Full text of "The history of Nansemond County, Virginia"

See other formats

%s-m-°\/'

•<av °^lBl^r *<?

♦*o<

>♦

o V

w. ^ rt

0> .« ^O

o V

<v t

^ 0

•^

^ ^ ■*„ tV

^ .4V ,

^ s.. ^ "0N° f

.o<^^^: ^n* :m%^n:+ ^<f °<^m?ik« >,

0''

o^ » • o >*% A^ « . . •«• ^ «> e ' ■> ■* .^r

*^A^

''TV.'- G* *orf

,c,vn

V * s • • * ~

* Jy Kr "° • * *

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
The Library of Congress

http://www.archive.org/details/historyofnansemoOOdunn

OLD DOMINION LINE

Steamships "MONROE'7'PRINCESS ANNE'V' JAMESTOWN"
"HAMILTON" and "JEFFERSON."

Sailing from Norfolk for New York daily, except Sunday, at 7 p. m.
Sailing from New York for Norfolk daily, except Sunday, at 3 p. m.

NIGHT LINE FOR RICHMOND.

For Richmond, new steamers "BERKELEY" and "BRANDON"
leave Company's Wharf, foot of Church Street, 7 o'clock every night.

For Old Point and Hampton, steamer "Luray."

For Old Point, East, Ware, North (Matthews and Gloucester Coun-
ties) and Severn Rivers, Steamer "MOB JACK."

For Newport News and Smithfield, Steamers' "HAMPTON" and
"ACCOMAC."

For Nansemond River and Suffolk, Steamer "VIRGINIA DARE."

Freight received at Company's Wharf, Water Street, daily except
Sunday, until 5 P. M.

Passenger Tickets sold and Staterooms reserved at Company's Office
on Wharf, or at Union Ticket Office, Main and Granby Streets,
Norfolk, Va.

For further information relative to Passenger or Freight Rates, apply to

JOHN NICHOL, General Agent,
NORFOLK, VA.

H. B. WALKER, Vice-Pres. and Traffic Mgr.
81 BEACH STREET, NEW YORK.

(See Daily Papers for Winter and Summer Changes in Schedule.)

ORGANIZED 1869.

THE FARMERS BANK
OF NANSEMOND

Suffolk, Va,

Capital - Twenty Thousand Dollars.

Surplus and Profits - Five Hundred and Fifty-five

Dollars.

Total Resources - More than Two Million Dollars.

With Long Experience, Unsurpassed
Facilities and Increasing Resources, the
Institution continues to offer its services
to the people.

E. E. Holland, G. W. Truitt,

President, Vice-President,

Wm. H. Jones, Jr.,

Cashier.

JAS. L. McLEMORE, President A. WOOLFORD, Cashier

R. A. PRETLOW, Vice-President C. E. HARGRAVE, Ass't. Cashier

Bank of Suffolk,

SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA.

Capital and Profits, - $ 1 62,500.00.

RESPECTFULLY SOLICITS YOUR
BANKING BUSINESS.

Write for OUR Prices

THE SUFFOLK PEANUT CO.

SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA

JOHN KING, J. B. PINNER,

President Secy. & Treas.

The Oldest Peanut Concern in the Town of Suffolk
The Largest Peanut Town in
Virginia

Six Railroads and One Steamboat Line Give Us
Unexcelled Shipping Facilities

•■;*

Write for OUR Prices

WOODWARD & ELAM |

Insurance and A

Surety Bonds k

•" SUFFOLK, - - VIRGINIA J

FRANKLIN, VA. SMITHFIELD, VA. V

• •

Nansemond River
Brick & Tile Co.

' ^*AVING abiding faith in the future growth and
*|f^| ife developement of Eastern Virginia, and especially
i*J" * J, of the peanut belt of Nansemond County, the
^^$^5^ above business was organized, and in 1901 incor-
porated under the laws of the State of Virginia :

Located upon deep water, accessible to all tidewater
markets, from a very small beginning the business has become
one of some magnitude, its present annual output being twelve
million building brick, in addition to other products. The Com-
pany is fortunate in owning what is, probably, one of the most
valuable clay deposits in Eastern Virginia, it being a peninsular,
several hundred acres in extent, bounded on the east by a
narrow creek, south by the Nansemond River, west by the
western branch of the Nansemond, and upon the north by the
public highway leading from Suffolk to Smithfield. Upon this
public road the Company have a handsome brick store, well
stocked with goods, and also their General Manager's residence:
Lying in the world's best Peanut territory, these lands have,
under the intelligent culture of their General Manager, who is
a stockholder in the Company, become profitable holdings,
aside from their value on account of a deep and strong "brick
clay" subsoil of from ten to twelve feet in depth. With a
second plant nearly equipped, having sufficient capacity for
fully doubling their output, unlimited raw material, the use of
the most modern machinery and methods, the remarkable in-
crease in fertility of their lands, the location of some twenty-
five families of employees upon this property, and the gradual
but sure increase of their merchandising business, we think the
Company may reasonably look to the future with hope and
confidence.

Handle the Best

PEANUTS

SUPERB

JUMBO

BELLE OF WAKEFIELD

GAMECOCKS (Fancy)

DIAMOND BRAND (Extra)

All Grades of

Virginia oncf Spanish
Shelled

Cleaned and Packed by

THE BAIN PEANUT CO., inc.

WAKEFIELD, VIRGINIA

FACTORIES:

Wakefield, Va. Petersburg, Va.

Suffolk, Va. Norfolk, Va.

Another Prosperous Nansemond County Enterprise

Interstate Fire Insurance Co., Inc.
SUFFOLK, VA.

Capital

$131,000.00

Surplus to Policy Holders

154,185.87

Total Assets -

- 163,394.07

J. E. WEST, President

G. W. TRUITT, Vice-President

J. T. WITHERS, Secretary-Trees.

■■■■"■■■■■■■Iii«I?!Ii!5i9iiii?BlMii5?|||y|ll yiiOii™i=ii""if"iH=

■■■■iniiiiiiiiiiiMri

■in
nil

1 I. Walter Hosier I

::t: . / a:

£!! "»

! | urn

SI! in*

: a

"m II,'*

I REAL ESTATE, I

£1!

INVESTMENTS

and General Insurance

Kilby Street,

SUFFOLK, - - VA.

THE
HISTORY OF
NANSEMOND COUNTY
VIRGINIA Th

BY
JOS. B. DUNN

3'Tu

[■iff

IS;

L5\.^U*\AA-CiS-

I^YuJAJC.

O "fO'OT-

The first mention of the name Nansemond is found in Smith's
History of Virginia. In the summer of 1608 Capt. John Smith
with twelve companions came up the river called Nansemond after
a tribe of Indians of that name. Smith and his men were attacked
in the neighborhood of an island now called Dumpling Island. The

m mw '• „.=3^

Colonel Phillip's Residence on Nansemond River

main settlement of the Nansemond tribe was near the mouth of West-
ern Branch, and the island opposite was used as a place for storing
their corn. The Nansemond tribe numbered three hundred warriors,
and their canoes filled with fighting men suddenly appeared and sur-
rounded the little craft that held Smith's exploring party. At the
first volley of musketry the Indians leaped overboard and swam to
shore. Smith promptly captured the canoes and was in the act of

W. J. Lee's Residence on Nansemond River

destroying them when the Indians from the banks made signs of sur-
render. They were glad to purchase peace at the cost of "400 bas-
kets of full corne," which supply helped to relieve the hungry colon-
ists at Jamestown. In 1609 when affairs were growing desperate at
Jamestown and starvation threatened the destruction of the colony,

Capt. Smith remembered the river whose banks were oyster shells
and in whose midst was the isle of plenty. He ordered Capt. John
Martin with over a hundred men to proceed up the Nansemond river
and found a permanent settlement upon its banks. Martin went in
for heroic measures. He seized the Indian chief, captured the town
of Nansemond, and took for the use of his men the corn on Dump-
ling Island. Flushed with success he grew careless, and the Indians
surprised him by a sudden attack, rescued their chief and carried off
the thousand bushels of corn that Martin had appropriated. Martin
thoroughly demoralized by the change of fortune, fled to James-
town, leaving his men to make the best of the situation. Left with-

Iion Bridge, Everet's Va.

out a leader, the men returned to Jamestown, and Smith's plan for a
city on the banks of the Nansemond was abandoned. The Indian
word Nansemond means "fishing-point or angle," and was the name
given by the Indians to their town which was situated in the angle
made by the junction of Western Branch with the main stream of the
river. The tribe takes its name from their chief settlement and the
liver is named for the tribe. Neither Smith nor Martin seems to
have gone further up the river than the point where the stream di-
vides. Dumpling Island, probably receives its name very early, for
in 1636 a grant to "a place known as Dumpling Island" is made to
Wm. Parker. In 1612 Sir Thomas Dale with 100 men explored the

Nansemond River to its sources. At the time of the great massacre
in 1622 Edward Waters and his wife were captured by the Nanse-

St. Paul's P. E. Church, Suffolk, Va.

mond Indians and taken to the mouth of that river, from which they
seemed to have little chance of escape ; but one day an empty boat be-
longing to some English ship happened to drift ashore, and in their
rejoicings over it the Indians relaxed their guard, and Waters and
his wife escaped in a canoe to Kiquotan. The great grandson of

this Waters had an only child, Sarah, who married David Meade, a
distinguished citizen of Nansemond.

In 1622 in retaliation for the part the Nansemond tribe had ta-
ken in the massacre of the Colonists, Sir George Geardley devastated
the country of the Nansemonds with 300 men. The massacre of
1644 was again followed by invasions of the Indian country, with
such success that the power of the neighboring tribes was broken.
At the session of the Assembly, 1644-5, the inhabitants of the coun-
try south of James River were ordered to make marches upon the
Indians. In March 1646 war was again declared upon the Nanse-

Washmgtou Square, Suffolk, Va.

mond and adjoining tribes, but within a few months the natives had
been so thoroughly subdued that in October, 1646, the Assembly re-
pealed the acts prohibiting trade with the Indians, for cutting down
their corn and for making war upon the Nansemonds.

