three sheep, five
gallons of wine, two gallons of brandy, ten pounds of
butter, and eight pounds of sugar. Later we find the same
custom prevailing in The Valley, where, in 1767, one
of the bills against the estate of James Hughes was for
" making cakes at the funeral," and in 1774 the funeral
expenses of John ^IcClanahan included three gallons
of wine, over nineteen gallons of spirits, twenty-seven

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

pounds of floiir and a quantity of cheese, butter, and sugar.

Among other items in funeral bills are " warning to
the funeral," " ribbons and scarfing," " sitting up with the
corpse," and fees to the minister and clerk.

No doubt the guests for whom the feast was spread
wept real tears as, one by one or in groups, they visited
the still cliamber and looked for the last time on the features
of the one tliey were there to honor, no doubt they recalled
with genuine feeling graces of character and mind which
suddenly stood out more clearly in the stately presence of
death than they ever had in life and which blotted out all
recollection of hmnan weakness or fault; yet where con-
genial friends who had not met for weeks, or it may be
for months, gathered under a familiar roof and in an
atmosphere mellow with a mutual sense of loss, to spend
several days renewing old acquaintance and exchanging
reminiscences, the sorrowful occasion would have held its
element of pleasure under any circumstances. But there
was always at hand a good and sufficient supply of the
liquids that are supposed to drowTi sorrow, and it is more
than likely that ere long lowered tones and mournful looks
gave way to some degree of hilarity. Thomas Lee, of
Westmoreland, said, in his will, in 1749:

" Having observed much indecent mirth at Funerals,
I desire that Last Piece of Human Vanity be Omitted,
and that attended only by some of those friends and Rela-
tions that are near, my Body may be silently interred with
only tlie Church Ceremony, and tliat a Funeral sermon for
Instruction to the living be Preached at the Parish Church
near Stratford on any other Day."

Many Virginians of the time in making their wills gave
directions in regard to their funerals. Some of these left
the details to the judgment of their executors, as did
Robert Newman, of Northumberland, in 1655, whose wish

FUNERAL CUSTOMS

was " to be buried in a decent manner according to my
rank and quality," but they were usually more explicit.
All of the churches had graveyards, but these were used
almost exclusively by persons living in the neighborhood
or by transients. Far more popular was the family bury-
ing ground, to be found in the garden, or at some
other convenient spot, on every plantation. Christopher
Wormeley, of Middlesex, who died in 1701, directed that
he be buried in his garden between his " first wife,"
Frances, and his "last wife," Margaret; and Robert
Carter, who was also twice married, declared in his will,
in 1732:

" I order my body to be laid in the yard of Christ
Church near and upon the right hand of my wives." He
desired a " decent " funeral and a monument the value of
his " last wife's." What is left of the " king's " monument
shows it to have been one of the stateliest of the period.

Thomas Lee, whose will has already been quoted, gave
directions for his last resting place which throw interesting
and tender light on his family relations.

" As to my Body," he wrote, " I desire if it Pleases
God that I dye anywhere in Virginia, if it be Possible, I
desire that I may be buried between my late Dearest Wife
and my honored Mother and that the Bricks on the side
next my wife may be moved and my Coffin Placed as near
hers as possible without disturbing the remains of my
Mother."

Frequently the last will and testament was especially
particular as to whether there should or should not be a
sermon. In 1639 Nicholas Harwood, of the Eastern
Shore, desired in his " that Mr. Cotton make a sermon,"
while in 1645 George Menifee, the richest merchant of his
time in Virginia and a member of his JMajesty's Council,
directed that he be buried in Westover -Church, and left the

343

COLONIAL ^'IRCJ^IA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

minister twenty pounds sterling and a thousand pounds
of tobacco for preaching his funeral sermon. The will of
George Jordan, of Surry County, made in 1678, contains
this unique clause:

" On the 15th day of every October there shall be a
sermon of Mortality preached at my house, it being the
day my daughter, Fortune Hunt died, and whosoever shall
enjoy my land, although it be a tliousand generations hence,
shall perform this sermon and prayer."

In 1698 Lawrence Washington directed that his funeral
expenses should not exceed three hundred pounds of
tobacco, but he wished " a sermon at the Church."

On the other hand, in 1756, Philip Grymes, of Middle-
sex, declared that he wished " no funeral sermon — prayers
only," and no one to go into mourning except his wife if
she chose, and in the same year Philip Rootes, of King
and Queen County, directed that his coffin, which was to
be made of planks from his own home, be carried to the
grave by four of his negroes and decently interred in the
presence of a few neighbors, " without any pomp or funeral
sermon," and that none of his family go into mourning.
In 1757 William Beverley, of " Blandfield," also desired
his body to be " as privately interred as may be, without any
pomp or funeral sermon," while in 1762 Edwin Conway,
of Lancaster County, directed that the parish minister.
Reverend David Currie, be paid forty shillings for reading
the burial service over him, but wished no funeral sermon.

Women were as explicit as men as to their funerals.
Mrs. Elizabeth Stith, a rich widow of Isle of Wight, in
her will made in 1774, appointed her pall bearers and
added :

" I desire not to have any funeral but a decent burial,
with only my relations and near neighbors at it; and that
the parson and dark with the four men that bear me to

344

FUNERAL CUSTOMS

the grave shall have hat bands and gloves ; and that I may
have a plain, black walnut coffin."

Wills contain many references to the wearing of
mourning, besides the hundreds of legacies of mourning
rings. For instance, in 1700 George Brent, of Stafford
County, bequeathed his brother-in-law and his physician
a guinea each to buy black gloves to be worn in his honor ;
in 1704 William Sedgwick, of York County, left his
brother ten pounds sterling, " to buy a suite of mourning,"
and in 1726 " King " Carter ordered in his will that upon
his death all his children and grandchildren be put into
mourning at the expense of his estate.

When news had been received in Virginia of the death
of the Prince of Wales in 1751, President John Blair, of
the Council, wrote in his diary:

" We went into mourning for ye Prince," and three
months later he wrote, " This day we went into second
mourning."

Sometimes the testator added to instructions for his
funeral the inscription for his tombstone. Among these
was Richard Cole, a wealthy but dissipated planter, of
Westmoreland, who in his will ordered that his body be
buried upon his plantation, " Salisbury Park," " in a neat
coffin of black walnut, and over it a gravestone of black
marble to be sent for out of England," with his " Coate
Armour engraved in brass & under it this epitaph :

Here lies Dick Cole a grievous Sinner
That died a Little before Dinner
Yet hopes in Heaven to find a place
To Satiate his soul with Grace.

The direction for the epitaph was rescinded in a codi-
cil— whether or not the " grievous sinner " or only the
grievous poet repented, this witness cannot say. In the
older parts of the colony the soil was sandy, with little or

345

COLONIAL VIRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

no stone, and all tombstones were brought " out of
England."

There was at least one other Virginian who ordered
that he be registered in a marble as a sinner, but did not
change his mind, for his tombstone with the epitaph given
in his will, in 1697, may be seen to-day in Jamestown
churchyard and says to every passer-by :

" Here lies William Sherwood ... a great Sinner
waiting a Joyful Resurrection."

The will of John Custis, made in 1749, is nothing if
not original and shows that if he was not by nature eccen-
tric, his stormy married life had made him so. Here are
his directions in regard to his burial:

" My Executor to lay out and expend as soon as possible
after my decease the sum of one hundred pounds sterling
to buy a handsome tombstone, the best durable white mar-
ble, large, and built of the most durable stone that can be
purchased for pillars, very decent and handsome to lay
over my dead body, engraved on the tombstone my coat of
arms, which are three parrots, and my will is that the fol-
lowing inscription may also be handsomely engraved on
the said stone viz:

" ' Under this Marble Stone lyes the Body of the Hon-
ourable John Custis Esquire of the City of Williamsburg
and Parish of Bruton, formerly of Hungars Parish on the
Eastern Shoar of Virginia and County of Northampton
the place of his Nativity Aged . . . years yet lived but
seven years which was the space of time he kept Batchelor's
House at Arlington on the Eastern Shoar of Virginia.
This Inscription put on this Stone by his own positive
Orders.'

" And I do desire and my will is and I here strictly re-
quire it that as soon as possible my real dead body, and not
a sham coffin, be carried to my plantation on the Eastern

346

FUNERAL CUSTOMS

Shoar of Virginia, called Arlington, and there my real dead
body be buried by my Grandfather the Honorable Jolin
Custis Esquire."

If his heir does not carry out his instructions he is to be
cut off with a shilling. His instructions were carried out.

The seven years when he kept " bachelor's house " were
those after the death of his wife, Frances, daughter of the
dashing Colonel Parke.

As to epitaphs, it is of course possible to give here but
very few — choosing those which seem especially illustra-
tive of the manners and thought of the time.

The oldest tombstone in Virginia with a legible inscrip-
tion is that of Mrs. Alice Jordan at " Four Mile Tree," in
Surry County. This is the epitaph:

Here Lyeth Buried The Body of Alice Myles daughter of
John Myles of Branton, neare Herreford, Gent, and late wife of
Mr. George Jordan in Virginia who Departed this Life the 7th
of January 1650.

Reader, her dust is here Inclosed
Who was of witt and grace composed
Her life was Vertuous during breath
But highly Glorious in her death.

These quaint inscriptions bring a smile to the lip of
the reader of to-day, but amusing as they are, they are in-
structive too, and throw many side-lights on the life of
the people. The mere names and dates which some of
them give supply links in family history that without them
would be missing. Others connect those who sleep in
peace under tombstones in Virginia with their ancestors
beyond the sea — as does that of Governor Edward Digges
which says that he died in 1675 and was " Sonn of Sir
Dudley Digges, of Chilham, in Kent, Knight and Baronett
Master of the Rolls in the reign of King Charles the 1st ";
and that on the mural monument of William Chamber-

S47

(OLOMAL MRGINIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

layiic, in St. Peter's Cliureh, New Kent County, which de-
clares that that gentleman was " descended of an Ancient
and worthy Family in the County of Hereford."

Others still, furnish brief biographical sketches of
those whom they memorialize. To this group belong the
elaborate epitaph of William Byrd, the second, on his
tomb in the garden at " Westover," and that of William
Randolph, the second, at " Turkey Island," which not only
tells us that he was " of an ancient and eminent family of
Northamptonshire," England, but that " Having been in-
troduced early in Business and passed through many of the
inferior offices of Government with Reputation & eminent
capacity, he was at last, by his INIajesty's happy choice and
the universal approbation of his country, advanced to the
Council," in Virginia. The epitaph concludes a list of
Colonel Randolph's many talents and virtues with, " He
was conspicuous for a certain Majestic plainness of sense
and honor."

