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THE HISTORY
OF THE
SOUTHERN STATES.
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THE SOUTH in the
Building of the Nation
HISTORY OF THE
SOUTHERN STATES
DESIGNED to RECORD the
SOUTH'S PART in the MAKING
of the AMERICAN NATION;
to PORTRAY the CHARACTER
and GENIUS, to CHRONICLE
the ACHIEVEMENTS and PROG
RESS and to ILLUSTRATE the
LIFE and TRADITIONS of the
SOUTHERN PEOPLE
VOLUME I
^SOUTHERN HISTORICAL
PUBLICATION SOCIETY
RICHMOND
VIRGINIA
COPYRIGHT, 1909
BY
THE SOUTHERN HISTORICAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY
s*u
V
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
I — History of the States
JULIAN ALVIN CARROLL CHANDLER, Ph.D, LLJX
Professor of History, Richmond College
// — The Political History
FRANKLIN LAFAYETTE RILEY, A.Mn PhJ>.
^ Professor of History, University of Mississippi
•J
»x /// — The Economic History
, 4 JAMES CURTIS B ALLAGH, PhJX, LLD.
«4i Associate Professor of American History
"**» Johns Hopkins University
IV — The Literary and Intellectual Life
{ JOHN BELL HENNEMAN, M.A., Ph.D.
«*< Professor of English Literature, University of the South
V — Fiction
f
EDWIN MIMS
Professor of English, University of North Carolina
VI — Oratory
Hon. THOMAS E. WATSON
Author of "Life of Thomas Jefferson,"
"Life of Napoleon," etc.
VII— The Social Life
SAMUEL CHILES MITCHELL, Ph.D., LL.D., D.D.
President of the University of South Carolina
VIII— Biography
WALTER LYNWOOD FLEMING, A.M., Ph.D.
Professor of History, Louisiana State Univers«tr
History of the Southern States
VOLUMES I, II AND III
CONTRIBUTORS
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA, 1584-1624
J. A. C. CHANDLER, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of History, Richmond Col-
lege; Editor The Virginia Journal of Education.
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE, 1684-1768
LTON GARDINER TYLER, LL.D., President of William and Mary College,
Williamsburg, Va. ; author of Cradle of the Republic, etc.
THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE OF VIRGINIA IN THE SEVEN-
TEENTH CENTURY
PHILIP ALEXANDER BRUCE, LL.B., author Economic History of Vir-
ginia in the Seventeenth Century; Formerly Corresponding Secretary
of Virginia Historical Society.
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH, 1763-1776
SAMUEL CHILES MITCHELL, Ph.D., LL.D., D.D., President of th«
University of South Carolina.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, 1776-1861
JOHN HOLLADAY LATANE, A.B., Ph.D., Professor of History, Washing-
ton and Lee University, Lexington, Va. ; author of Early Relations
of Virginia and Maryland, etc.
VIRGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865
MAJOR R. W. HUNTER, Secretary of Military Records, The Capitol, Rich-
mond, Va.
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION, 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
J. P. McCONNELL, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of History and Political Science,
Emory and Henry College, Emory, Va.
THE COLONY OF MARYLAND, 1632-1776
BERNARD CHRISTIAN STEINER, Ph.D., LL.B., Librarian The Enoch
Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Md. ; author of The Beginnings of
Maryland, etc.
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868
WILLIAM HAND BROWNE, Professor of English Literature, Johns Hop-
kins University, Baltimore, Md. ; author of Maryland, The History of
a Palatinate, etc.
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
BERNARD CHRISTIAN STEINER, Ph.D., LL.B., Librarian The Enoch
Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Md.
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA
6EN. BASIL W. DUKE, author of The History of Morgan's Cavalry,
Louisville, Ky.
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865
JOSIAU STODDARD JOHNSTON, Formerly Associate Editor Louisville
Courier Journal; author of Confederate History of Kentucky.
vii
CONTRIBUTORS.
KENTUCKY IK THE NEW NATION, 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
GEORGE ALLEN HUBBELL, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and
Economics, Kentucky University.
WEST VIRGINIA— WHILE THE TWO VIRGINIAS WERE ONE,
1750-1861
VIRGIL A. LEWIS, State Historian and Archivist, Department of
Archives and History, Charleston, W. Va.