From this time the Nansemond tribe gradually dwindled away.
The tragic history, of this people who gave their name to our county
and river affords a sad commentary of the white civilization that
crushed them. In 1669 they had only 45 fighting men left in their
tribe, and in 1744 they were reduced to so small a number that they
could no longer "subsist of themselves by hunting, which is their

M. E. Church, Crittenden, Va.

chief support," so they joined themselves to the Nottoway tribe.
Their lands had dwindled also, for by a statute of 1744 they were al-
lowed to sell lands consisting of 300 acres in the county of Nanse-
mond. The statute providing for the sale of the Indian lands is in-
teresting reading, as it furnishes testimony of the manner in which
the Indians gradually lost their foothold on the soil of Virginia.
"Whereas it has been represented to this General Assembly that the
Indians of the two nations (Nansemond and Nottoway), are very
prone to drink spirits and other strong liquors, to a very great ex-
cess, thereby giving ill-disposed and dishonest people opportunities
to make very great advantages of them, by first getting them in debt

Christian Church, Suffolk, Va.

and then taking their skins, money, clothes and ammunition, by which
they defeat the just trader from getting paid for furnishing them
with the necessaries of life; to prevent which:" Then follows a
provision prohibiting the sale of liquors to these Indians for anything
save ready money. But it was too late now to save the race, and in
1791 trustees are appointed to sell the last remaining lands of the
tribe, and to use the money from such sale to support the survivors of
the once mighty nation of the Nansemonds, who "have become so
reduced in their number as not to exceed five persons, who through
old age and bodily infirmities are rendered unable to support them-
selves." There are few traces left of the ancient occupants of the

land. A few negroes boast of Indian blood in their veins and some
years ago in laying the foundation for a pavilion on a mound-shaped
island in the river just below Suffolk a number of Indian relics were
exhumed, showing that the place had once been the burying-ground
of an Indian tribe.

As early as 1635 Nansemond attracted the attention of settlers.
Here as elsewhere in Virginia the settlements clung to the water-
courses. In 1635 Gov. West granted to Richard Bennett 2,000 acres
on Nansemond River for importing forty persons; and to John
Slaughter 200 acres on Wright's Creek. The patents to lands in the
year 1638 refer to tracts situated on the Nansemond or Matrevers
River. Lord Matrevers, son of the Duke of Norfolk, had received
a grant in 1633 to 30,000 acres on Nansemond River and an effort
was- made to call the river Matravers (Matrevers) in honor of the
English lord. The name did not stick, however, and appears only
as an alternate form in the land patents. By 1639 the influx of
\ population had become so large that this section was separated from
Isle of Wight and set apart as a county under the name of Upper
'^Norfolk County. Its first representatives in the House of Burgesses
were Randall Crew, John Gookin and Tristam Norseworthy. A
large land-owner and prominent citizen in the new county was
Richard Bennett. He was a member of the Governor's council, but
he was a Roundhead and gathered about him numbers of the same
political and religious creed. In 1641 he sent his brother to New
England to request that some Puritan ministers be sent to Virginia.
These ministers gained their strongest foothold in this county where
a flourishing church numbering 118 members was soon organized
under the care of a minister named Harrison, who had formerly been
Gov. Berkeley's chaplain. The rapid growth of the Independents
disturbed the mind of the authorities and active measures were taken
to suppress them. Religion and politics were practically synonymous
in those days and Independence in religion spelled disloyalty in
politics. England was in the midst of the fierce struggle between
King and Parliament, and Virginia was loyalist to the core. In
1648, a few months before the execution of Charles I., pressure was
brought to bear on the Nansemond Independents and their corelig-
ionists in Norfolk County. William Durand of Norfolk County,
who was an elder and a leader in the movement, was banished. He
retired to Maryland and received a grant of 800 acres of lands for
importing persons into that colony. He is frequently confused in
the histories of Virginia with George Durand, who migrated from
Virginia to North Carolina some years later. The Rev. Mr. Harri-
son, their pastor, was next expelled from the colony ; next their other

Presbyterian Church, Suffolk, Va.

teachers were banished, and when the congregation stubbornly held to
the church of their choice some of them were imprisoned. So far
the council had been unable to break their spirit, but an order to
disarm all Independents having been given, the spirit of resistance
was quenched. A number of these dissenters having been invited
by Gov. Stone, Lord Baltimore's deputy, retired to Maryland, and
are remembered as among the founders of Anne Arundel County
in that State. Among those who left were Richard Bennett and
William Ayres. These refugees prospered in their new abode and
others induced by their example removed thither. It was not long,
however, before they became dissatisfied with the proprietary govern-
ment of Roman Catholic Maryland, and they were the leaders in
the fierce war waged between Protestants and Catholics in Mary-
land a few years later.

In 1642 the county was divided into three parishes to be known
as South, East and West. In 1646 the name of the county was
changed to Nansimum. In 1652 the Commonwealth of England
sent a fleet to demand Virginia's submission to the new government
in England. Commissioners were appointed to receive the sub-
mission of the Colony. One of the commissioners was Richard
Bennett, who had retired to England from Maryland. On the
reorganization of the Colony Bennett was elected governor by the
Assembly. Another citizen of Nansemond, Edward Major, was
by the same Assembly elected Speaker of that body. At the second
session of the House held in the same year Col. Thomas Dew,
Burgess from Nansemond, was chosen Speaker.

There was a long dispute lasting from 1636 to 1772 concerning
the boundaries between Nansemond and Isle of Wight counties.
Four acts of Assembly during that period relate to changes in these
boundaries. The act of 1674 is interesting as it mentions by name
a citizen whose family since the earliest days of the colony have
been prominent in the county. After establishing fixed lines of
division it is provided: "Nevertheless that the house and cleared
grounds of Capt. Thomas Godwin, who hath bin an ancient inhabi-
tant of Nanzemund countie court, be, remain counted and deemed
in the county of Nanzemund, anything in this act to the contrary
notwithstanding."

The names of the parishes in the county as South, East and
West soon gave way to other names, for in 1680 they are referred
to as Upper, Lower and Chicokatuck (Chuckatuck). In 1653
Roger Green and others living on Nansemond River received a
large grant of land on condition of their settling on Roanoke River
and on the south side of Chowan. In the same year Col. Thomas
■

M. E. Church, Suffolk, Va.

Dew of Nansemond and others were authorized to explore the coun-
try between Gape Hatteras and Cape Fear.

The Society of Friends or Quakers was founded in 1648 by
George Fox. They increased very rapidly. As early as 1656 some
of this sect arrived in Boston, but were sent back to England. In
1657 laws were passed' in Massachusetts to prevent the intro-
duction of Quakers into that Colony, but they flocked thither
nevertheless. Virginia also strove to keep them out of her bounda-
ries. In the wild enthusiasm of the first years of their existence
many of the Quakers were fanatics courting martyrdom. They
mocked the institutions and rulers of the Colony, interrupted public
worship and refused obedience to the law of the land. These
fanatics gave to the Society a bad name; and beginning with the
year 1660 stringent laws against them were passed by the Assembly.
Captains of vessels were fined for bringing them into the Colony. All
of them were to be apprehended and committed until they should
give security that they would leave the Colony. If they returned
they should be punished, and returning the third time should be
proceeded against as felons. It was provided, however, that if the
convicted Quakers should give security not to meet in unlawful
assemblies, "that then and from thenceforth such persons shall be
discharged from all penalties."

The Colony did not interfere with the individual's religious
freedom, unless he with others combined against the laws of the
lane}. Even when a member of the House of Burgesses was
accused of being a Quaker, he was not expelled till he had refused
to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy.

Notwithstanding the efforts of the Assembly, the Quakers in-
creased and continued to hold gatherings. In 1672 George Fox,
the founder of the Society, visited Virginia. In Nansemond, which
had welcomed the Puritan preachers and which from 1636 had held
a goodly number of dissenters, Fox found a fruitful field of labor.
He had meetings "at Nansemond River, where Col. Dew of the
Council and several officers and magistrates attended, and at Som-
erton, also at Widow Wright's in Nansemond where many magis-
trates, officers and high people came." The effects of Fox's labors
were very marked, and a large element of the present citizens of
Nansemond number Quakers among their ancestors. Two brothers
of the name of Jordan became leaders in the Society of Friends and
labored in England as well as in America. The Journal of one of
these brothers has been published, and he speaks of a visit to his
kinsfolk in Nansemond. Even the great man of the county, Richard
Bennett, fell under the spell of Fox, for George Edmonson, the com-

Baptist Church, Suffolk, Va.

panion of Fox, wrote of Bennett: "He was a solid, wise man,
received the truth and died in the same, leaving two Friends his
executors. Bennett's will dated in 1674 describing himself of Nan-
semond River was proved in court April 1675. He gives to the
county where he lives and has long lived 300 acres of land, the
rents to be received yearly by the church-wardens of the parish and
disposed of towards the relief of four aged or impotent persons."

Bennett's career was a conspicuous one. He was Burgess in
1629 and in 1631; Member of the Governor's Council from 1642
to 1648. He organized the dissenters in Nansemond in 1641. Many
of these dissenters were probably persons whose passage to Virginia
Bennett had himself paid. In 1648 he shared the exile of his
fellow-religionists in Maryland. He was the first governor of Vir-
ginia under the Commonwealth 1652-1655. He was Agent for
Virginia in England in 1656. In 1658 he was again a member of
the Governor's Council and continued a member of that body till
his death. In 1660 he was one of the three major generals of
militia. Bennett was an ancestor of General Robert E. Lee. Two
other distinguished men of the county were doubtless in sympathy
with Bennett's dissenting views ; Edward Major and Thomas Dew,
who represented the county in the Assembly. Each of them in turn
occupied the Speaker's chair while Bennett was Governor. Dew
seems also to have followed Bennett's lead in sympathizing with the
Quakers in his later life, for we have record of his attendance upon
the meetings of Fox.