If the eulogies of epitaphs cannot be taken literally
always, they at least show the ideal of character of the day,
for if the subject did not have quite all the virtues the
tombstone gives him, they are the ones his contemporaries
most admired. A married woman's epitaph generally de-
scribes her as obedient as well as affectionate, and a kind
mistress to her servants as well as a tender mother to her
children — of whom there were likely to be a goodly num-
ber. Men were loving husbands and fathers and good mas-
ters; maidens were virtuous, beautiful, and accomplished.

ISIrs. Elizabeth Lewis, who died in 1672, aged forty-
seven, was the " Tender mother of fourteen children,"
while the tomb, bearing arms, of " Abigail, the loving and
beloved wife of Major Lewis Burwell of the County of
Gloucester, in Virginia, Gent," declares that " she de-
parted this world on the 12th day of November, 1692, aged

S48

FUNERAL CUSTOMS

36 years, having blessed her husband with four sons
and six daughters." According to the tomb — which is also
armorial — of Catherine, wife of Major John Washington,
she was " a loving and obedient wife, a tender and ever in-
dulgent mother, a kind and compassionate mistress."
Sarah Timson, who died in 1763, lived only twenty years,
but was in that brief space " a dutiful child, obedient wife,
tender mother and kind mistress." The tomb of Amy, the
wife of Reverend John Richards, who died on November
21, 1725, has a sort of postscript stating that " Xear her
dear Mistress lies the body of Mary Ades, her faithful and
beloved servant," who died two days later.

Rachel, the wife of Thomas Williams, who departed
this life on July 23, 1746, was

Sweet natured kind, giving to all their due.
Supremely good and to her Consort true
She'd differ not, but to his will agree
With condescending, sweet humility.
Tender and loving to her children dear
And to her servants not at all severe.

Four months after this ideal wife's death the widower
consoled himself with a fifteen-year-old bride. On July 14
of the following year the first wife's daughter, Hannah,
died and was buried in her mother's grave, and on July 25,
just a year and two days after the death of the first wife,
the youthful second wife followed her, and over her grave
was placed a stone bearing this inscription :

Young men and women all and standers by
That on these tombs do cast a wondering eye
Call on ye Lord whilst in your health and youth
For die you must, it is a certain truth.
Your life, a shadow, is more prized than gold
As for example here you may behold
Beneath these mournful tombs there lyeth three
Which maketh eight out of one family
23 349

COLONIAL VIRGINL\, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Two loving virtuous wives and child most dear
All died within two days and one whole year
Whose patience quitted not their silent breast
But lull'd them into an eternal rest
To wait, in peace until that glorious day
The trumpet sounds to call them hence away.

This epitaph is one of many which serves the double
purpose of a memorial to the dead and solemn warning to
the living.

Lettice Fitzhugh Turbendlle was evidently the model
of her sex and time. According to her tomb which bears
the arms of Turberville and Corbin, impaled :

From a Child she knew the Scriptures which made her wise
unto Salvation : From her Infancy she Learned to walk in the
Paths of Virtue. She was Beautiful But not Vain : Witty But
not Talkativ: Her Religion was Pure Fervent Cheerful and of
the Cliurch of England: Her Virtue Steadfast Easey Natural:
Her Mind had that mixture of Nobleness and Gentleness As
Made Her Lovely in the Eyes of all People. She Was Marryed
to Capt. George Turberville, May the 16th. 1727. The best of
Wives Made him the Happiest of Husbands. She died the 10th
of Feb. 1732, in the 25th Year of Her Age and 6th of her Mar-
ryage. Who can Express the Grief. Soon did She compleat her
Perfection, Soon Did She finish her Course of Life. Early was She
Exempted from the Miseries of Human Life By God's particular
Grace. Thus Doth He Deal With his Perticuler Favorites.

All that was good in Woman Kind
A Beauteous Form More Lovely Mind
Lies Buryed under Neath this Stone •
Who Living Was Excelled by None.

The armorial tomb of the wife of Thomas Clayton
declares :

Here Sleeps the Bod}' of Isabella Clayton While her soul is
gone in Triumph to meet the best of Husbands and never more
to be Divorced, by him to be taught to Sing Eternal Praises of
God & ye Lamb For Ever.

350

FUNERAL CUSTOMS

This inscription seems to speak one word for the wife
to two for the husband, but husbands had plenty of epi-
taphs of their own to bear witness to their domestic virtues.
A shining example was William Bassett, of " Eltham,"
the father of thirteen children, who was " a good Christian,
a kind and indulgent father, an affectionate and obliging
husband, a good master."

Many tombs early and late, and of both men and
women, have Latin inscriptions. That of Thomas Nelson,
the emigrant, in the churchyard at Yorktown, bears one,
beneath his arms; that of Richard Lee at " Mt. Pleasant "
has a long one, that of Benjamin Harrison at " Westover "
has twenty-seven lines of Latin with one Greek word, and
that of Judith, wife of Mann Page of " Rosewell," bears
arms and a Latin epitaph of thirty-four lines.

A perfect epitaph for a young girl is that of the armor-
ial tomb of Elizabeth, daughter of Major John Washing-
ton, of Gloucester, declaring that she was —

a Maiden virtuous without reservedness, wise without affecta-
tion, beautiful without knowing it.

Other epitaphs are as concise as those of today. For
instance that of Mrs. Martha Aylett, 1747, simply tells us
that she was " Wife of Philip Aylett and Daughter of the
Honourable William Dandridge and Unity Dandridge,"
and adds her age, date of death, and names of her children.

An air of mournful romance has always seemed to
hang about the tomb of the lovely Evelyn Byrd at the site
of old Westover Church, and during the nigh two hundred
years in which she has slept in it many a stroller on the
banks of the James River has paused there to dream of the
days when beauteous maidens died of broken hearts and per-
chance to lay a white flower, typical of her purity, or a red
one of the love for which tradition says she sighed her life
away, on the moss-fretted stone, and to read her epitaph:

COLONIAL VIRGLNIA, ITS PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS

Here in the Sleep of Peace
Reposes the Bod}- of Mrs. Evelyn Byrd

Daughter
of the Hon'le William Byrd Esqr.
The various & excellent endowments
of Nature Improved and perfected
by an accomplished Education

Formed her
For the Happiness of her Friends:
For an Ornament of her Country;

Alas Reader!
One can detain nothing however valued

From unrelenting Death :
Beauty, Fortune, or exalted Honour !

See here a Proof!
And be reminded by this awfull Tomb
That every worldly comfort flees away

Excepting only what arises
from imitating the Virtues of our Friends
And the contemplation of the Happiness,
To which
God was pleased to call this Lady
On the 13th Day of Novemb 1737
In the 29th Year of Her Age.

A few weeks after her death the Virginia Gazette pub-
lished this anonymous " Acrostick upon Miss Evelyn
Byrd, lately deceased " :

E ver constant to her Friend

Y igilant in Truth^s Defence;
E ntertaining to her End,

L ife ! brimful of Eloquence.

Y outh in Person ; Age in Sense
N ature gave her Store immense.

B ut she's fled and is no more,

Y onder soars in Fields of Light !
R obbed of all our little Store,

D eath ! Oh Death ! we're ruined quite.
352

Mfc.

INDEX

Aberdeen, Scotland, 227
Abingdon, Eng., 42; Church, 324
Abraham's Delight, 67
Accomac, Church, 62 ; County 229,

321
Adair, William, 305
Adams, Thomas, 135, 217, 219,

223, 224
Adcock, 237, 238
Ades, Mary, 349
Admington, Eng., 226
Albemarle Co., 173, 300, 304, 306
Alexander, Frances, 178; Philip,

293; Robert, 275
Alexandria, 102, 144, 246, 255,

323
Allen, Arthur, 75, 99; John, 326;

William, 48
AUerton, 147
Allicock, Jerome, 22
Allington, Giles, 44
Allnut, Thomas, 45
Alverstock, Hampshire, 227
Ambler, Edward, 255; Jaquelin,

183; John, 292
Amelia County, 333
" American Company of Come-
dians, The," 244
Amherst County, 274, 303
"Ampthill," 64
Anderson, 233
Andrews, Charles, 276
Andros, Sir Edmund, 331
Annapolis, 246, 249, 255
Anne, Queen, 139, 192, 225
"Apollo Room," 143, 151, 182
Appleby School, Eng., 294
Applewhite, Henry, 188
Archer, Gabriel, 17
Argall, Samuel, 31, 166

"Arlington," 346, 347; Lord, 102
Armistead, 53; Hannah, 176;

Henry, 171; William, 121, 172
Arms and Armor, l6, 33, 39, 187
Army, John, 328
Arnold, George, 226
Arran, Lord, 224
Arundel, John, 44; Peter, 44
Ashbie, John, 21
Ashbourne, Eng., 226
Ashley's, 148
Ashton, 53
Ashwell, George, 280
Association for the Preservation

of Virginia Antiquities, 151
Aston, 53

Atchison, V/alter, 293
Atkins, John, 48, 80; William, 45
Atkinson, Roger, 217
Atwell, 90

Aubrey, Richard, 211
"Audrey," 231
Augusta County, 91, 125, 149,

152, 154, 202, 274, 291, 301,

340
Aylett, Martha, 351; Philip, 351

Bacon, Nathaniel, 60

" Bacon's Castle," 99

Bacon's Rebellion, 93, 99, 130

Bagge, Rev. John, 52

Bagwell, 45

Bahamas, 32

Baird, John, 255

Balfour, James, 255

Ball, 53; Burgess, 90; Henry Lee,
293; James, 90, 200; Joseph,
77; Mary, 78; Samuel, 298;
William, 200, 293

Ballard, 53

S53

INDEX

Balliol College, Oxford, ^293

Baiiistcr, John, 255

Bankhead, William, 29S

Banncrman, Mark, 300

Baptist Church, 339

Barbadoes, 128, 296

Barbar, Thomas, 269; Will, 269

Barham, Anthony, 42, 45, 96

" Barlbrough Hall," 36

Barnabe, John, 44; Richard, 44

" Barn Elms," 275

Barnelt, Thomas, 48

Barnham, John, 44

Barrj, 219

BaskervilJe, John, 297

Bass, Nathaniel, 45

Bassett, 64, 246; Burwell, 149;
Judith, 123; William, 351

Bates, John, 45, 47

Bath, Eng., 219, 220, 223

Bathurst, 50

Eatte, 36, 51

" Battersea," 255

Baugh, Rowland, 42; Thomas, 42

Baxter, 301

Baylis, John, 159

Bavlor, Courtney, 290; Elizabeth,
290; Frances, 290; George, 255,
304; John, 252, 254, 290, 291,
304; John, Jr., 282, 292; Lucy,
290; Robert, 304