STEPS TO STATEHOOD, 1861-1863
WILLIAM P. WILLEY, A.B., A.M., Professor of Equity Jurisprudence
and Commercial Law, West Virginia University.
THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA, 1863 TO THE PRESENT TIME
JAMES MORTON CALLAHAN, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of History and
Political Science, West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va.
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY
R. D. W. CONNOR, Secretary of North Carolina Historical Commission,
Raleigh, N. C.
NORTH CAROLINA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE, 1729-1776
ENOCH WALTER SIKES, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of Political Science,
Wake Forest College, Wake Forest, N. C.
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861
WILLIAM KENNETH BOYD, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of History, Trinity
College, Durham, N. C.
NORTH CAROLINA IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865
HON. WALTER CLARK, LL.D., Chief Justice Supreme Court, Raleigh,
N. C.
NORTH CAROLINA FROM 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
J. G. DB ROULHAC HAMILTON, Ph.D., Alumni Professor of History,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.
SOUTH CAROLINA FROM 1562 TO 1789
HENRY ALEXANDER WHITE, Ph.D., D.D., Professor in Columbia Theo-
logical Seminary, Columbia, S. C. ; author of The Making of South
Carolina.
SOUTH CAROLINA A STATE IN THE FEDERAL UNION, 1789-1860
DAVID DUNCAN WALLACE, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of History and
Economics, Wofford College, Spartanburg, S. C.
SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1860-1865
W. E. GONZALES, Editor of The State, Columbia, S. C.
THE NEW SOUTH CAROLINA, 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
WILLIAM SHANNON MORRISON, A.B., Professor of History and Politi-
cal Economy, Clemson College.
THE COLONY OF GEORGIA, 1732-1776
WILLIAM HARDEN, Librarian Savannah Public Library, and Georgia
Historical Society.
GEORGIA IN THE FEDERAL UNION, 1776-1861
ULRICH BONNELL PHILLIPS, Ph.D., Professor of History, Tulane Uni-
versity, New Orleans, La.
GEORGIA IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865
JOSEPH T. DERRY, A.M., author of Military History of Georgia.
GEORGIA IN THE NEW NATION, 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
LAWTON B. EVANS, A.M., Superintendent of Schools, Augusta, Qa.
viii
CONTRIBUTORS.
COLONIAL AND TERRITORIAL ALABAMA, 1540-1819
PETER JOSEPH HAMILTON, author of Colonization of the South
Rtxonstruction, etc., Mobile, Ala.
ALABAMA FROM 1819 TO 1865
GEORGE PETRIE, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of History and Latin, Alabama
Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala.
RECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA, 1866-1880
WALTER LYNWOOD FLEMING, A.M.. Ph.D., Professor of History
Louisana State University, Baton Rouge, La. ; author of Civil War
and Reconstruction in Alabama.
THE NEW ALABAMA, 1880 TO THE PRESENT TIME
WILLIAM O. SCROGGS, A.M., Assistant Professor of History, Louisiana
State University.
COLONIAL AND TERRITORIAL MISSISSIPPI, 1699-1817
PETER JOSEPH HAMILTON, author of Colonization of the South
Reconstruction, etc., Mobile, Ala.
MISSISSIPPI A STATE IN THE UNION, 1817-1861
DUNBAR ROWLAND, B.S.. LL.B., Director Department of Archives
and History, Jackson, Miss. ; author of Mississippi Official and Statis-
tical Register.
MISSISSIPPI IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865
FRANKLIN LAFAYETTE RILEY, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of History
University of Mississippi, University, Miss.
MISSISSIPPI A PART OF THE NATION, 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
DUNBAR ROWLAND, B.S., LL.B., LL.D., Director Department of Archives
and History, Jackson, Miss., etc.
COLONIAL AND TERRITORIAL TENNESSEE
WALKER KENNEDY, Editor of the Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
TENNESSEE AS A STATE, 1796-1861
JAMES DICKASON HOSKINS, B.S., A.M., LL.B., Professor of History
and Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
TENNESSEE A PART OF THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865
JAMES DICKASON HOSKINS, B.S., A.M., LL.B., Professor of History
and Economics, University of Tennessee.
TENNESSEE FROM 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
CAREY A. FOLK, Assistant Treasurer State of Tennessee.
FLORIDA FROM 1512 TO 1819
DKWITT WEBB, M.D., LL.D., Secretary of Florida Historical Society,
St. Augustine, Fla.