The records of the Chuckatuck meeting-house published in the
Southern Historical Publications contain valuable genealogical data,
and show how strong the Quaker sentiment was in the county
during this period. The leading spirit among the Friends was
Thomas Jordan. The sketch of him in these records is as follows:
"Thomas Jordan of Chuckatuck in Nansemond Co. in Va. was born
in ye year 1634 and in ye year 1660 he Received ye truth and A Bode
f aithf ull in it, and in constant unity with ye f aithf ull 'friends thereof ;
and stood in opposision against all wrong and Desatefull spirits,
having suffered ye spoiling of his goods and ye improsionment of
his Body for for ye truth's sake, and continued in ye truth unto the
End of his dayes."

The Quakers were very strict in their discipline. There is
repeated record of disputes about lands and personal property being
settled by the Friends in meeting. Contested wills were also referred
to the Society for settlement. There is mention in a single line of a
father publicly in meeting disowning his son for having married
outside of the Society. Fuller mention is made of the fact that

'/■*'*-;f

r 5

M. E Church, Whaleyville, Va.

Daniel Saubourn on behalf of men's meeting in Chuckatuck signed
en "the eighth day of the 3d mth in the year 1701 a certificate of
disownment against Tho' Duke of Nansemond County for marring
of one that was not of us and lickwise going to the hireling priest."
The records show that in 1682 both Thomas and Edmund Godwin
were members of the Chuckatuck meeting-house. The Quakers
increased very rapidly in spite of the laws against them and they
seem to have been unmolested, except those who like Thomas
Jordan refused . to pay their tithes, defied the court and maligned
the clergy. Besides the meeting-house at Chuckatuck, there was one
at Somerton and one in Suffolk parish built "by the high- way side."'
The Godwins seem to have severed their connection with the
Quakers, for after 1682 both Thomas and Edmund Godwin were
vestrymen of Chuckatuck parish and both filled the office of sheriff.
Col. Thomas Godwin Sr. was a burgess from 1654 to 1658. His
son of the same name died in 1714. As the two bore the same name,

Iron Bridge, Reed's Ferry

and both filled conspicuous offices in the county and Colony it is
often impossible .to determine which Thomas Godwin is meant.
The change of the county line in deference to Thomas Godwin in
1674 doubtless refers to the elder Godwin. The probability is that
it was he who was Speaker of the Assembly in 1676. His son Thomas
was a member of the defiant vestry in Chuckatuck that denied the
Governor's right of induction. He was also Colonel commandant
of militia and was removed by Gov. Nicholson in 1705. At the
time of his death in 1714 he was presiding justice of the county
court. Thomas Godwin, the third, was member of the House of
Burgesses in 1714 and in 1723, and sheriff in 1731, 1732 and in
1734.

Another distinguished man of this period was Col. Thomas
Milner. In 1680 he was appointed surveyor of Nansemond, Nor-
folk and Princess Anne counties. About 1690 he made at the request
of the Governor a survey of the boundary line between Virginia and
North Carolina. For this service re received fifty pounds. He was
Lt. Colonel of Militia and a member of the County Court. He was
clerk of the House of Burgesses but was turned out of office by the
Governor in 1685. He was afterwards elected a member of the
House and was Speaker from 1691 to 1693.

In 1703 Gov. Nicholson, whose tyrannical behavior involved
him in so many quarrels with the Colonists, incurred the hatred of
the citizens of Nansemond by his interference in county affairs.

Iron Bridge, Kxit

According to the statement of Commissary Blair the trouble began
with Nicholson's turning out of office the efficient Clerk of the Court,
Daniel Sullivan. Sullivan had voted and worked for the election of
Capt. Thomas Swann to the House of Burgesses. The Governor
was bitterly hostile to Swann and in revenge for Sullivan's espousal
of Swann's cause, deprived that gentleman of his office, and appointed
in his stead a man whom the court deemed wholly incompetent. The
appointment was made by the Governor without consultation with
his Council, and the court refused to accept the new appointee. The
Governor again without consulting the Council immediately turned

six of the eight justices out of office and appointed a new court of
incompetent men. This court and the new clerk managed the affairs
of the county so miserably that there was a general outcry. Nichol-
son's behavior in this matter was the ground of one of the charges
brought against him by Blair and helped to bring about his removal
from office.

According to the theory of the Governors of Virginia they were
the representatives of the King and hence patrons of all the livings
in the Colony. The patent which gave to the Bishop of London
the spiritual oversight of the Church in Virginia had left the right

Public School Building, Crittenden, Va.

of induction to the livings with the governors. If to this conceded
right of induction, the Vestries had granted the justice of the
Governor's claim of authority to present to the livings, then the
Governor would have been enabled to impose upon the people any
ministers whatever. The people maintained that they and not the
King or his representatives were the patrons of the livings, and that
the Vestry as the representative of the people could alone present to
a living. It is often said that most of the leading Virginians in the
Revolutionary period got their training for public life in the parish
vestry meeting. Certain it is that Gov. Nicholson met with a distinct
defiance from one vestry in Nansemond.

The opinion of Sir Edward Northy, the King's attorney, up-
holding the Governor's prerogative, was sent to all the vestries and
ordered to be recorded in the vestry-books. The Vestry of Chucka-

tuck parish obeyed the Governor's order and placed the document on
record, but added this spirited resolution to it :

"But as to presenting our present or any other minister for
induction are not of opinion (record here is unintelligible) but are
willing to entertain our present minister upon the usual terms, as
formerly hath been used in this Colony."

Geo. B. Robertson's Residence, Whaleyville, Va.

A leading member of that Vestry was Capt. Thomas Swann,
and it would be interesting to know whether his action in this matter
was the ground of the Governor's hositility to him.

In 1728 Commissioners were appointed to determine the divid-
ing line between Virginia and North Carolina. Col. Wlliam Byrd
has left a description of the running of the dividing line in the West-
over Manuscripts. He tells of his visit to the home of Col. Andrew
Meade near the headwaters of Nansemond River. We have a vivid
picture of the prodigal hospitality of those days. Col. Byrd says
that on leaving, his host insisted on sending with him a cart-load of
provisions to eat and drink. Byrd says that on the journey through
the county "we passed no less than two Quaker meeting-houses.
That persuasion prevails much in the lower end of Nansemond
county, for want of ministers to pilot the people a decenter way to
heaven. The ill reputation of the tobacco in these lower parishes

makes the clergy unwilling to accept of them except such whose
abilities are as mean as their pay."

In 1734 the house of Christopher Jackson, clerk of the County
of Nansemond, was destroyed by fire and the greater part of the
county records were burned. Several acts of Assembly were passed
in this and succeeding years for the relief of persons the titles to
whose property were rendered insecure by the loss of the records.

, Some time previous to the year 1731 Chuckatuck parish and
Lower parish were combined into one parish and called Suffolk
parish. There is no record of the time when such change was made,

Public School Building, Holland, Va.

but reference is made to it in the will of John Yeates dated Septem-
ber, 1731. This will is a lengthy and curious document. He makes
provision for the maintenance of two schools built by him, and for
the pay of the teachers. He gives to the church a communion ser-
vice, pulpit cloth and cushion, a great Bible and some theological
works. He bequeaths to "my friends, the gentlemen of the Vestry
living this side of the river a treat at my house." He gives to "my
worthy friends, the worshipful court of Nansemond, ten shillings to
drink for my sake." He is evidently still disgruntled over the com-
bining of the two parishes for he goes out of his way to take a fling
In 1742 an act of Asembly was passed for erecting a town at
Constance's Warehouse in the County of Nansemond. The pre-

amble to this act shows that the drift of population had turned
strongly towards the head waters of the Nansemond. At first the
settlements had been mainly on the lower Nansemond and on West-
ern Branch.

"Inasmuch as it hath been represented unto this General As-
sembly that great numbers of people have lately settled themselves
at and near a place called Constance's Warehouse on the east side
of Nansemond River in the County of Nansemond where the public
warehouses are built ; which place is healthful, commodious and con-
venient for traders to cohabit in, and bring their goods to. And

Main Street, Holland, Va.

that in case a town was laid out there trade and navigation would be
greatly encouraged and increased."

Fifty acres of lands belonging to Jethro Sumner (being a part
of the estate of the late Daniel Sullivan, Clerk of the County, which
land had come to Sumner through his wife, Margaret Sullivan.)
were bought and laid off by the County Surveyor, John Milner.
Trustees of the new town were appointed. They were Lemuel Rid-
dick, Wm. Baker, Wm. Wright, Edward Wright, John Gregory
and Edward Norfleet. The land was purchased for three pounds an
acre. The town was called Suffolk, though it was not in Suffolk
parish, the name of the parish antedating that of the town by many

years. A reminder of the ancient name of the settlement remains
in the tract of land adjoining the town cemetery, which is still called,
Constantia, and the house on the place is now used by the town as a
home for indigent negroes.

We have now reached a period of the county's history where
for the first time records within the county itself are available for
information. The records ■.- are copies of the old vestry books of /
Upper Parish of Nansemond, and Suffolk Parish. The vestry book
of Upper Parish commences in 1744, and that of Suffolk Parish in
1749. So far as is known, these volumes are the only records

Hotel at Whaleyville, Va.

owned by the county of events antedating the destruction of the
county records in 1866.