Bayly, John, 47; Mary, 47

Baynum, John, 44

Beadles, Gabriel, 18

Beale, 53; Nancy, 132

Beard, Thomas, 93

Beasley, Elizabeth, 93

Beast, Benjamin, 22

Beaufori, ship, 261

Beccely, Mrs. 235

Beckingham, Robert, 171, 197

Beckwith, 50; Sir Marmaduke, 254

Bed, a " great," 92

Bedford Co., 158

" Belfield," 107

" Belvidera," 129, 278

" Belvoir," 88, 114, 172, 178, 220,
260

Bennett, 51; Edward, 46, 48;
Richard, 332; Robert, 45

Bentley, Matthew, 200; William,
45

"Berkeley," 132

Berkeley,* 49 ; Edmund, 94, 206,
210, 276, 302; Edward, 43;
John, 43; Sir John, 43; Sally,
185; Sir William, 49, 95, 102,
119, 130, 144, 230, 267, 283;
Springs 152

Berling, 243

Bermuda Hundred, 155, 156, 253;
Islands, 32, 35

Bernard, Sir John, 50; William,
50

Berry, Hampshire, 227

Beverley, 53; Catherine, 108;
Elizabeth, 202; Robert, 70, 81,
89, 104, 107, 119, 128, 134,
188, 259, 268, 290, 292, 299,
302, 322 ; Ursula, 202 ; William,
110, 128, 202, 280, 344

"Beverley Park," 81, 128

Beverstone Castle, Gloucester-
shire, 43

Bihle, 92, 192, 263, 296, 305

Bickley, 50

Birmingham, Eng., 157

Blackwell, William, 300

Blair, 293; Anne, 114, 121, 174,
175, 311 ; Archibald, 231 ; Betsy,
114, 175, 176; Dr. James, 139,
169, 170, 213, 283, 284, 285,
293; John, 121, 126, 137, 149,

354

INDEX

174, 293, Sll, 345; Mrs. John,
121; Sarah, 170, 174

Blakeney, Norfolk, 43

Bland, 51, 291 ; Richard, 271, 291,
293, 304; Theodorick, Sr., 216;
Theodorick, Jr., l62, 221, 271,
291, 293

" Blandfield," 280, 344

Blandford Church, 339

Blenheim, Battle of, 224

Blewit, 335

" Bloomsbury," 60

Blue Ridge Mountains, 91, 274,
305

Boat-racing, 261

Bohannon, Jean, 92 ; Margaret, 92

Bohun, Dr., 37, 38

Boiling, 51, 314; Robert, 52, 110,
291

Bonall, Anthony, 44

Book-plates, 135, 302

Books, 25, 61, 66, 69, 85, 92, 156,
158, 217, 289, 295, ei seq.; some
authors in Virginia libraries,
Addison, 239, 299, 300, 301, 302,
303, 304, 307; ^sop, 297; Ari-
osto, 301 ; Bacon, 298, 300, 302,
303, 304, 307; Boccacio, 302;
Bolingbroke, 303; Bunyan, 115,
300, 307; Burnet, 301, 302, 304;
Burton, 300; Butler, 301, 303;
Cervantes, 301 ; Chaucer, 302,
304 ; Chillingworth, 302 ; Cicero,
297; Clarendon, 49, 300, 303,
304; Congreve, 242, 303, 304;
Cowley, 302, 303, 304; Dave-
nant, 301; Defoe, 303, 307;
Donne, 297, 304; Drayton, 302;
Dryden, 303, 304, 305, 812;
Fielding, 300, 307; Fuller, 301,
303; Gay, 302, 304, 307; Gua-
rini, 301; Herbert, 301, 303;

Hobbes, 304; Homer, 303; Hor-
ace, 298; Hume, 304; Johnson,
222, 223, 303, 307; Jonson, 61,
297, 301, 303; Josephus, 206,
307; Junius, 319; Juvenal, 298;
LeSage, 307; Locke, 300, 302,
304; Milton, 301, 302, 303, 304,
307; Moliere, 304; Montaigne,
297, 301, 304; More, 302, 304;
Ovid, 295, 297; Perseus, 298;
Pope, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304;
Pryor, 303, 304; Purchas, 297;
Quarles, 301; Richardson, 299;
Robertson, 304; Sandys, 295,
297; Shaftsbury, 302, 304;
Shakespeare, 32, 77, 115, 234,
237, 241, 245, 299, 302, 303,
304, 307 ; Sidney, 304 ; Smollett,
303, 304, 307; Somerville, 304;
Steele, 301, 302, 303, 307;
Sterne, 135, 304, 307; Suckling,
303; Swift, 301, 303, 304, 307;
Taylor, 301, 302, 303; Temple,
302 ; Thompson, 304 ; Tillotson,
302 ; Virgil, 297, 298, 303 ; Van-
brugh, 304; Waller, 299, 301,
302, 303, 304; Wycherley, 304

Bookstores, 306, 307

Booth, 50; Mordecai, 254

Boots, Lord Fairfax's, 258

Bosher, John, 197

Boston, Mass., 47

Botetourt, Lord, 201

Boucher, Daniel, 332: Jonathan,
273

Bouldin, Thomas, 45

Boush, John, 44; Maximilian, 215

Bowler, Samuel, 133

Bowling, 38

Bowling greens, 68, 71

Boyers, John, 149

Boyle, John, Lord, 221

355

INDEX

Boyse, John, 45; Luke, 45

Bradshaw, John, 148

Braffcrton building, 28 5

Braine, 218

Branch, Cliristopher, 42

"Brandon," 17, 72, 73, 254, 314

Branton, Eng., 345

Brasenose College, Oxford, 293

Bratton, Robert, 202

Braxton, George, 71 ; Mrs. George,
114, 121, 174, 311

Bray, 53; Anne, 107; Richard,
107; Thomas, 210

Brayne, Dorothea, 108

Brent, 51; George, 345; William,
226, 255

Brereton, Elizabeth, 134; Thomas,
276

Breshley, Worcestershire, 48

Brewer, John, 3l6; Sackville, 149;
Thomas, 273

Brewster, Richard, 44

Brice, Thos., 171

Brickenhead, John, 226

Bridger, 53; Joseph, 269

Bridges, Charles, 315, 31 6

Briggs, Richard, 276

Bristol, 51, 225

Britwell, 222

" Broad Xeck," 257

Brocas, William, 297

Brock, Joseph, 300

Brockenbrough, Austin, 228; Col.,
124

Brodnax, 190. 191, 289

Brooke, Lawrence, 393; Robert,
303

Brown, Browne, 53; Alexander,
41, 264, 274; Charles, 302; Ed-
ward, 22, 217; Francis, 279,
280; Mrs. William, 198
Bruce, Philip A., 263, 264, 279, 280

Brunskill, John, 293

Brunswick Church, 117; County,
58, 255, 300

Bruster, William, 22

Bruton Church, 196, 224, 246, 251,
311, 323, 339; Parish, 346

Buchanan, John, 305

Bucke, Rev. Richard, 35, 295, 305,
321

Buckingham, County, 291 ; Duke
of, 46

Buckner, John, 300; Philip, 275

Bucktrout, B., 89, 90

Bullitt, Cuthbert, 159

Bullock, 252; Thomas, 162

Bunn, Robert, 217

Burdett, Thomas. 98 ; William, 98,
326

Burgess, Robert, 301

Burkland, Richard, 280

Burnaby, 124, 140, 141, 163, l64

Burras, Ann, 27, 28

Burroughs, Christopher, 329;
Mary, 329

Burrows, Anthony, 44 ; John, 44

Burwell, 63, 126. 221 ; Abigail, 63
347; Armistead, 149; Carter
64; Col., 137; James, 294:
Lewis, 63, 170, 256, 269, 292
293, 294; Mrs. Lewis. 247
Lucy, 177; Martha, 170; Re
becca, 64, 180, 181, 182, 183
tombs, 348

Butler, Mrs. Amory. 82, 84, 209
Sarah, 98; William, 98

Butt, Richard, 269

Byrd, 51, 71, 86, 120, 314; Eve-
lyn, 106, 172, 221, 351, et seq.;
Mrs., 108; Susan, 289. 290; Ur-
sula, 289; Wilhemina, 221 ; Wil-
liam, 1st, 216, 217, 289, 297,
304, 315, 318; William, 2d, 57,

356

INDEX

58, 66, 71, 107, 108, 114, 116,
117, 120, 126, 142, 171, 218,
221, 232, 254, 270, 289, 290,
293, 304, 315, 348; William, 3d,
149, 152, 255, 304

CabeU, Joseph, 274; Nicholas,
174; William, 174, 274, 303;
William, Jr., 274 ; papers, 274
Cabinetmakers, 89, 90
Cage, Edward, 45
Caius College, Cambridge, 290,292
Calthorpe, 51; Christopher, 42,

43, 216; James, 2l6
Cambridge University, 288, 290,

292
Camden, 301 ; Parish, 323
Came, Robt., l62
Camelsforth, Yorkshire, 226
Campbell, 246, 247; Rev. Archi-
bald, 52, 293; Daniel, 143
Canary Islands, 32
Cape Henry, 320
Cape of Good Hope, 265
Caplener, George, 277
Capon Springs, 153
Cargill, John, 305
Carlton, Yorkshire, 226
Caroline Co., 116, 273, 3l6
Carr, Dabney, 274
Carriages, 121, 129, et seq.j 152,

184
Carrington, George, 174
Carter, 53, 71, 123, 233, 309, 314,
319, 324, 329; Benjamin, 282,
312; Betty, 114, 133, 204; Bob,
133; Charles, 124, 141, 291, 319,
333; Dale, 137; Elizabeth, 209,
210; Elizabeth Landon, 196;
Fanny, 133; George, 293; Giles,
148; Harriet, 282; James, 332;

John, 81, 93, 185, 209, 278,
291, 292, 297; John, Jr., 171;
Landon, 68, 123, 126, 132, 145,
149, 173, 255, 270, 291, 311;
Maria, 281; Mary, 210; Molly,
173, 174; Nancy, 146; Priscilla,
133, 146; Robert ("King"),
123, 209, 210, 278, 288, 302,
317, 324, 332, 343, 345; Robert
("Councillor"),68, 69, 74, 87,
88, 90, 129, 132, 145, 204, 282,
304, 306, 314, 315; Mrs. Robert
(" CounciUor"), 133, 145, 146;
Robert, Jr., 281 ; William, 63
" Carter's Creek," 63, 64, 72, 170,

180, 255
" Carter's Grove," 64, 72, 76
Cary, 51, 71, 175; Archibald, 64
Elizabeth, 226; Mary, 179;
Robert, 218; Sarah, 132, 299
Wilson, 132, 292, 299, 324
" Castle Hill, 173
Catesby, Mark, 217
Catlett, John, 289
Causey, Nathaniel, 44
Cavaliers, 49, 50, 190
"Ceelys," 71

Census of 1624-25, 42, et seq.
Chalkley, Lyman, 125, 154
Chamberlayne, 51; David, 176;
Francis, 45; Thomas, 253; Wil-
liam, 347
Champe, Anne, 319; John, 319
Chaplaine, Isaac, 45
Chapman, Richard, 127
Charles I, 189; H, 188, 190, 192
Charles City County, 159, 255,

266, 335
Charles Parish, 336
Charlton, 191, 242, 243; Mrs.

George, 198; Stephen, 118
Chastellux, 71
357

INDEX

Chathaiu, 25(3; Earl of, 319

" Chcllowe," 291

" Chelsea," 66

Cherokee, 138

" Cherry Point," 227

Cherry Point Neck, 333

Chesapeake Bay, 25, 26, 32

Chesley, Philip, 227

Chesterfield Co., 226, 227, 300,
303, 336

Chew, 179; John, 42

Chichester, 51; John, 226; Rich-
ard, 184, 226, 302

Chichley, 50; Sir Henry, 50, 119

Children, 103, 104, IO6, 110, et
seq.; 203, et seq.

Chilham, 347; castle, 32

China, 93, 94, et seq.

Cliippendale, 90; chair, 84

Chisman, 53; John, 42, 44

Chiswell's Ordinary, 148

Christ Church, Alexandria, 323;
Lancaster, 323; Middlesex, 269,
326, 330, 332

Christ's College, Cambridge, 292;
Oxford, 293

Christian, 144, 145, 193; Priscilla,
154

Church bells, 36, 324

Church, Established, 305, 320;
" on-the-Fork," 274

Churches, 24, 60, 62, 320, et seq.;
at Jamestown, 321, 322; fres-
coes in, 325; penance in, 329,
830

Churchill, 53, 122, 276; Mrs.
Armistead, 122; Mrs. Elizabeth,
100, 276; Henry, 303; William,
81, 123,255, 317; Mrs. William,
123

City Point, 40

Clack, Sterling, 300

Claiborne, William, 44

Clark, Clarke, Humphrey, 276;
John; Robert, 305

Classical schools, 274

Clay, John, 274

Clayton, 319; Isabella, 350; John,
217; Thomas, 293, 350

" Cleburne," Westmoreland, 44

" Cleve," 120, 141, 281, 292, 319,
333

" Clifford Chambers," 72

Clifton, 51

Clinton, John, 2l6

Clocks, 90, 91

Coaches, 121, 130, et seq.

Coar, Mary, 280

Coats-of-arms, I6, 17, 44, 85, 86,
98, 100, 134, et seq., 204, 207,
288, 289, 290, 315, 317, 326,
345, 346, 349, 350, 351

" Cobbs," 134

Cock-fighting, 137,260

Cocke, 61, 137; John, 298; Lucy,
177; Thomas, 188, 253;
Thomas, Jr., 148

Coke, 51, 180

Cole, Richard, 345

" Coldbrooke," 220

College, at Henrico, 40, 265, 266;
William and Mary, 70, 141, 143,
169, 180, 201, 213, 230, 232,
233, 263, 264, 283, et seq., 305,
311, 313, 319

Colleges, Northern, 263

Colonists, Character of the first,
16; English ancestry of, 42, et
seq.; sufferings of first, 20, et
seq.

Comedians, The American Com-
pany of, 247, 248, 249

Communion, first at Jamestown,
320 ; services, 326, 330, 332, 333

358

INDEX

Constant Endeavor, ship, 214

Conway, l37; Edwin, 344; Mon-
cure D., 88; Peter, 255, 256

Cooke, John Esten, 281

Cook, Patrick, 92

Cooper, 218

Copeland, 265

Cople Parish, 333

Copley, 246

Cornocke, Lymon, 225

Corbin, 147, 282, 288, 290; Alice,
177, 181 ; Gawin, 277, 292, 293,
317; Henry, 52; Martha, 277;
Thomas, 317

" Corotoman," 209, 278, 297, 324

Cotton, Rev. William, 343

Courtship and Marriage, 166, et
seq.

Coverley, Sir Roger de, 141, 146

Cox, William, 274

Craig, James, 157

Crashaw, Raleigh, 44

Crawley, Robert, 269

Crease, Thomas, 70

Crew, Randall, 47

Crispe, Thomas, 44

Criswell, 137, 272, 273

Crow, 154

Crowder, Hugh, 44

Croyden, Kent, Eng., 290

Culpeper, Lord, 220; Margaret,
Lady, 220

Cumberland, County, 255, 301,
318; Duke of, 149

Cunningham, Samuel, 92

Currie, David, 344

Curtis, Thomas, 48

Custis, Daniel Parke, 211, 303;
Frances, 109, HI; John, 107,
109, 346, 347; John Parke, 200,
204; Martha, 180, 204, 212,
215; Martha Parke, 153, 200,
205

Dade, Cadwallader, 277
Daggett, Rev. Benjamin, 305
Daingerfield, William, 129, 278
Dale, Sir, Thomas, 38, 39, 40, 48,

96, 166, 167; Lady, 332
Dale Parish, 337
Dalston School, Eng., 294
Daly, 239
Dancing, 69, 137, 140, et seq.,

151, 181, 182, 193, 196, 230,

231, 235, 236, 241, 242, 243,

258, 260, 313
" Dancing Point," 159
Dandridge, Martha, 211; Unity,

351; William, 351
Darby, William, 229
Davies, Miss, 312; Samuel, 339
Davis, James, 44, 45
Davison, Christopher, 44, 80
Dawley, Thomas, 271
Dawson, Priscilla, 196, 246, 247;

Thomas, 196, 334; William, 305,

337
Deans, James, 227
Dearlove, Wm., 148
Delaware, Lord, 17, 32, 35, 36,

37, 43, 50, 80, 96, 188
Delft, 92

Denham, Richard, 159
Derbyshire, 226
Dering, William, 143
De Vreis, 69, 118
Dewall, Edward, 225
Dial, Edward, 143
Digges, 32, 49, 51 ; Cole, 269; Sir

Dudley, 347; Edward, 82, 107,

210, 316, 347; Elizabeth, 74,

78, 107; Mary, 144
Dilke, Clement, 44; Roger, 46
Dinwiddle, Robert, 121, 221, 237,

238, 239
Discovery, ship, 19
Diseases, 20, et seq., 26, 37, 41

359

INDEX

Divorces, 110

Dixon, 273, 306; Adam, 45

Dobby, 261

Donne, George, 50; Dr. John, 50

Dormer, Sir Fleetwood, 50

Douglas, 51, 249; David, 244

Downing Street, 222

Downman, John, 45 ; Joseph Ball,

293; Margaret, 207; Rawlegh,

309; William, 309; Dowthaitt,

243, 244
Draper, Elizabeth, 208
Drayton, John, 162; Mailana, 301
Dress, 117, 155, 157, 158, 186,

et seq., 215, 258
Drinking, 126, et seq., 146, 151,

258, 259, 261, 330, 334, 335
Duelling, 158, et seq.
Duke, 53

" Dunham Massie," 50
Dunlop, John, 300; William, 185,

305
Dutch Gap, 39
Du Val, Samuel, 255

Earle, Alice Morse, 197

East Barsham, 216

East India School, 265, 287

Eastern Shore, 63, 118, 229, 230

Eaton Free School, 267

Eaton, Thomas, 267

Edinburgh, 219, 221, 278; Uni-
versity, 291, 293

Edloe, Matthew, 42

Edmundson, Dolly, 261

Education, l65, 219, 221, 222,
2G2, et seq.; bequests for, 266,
267, 268, 269, 270; abroad, 287,
et seq.; of servants, 263, 273

Edwards, John, 328

Eton College, 288, 294

Elam, Martin, 148

"Elderslie," 183

Electric Machine, 162

Elizabeth City Co., 226, 266, 267,

272, 300, 318, 321, 324
Elizabeth, Queen, 51
Elizabeth River Parish, 329
Ellyson, Sarah, 185
" Eltham," 64, 351
Embrej', Henry, 58
Emerson, 45
Emigrants, the later, character of,

41, et seq.
England, 105, 107, 111, 115, 126,

135, 136, 141
English, cottage, 26; farmhouse,

26; village, 26
English, William, 44
Epitaphs, 209, 227, 290, 345, et

seq.
Eppes, 53; Elizabeth, 209; Fran-
cis, 45, 73, 85, 100, 156, 188;

Mrs. Frances, 341 ; William, 45,

159
Essex Co., 211, 280, 300, 303
Evans, William, 254; Valentine,

272
Evelyn, 51, 302
Eversham Parish, l60

Fairfax, 315; Bryan, 114, 259;
George William, 88, 178, 248;
Lord, 32, 42, 50, 178, 220, 260;
Robert, 246; Sally, 113; Wil-
liam, 50, 114; county, 303, 318

" Fairfields," 182

Fairs, 153, 154, 236

Falkland, Lord, 51

Falling Creek, 40, l60

Farley, James Parke, 255; Thom-
as, 43, 328

Farnham Parish, 535, 336

Farnifold, John, 326

J

S60

1

INDEX

Farrar, 53; William, 42, 134, l68

Farrell, 243, 244

Fauntleroy, 118; Betsy, 179; Grif-
fin, 331; Colonel, 123; Moore,
255; William, 179, 293

Fauquier County, 183, 303

Fawcett, Fawsett, John, 229;
Thomas, 160

Fearon, Benson, 299

Felgate, Tobias, 45

Felton, 311

Fencing, 143

Festivities, 136, et seq.

Fetherstone, 26; Charles, 328

Field, John, 293

Fielding, Ambrose, 84

Filmer, 5 1 ; arms, 1 34

Finch, Henry, 50; Sir John, 50

Finnic, 234; Alexander, 143

Fireworks, 247

Fisher, Daniel, 151; George, 148

Fishing, 259

Fithian, Philip, 68, 69, 71, 111,
128, 129, 132, 133, 136, 137,
141, 144, 146, 147, 191, 193,
261, 273, 279, 282, 306, 309,
312, 328

Fitzhugh, 67, 124; Henry, 293,
302; William, 73, 100, 104, 125,
130, 172, 218, 254, 256, 271,
297, 317

Fitz Randolph, John, 214

Fleming, John, 255; Mrs., 66;
William, 182

Flinton, Pharoah, 44

Flood, John, 42

Florde, Edward, 110

Flournoy, David, 92

Flowre, George, 22

Fluvanna, Co., 184

Foliatt, 52

Fontaine, John, 81, 127; Peter,
275

Food, 57, 58, 124, et seq.