These old records present a picture of the life and habits of the
people of Nansemond in early days, which, though fragmentary, is
still full of interest. Until the Revolution, the Church of England
was the established church of Virginia. The clergy were inducted
into office by the Governors and the church was supported like any
other institution of government by taxes paid by the people. The
authority to present a clergyman was held by a vestry of twelve
men, who were elected by the people. The vestry were generally
the most conspicuous and influential members of the community.
Their duties were not merely ecclesiastical, for to them was in-

trusted the care and support of the poor of the parish and the hold-
ing of all trust funds for such purposes. They appointed the pro-
cession masters, and to them the reports of all processionings were
made. They fixed the rate of taxation for tithes and, to them all
tithes were paid. The study of these old vestry books makes plain
the fact that the people of Virginia identified themselves with the
church just as they identified themselves with the government.
They were the church just as they were the state. The parson was
their duly appointed minister, whose duties were well marked out
and whose authority was carefully defined. The vestries made

Bank at Whaleyville, Whaleyville, Va.

earnest efforts that the parish be always supplied with a minister,
but every church and chapel was provided with a salaried clerk, who
read the services regularly; and the lack of a minister did not pre-
vent the congregations from attending services. Wherever a suffi-
cient number of citizens settled in the county a chapel was immedi-
ately erected and a clerk appointed. The people were the church,
and the vestry the duly elected representatives of the people. The
taxes for maintaining the church establishment were called tithes.
Every male inhabitant over sixteen years of age was a tithable and
must pay his part towards the support of the church. The rate of
taxation for tithes from 1750 to 1800 varies from 28 to 60 pounds
of tobacco per poll; but as the records show that Nansemond to-

bacco brought only from V/z to 2 pence a pound, the tax would
never have been very onerous. Tobacco was the common currency,
and the minister's salary was 16,000 pounds to tobacco yearly. The
clerk of the chapel received 1,000 pounds, and in one case during a
long vacancy in the ministry of the parish the salary of the clerk in
the parish church was raised to 2,000 pounds. The number of tith-
ables in Upper Parish in 1744 was 1,139. There was a church at
Chuckatuck, in early days, near the present site of St. John's, but
this church was pulled down and the present one erected in 1755.
The old Glebe Church, or Bennett's Creek Church, as it is called in

Boat landing, Suffolk Wharf

the records, was erected in 1738. These two seem to have been the
only churches in Suffolk Parish. The lands along the river and
western branch were the first portions of the county settled, but
after 1700 the upper portion of the county received a large influx
of population. Upper Parish outgrew the other parishes, and Lower
Parish and Chuckatuck were combined to form Suffolk Parish about
1725. Even after this combination, Upper Parish held the majority
of inhabitants, and in 1744 a part of it was added to Suffolk Parish.
The first church in Upper Parish was commonly known as the Old
Brick Church. In 1748 this church was abandoned as being unsafe.

The site of this church is unknown. After the founding of Suffolk
in 1742, the town church became the parish church, but there were
several chapels with organized congregations that were served by
the minister. These chapels were at Somerton, Cypress, Holy Neck
and Nottoway. When the boundary between Nansemond and
Southampton was changed in 1785, Nottoway was put in South-
ampton.

The old vestry books furnish valuable information as to the
ancient citizens of the county. The reports of the procession masters
give the names of most of the freeholders in the county. Some of
the items entered upon the records provoke a smile. The order for
the payment of 500 pounds of tobacco to the doctor for "salevating

Court House, Suffolk, Va.

Mary Brinkley and keeping her salevated" is not the record of per-
secution, but of kindly care for one of the parish poor. In 1755 the
Assembly passed a law that every person receiving aid from the
parish should, upon the shoulder of the right sleeve, in an open and
visible manner, wear a badge with the name of the parish cut either
in blue, red or green cloth ; and if any poor person should neglect or
refuse to wear such badge, his or her allowance should be with-
drawn, or the offender whipped not exceeding five lashes for each
offence. This law seems to have been a dead letter in most parishes,

but it was enforced in Suffolk Parish, at least to the extent of pro-
viding the badges and making the allowance to the poor conditional
on their wearing the badge. The provision in Yeates' will "for a
treat at my house to my friends, the gentlemen of the vestry," was
not a jest, but a recognition of the convivial habits of these gentle-
men; for we read in the list of parish expenses an order for the
payment "to Wm. Johns for the trouble of his house and liquor 200
pounds of tobacco." Men kept open house in those days, and the
decanter stood invitingly in the open. Men were free-livers and no
criticism attached to a man who drank in his home or in the house

^!C;«C

[■•'■■
■■■'[

\ W, V il •' '-

H> /

- -N M \\

~'\ \ \

-yi> '

'■ . \ --v\}' ' r ./"* i'

, • . ,,V

•C^

• •- \\\\ Vl-~'''> ■''-•'

' "^ '-•+

N>-,.,

>f---

• V'1

£''j\ '

^p^7-"

/-"' ^^stfeSTTx "' lKl^-MpT' '•'$' '

l'-}y- \£ ( f*

Kl>6-

,/--V

; "■ "imMi^^fr^"^^^^

k^y

: '""Ad

:^?lssi$!

v^Bi8Piai«lfe£ ' ^X_

rf^wL~--l

' - $& '^™M^tS^m ik3^

Ni.'/S "«£ *'>.*''

'wSk

im£&§££^

lllj^*ii§

P\dHW '"; J&h

■ -■■' -*£!

*j~^~^i

i ] ]}i

■ '■_**.■: |

'-"*•*** -V ■ *E '/■■ ■'.... fir:: '

*ftr~

~~Z?-.. {y

:>-.;■ J;Qsi ■-

-f^'.

Masonic and Town Hall, Chuckatuck, Va.

of a friend. The minister no less than the laity took his glass, and
did not violate convention. The salary of the parson was fixed by
law at 16,000 pounds of tobacco. In Nansemond this meant a scant
living, as the land was not adapted to the cultivation of tobacco, and
the tobacco here was proverbially poor stuff. The vestries never
took this fact into consideration, and neld to the letter of the law.
But few ministers were willing to undertake the task of living on
from £50 to £80 a year, and of those who came some were men who
were unable to get a parish elsewhere. The result was disastrous
in several instances. In Upper Parish, two parsons, Balfour and
Lunan, were arraigned by the vestry for being too much addicted

to drink, and in Suffolk Parish the minister for many years was
Parson Agnew, an irascible old gentleman who was continually at
odds with the vestry and people. With these exceptions, however,
the ministers seem to have been above reproach, and in one case the
vestry puts on record its high appreciation of the character and
services of its minister, the Rev. Henry John Burges.

The local institutions of the Colonial period present a striking
contrast to our times, not only in ecclesiastical but in civil life. The
county court consisted of eight justices of the peace, appointed by
the Governor in Council. The office of a justice was one of dis-

Christian Church, Holland, Va.

tinction, for the court was to consist "of eight of the most able, hon-
est and judicious persons in the county." The office of sheriff der
volved upon the eldest justice, but could only be held for one year,
and passed in rotation to the other justices. No justice to whom
the office of sheriff had come in due course was allowed to refuse
it, a heavy fine being the punishment for such refusal. The county
clerk was also appointed by the Governor in council. A special act
provided for the punishment of a justice who should be "overtaken
of drink on court day."

As late as 1705 the county courts were compelled to provide
at every court house, stocks, pillory and a ducking stool. The act
providing for the ducking stool has a plaintive tone: "Whereas

oftentimes many brabling women often slander and scandalize their
neighbors, for which their poor husbands are often brought into
chargeable and vexatious suites and cast in great damages. Be it
enacted that in actions of slander occasioned by the wife as afore-
said, after judgment passed for the damages, the woman shall be
punished by ducking."

In the first days of the colony every man "fitting to bear arms"
was compelled by law to bring his gun with him to church. This
law gradually became a dead letter, as the Indians were driven out.
The Nansemond and Nottoway tribes remained and were a con-

Public School Building, Suffolk, Va.

tinual menace to the inhabitants of Nansemond, and the custom of
going to church armed obtained in this county long after it was
abandoned by the other communities along the seaboard.

The vestry records state explicity that the county court house
was in Upper Parish even before the building of Suffolk, and the
reports of the procession masters indicate that it was situated a few
miles east of Suffolk.

In 1763 George Washington visited the county and explored
the Dismal Swamp in the capacity of a prospector or engineer. In
his diary for October of that year he gives a brief account of his
experiences.

In 1767 Washington, together with Fielding Lewis and

Thomas Walker, obtained a grant of land in the swamp. The rec-
ord of the grant in the land office is as follows: "Sept. 10th, 1707.
In the great Dismal Swamp. Beginning at a corner tree of George
Walker and Davis Meades' land, 50 acres, part thereof formally
granted to John Cole, April 25th 1695, and 188 acres as the residue
never before granted." Washington was a stockholder in the Dis-
mal Swamp Land Co., whose property was largely in the county of
Nansemond. Two canals were dug by this company; one of them,
five miles long, bears the name df Washington ; and the other, Jeri-

Bank of Holland, Holland, Va.

cho canal, derives its name from the name of the estate through
which it passes near its former junction with the Nansemond river.
When the trouble with Great Britain began, Nansemond
promptly organized its Committee of Safety, and this committee
was very active in the cause of the colony. Parson Agnew, the min-
ister of Suffolk Parish, was a zealous supporter of the British
cause, and bitter in his condemnation of the growing spirit of inde-
pendence. In the spring of 1775 Parson Agnew was observed to
visit actively among his congregation, urging them to full attend-
ance on a certain Sunday. The ladies especially were invited. On the
appointed Sunday the church was filled with women, while a crowd
of men numbering five hundred stood outside and listened through

the windows. Parson Agnew read the prayer for the King and no
word of disapproval was heard. He chose for his text, "Render
unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." His hearers pricked
up their ears, for they knew what was coming. He began to decry
the heinous sin of disloyalty to government. Suddenly Mr. Wm.
Cowper, a vestryman and magistrate, left his seat in the magis-
trate's pew and,. mounting the steps of the pulpit ordered the speaker
to come down. "I am doing my Master's business," said the parson.
"Which master?" replied Cowper; "your Master in heaven or your
master over the seas? You must leave this church or I will use
force." "I will never be the cause of breeding riot in my Master's
house," said the minister. Parson Agnew then came down from
the pulpit and walked down the aisle and through the crowd at the
church door, which parted to make him a passage. He entered his
carriage and drove away. The congregation quietly dispersed, and
Parson Agnew never again entered the church where he had
preached for so many years.

This ejection of the minister by his own congregation caused
a great deal of talk in the county and throughout the colony. In
some quarters the people were much criticised for their action. The
parson, though driven from his pulpit, continued his activity against
what he considered the spirit of disloyalty. He was warned re-
peatedly by the Committee ofNSafety, but he persisted. The matter
grew so grave that the committee finally, through its secretary, Mr.
John Gregorie, sent to the Virginia Gazette a recital of the charges
against Agnew.