Foot-racing, 258

Ford, Paul Leicester, 246

Forrest, Mrs., 27, 28

Fort, a palisaded, 16

" Four Mile Tree," 347

Foushee, Capt., 122; Mrs., 122

Fowler, Francis, 48

Fox, David, 99, 159, 316, 326;
Hannah, 98; Richard, 118; Wil-
liam, 200, 325; hunting, 259,
260

Franklin, Benjamin, 312

Frasier, Alexander, 269; Thomas,
176

Frederickburg, 102, 154, 198, 236,
246; jockey club of, 256

Frescoes, 325

Funeral Customs, 341, et seq.

Furniture, 77, et seq.

Furs and skins, 158

Gage, 50

Gaines, Daniel, 108; Eliza, 108

Gait, James, 91; John M., 293

Galthorpe, Stephen, 22

Gamble, William, 191

Games, 113, 114, 115, 145, 149,

153, 328
Gaming, 148, ef seq.
Gardens, 69, et seq.
Garrick, 219
Gascoine, Thomas, 42
Gates, Sir Thomas, 32, 35, 38,

96; Lady, 38
Geddy, Anne, 177
"Gentlemen," 16 et seq., 44, 50,

et seq.
George I, 136
George, Leroy, 211

361

INDEX

Gerard, Gcrrard, li7; Thomas,
225

Germanna, 71, 108

Germans, 144, 277, 339, 340

Gibson, Edward, l60; James, 254;
Thomas, 78

Gilmer, George, 293

Glascock, Capt., 110; George,
188

Glass-making, 40

Gloucester Co., 63, 65, 121, 173,
176, 227, 254, 256, 260, 268,
271, 285, 288, 315, 324, 327,
348; England 225, 227

Glover, Richard, 280

Gloves, 200

Godfrey, William, 191

Godspeed, ship, 19

Godwin, 242, 243; Samuel, 104

Gooch, Lady, 196; Sir William,
196, 337

Goochland Co., 151, 276

Goode, Robert, 255

Goodmansfield Theatre, London,
236

Goodwin, Joseph, 269, 293

Gookin, Daniel, 42; John, 208,
209

Goore, Charles, 2l6

Gordon, Adam, Lord, 109, 119,
131, 164, 287; James, 110, 122,
137, 184, 215, 273; Mrs. James,
184, 273; Molly, 273; Nancy,
184; William, 269, 317, 332

Goring, Charles, 272

Gosnold, Bartholomew, 17, 22

Governesses, 281

Gower, 301 ; Thomas, 22

Graffenreidt, Baronne de, 142;
Christopher de, 142

Graliam, 51 ; Augustus, 257

Graves, Richard, 152; Thomas, 45

Gravesend, 98

Gray's Inn, 294

Great Hornmeade, Hertfordshire,

43
Green, Katherine, 101
Greenhill, James, l62
" Greenspring," 95, 126, 130, 303
Gregory, Roger, 255
Griffin, Corbin, 188, 293; Cyrus,

293; John, 293; Samuel, 218,

219,223
Griggs, Robert, 332
Grimshaw, Aaron, 294
Grindon, Edward, 44
Grymes, 289; Benjamin, 255;

Fanny, 185; John, 210; John

Randolph, 228, 294; Lucy, 179;

Philip, 344 ; Philip, children of,

frontispiece ; Philip Ludwell,

294
Gypsy, 330

Hacker, Henry, 318

Hacket, Thomas, 159

Hail Western, Huntingdonshire,
227

Halifax County, 270

Hall, 193; Isaac, 219, 293; Jacob,
304; John, 93, 216

Hallam, 244, 245, 250, 251 ; Lewis,
138, 236, 237, 239, 242, 246,
249; Mrs., 237, 239, 240; Rob-
ert, 47; Sarah, 244; Thomas,
47 ; William, 47

" Hallsfield," 255

Hamilton, James, 91

Hammond, John, 96; Mainwaring,
119

Hamor, Ralph, 43, 45 ; Thomas, 45

Hampshire, Eng., 46, 227

INDEX

Hampton, 30, 60, 71, 140, 151,

175, 239, 313, 323, 324, 326;

Academy, 267; Roads, 175
Hanbury, 214
Handel, 311, 312
Hanover Coimty, 148, 254, 255,

257, 259, 313; town, 313
Hansford, John, 280, 269
Hardy man, Littlebury, 255, 256;

William, 255
Harmer, Charles, 44, 225; John,

44, 225
Harrington, 17; Edward, 22
Harris, Thomas, 42
Harrison, 17, 72, 181; Benjamin,

107, 132, 169, 351; George, 159;

Henry, 255; Nathaniel, 254,

302; Mrs. Randolph, 250, 251;

Sarah, l69
Harvey, Sir John, 59, 322
Harvie, John, 303
Harwood, Nicholas, 343; Thomas,

44, 269; William, 269
Harrow, Eng., 294
narrower, John, 129, 278
Hatcher, Edward, 253
Hatherly, Eng., 226
Hawes, Leicestershire, 44
Hawkins, Thomas, 48
Hawtry, Edward, 201
Haynes, Bartholomew, 329,
Hayward, Matthew, 109
Head-dress, 187, 188, 190,

193, 194, 199, 204
Hedgman, George, 300
Hendall, 185
Henly, Samuel, 319
Henrico County, 73, 85, 100, 134,

139, 148, 155, 185, 253, 265,

271, 289, 291, 298, 300, 301,

321, 326, 328; town, 39
Henry, Patrick, 303, 308

330

192,

Herbert, 339

Herefordshire, 348

" Hesse," 121, 171, 173, 174

Hesselius, 315, 317, 319

Hewit, 269

" Hickory Hill," 282

Hill, 53; Edward, 138; Mrs. Ed-
ward, 209 ; Elizabeth, 209 ; Hen-
riette Maria, 209; Humphrey,
270; John, 48; Nathaniel, 271,
296; Sara, 209

Hitchcock, Killibett, 44

Hite, 67

Hobb's Hole, 236, 26l

Hogarth, 318

Hog, Elizabeth, 154; Peter, 291;
Island, 47

Holland, 70

Hollingsworth, 67

Holloway, John, 296; Mrs., 112

Holt, Joseph, 292; Randall, 47

Home, Hume, George, 217

Home-life, 102, et seq.

Honeywood, Philip, 119

Hooe, Rice, 46

Hooker, 301

Home, Henry, 45

Horner, Havaliah, 271

Horse-racing, 252, et seq.

Horses, 129, et seq.

Horsmanden, Daniel, 217; War-
ham, 289

Hospitality, 57, et seq., 118, et seq.

Hothersali, 44

Hot Springs, 152, 153

Houses, 55, et seq., of first colon-
ists, 20, 21, 23

Howard, Philip, 229

Howe, Elizabeth, 209 ; John, 44

Howson, Leonard, 134

Hubard, 81 ; Matthew, 61, 90, 276,
297

^

INDEX

Hubbard, Ephraim, lii

Hubert, Cuthbert, 269

Hughes, James, 341

Hull, Eng., 226

Hume, 51

Hungar's Parish, 3i6

Hunt, 122; Fortune, 344-; Rev.
Robert, 20, 28, 295, 305; Row-
land, 89; Thomas, 89

Hunter, 307; John, 87; William,
319

Hunting, 259

Huntingdonshire, 227

Hylton, Bethenia, 184; George,
184

Indian, Fields, 255; massacre
(1622), 40

Indians, 15, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26,
28, 29, 30, 34, 39, 43, 92, 116,
125, 136, 139, 156, 216, 236,
239, 275, 285, 321, 331, 340

Inglebird, George, 92

Inglis, Mungo, 284

Inner Temple, 293

Ireland, 92, 98

Iron Works, 40

Isham, 51; Henry, 155; Katha-
rine, 99; seal, 134

Isle of Wight County, 46, 47, 78,
81, 99, 106, 209, 227, 269, 296,
316, 322, 332, 344

" Isabinda," 232

Jacob, Thomas, 22
James I, King, 264; II, 192
James City County, 48, 210
Jamestown, 18, 19, 20, 24^ 25, 26,
27, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
60, 61, 63, 69, 75, 76, 79, 80,
91, 95, 102, 105, 125, 150, 153,
155, 160, 161, 166, 170, 186,

189, 255, 262, 290, 295, 315,
320, 321, 322, 346; church, 36,
60, 80, 96, 167, 305; River, 19,
32, 35, 72, 125, 209, 206, 320

Jaqueline, 315

Jefferson, Peter, 151 ; Thomas, 64,
65, 66, 78, 135, 151, 177, 181,
182, 183, 274, 299, 304, 308

Jenings, 51 ; Edmund, 226

Jerdone, Francis, 133

Jewelry, 157, 188, 190, 194, 206,
et seq.

Jockey Club, 255

Johnson, John, 45, 280; Joseph,
109; George, 303, 318

Johnston, Mary, 231

Jones, Anthony, 48; Dolly, 111,
112; Francis, 117; Giles, 44;
Hugh, 119, 124, 125, 254, 285;
Orlando, 77; Robert, 280; Rog-
er, 220; Thomas, 84, 111, 121,
195, 233, 218, 219, 220, 279,
318; Mrs. Thomas, 196, 215,
217; Thomas, Jr., Ill, 112;
Walter, 291

Jordan, Alice, 347; Cicely, l68,
171, 335; George, 344, 347;
Samuel, 168; Thomas, 48, 309

" Jordan's Point," 168

Kean, Edmund, 234; Thomas, 234,
235, and Murray Company, 234,
242

Kecoughtan, 30

Kellam, Richard, 280

Kelley, 248

Kello, John, 140

Kemp, Kempe, 50; Richard. 190;
William, 44

Kennedy. Alexander, 324

Kennon. William, 300

Kent, Eng., 44

364

INDEX

Kercheval, 92, 117, 144

Kerr, Alexander, 211

Key, William, 305

Kidd, James, 74

Killearn, 51

Kilpin, William, 300

King and Queen County, 144, 270,

305, 324, 344
King George County, 67, 71, 94,

141, 183, 254, 281, 292, 318,

319, 333
King, Henry, 268
King's College, Aberdeen, 159, 294
Kingsniill, Richard, 44
Kingston, Thomas, 46; Thomas,

271
King William County, 66, 177,

269, 336; Court House, 313
Kinked, David, 101
" Kippax," 110
Kirk, James, 202
Kneller, Godfrey, 31 6, 319
Knight, Charles, 275
Knights of the Golden Horseshoe,

91

Lace, 188, 195, 196; Brussels,
200; Flanders, 200; Mechlin,
195

Lancaster County, 81, 83, 90, 94,
99, 122, 132, 200, 226, 255,
272, 297, 302, 305, 3l6, 317,
325, 332, 344

Lanckiield, John, 97

Langford, John, 313

Langley, Robert, 45

Languedoc, 44

Latane, Lewis, 305

Latham, John, 92

Lawrence, John, 225

Lawson, Thomas, 301

Lawyers, 160
24

Laydon, John, 28; Virginia, 28

Lay ton. Goody, 105, 106

Leatherbury, Charles, 280

Lee, 53, 66, 145, 147, 268, 290,
314; Arthur, 222, 293, 294;
Betsy, 194; George, 79, 135,
215; George Fairfax, 292, 299;
Hancock, 300, 326; Henry, 86,
90, 152, 179, 293, 308; John,
200, 288, 293; Launcelot, 135;
Philip, 124; Philip Ludwell,
255, 293, 309; Richard, 98, 11 6,
135, 146, 255, 301, 317, 351;
Mrs. Richard, 122; Robert E.,
209; Thomas, 100, 276, 342,
3^3; arms, 138; Parish, 326

" Lee Hall," 145, 146

Leeds, Castle, 32, 220; School,
294; Virginia, 151

Lely, Peter, 3l6

Levingston, William, 230, 231

Lewis, 65, 260; Elizabeth, 348;
Fielding, 153; Thomas, 305;
Warner, 173, 174, 315

Lightfoot, Armistead,255 ; Charles,
226; Frances, 226; John, 48;
Mildred, 207; PhiHp, 132, 326;
William, 207, 211, 254

Ligon, Richard, 253

Linnaeus, l6l

Liquors, etc., legal price of, 150

Little Paxton, Huntingdonshire,
227

Littleton, 51; Ann, 276; Nathan-
iel, 51, 276

"Littleton," 69, 118

Liverpool, 216

Livingston, Susannah, 299; Wil-
liam, 141

Lloyd, Cornelius, 187

Locket, Jane, 226
365

INDEX

London, 17, 4-2, 43, 4i, 48, 51,
73, 74, 77, 79, 86, 87, 89, 100,
104, 107, 127, 131, 133, 134,
140, 149, 154, 155, 161, 190,
195, 196, 198, 202, 208, 214,
215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220,
223, 226, 227, 230, 232, 236,
237, 259, 264, 271, 280, 288,
294, 296, 298, 299, 306, 310,
312, 317, 318, 325; Bishop of,
270

Lorraine, Claude, 318

Lotteries, 151, 152, 211

Love, 309

Lovelace, Francis, 50

Love-locks, 189, 190

Lower Norfolk County, 45, 48, 76,
82, 83, 97, 105, 109, 135, 148,
162, 187, 192, 193, 195, 198,
208, 225, 268, 287, 297, 322,
338

Ludlow, 51; Thomas, 31 6

Ludwell, 95; H., 207; Philip, 94,
95, 220, 303

Luke, 172

Lunenburg County, 78, 81, 303,
305 ; Parish, 333

Lunsford Henry, 314; Sir
Thomas, 46, 50, 119, 314

Lupo, Albino, 44

Lutheran Church, 324

Lylly, Stephen, 272

Lynnhaven Parish, 209, 322, 324

Machodick, Churches, 325
Maclin, 254

Madestard, Thomas, 316
Madison, Isaac, 168; James, 272;
Bishop James, 274; County, 324
Magdaleve, ship, 175
Mallory, 51
Malone, 237, 239

" Malvern Hill," 6l, 253

Manchester, 152

Mangoags, King of, 31

Mann, John, 285

Mansfield, David, 48

Man, William, 171

" Marlborough," 304

Marlborough, Duke of, 224

Marlott, Thomas, 44

" Marmion," 67

" Marplot," 232

Marriages, 28, 136

^Lartian, Nicholas, 43

Martin, Edward, 229, 230; Henry,

328; John, 17, 43; Sir Richard,

43
Martine, John, 22
Martin's Hundred, 225
Marye, James, 272, 306
Maryland, 103, 129, 152, l60,

244, 249, 332, 338
Mason, Mrs. Ann, 90; Francis, 42;

George, 257, 272, 337; Mary,

272; Thomson, 255
Matapony Church, 324
Matte, John, 280
" Mattey School," 269
Mattheson, Alexander, 200
Matthew, Thomas, 227; William,

227
Matthews, Samuel, 42, 118, 276;

Thomas, 299
Maury, James, 274
^Layo, John, 269
Meade, 390; David, 149; Bishop

William, 325, 333
Menifee, George, 69, 118
Menzies, Adam, 318
Mercer, George, 223, 224; John,

255, 304
Merchant Tailor's School, 287, 294
"Merry Point," 122, 137, 184

306

INDEX

Metcalfe, 51

Methodist Church, 339

Michel, Louis Francis, 136, 154,
287

Mickleborough, Tobias, 211

Middleham, Yorkshire, 43

Middlesex County, 30, 75, 81, 90,
94, 107, 111, 134, 150, 161,
185, 200, 211, 226, 245, 269,
299, 300, 301, 317, 343

Middle Temple, 290, 293

Midwinter, Frances, 22

Mile End School, Eng., 294

Mills' Ordinary, 148

Milner, John, 148

Ministers, 20, 25, 35, 52; char-
acter of, 333, et seq.; libraries,
295, 305, 306; Presbyterian, 306

Minor, Garrett, 328; Thomas, 255,
256

Mitchell, 236; John, l6l, 207

Moldsworth, 50

Moncure, John, 305, 337

Monro, John, 336; Andrew, 188,
317

Montague, William, 328

" Monticello," 135

Moon, John, 46, 227, 268

Moore, Bernard, 6Q, 173; Eliza-
beth, 172, 173; John, 106

Moris, Edward, 22

Morris, Mrs. Nicholas, 79; Roger,
179

Morton, Robert, 192

Moryson, 50; Francis, 50, 118;
Richard, 51; Robert, 50

Moseley, 314; Edward, 207, 324;
Susanna, 208; William, 186

Mosse, 217

Motherhead, Samuel, 280

Mounslic, Thomas, 22

"Mt. Airy," Q5, 72, 74, 88, 132,
206, 254, 281, 309, 314

" Mount Malady," SQ

" Mt. Pleasant," 351

" Mt. Vernon," 68, 70, 74, 87, 88,
91, 135

" Mt. Zion," 67, 162

Murray, 235; Nancy, 177

Muse, Hudson, 245

Music, Q9, 141, 146, 177, 235, 236,
241, 242, 243, 258, 308, et aeq.

Myles, John, 347

McCarty, Daniel, 98, 254, 290,
302; W. Page, 98

McClanahan, Alexander, 203 ; Jen-
ny, 207; John, 341 ; Robert, 203

McClurg, James, 56, 293

McCulloch, Roderick, 274

McDonald, Bryan, 305; Edward,
301

McRae, Rev. Christopher, 52

McRobert, Archibald, 336

" Nancy Wilton," 181
Nansemond County, 273, 332, 338
" Nanzaticoe," 124
Nassawattock's Church, 330
Negroes, 215, 281, 329, 339, 344

(see also Servants and Slaves)
Negro quarters, 64
Nelson, Jane, 177; Thomas, 228,

292, 304, 351 ; William, 88, 134,

205; William, Jr., 185; County,

274; House, 73
Newburg, N. Y., 212
"Newington," 71, 114, 311
New Kent County, 64, 152, 230,

255, 260, 303, 319
" Newlands," 104
Newman, Robert, 343; William,

328
" Newmarket," 254

367

INDEX

" New Market," 304

Newport, Christopher, 19, 24, 25,

27, 28, 32
Newport's News, 39, 118
Newton, Elizabeth, 132; John,

226, 297, 331 ; Willoughby, 132,

299
New York, 179, 229, 246
Nicholls, George, 81, 84, 86
Nicholas, Elizabeth, 210; George,

210; Robert Carter, 179
Nicholson, Sir Francis, 170, 225,

257, 283, 285, 336
Nicola, 306
"Nomini Hall," 68, 71, 73, 87,

111, 128, 129, 132, 133, 136,

141, 144, 146, 147, 191, 193,

273, 279, 282, 304, 306, 309,

312, 315
Nomini River, 327
Norfolk, 90, 143, 240, 241, 313,

323; County, 75, 207
Northampton County, 79, 81, 98,

103, 109, 225, 281, 296, 302,

326, 330, 346
Northamptonshire, 348
North Carolina, 117, 142, 163
North Mountain, 153
Northern Neck, 85
Northumberland County, 47, 78,

81, 85, 134, 189, 227, 279, 300,

318, 326, 333, 342; Earl of, 17
" Northumberland House," 255
Norton, John, 205
Norwood, Henry, 118, 119

Offlcy, 43

Ogle, Cnthbert, 311

" Okewell Hall," 36

Oldfield, Anne, 232

Old Stone Church, Augusta, 310

Old Street, London, 226

Opecancanough, 29

Orange County, 318

Organs, 324

Oriel College, Oxford, 288, 293

Orkney Islands, 278

Orrery, Earl of, 171, 221

Osborne, 244; Sir Edward, 43;
Mrs., 240, 241, 242, 243; Thom-
as, 42, 45, 298

Outdoor Sports, 252, et seq.

Owen, Gronow, 334

Oxford, 43, 48, 225, 285, 288, 293,
337

Packe, James, 121

Page, 173, 314; Betsy, 177; Fran-
cis, 106; John, 64, 65, 180, 181,
182, 192, 227; Judith, 351;
Mann, 65, 106, 255, 293, 294,
351; Robert, 257

Pagett, Anthony, 48

Palatinates, 142

Pamunkey, 29; King of, 186

Panton, Anthony, 190

Parke, 53; Daniel, 111, 222, 224;
Frances, 111, 347; Lucy, 106

Parker, 63, 242, 243, 244

" Parker Place," 63

Parks, William, 306

Parnell, Thomas, 276

Passmore, Thomas, 46

Pasteur, Dr., l63

Pasture, Charles, 300

Pate, Richard, 269

Pawlett, Thomas, 43, 335

Payne, William, 113

Peachy, Samuel, 135

Peale,' Charles Wilson, 244. 315,
319

Peasley, Henry, 268

" Peckatone," 277, 282

Peddlers, 158

INDEX

Pelham, Peter, 246, 311, 312

Pembroke College, Cambridge, 293

Penance in Church, 229, 330

Pennington, 17; Robert, 22

Pennsylvania, 152

Percy, George, 17, 19, 21, 22, 27,
33, 38, 50, 188

Perrin, John, 225; Susan, 225

Perrott, Henry, 294f

Perry Elizabeth, 215; William, 44

Persey, 49; Abraham, 42, 45, 46,
47, 208; Elizabeth, 208; Mary,
208

Petersburg, 181, 102

Petsworth Church, 324, 325, 326

Pettus, 53

Pewter, 93, et seq.