(Virginia Gazette, April 8th, 1775.)
CHARGES AGAINST PARSON AGNEW.
"He asserted that it was no hardship to be carried beyond sea
for crimes committed here. He declared when speaking of the Con-
gress that all such combinations and associations were detestable;
that the Congress did not know what they were about; that the de-
signs of the great men were to ruin the poor people and that after
a while they would forsake them and lay the whole blame on their
shoulders, and by this means make them slaves. He likewise in-
formed Mr. Smith there was an association of the other party up
the county and the people were signing it fast, that they had dis-
covered their error in signing the present one. Upon the whole the
public will plainly discover the principles this Rev. Gentleman en-
tertains and in what light he views the general resolutions adopted
and entered into for our relief from the oppressive hand of power.
Had this zealous advocate for despotic rule been as assiduous in the

/ 42

discharge of the several duties of his function as he has been indus-
trious in propagating false and erroneous principles, not only in
private discourse, but in blending detestable tenets in his angry ora-
tions from the pulpit in order to gain a party in opposition to the
common cause and thereby lending his aid to reduce the very people
that gave him bread to a state of wretchedness, this committee had
not been at the trouble to examine the 11th article of the association
and opening his conduct to the censure of the world."

(Signed) JOHN GREGORIE. (C. C.)

In the journal of the Committee of Safety of the colony there
is this entry:

"Williamsburg, April 9th, 1776.

"The proceedings and sentence of the court of commissioners
for Nansemond county, respecting the conduct of Rev. John Agnew
and the said Agnew's appeal from the said sentence were laid be-
fore the committee. Resolved, that this committee hear the said

Jackson Bros. Co.'s Mill, Whaleyville, Va.

appeal tomorrow, and Mr. Agnew have notice to attend." The
minutes of the committee from this point to April 29th, 1776, are
missing, so that we have no knowledge of the result of the appeal.
Agnew left the county some time during this year and became chap-
lain of the Queen's Rangers, a British troop. He was taken pris-
oner, along with his son, Stair Agnew, during the Revolution and
carried to France.

In the Virginia Convention of 1776, which gave to the new
state its first constitution, which was at the same time the first
written constitution of a free state in history, and which put forth
Geo. Mason's Bill of Rights, the county was represented by Col.

Willis Riddick, who was commandant of the county militia, and by
Wm. Cowper, who had won popularity by his action in expelling
Farson Agnew from the Bennett's Creek Church. In the conven-
tion of 1788, which ratified the Constitution of the United States,
the county was represented by Willis Riddick and Solomon Shep-
herd.

After the burning of Norfolk in January, 1776, numbers of the
houseless and distressed fugitives from that place fled to Suffolk.
The people of Suffolk threw open their doors to them and every
building was soon crowded with them. When Col. Howe, of the
Virginia forces retired to Suffolk in February, bringing with him
650 men, the town was threatened with serious distress by a lack
of provisions for her many guests, but the country folk came to their
aid and all were at last cared for.

During the Revolution, whenever Chesapeake bay happened to
be blockaded by the British, the only direct foreign trade of the
colony was conducted by way of Albemarle sound and its tribu-
taries. The depot of this trade was at South Quay, in the upper
portion of Nansemond county. Government supplies came by this
route. These supplies were then carried by wagon train to Suffolk.
Several attempts were made by the British to capture or destroy
these stores at Suffolk, but the vigilance of the Virginia troops,
aided by the militia, prevented the British from advancing as far
as Suffolk.

In 1779 Sir Henry Clinton determined to make an attack upon
Virginia. He sent a powerful fleet, which anchored in Hampton
Roads, landed a large force under Gen. Matthews, which took pos-
session of Portsmouth and Norfolk, and committed extensive de-
vastations in the surrounding country. It was on this expedition,
May 13th, that Suffolk was burned.

As soon as the news of the arrival of the British in Hampton
Roads was received, the militia of Nansemond were called to arms.
Suffolk was appointed as the meeting place. Only 200 men re-
sponded to the call, and these were poorly armed. Few had muskets,
and still fewer ammunition. These, however, they obtained from
Capt. Bright, who commanded the letter-of-marque brig Mars,
that was lying in the river. Bright also furnished two cannon,
which were immediately mounted on cart wheels. This little army,
under Col. Willis Riddick, marched about eight miles on the Nor-
folk road and went into camp on the 11th of May in the field in
front of Capt. James Murdagh's house. Three young soldiers,
Josiah Riddick, Thomas Granbury and Thomas Brittle, were sent
on ahead to get information of the enemy's advance. They were

captured by the British just below Hall's Mill, in Norfolk county,
and carried to New York, where they were prisoners for a year
and a half. The militia under Col. Riddick, getting no news from
the scouts, remained in ignorance of the approach of the British.
Two officers, Captains King and Davis, went off to a tavern about
a mile from camp to pass the night. While there, they were sur-
prised by the enemy. Davis was killed, but King escaped and
informed his comrades in camp of the enemy's proximity. Col.
AYillis Riddick was so confident that the enemy was still at a great

Chapel, Chuckatuck, Va.

distance that he had retired to his house for the night. The com-
mand developed upon Col. Edward Riddick, and he ordered a re-
treat to Suffolk. Next morning two officers were dispatched to
learn the position and force of the enemy. They came in sight of
the British four miles below Suffolk, and counted 600 infantry.
The little force of militia had become demoralized during the night,
and only 100 answered to the call to arms next morning. Resist-
ance was useless, and every man was told to look out for himself.
Some delayed long enough to gather their property together, only
to be captured by the British; the rest escaped. The royal troops
entered the town and set fire to the buildings. The court house,

the clerk's office, with all the county records, and many other build-
ings were destroyed. The government stores were captured. Sev-
eral hundred barrels of tar, pitch, turpentine and rum were on the
wharves awaiting shipment. The heads of the barrels were knocked
in and their contents poured into the river and then set on fire.
The wind and tide carried the burning tar and pitch across the
river to the wide marshes, and soon the sheet of fire extended for
■many miles.

During the next two years Nansemond had good cause to
remember the British. Gen. Tarleton, returning from his famous
raid and attempt to capture the legislature, joined the royal troops
•encamped at Suffolk. Some time during 1781 a detachment of
British troops under Capt. Saunders came up from Portsmouth,
crossed the river at Sleepy Hole and carried off horses and other
property, and returned by way of Suffolk. Lord Cornwallis, hav-
ing crossed the James from Williamsburg, marched through Nanse-
mond, crossing the river, by the Sleepy Hole ferry. Among the
British troops who were at Suffolk during this year were the
Queen's Rangers, of which troop Parson Agnew was chaplain,
and in which his son, Stair Agnew, was a captain.

After the destruction of Suffolk by the British an act of as-
sembly authorizes the justices of the county to hold court "at such
convenient place as they shall appoint" until a new court house
could be erected. Tradition points to a spot adjoining the parish
church yard in Chuckatuck as the ancient site of a county clerk's
■office. As the British were in possession of the region around
Suffolk for two years, it may be that the court house and clerk's
office were moved to Chuckatuck during that period.

In 1778 David Barrow, pastor of the Mill Swamp Baptist
church in Isle of Wight, and Mr. Mintz, another Baptist, preached
by invitation at the house of a gentleman who lived on Nansemond
River in Lower Parish. A platform was erected and a crowd
assembled. After the expulsion of Agnew, the parish church re-
mained vacant, though the vestry had advertised for a minister.
With the exception of the gatherings at the two Quaker meeting
bouses, the parish, for three years, had had no preacher in their
preaching of the two Baptists stirred up some ill-feeling, and a
midst, tho' the clerk still read the services in the church. The
crowd of about twenty men determined to break up the meeting.
They jeered and sung songs, and finally captured Barrow and
Mintz and carried them to the river and ducked them. Barrow
was the chief sufferer, as they thrust his face down into the mud
of the river. Mintz, who had given less occasion for ill feeling,

was let off more easily. The affair was evidently the outcome of
the reckless mood of a crowd of young rowdies, who resented the
preacher's criticism of them. Only the fevered imagination of a
pious chronicler could make it appear as a part of a systematic per-
secution by the established church. The first Baptist church in the
county was Western Branch church,. It was at first but a mission
of the Mill Swamp church. The date of its founding is uncertain.
In 1787, nine years after his unpleasant experience in Nansemond
River, Mintz returned to the scene of his former labors and or-

County Clerk's Office, Suffolk, Va.

ganized Shoulder's Hill church. The sentiment of the community
had condemned the act of rowdyism and Mr. Mintz met with much
encouragement. A strong church was soon established. The church
building was finally sold and another built at Sycamore Hill, in Nor-
folk county.

In 1779 Asbury, the great leader of Methodism in Virginia,,
labored in Nansemond. He was accorded a warm welcome. In
his diary for 1779 Asbury mentions that he preached in "the great
preaching house at Nansemond." This preaching house had been
converted from a store into a church. The established church was
sadly crippled by the Revolution. A few of its ministers had re-
mained loyal to the British government; others were forced into
secular pursuits in order to live; some entered the American army.

Of the ninety clergymen in Virginia when the Revolution began
hardly more than twenty were in charge of parishes when the
war closed. The Church of England shared the hatred heaped
upon all things English in name or character. The vestry who had
been the twelve great men of the parish and had excited the envy
of the less fortunate, became also objects of open dislike. The
vestry levied the tithes, and the agitation against the church had
its economic as well as social, religious and political significance.
Every force in the colony was against the church and even those
who loved her felt that the times were hopelessly against her. The
church in many counties became extinct. In Nansemond the church
still held to the parish churches at Bennett's Creek, Chuckatuck
and at Suffolk. The church in Suffolk seems to have been badly
injured during the period of the British occupation. An effort to
raise funds by 'Subscription for repairs in 1791 failed, and the church
gradually fell to pieces. It was pulled down in 1820 and the bricks
sold. The church at Bennett's Creek was in a dilapidated condition
as early as 1812, but was remodeled and repaired in 1854. The
chapels in Upper Parish passed out of the possession of the church
after the Revolution. The people in the neighborhood of these
churches being without a minister, offered the buildings to the
Methodist preachers, who were very active in missionary work. Cy-
press chapel became a Methodist church. This church was in the
circuit of the Rev. James O'Kelly, an eloquent and zealous Metho-
dist preacher. In 1793 O'Kelly, with several other ministers, se-
ceded from the Methodist church and organized the Republican
Methodists. His Cypress chapel congregation went with him. In
1801 the name of the new church was changed to the Christian
church.' Holy Neck chapel has a similar history. Some time about
1800 a meeting-house was built in Suffolk by popular subscription.
This meeting-house stood on the present site of the cemetery. It
was free to all who desired to use it. Baptists, Methodists, Episco-
palians and O'Kellyites all held services there.

By an act of legislature all glebe lands belonging to the estab-
lished church, except those lands which had been a private dona-
tion, were ordered to be sold and the proceeds turned over to the
overseers of the poor. The glebe in Upper Parish passed from the
hands of the church, but when the overseers of the poor claimed the
glebe in Suffolk Parish, Parson Jacob Keeling fought the case in
the court, proved the fact that it had been a private gift and won his
case. The valuable Glebe farm is still held by the trustees of the
Episcopal church in this parish.

The county passed through a long period of agricultural de-

pression from 1820 to 1835. The population was almost at a
standstill during these years. The chief industries of the county
were the manufacture of tar, turpentine and staves. The Dismal
Swamp was the largest source of revenue. In 1835 three mil-
lion shingles were brought down the canals. It was about 1835
that the farmers began to utilize the marl that is so widely dis-
tributed. An immediate improvement was manifested. Indian corn
remained for a long time the staple product. The county fur-
nished its quota of soldiers in the war of 1812 and some of its
citizens fought in Mexico, but during the period from 1835 to 1860

Putlic School Building, Whaleyville, Va.

the county enjoyed a normal development in the midst of unevent-
ful times.

Looking back upon those days the words, "Blessed is the land
that has no history," seem something more than a jest, for the days
when history was being made within her boundaries have ever been
days of suffering and distress to our citizens. During the time of
peace and quiet the county still took an interest in military affairs.
The malitia was well organized. The Nansemond malitia composed
the 59th Regiment. In 1844 Col. Hugh H. Kelly was Col. Comd't,
and Wiley Parker, Jr., R. R. Smith, E. D. B. Howell, Nathaniel
E. Pruden, John Oberry and Edmund Riddick captains of light
infantry. Nansemond also had a company of light artillery and
one or more companies of cavalry. The Nansemond cavalry was
commanded in 1849 by Capt. B. D. Smith. In that year Capt.
Smith petitioned the legislature for new arms for his command.

This petition was granted, and when this company entered the ser-
vice of the Confederacy and became Company I of the 13th Va.
Cavalry they carried into service the old flint and steel pistols
granted to the company in 1849.

Muster day was a great day in the county, but, unfortunately,
there was no chronicler of the doings on the muster-ground. Only
dim legends survive of the revels and combats of the green where
many a political aspiration first voiced its desire, and where the
acknowledged victor of many a neighborhood fight thirsted for new
glory as champion of the county. The muster-ground was situated
about three miles southwest of Suffolk. The event that stands
out during this period was the great fire that, in 1837, nearly de-
stroyed the town of Suffolk. The court house and jail were burned,
but the newly erected clerk's office escaped. About 130 houses were
burned. In 1849 the first newspaper in the county was published.
This paper was the Suffolk Intelligencer. Its editor was John R.
Kilby, and it was Whig in politics.

Among the legends of the county are stories of runaway slaves
wrho had fled to Dismal Swamp, and lived there for many years in
a state of almost complete savagery. In the Virginia convention
which passed the ordinance of secession, the county was repre-
sented by John R. Kilby. Virginia's call to her sons to come to
the defense of her honor met with a quick and hearty response in
Nansemond. Nine companies entered the Confederate service from
the county.

Prior to the evacuation of Norfolk, May 10th, 1862, Suffolk
was occupied by the Confederate troops. After the fall of Norfolk
the Confederates withdrew to the other side of Blackwater River.
On May 12th, 1862, Col. Dodge's N. Y. Cavalry rode into Suffolk
and took possession. A large force of Federals soon arrived and
encamped in the neighborhood of the town. In September Gen.
Peck assumed command of the Federals and, fearing an attack
from the Confederates, who were massing troops beyond the Black-
water, commenced to throw up entrenchments. Every preparation
was made for a prolonged siege. In his official report Peck states
that "ten miles of batteries, covered ways and rifle-pits have been
thrown up. Most of the artillery is protected by embrasures; the
parapets are from 12 to 15 feet in thickness, while the covered ways
are from 8 to 10 feet." Several gun-boats arrived and lay in the
Nansemond to assist in the defense of the Federal position. About
17,000 troops were in Peck's command. On Nov. 14th, 1862, there
was a skirmish at Providence church between a party of 300 Con-

federates under Col. Claiborne and the N. Y. Mounted Rifles. The
Confederates were forced to retire to Blackwater.

In the spring of 1863 Gen'l Longstreet, then in command of
the forces at Petersburg, crossed the Blackwater River with the
double purpose of obtaining forage and provisions from Nansemond,
Isle of Wight, and adjacent portions of North Carolina, and of mak-
ing a demonstration against Suffolk with a view of preventing the
forces there from joining Gen. Hooker's army, which Gen. Lee
was trying to draw into battle. On April 11th, 1863, Longstreet
advanced upon Suffolk. There was a skirmish on South Quay Road
and the Federal pickets were driven back. Next day there were
skirmishes on the Edenton, Providence Church and Somerton roads.
The Confederates pushed on to the north bank of the Nansemond,
and planted a battery near the Norfleet house, a few miles below Suf-
folk. The battery at Norfleet's opened fire on the gun-boats; and
disabled the Monmouth Washington and the West-End. They
drifted on the flats but were towed off by the Stepping Stones, and
fell down the river. Another Confederate battery was planted at
Hill's Pt. at the mouth of Western Branch.

On April 19th Lieutenant Lamson of the Federal navy sug-
gested and successfully executed a plan for taking Huger's Bat-
tery at Hills Pt. by surprise. A storming party of 500 landed
and attacked the fort in the rear. The Confederate infantry in
the neighborhood, under command of Gen. French, had failed to
establish a picket line, and Capt. Stribling, who was in command
of Huger's Battery, was ignorant of the approach of the storming
party until they were close on the fortifications. The battery had
been hastily constructed at night, and the guns faced the river and
could not be turned inland. The battery was captured and 125
made prisoners. On April 23rd there was a skirmish at Chucka-
tuck. Next day the Federals made two attacks on the Confederate
picket lines south of Suffolk and there was brisk fighting for a
time, but the casualties were slight. On May 3rd Longstreet be-
gan to withdraw his forces and retire to his old lines beyond
Blackwater, and the siege of Suffolk was over. There was skir-
mishing that day near Hills Pt., at Reid's Ferry and Chuckatuck,
but they were all small affairs. The main purpose of Longstreet's
move had been accomplished, though his correspondence with Gen.
Lee and the Secretary of War make plain that he was very anx-
ious to make an attack on Suffolk. The presence of the gun-
boats in the Nansemond made it impossible to , flank the enemy,
and Longstreet persistently urged the Confederate authorities to
send the Confederate gun-boat Richmond down the James to Nanse-

mond River. The obstructions in the James prevented the send-
ing of the Richmnod, and Longstreet wrote to Lee that while
he thought that he could certainly take the works at Suffolk by
assault that it would probably be a the cost of 3,000 men, and
that the game was not worth the candle. In this opinion Gen.
Lee concurred, adding: "If you were to capture Suffolk, I could
not spare men to garrison it."

One event of the siege of Suffolk was so tragic that in the mem-
ory of old inhabitants it still stands out as of peculiar sadness,
^ven in the midst of the anguish of those terrible days of civil
war. This incident was the death of Mrs. Geo. R. Smith, the
wife of a prominent citizen, whose home was about a mile from
Suffolk.

On April 13th the Federal pickets on the Somerton road were
driven in by a force of Confederate infantry and cavalry. Long-
street's artillery then opened on the Federals, and immediately the
guns from Fort Union, Fort Nansemond, and Fort McClellan
responded. The Federal shells riddled the residence of Mr. Smith,
and he and his family were forced to seek shelter in the
cellar of an outhouse. The Federals sent out a party of skir-
mishers under Col. Foster. They posted sharpshooters in a small
house some distance from the main dwelling, and established a
line of pickets along the lanes in the front and rear of the house.
Col. Magruder ordered a force of Confederates to dislodge the
sharpshooters. They were driven out and the Federal picket line
forced back to the woods in the rear of the dwelling. The fighting
was all around the house in which the Smith family had taken
refuge ; and they thought it best to seek shelter in the woods. They
had almost reached the woods when Mrs. Smith was struck by a
bullet and bled to death before medical aid could be obtained. So
active was the skirmishing for the next few days that the four little
children, one of them an infant, were compelled to remain in the
woods from Monday until Thursday. It was impossible to deter-
mine whether the party was fired on by the Federals, or whether
the fatal shot came from the advancing Confederates.

During the Federal occupation of Suffolk the civil govern-
ment of the county was practically suspended. The first session
of the County Court was held in South Quay church on Feb-
ruary 8th, 1864. It was not until August, 1865, that the court
again held its sessions at the court house in Suffolk. During the
war the county clerk, Mr. Peter Prentis, was arrested by the Fed-
eral authorities and imprisoned at Point Lookout. Fearing lest
the county records might be destroyed, they were carried to Norfolk

and deposited in the Customs House. The records were returned
to Suffolk at the close of the war. On the night of February 7th,
1866, the clerk's office caught fire and was totally destroyed. For
the third time in the history of the country the official records were
burned. The loss of these records has made the task of the his-
torian a hard one, and explains the fragmentary character of the
history of a community that played an important role in the early
days of the colony and state. Nansemond deserves a fitter tribute
than the broken narrative compiled from a hundred different sources.

The county was in possession of the Federals for nearly three
years, and her resources were exhausted by the support of an im-
mense army of her foe quartered in her midst.

The meat of the peanut-fed hog is highly prized in all markets.
South, only the quiet of desolation. Gradually, however, there
was evidence of a renewed life, and for many years now the county
has been excedingly prosperous. With the development of her
agricultural resources has come the enhanced value of farmings
lands, the building of comfortable farm houses and the improve-
ment of stock. This prosperity of the farmers has aided in large
measure in the upbuilding of the town of Suffolk.