Peyronny, Chevalier de, 143

Peyton, 50; Valentine, 293

Philadelphia, 148, 179, 180, 250,
306, 312, 318

Philipse, Mary, 179, 180

Phillips, Elmer, 44; Nathaniel,
131, 259; William, 300

Physicians, 20, 37, 160, et seq.,
219, 222, 291

Pictures, 83, 85, 88, 151, 314, et
seq.

Pierce, William, 45

Piggase, Drue, 22

Pitt, Mary, 209; Thomas, 209

Pittsylvania County, 323

Plantagenet, Beauchamp, 118

Plate, 96, et seq., 226

Plays acted in Virginia: Anato-
mist, or the Sham Doctor, 237,
244; Beare and ye Cubb, 229;
Beaux Strategem, 232; Beg-
gar's Opera, 244; Busy Body,
232; Cato, 232, 233, 239, 248;
Constant Couple, 235, 242, 243;
Cymbeline, 244; Damon and

Phillida, 247; Drummer, or the
Haunted House, 233; Every
Man in his Humor, 247; False
Delicacy, 248; Jealous Wife,
247; King Lear, 247; Lying
Valet, 236; Merchant of Ven-
ice, 236, 237, 238; Miller of
Mansfield, 243; Musical Lady,
247; Orphan, 242; Othello, 238,
239; Padlock, 247; Provoked
Husband, 249; Richard III,
234, 235; Recruiting Officer,
232; Thomas and Sally, 249;
West Indian, 247; Word to the
Wise, 248

Pleasants, John, 301, 318

Plutarch, 307

Pocahontas, 5, 24, 29, 39, 62, 166,
168, 188

Poindexter, George B., 255

Point Comfort, 31, 39

Pole, Godfrey, 302

Poole, Robert, 44

Pooley, Rev. Greville, l68, 171,
335

Poor, gifts and bequests to, 332, et
seq.

Pope, Nathaniel, 280; Thomas,
225

" Pope's Creek," 254

Porter, James, 297

Porteus, Robert, 227

Porticoes, 67, 68

Portraits, 85, 190, 193, 194, 206,
211, 223, 225, 287, 314, et seq;
315, 317, 319

Port Royal, 69, 274

Pory, John, 97

Potomac River, 25, 65

Pott, Elizabeth, 105; Dr. John,
42, 46, 105, 160

Potter, 181

INDEX

Powell, John, 45, 46

Powhatan, 24, 29, 39, 166

Pratt, Bessy, 111, 112, 233; Eliza-
beth, 218; John, 218; Keith,
112; Mrs., 121

Presbyterian Church, 339, 240

Presbyterians, 145, 194, 226, 306

Presley, Peter, 81; William, 197

Price, 281

Prince George County, 255, 304

Princess Anne County, 272, 298,
301

Princeton, 263, 278

Pritchard, Frances, 268; Richard,
268

Proctor, John, 42, 43, ll6; Thom-
as, 43

Punch bowl, Washington's, 132

Purefoy, Thomas, 42

Puritans, 126, 190, 336

Purleigh, Eng., 287

Putney Grammar School, 300, 294

Pygatt, 148

Quaker meeting house, 339
Quakers, 126, 268, 338, 339
Quantico Church, 159
Queen's College, Oxford, 288, 293
Queen's Creek, 227

Racing, 153, 252, et seq.

Raleigh, 299; parish, 333; tavern,
151, 182, 191, 234; Sir Walter,
151

Randolph, 66, 67, 314; Anne, 181 ;
Beverley, 294; John, 228, 291,
293; Sir John, 120, 142, 232,
294; Henry, 298; Mary, 132,
210; Peyton, 293; Thomas
Mann, 255 ; Mrs. Thomas Mann,
66; William, 132, 151, 210, 294,
348

Raphael, 319

Rappahannock, County, 82, 171,
279, 287; River, 65, 69, 214,
261, 323

Ratcliffe, 26, 27

Rathall, Katherine, 198, 201, 202,
244

Rathbone, Richard, 148

Ravenscroft, John, 293

Rawling, John, 214

Rawlings, William, 269

Reade, Clement, 78, 81, 303

Reading, Eng., 225

Reed, James, 269

Religion, 26, 36, 320, et seq.

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 315; Thom-
as, 277; William, 280

Revolution, 249

Rhode Island, 90

Richards, 155; Amy, 349; John,
349

" Richland," 255

Richmond, 39, 61, 64, 86, 91, 102,
116, 162, 223, 319, 320, 322;
county, 68, 86, 131, 134, 179,
207, 211, 254, 255, 276, 298,
309, 333, 335

Riddell, George, 292

Rigby, 237, 238, 239

Rigmaden, William, 270

Rimpton, Somerset, 43

Rind, Wm., 306

Rings, 134, et seq.

Rippon, Cathedral, 227; ship, 175,
176

" Rising Sun Tavern," 151

Ritchie, 194, 26l

Roads, William, 22

Roanoke, 91

Roberts, Bartholomew, 253

Robertson house, 56

■Robinson, Christopher, 52, 289,

870

INDEX

293, 317; James, 144; Bishop
John, 52, 317; John, 131 ; Mary,
325; Maximilian, 255; Peter,
293; William, 293

Rockbridge County, 274, 340

Rocky Ridge, 152

Rodes, 36, 50

Rogers, John, 280; William, 317

Rolfe, John, 39, 41, 62, 105, I66,
167; Thomas, 62

Rootes, Philip, 344; Priscilla, 144

Roscow, William, l69, 170

" Rose and Crown " tavern, 151

" Rosegill," 75, 255, 304

" Rose Inn," Reading, Eng., 225

Rose, Rev. Robert, 52

"Rosewell," 64, 65, 73, 255, 315,
351

Roulston, Lionel, 48

Royal James, ship, 265

Royal, Joseph, 328

Royle, Joseph, 270

Royle's Free School, 270

Rubens, 318

Rush worth, 298

Russell, John, 18; Richard, 268

Ruth, sloop, 90

"Sabine Hall," 68, 72, 126, 145,

173, 281, 311
St. Bees Grammar School, Eng.,

294
St. Dunstan-in-the-East, London,

227
St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London,

226
St. John's, College, Oxford, 293;

church, Hampton, 323, 324, 326;

Richmond, 323
St. Luke's Church, London, 226
St. Mary's, Bedfont, Eng., 227;

parish, Va., 325; White Chapel,

323, 326, 332
St. Paul's, King and Queen, 324,

Norfolk, 323
St. Peter's Church, 348
St. Stephen's Parish, 270
Salford, Robert, 45
" Salisbury Park," 345
Salt manufacture, 40
Sampson, 200; James, 78, 99 1

Margaret, 99
Sandford, John, 298
" Sandy Point," 254
Sandys, George, 44, 185
Savage, John, 289; Thomas, 42
Sawyer, Thomas, 162
Sawyers, 158
Schnell, Rev. L., 152
Schoolmasters, 270, 271, 272, 273,

274, 275
Schools, 137, 201; boarding, 271,

272, 273; Charles City, 40;

classical, 274; free, 262, et seq.,

private, 270, et seq.
Scotch emigration, 51
Scotch-Irish, 144, 340
Scot, Joane, 330
Scotland, 218
Scott, Edward, 277; George, 225;

Gustavus, 294; James, 337;

John, 159, 188, 294
Scrivenor, Matthew, 26
Sea Venture, ship, 32
Sedgwick, William, 345
Sehutt, 301
Seilhamer, 239, 248
Servants, 46, et seq., I6I, 224,

225, 278, 308, 309, 328, 329
Sewell, Henry, 195; Joseph, 254
Sewell's Point Church, 330
Sharp, Sharpe, 176; Nicholas,

271 ; Robert, 148; Samuel, 44

371

INDEX

Shenandoah Valley, 91
Shepperd, Samuel, 272
Sheraton, 90
Sherwood, Grace, 120; William,

195, 3-id
Shetland, 129
Shields, 143
"Shirley," 65, 73, 126, 134, 180,

209, 314
Shirley Hundred Island, 332
Shockoe, 91, 152

Shoes, 182, 200, et seq., 204, 205
Shop bills, London, 218
Shrewsbury, Catherine, 280
Shropshire. St. John, 305
Shurley, George, 272
Silk-making, 40
Silver, 83, 85, 96, et seq., 226;

some of the " Shirley," 92; tea-

caddv of Governor Spotswood,

Sims, Thomas, 328

Singleton, 237, 238, 313

Sipsey, John, 45

Skipwith. 50; Sir Peyton, 220

Slader, Matthew, 252

Slaughter, Robert, 255, 256

Slaves, l6l, 162, 308

Smallcombe. John, 341

Smalley, William, 254

Smith, 133; Arthur, 296; Eliza-
beth, 269; J. F. D., 256; Cap-
tain John, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22,
23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 45,
62, 186; Philip, 78; Roger, 44;
Samuel 158; Thomas, 292

"Smith's Fort," 62, 6S; Hundred,
325

Smythe, 125; Richard, 148; Thom-
as, 271

Soane, William, 148, 253

"Society Hill," 71, 254

Somers, Sir George, 32, 35

Southall, 246

"Southalls," 181

Southampton County, 304

Southern, John, 43, 44

Southey, Anne, 43; Elizabeth, 43;
Henry, 43

Southwark Parish, 325

Southwell, Sir Robert, 300

Span, John, 293; Richard, 122;
Mrs. Richard, 122

Sparke, Michael, 296

Spence, William, 44

Spencer, Elizabeth, 171; Frances,
210; George, 171, 332; Nicho-
las, 210; William, 45, 292

Spicer, Arthur, 298

Spilman, Henry, 43; Sir Henry,
43; Thomas, 43

Spotsylvania County, 129, 255,

300, 301, 302, 303
Spotswood, 51; Alexander, 71, 85,

87, 91, 100, 108, 132, 188, 218,
231, 256, 294, 315, 318, 334;
Mrs. Alexander, 108; Gen. Alex-
ander, 254; John, 74, 188, 294

Spragg, Eleanor, 169

Spratt, Henry, 280

" Springdale," 67

Springs, Mineral, 152, 153

Stadley, 309

Stafford County, 73, 90, 100, 223,
226, 271, 275, 277, 298, 300,

301, 302, 304, 305, 317, 345
Staffordshire, 226

Stafford, William, 93

Stagg, 234; Charles, 142, 230,

231 ; house, 246; Mary, 126, 142,

230, 231
Staige, Theodosius, 336
Stallinge, Edward, 159
Stanard, Beverley, 277; Eliza-

INDEX

beth, 81, 94; Larkin, 277; Wil-
liam, 81, 277
Stark, William, 269
" Starving Time," 34
State House, 60
Statues, 72
Staunton, 149, 154
Stephens, Richard, 159; William,