Suffolk is a progressive town of 7,000 inhabitants. Six rail-
roads enter the town, and it is the terminus of the Suffolk & Caro-
lina Ry. Suffolk is at the head of navigation of Nansemond River,.
and ships drawing fourteen feet of water can enter its port. It
has varied and very extensive factories and manufacturing plants.
Suffolk is the largest peanut market in the world. Seven large
factories for the cleaning and shelling of peanuts have an annual
output of more than three million dollars. ' It has three banking
establishments. One of these banks has the peculiar distincion of
ranking first in the list of state banks in the United States in
respect to the relation of capital and surplus.

Nansemond county is 35 long and 19 miles wide, extending
from Hampton Roads on the north to the North Carolina line on
the south, and contains 393 square miles. There is striking variety
of soil within the county, the heavy black soil of the reclaimed lands
along the swamp, the wide stretch of sandy loam with clay sub-
soil that responds readily to fertilization and the rich alluvial lands
along the river. Corn, cotton and peanuts are widely and suc-
cessfully cultivated. The lower portion of the county is largely
devoted to truck farming. Vast quantities of potatoes, cabbage,
kale, peas, beans, beets, squashes, cucumbers, spinach, melons and
berries are raised here. The upper portion of the county is the
ideal soil for peanuts, which is a sure and exceedingly profitable

crop. The vines of the peanut afford forage for the cattle, and
the nuts that remain in the earth when the crop is dug afford
the best possible food for the numbers of hogs that are raised.
The merit of the peanut-fed hog is highly prized in all markets.
The peanut itself commands a good price and its cultivation has
largely increased the wealth of the community. The average price
for improved land is $25 an acre, but there are still large tracts
that can be bought for less that need only the expenditure of small
capital and slight labor to transform them from profitless old fields
to smiling gardens.

An increasing industry in the county is the utilization of the
vast clay beds for the manufacture of brick. This clay is of the
finest quality and is widely distributed. It varies in color from red
to blue. The depth ranges from four to twenty feet and is excellent
material for the manufacture of red or gray building brick, tiles,
terra cotta, and pressed brick. There are large deposits all over
the county, mostly underlaid with sand and with marl beneath this.

The county has within her bounds a source of wealth as yet
unutilized. Inexhaustible deposits of marl are scattered widely.
With the increasing demand for cement in building, this marl will
some day find a discoverer. A large cement concern has already
bought an extensive marl deposit near Chuckatuck.

The Nansemond River, besides affording to the county a speedy
and cheap means of transportation, adds to the wealth of its citi-
zens by the fish and oyster industries. The Nansemond River
oyster compares favorably with the best products of the tributaries
of the Chesapeake, and the growing demand for these oysters is
indication of the public's recognition of the fact.

THE DISMAL SWAMP.

When Col. Wm. Byrd, in 1728, gave to the great morass that
stretches for fifteen miles through Virginia and twenty-five miles
into North Carolina the name of Dismal Swamp, he did a lasting
injury to this whole section of country.

Viewed from the standpoint of an engineer whose duty it was
to run a line through the whole width of its vast area, it did, no
doubt, present a dismal prospect, but to the traveler or explorer of
today the swamp is a place of unsurpassed beauty and of never
ending variety, of interest and charm; while to the lumberman and
agriculturist it furnishes a field of profitable investment that has as
yet been but dimly appreciated. The statements contained in this
narrative in regard to the Dismal Swamp are based upon the reports
of scientific experts employed by the U. S. Government to conduct
the investigations, and their published reports read like the stories
of men returned from a visit to fairy-land. The isothermal line
showing where northern climate ends and southern begins, with the
extremes in temperature of neither, runs through Nansemond Co.
skirting the swamp. The variety of flowers is therefore very great
and the whole swamp in the springtime presents the appearance of
a vast conservatory of rare and beautiful plants. About sixty-five
thousand acres of Dismal Swamp are in the county of Nansemond.
Two canals within the county, Jericho and Washington, pierce the
swamp and meet at Lake Drummond. The canals were dug by the
Dismal Swamp Land Co. more than a century ago, and cargoes of
juniper and cypress have been freighted through these channels
during that long period. In the center of the swamp is a lake almost
circular in shape and about three miles is diameter. Lake Drum-
mond, as it is called, derives its name from a daring hunter who,
with three companions, ventured, in the early days, into the recesses
of the great unknown morass. His companions lost their way
and perished, and Drummond alone returned to tell the tale of the
beautiful lake that lay hid away in the forest of juniper and cypress.
The origin of this lake is itself a matter of curious interest. Its
surface is twenty-two feet higher than the margins of the swamp.
In fact, the lake is the most elevated spot in the swamp. Scientists
tell us that the vast deposits of vegetable matter around its edges
have left this land-locked sheet of water a crowd of beauty that
holds the admiring eye of every one who has ever seen it. It is no
idle dream that pictures the time when the site of the Dismal Swamp
will be the garden of the eastern portion of America. During the
time of the Saxon kings England was to a great extent occupied

by bogs, which have since been cleared away. The sites of these bogs
are now identified by the great and persistent fertility of the soil.
Probably not far from one-twentieth of the tillable land in Europe
was once inundated and unfit for agriculture.

Already the work of reclaiming the swamp has been begun. In
its original condition, before this region had been affected by tillage,
the area of inundated lands was much larger than at present. One-
third of the swamp has already been reclaimed. On the outskirts of
the swamp are occasional ridges that are covered with a growth of
pine. The lower levels are mainly occupied by three species of trees
which are tolerant of water about their roots. The juniper occupies
areas which are commonly somewhat dry during the summer sea-
son. The gum and cypress can inhabit areas which are in most cases
water covered, even during the growing season. The cypress is the
most tolerant of water of these species, often attaining its best de-
velopment in places where summer droughts at no time remove
water far from the surface of their roots. Both gum and cypress
have provisions by which the roots are enabled to have access to air
and thus secure the aeration required by the processes which take
place in their underground branches. It is an interesting fact that
the knees of the cypress develop only where the roots on which
they rest lie beneath the surface of the water during the growing sea-
son of the year. The gum's roots similarly arch near the bole till
they get air. These protruding arches are generally covered with a
growth of annual plants. Where the arch is small the tree is stunted.
The growth of the cypress presents many strange and grotesque
appearances. The body of the cypress is twice and sometimes three
times as large at its base as it is ten feet from the ground.

The character of the soil is determined by the nature of the
growth thereon. Light swamp land is soil where juniper has grown.
It is nearly pure peat, consisting of a brown mass of vegetable matter
derived from juniper or white cedar. The thickness of the deposit
is often eight to ten feet. Seventy-five to ninety-five per cent of
the soil is organic matter. Such land cleared and drained is prac-
tically worthless for agricultural purposes, for the peat cakes and
hardens so that it resembles charred wood. Nearly one-third of
the swamp is light. Nature has thus provided that the swamp shall
never be wholly denuded. The juniper districts must ever remain
a nursery for timber trees. Juniper, unlike cypress, reproduces rap-
idly, so that from some tracts in the swamp three cuttings of mer-
chantable lumber have been made in twenty years ; the wood increas-
ing one inch per year. Dark swamp land is soil which has borne a
forest of cypress, black gum and red maple. This soil is immeas-

.59

ureably rich in agricultural possibilities. It contains a large amount
of organic matter in its upper portion, but when properly drained
the amount of organic matter gradually diminishes. The soil after
fifty years of cultivation still remains black in color. The tendency
in some of this land to get acid at times is readily obviated by the
use of lime. This reclaimed land is very fertile. Eighty to one
hundred bushels of corn to the acre can be raised in this soil, even
when it is first redeemed. Potatoes are grown, not only on the
light soils near the coast, but on a large scale in the heavier soils
along the eastern border of the swamp, where the average yield is
said to be eighty barrels to the acre. The cultivation of celery on
these rich black-gum lands reclaimed from the swamp has recently
begun, and the product is equal in quality to the best Michigan celery.

It is calculated that already enough labor has been expended
to have drained the whole area of the swamp, but it was conducted
by individual farmers, without the help of engineers, and with no
idea of general improvement. In reclaiming a few acres they have
inundated many more. The greatest elevation of the swamp is
near its central portion. The average inclination of the surface is
twenty inches to the mile, and this is sufficient to give a strong cur-
rent of water flowing in ditches having a width on the surface of
four feet and a total depth of three feet. The character of the soil is
favorable to such improvements. The considerable amount of vege-
tation causes these ditches to maintain their banks in good order.
Large areas on either side of Jericho canal in Nansemond Co. could
be made at once sufficiently dry for agricultural purposes.

Recent improvements in methods of excavation make it possi-
ble to unwater the land at a relatively small cost compared with
older methods of hand labor.

In the average present condition of the forest portions of the
swamp the return in the way of timber may amount to $60 an acre,
which probably would meet the expenses of clearing the forest away
and of providing the smaller drainage canals. The area which would
be won to tillage by such a system, though only a portion of this
swamp district, is about 250 square miles, or 160,000 acres. The
money value of this area thus improved is not less than $16,000,000.
This redeemed land is admirably adapted to truck farming. The
annual demand for such truck is sure to increase apace, and there
is not other field so well suited for the enlargement of this form of
agriculture as the area occupied by the morass of the Dismal Swamp.
The drainage canals could readily afford water transportation to
within a mile of every part of the tilled area. Nowhere else in the
world is there near to great markets so large a field of land suited

FROM THE U, S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

to garden crops which is not used for such purposes. If availed of for
this form of tillage the annual return from the land would probably
he not less than $100 per acre or a total of $16,000,000. It is thus
evident that we have in this region a combination of the advantages
of high-grade tillage, an excellent soil, ready water communication, a
favorable climate, and opportunities for obtaining abundant irriga-
tion waters in time of drought.