131
Steptoe, George, 293
Stevens, Thomas, 171, 259
Stewart, Charles, 148, 218
Stith, Elizabeth, 325, 344; Mary,

196; William, 293
Stoke, Eng., 226
Stokes, Frances, 333
Stoodie, Thomas, 22
-Stoney Creek, l62
Stores, 154, et seq.
Strachey, William, 34, 36, 37
StrafFerton, Peter, 44
"Stratford," 64, 65, 66, 67, 68,

70, 73, 144, 147, 255, 276, 342
Stratton, Edward, 328
Stuarts, 51

Studley, Thomas, 20, 23, 25
Sturgis, Daniel, 154
Suffolk, Eng., 216
Sully, Thomas, 45, 328
Sunday observance, 327, et seq.
Surplices, 326
Surry County, 62, 75, 93, 99, 257,

302, 305, 309, 325, 326, 344
Susan Constant, ship, 19
Sussex County, 255, 260
Swann, Catherine, 177; John, 317;

Thomas, 149
Sweeny, Sally, 176
Sweete, Robert, 44
Swift, Thomas, 45
Switzerland, 136
Swords, 155, 187, 190, 203

Syme, John, 254

Syms, Benjamin, 266, 267; Free

School, 266, 267; Eaton Acad-

demy, 267

Tabb, 73; John, 318
Taliaferro, John, 292; Lawrence,

69; Walker, 255
Tanner, Joseph, 253
Tapestry, 73
Tappahannock, 236, 26l
Tapscott, James, 293
Tarrant, Leonard, 300
Tasker, 256

Taverns, 148, et seq., 182
Tayloe, 65, 137, 184, 256, 282;

Betty, 185; John, 74, 122, 132,

156, 206, 254, 318, 333; Mrs.

John, 208
Taylor, Charles, 304; Daniel, 117,

292; John, 274; Maria, 108;

Peter, 272; Richard, 45; Sarah,

193
"Tazewell Hall," 67
" Tedington," 207, 211
Tennant, John, l6l
Terrell, 51
"Tempest, The," 32
Tichfield, Hampshire, 43
Timson, Sarah, 349
Tinsley, 313

Thacker, Chichley, 293, 237
Thanksgiving, 331
Theatre, the, 181, 229, et seq., 234
Thompson, George, 43; Hugh,

303; Maurice, 43; Paul, 43;

Ralph, 43; Samuel, 176; Wil-
liam, 43
Thornton, 122; Francis, 71, 254;

Peter Presley, 255
Thoroughgood, Adam, 43, 46, 82,

97, 105, 209, 324; Sir John,

373

INDEX

43, 97; Sarah, 43, 105, 106;

Thomas, 97
Thorpe, George, 265, 266
Throckmorton, 17, 49; Kenelm,

22; Robert, 227
Tobacco, 19, 40, 154, 158, 167,

194, 213, 214, 216, 223, 297,

328
Todd, 73
" Toddsburj-," 73
Todkill, Anas, 25
Tombs, 227, 290, 323, 343, 345,

et seq,
Tompkins, John, 313; Richard,

280
Tories, 228

" Towlston," 114, 259
Townsend, Richard, 46, 47
Toys, 205
Trades, 276

Transportation, 129, et seq.
Travers, Elizabeth, 171; Raleigh,

171
Tree, Richard, 46
Trinity College, Cambridge, 288,

292, Dublin, 274
Trussell, John, 47
Tryon, Lady, 163
"fuckahoe," 66, 68, 70, 150, 151,

210, 255
Tunstall, 175; William, 280
Turberville, 282; George, 135,

350; John, 135; Lettice, 350
" Turkey Island," 348
Turner, Harry, 94, 318; Henry,

281, 328; Thomas, 281
Turpin, Philip, 293
Tutors, fi8, 69, 274, 278, et seq.
Tutt. Richard, 301
Twining, Worcestershire, 42
Tyler, Francis, 149; Lyon G., 230,

231, 234, 239, 311

Underwood, Julian, 329, 330
" Union Hill," 275
Upp, Frederick, 275
Upper Norfolk County, 47
Upton, John, 45, 47
Urbanna, l6l, 269
Utie, John, 42, 44, 308

Valley of Virginia, 59, 67, 91,
92, 93, 101, 117, 124, 144, 154,
158, 184, 202, 203, 207, 277,
291, 305, 340, 341

Vandyke, 190

Varina, 139, 148, 253

Vaux, James, 188

Venable, William, 300

Vine-growing, 40

Virginia and England, 213, et seq.;
presents between, 216, 217

" Virginia Coffee House," Lon-
don, 218, 220

Virginia Eastern, 92; Western, 91,
et seq.

" Virginia House," 56

Virginians, characterized by Bur-
naby and Gordon, 163, et seq.;
in England, 213, et seq.

" Virginia Walk," London, 218

Vi- Valley, 311

Vobe, 236

Wackinston, 51

Waddell, 305; James, 339; J. A.,
91, 92

Wade, Thomas, 269

Wainman, Sir Ferdinando, 35

Wakefield School, Yorkshire, 291,
294

Waldo, Ralph, 27

Wales, 220

Walker, 217, 242, 243, 244; Ed-
ward, 266; George, 22; John,

874

INDEX

172, 173, 226, 269; Peter, 79,
81, 103, 189; Richard, 226;
Thomas, 152, 173, 226; William,
301

Wallace, Gustavus Brown, 183

Waller, 17; John, 303

Wallpaper, 74

Walpole, Horatio, 210

Walthoe, Nathaniel, 255

Walton, Joseph, 92; Hertford-
shire, 43

Ward, William, 274

Warden, John, 279

Warder, Robert, 330

Ware Church, 327

Warm Springs, 152

Warner, 65 ; Augustine, 287, 326

"Warner HaU," 65, 173, 315

Warnett, Thomas, 155, 189, 192

Warnock, John, 300

Warren, Henry, 3l6; Thomas, 62,
63

Warrington, 239; Camilla, 240

Warwick County, 98

Warwicksqueake, 225

Washington, 286; Augustine, 294,
303; Catherine, 349; Elizabeth,
349; George, 59, 74, 87, 91, 135,
143, 153, 177, 178, 180, 200,
204, 211, 212, 215, 218, 246,
247, 255, 257, 272, 294, 315,
318, 325; Jenny, 19I, 193, 310;
John, 298, 325, 349, 351 ; Law-
rence, 294, 325, 344; Martha,
200, 214, 303; Mary, 200; Par-
ish, 325

Watches, 90, 204, 210, 211, 212

Waters, Edward, 42 ; John, 280

Watkinson, Cornelius, 229

Watson, Ralph, 303

Waugh, John, 305

Webb, Stephen, 48

Webling, Wessell, 48 ; Nicholas, 48
Wedderburn, 51, 218
Welford, Gloucestershire, 227
Werowocomico, 29
West, 50; Francis, 17, 43, 335;

John, 42, 43; Indies, 165
Westmoreland County, 68, 86, 90,

98, 132, 135, 144, 147, 152, 215,

225, 226, 277, 288, 290, 298,

299, 302, 303, 305, 317, 319,

325, 333, 342, 345
"Westover," 64, 67, 70, 74, 80,

101, 102, 108, 120, 121, 149,

221, 232, 254, 290, 297, 304,

348, 351; Church, 343
Wetherburn, Henry, 151
Wetherold, Thomas, 217
Whaley, Mary, 269; Mattliew, 269
Whitaker, Walter, 188
" Whitby," 255
White, Alexander, 293; William,

171
Whitefield, 339
Whittington, William, 268
" Wickocomico Hall," 84, 85
Wigs, 190, 191, 205
Wilberforce, William, 290
Wilcox, John, 44
Wilkins, John, 42
Wilks, Wilkes, John, 223; Thomas,

171
Willes, William, 157
Willett, Martha, 280
William and Mary College, 70,

141, 143, 169, 180, 201, 213,

230, 232, 233, 263, 264, 283, et

seq., 305, 311, 313, 319
William and Mary (King and

Queen), 138, 139, 192
Williamsburg, 60, 64, 67, 71, 73,

74, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91,

106, 112, 120, 121, 126, 130,

375

INDEX

133, 136, 138, 139, 142, 143,
148, 149, 151, 153, 157, l6l,
163, 180, 181, 191, 199, 193,
196, 198, 201, 211, 215, 219,
224, 227, 231, 230, 232, 234,
235, 237, 242, 245, 246, 247,
249, 250, 256, 259, 270, 302,
306, 311, 312, 313, 315, 318,
319, 323, 346

Williams, Charles Hanbury, 221;
Hanbury, 220; Hannah, 347;
Rachel, 349; Thomas, 349

Willis, John, 255

"Will's Club," 222

Willoughby, Henry, /JO; Lords, 50;
Sarah, 198, 297; Thomas, 42,
44, 75, 287

" Wilton," 181, 255

Winchester, 59; School, Eng., 294;
Marquis of, 43

Wingfield, Edward, 17, 21, 295

"Windsor," 319

Winston, William O., 255

Wise, J. C, 230

Witchcraft, 340

Wollaston, 315

W^omock, Abraham, 253

Wood, Abraham, 47, 48

Woodbridge, John, 86

Wood End Grammar School, Scot-
land, 294

Woodford, 11 6, 126

Woods, Michael, 158; Samuel,
158

Woodson, John, 42

Woodward, Samuel, 47

Worcester, 43

Wormeley, 122; Christopher, 171,
343 ; Elizabeth, 79 ; Frances,
343; John, 288; Margaret, 343 j
Ralph, 75, 90, 119, 185, 228,
255, 276, 288, 292, 293, 294,
301, 304, 326

Wortham, Charles, 299

Wotton, Dr. Thomas, 20

Wrestling, 258

Wyard, Samuel, 330

Wyatt, 50, 51; Sir Dudley, 50;
Sir Francis, 42, 194

Wynell, 237

Wynne, Peter, 27

Yapp, 242, 243

Yarmouth, Eng., 224

Yates, Bartholomew, 276, 293,
337; Mrs., 219; Robert, 293

Yeardley, Francis, 209; Sir
George, 43, 97; Sarah, 208,
209; Lady Temperance, 97

Yeo, Leonard, 226

York, County, Gl, 81, 82, 90, 107,
176, 190," 227, 252, 260, 269,
271, 275, 276, 297, 305, 3l6,
328, 336, 345; River, 29, 64,
90, 118, 127

Yorkshire, 226, 294

Yorktown, 71, 73, 130, 132, 133,.
134, 191, 205, 236, 260, 269,
276, 304, 313, 317, 351 ; Church,
326

Young, William, 188

Zinnerman, Christopher, 125
Zouch, Sir John, 50

03 c;

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