'It is common opinion that all swamp districts are necessarily
afflicted with malarial diseases. This opinion rests upon the ex-
perience which is had in the ordinary alluvial lands along the shores
of rivers. The fact is that in hot climates where the level of the
soil water varies much- at different seasons of the year malarial
effluvium is bred. On the other hand, where the soil, however wet,
retains its moisture during the summer seasons at about the same
height it holds during the winter, there is no peculiar liability to
malaria. A certain amount of malaria occurs in the margins of the
swamp, but in the swamp itself there is an almost total exemption
from malaria. The decay of peaty matter alone does not afford
fhe conditions which lead to the development of malarious exhala-
tions. The drainage of the swamp might lead, for a short time, to
some developmnet of malaria, but we may judge from our experience
in the drainage work already done about the swamp that these
fevers, if they occurred, would be of a simple and non-malignant
type. The difficulty encountered from such diseases would prob-
ably be no greater than that which was for a time experienced in
the settlements in Southern Indiana. and Illinois.

Not the least of the riches of this region is the character of
the water which inundates the swamp. It is commonly called
juniper water, though its amber color is more probably due to
the presence of finely divided vegetable matter, principally the
product of the gum tree. This water is absolutely wholesome, and
its keeping properties are proverbial. Vessels sailing out of Norfolk
bound for a long cruise fill their barrels with it in preference to
all other water, and it retains its wholesome characteristics for an
indefinite period. The waters of Lake Drummond are so highly
esteemed that people whose health is impaired frequently go there
to drink of its waters and bring it home with them in casks. Jericho
canal is ten miles long. It extends from Lake Drummond to a point
two miles east of Suffolk. Washington canal is five miles long and
runs at right angles to Jericho canal. In the spring and early
summer the trip through the Washington canal furnishes a rare
experience to the lover of the beautiful. The overhanging gum,
cypress and red maple meet and intertwine overhead, shutting out

/the. glare of the sun. The strange bald knees of the cypress
rear themselves about the huge body of the parent tree, and the
lifted arches of the gum, covered with hardy annual flowers, give
infinite variety of color. Every stump left by the woodsman's axe
has been taken possession of by wild ivy or eglantine. • The ferns
wave along the banks, high as a man's head, and every passing breeze
quickens into life the whispering reeds.

The Dismal Swamp is the greatest game preserve on the At-
lantic seaboard. Bears abound, and it is calculated that at least
two hundred are killed yearly. Deer are plentiful. Wild cattle,
as fleet and as wary as the deer, make their home on the ridges
that run through the swamp. Otters, minks and coons are very
numerous, while on the margins of the swamp wood-cock abound
as nowhere else in this portion of the world.

CLERKS OF NANESEMOND COUNTY COURT.

John Leer 1675 Joseph Prentis

Joseph Bridger 1699 Benjamin Riddick.

Daniel Sullivan 1702-1703 Peter B. Prentis. .

Michael Archer 1714 E. F. Williamson.

Christopher Jackson. . 1734-1749 Willis E. Cohoon.

John Wright. 1749-1751 Peter B. Prentis. .

Lemuel Riddick 1751-1775 Wm. B. Causey..

*John C. Littlepage.. 1777-1830 Robert. R. Smith.
John T. Kilby . ...... 1830-1838

.1838-1851
.1851-1852
. 1852-1869
. 1869-1871
.1871-1875
. 1875-1888
. 1888-1890
.1890

♦During the latter portion of his term of office Littlepage did not for
many years reside in or even visit the county. He resided in Hanover and
was kept within the bounds of that county by his creditors, he having re-
fused to take advantage of the poor-debtor's law. His work was done by a
deputy, John T. Kilby, who succeeded to the office.

MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES FROM
NANSEMOND CO.

UPPER NORFOLK.
1639.

Randall Crew. John Gookin. Tristam Norseworthy.

1641.
Capt. Daniel Coogan (Gookin). John Carter.

1642.
Thomas Dewe.

% 1643.

John Carter. Randall Crew.

1644.
Randall Crew. Moore Fauntleroy.

1644-5.
Philip Bennett. Moore Fauntleroy.

1645.
' Philip Bennett. Edward Major. Richard Wells.

NANSEMOND.

1647.
Moore Fauntleroy. Sam Stoughton. Richard Wells.

1649.
John Carter. Toby Smith.

1652 (April).
> Capt. Thomas Dew. Edward Major (Speaker).

1652 (November).
Col. Thomas Dew (Speaker). Peter Montague.

1653.
Col. Thos. Dew. Lieu. Col. Edward Major. Peter Montague.

1654.
Col. Thos. Dew. Sam Stoughton. Thos. Goodwin.

1655-6.
Capt. Ed. Streeter. John Willcox. Capt. Blake.

UPPER NORFOLK (Sk.)

1657-8.
Lieu. Col. Edward Carter. Thomas Francis. Giles Webb.

UPPER NORFOLK ( Sic. )

1658.
Lieu. Col. Edward Carter. Capt. Thomas- Goodwyn (Sic.)

Giles Webb.

UPPER NORFOLK (Sic.)

1659-60.
Giles Webb. Wm. Denson. George Catchmaie.

1663.
George Wallings.

1666.
Capt. John Blake. Capt. John Leare.

1685.
John Brasseur. Thomas Lear.

1688.
Thomas Milner. Thomas Lear.

1692.
Lieu. Col. Thomas Milner (Speaker). Thomas Lear.

1696.
John Brasseur. Thomas Jordan.

1702.
Thomas Milner. Daniel Sullivan.

1714.
Thos. Godwin. Wm. Wright.

1718.
John Lear. James Riddick.

1720-2.
John Lear. James Reddick.

1723.
Thomas Godwin. Henry Baker.

1726.
Thomas Godwin. Henry Baker.

1736.
Daniel Pugh. Lemuel Riddick.

1738.
Daniel Pugh. Lemuel Riddick.

1740.
Daniel Pugh. Lemuel Riddick.

1742.
Lemuel Riddick. Baker.

1744.
Lemuel Riddick. Baker.

1745.
Lemuel Riddick. Baker.

1746.
Lemuel Riddick. Baker.

1747.
Lemuel Riddick. Baker.

1748.
Lemuel Riddick. Wm. Hunter.

1749.
Lemuel Riddick. Wm. Hunter.

1752.
Lemuel Riddick. Anthony Holladay.

1753.
Lemuel Riddick. Anthony Holladay.

1754 (Febr'y.)
Lemuel Riddick. Anthony Holladay.

1754 (Aug.)
Lemuel Riddick. Anthony Holladay.

1754(Oct.)
Lemuel Riddick. Anthony Holladay.

1755.
Lemuel Riddick. Anthony Holladay.

1756.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick..

1757.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1758.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1758-61.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1759 (Febr'y.)
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1759 (Nov.)
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1760-61.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1761.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1762 (Jan'y,)
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1762 (Mrach.)
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1762 (Nov.)
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1763.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1764 (Jan'y).
Willis Riddick. Lemuel Riddick.

1764 (Oct.).

Willis Riddick. Lemuel Riddick.

1765 (May).

Willis Riddick. Lemuel Riddick.

1765 (Oct.).
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1766-8.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1769.
David Meade. Willis Riddick.

1770.
Lemuel Riddick. Benjamin Baker.

1171.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

1772-4.
Benjamin Baker. Lemuel Riddick.

1773.
Benjamin Baker. Lemuel Riddick.

1774.
Benjamin Baker. Lemuel Riddick.

1775.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

CONVENTIONS OF 1775-6.

March 20th, 1775.
Lemuel Riddick. Willis Riddick.

July 17th, 1775.
Andrew Meade. James Murdagh.

Dec. 1st, 1775.
James Murdagh. Andrew Meade.

May 6th, 1776.
Willis Riddick. Wm. Cowper.

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES FROM
NANSEMOND COUNTY.

Edward Major April, 1652

Thomas Dew . , Nov., 1652

Thomas Godwin June, 1676

Thomas Milner 1691-93

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL.

Richard Bennett 1639

William Bernard 1641

Thomas Dew 1655

John Carter 1657-8

Edmund Carter 1659

John Lear »

GOVERNOR.

Richard Bennett . . , 1652-55

SEP *>o iw»

The Only County Newspaper.

THE SUFFOLK HERALD,

(ESTABLISHED IN 1873.)

THE HERALD GOES INTO THE HOMES OF
THE BEST PEOPLE IN FOUR COUNTIES

It is Uneaqualed as an Advertising Medium.
Up-to-date Job Office Department.

MAIL ORDERS PROMPTLY FILLED.

The Suffolk Herald Co.,

SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA.

ARTHUR E. PRIEST,

Bridge Engineer.

CONTRACTING KHriffQ HlffSllfifir CONSULTING

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA.

Plans and Estimates Furnished

STEEL BRIDGES, FOUNDATIONS,

GIRDERS, ROOF TRUSSES,
COUNTY WORK A SPECIALTY.

Owego Bridge Company

Main Offices and Works

OWEGO, N. Y.

MANUFACTURERS OF =

Steel Bridges, Buildings, Roof Trusses

AND ALL KINDS OF STRUCTURAL WORK

BRIDGE ACROSS MOCCASIN RIVER, WILSON, N. C.

Length 160 ft. Roadway 16 ft.

WE MAKE A SPECIALTY OF HIGHWAY BRIDGES

If you will write us when you are in the market for

a bridge we will have our representatives call

on you and prepare plans and estimates

without cost to you

BRANCH OFFICES

GREENSBORO, N. C. LEXINGTON, KY.

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

West End Trust Building

Roanoke Bridge Co., Inc.

-SUCCESSORS TO-

Highway Bridge Department Virginia Bridge & Iron Go.

Steel Bridges
and Viaducts.

HOME OFFICE : TERRY BUILDING, BRANCH OFFICES : ROCK HILL, S. C.
Roanoke, Virginia. Equitable Bldg., Atlanta, Ga.

We have the Largest Shops in the South
Behind us.

All Inquiries Promptly Looked After.

Plans and Estimates Furnished on Short

Notice.

Give us a Trial.

548 '-

.**%

s0'

1; W

^ .AT

^ A^

0 ***£> <c

>V,G* *o

A <\ *<,„*« Gv

v*^ j infill?0 a-

s A. ^x

*6^

• MANCHESTER
INDIANA

■o

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "The history of Nansemond County, Virginia"

See other formats