FLORIDA, 1819 TO 1861
ANDREW SLEDD, Ph.D., LL.D., President University of the State of
Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
FLORIDA FROM 1861 TO THE PRESENT TIME
CHARLES H. SMITH, Formerly Secretary Board of Trade, Jacksonville,
Fla.
LOUISIANA UNDER FRENCH AND SPANISH CONTROL, 1528-1803
WILLIAM BEER, Librarian Howard Memorial Library, New Orleans, La.
TERRITORY OF ORLEANS, 1803-1812
HENRY EDWARD CHAMBERS, Professor of English, New Orleans Boyg'
High School, New Orleans, La.
CONTRIBUTORS.
LOUISIANA IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 1812-1881
PIERCE BUTLER, Ph.D., Professor of English, H. Sophie Newcomb Me-
morial College, New Orleans, La.
LOUISIANA IK THE CONFEDERACY AND RECONSTRUCTION, 1861-1877
WALTER L. FLEMING, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of History, Louisiana
State University.
MODERN LOUISIANA, 1876 TO THE PRESENT TIME
HENRY EDWARD CHAMBERS, Professor of English, New Orleans Boys'
High School.
MISSOURI FROM 1682 TO 1804
JONAS VILES, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of American History, University of
Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
THE TERRITORIAL PERIOD OF MISSOURI, 1804-1820
JONAS VILES, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of American History, University of
Missouri.
MISSOURI FROM 1820 TO 1865
HON. CHAMP CLARK, Member of Congress from Missouri, Bowling
Green, Mo.
MISSOURI FROM 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
.WALTER WILLIAMS, LL.D., Dean of the Department of Journalism and
Professor of the History and Principles of Journalism in the Uni-
versity of Missouri ; editor of the State of Missouri.
ARKANSAS FROM 1539 TO 1836
JOHN HUGH REYNOLDS, A.B., A.M., Professor of History and Political
Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
ARKANSAS, 1836-1861
FAY HEMPSTEAD, author of Hempstead's History of Arkansas, Littl«
Rock, Ark.
ARKANSAS FROM 1861 TO THE PRESENT TIME
FAY HEMPSTEAD, author of Hempstead's History of Arkansas, Little
Rock, Ark.
TEXAS A FART OF MEXICO
CHARLES WOODWARD HUTSON, Member American Historical Associa-
tion, formerly Professor in A. and M. College, College Station, Tex.
TEXAS AS A REPUBLIC
EUGENE CAMPBELL BARKER, B.A., M.A., Instructor in History, Uni-
versity of Texas; co-editor With the Makers of Texas.
TEXAS IN THE FEDERAL UNION, 1845-1861
SAMUEL PALMER BROOKS, A.B., A.M., LL.D., President Baylor Uni-
versity, Waco, Tex.
TEXAS IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865
CHARLES WILLIAM RAMSDELL, B.A., M.A., Instructor in History,
University of Texas ; Corresponding Secretary of Texas State His-
torical Association.
TEXAS IN THE NEW NATION, 1865 TO THE PRESENT TIME
CHARLES WILLIAM RAMSDELL, B.A., M.A., Instructor in History,
University of Texas.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I.— THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA, 1584-1624.
Page.
Early English Exploration 1
The Roanoke Colony 3
Steps to Permanent Settlement g
The London Company Charter 9
Settlement at Jamestown 11
The London Company Reorganized 14
The First American Legislative Assembly 17
Charter of London Company Annulled 19
CHAPTER II.— VIRGINIA' AS A ROYAL PROVINCE, 1624-1763.
Government of the Royal Province of Virginia 23
Claiborne's Struggle for Territorial Integrity 24
Commonwealth Period in Virginia 27
Bacon's Rebellion 29
The English Revolution Ushers in a New Era 34
Western Movement and Settlements 36
Intercolonial Affairs and Indian Wars 39
Social Conditions, 1760 44
CHAPTER III.— THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE OF VIR-
GINIA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
The Plantation System 46
The Two Classes of Labor 50
Proportion of Criminals 52
Frequency of Change 54
The Superiority of Slave Labor 55
Social Life Under the Plantation System 58
The Origin of the Planting Class 60
Social Organization 62
Class Distinctions 62
Virginians and the Mother Country 64
The Home Life 65
The Diversions of the People 68
CHAPTER IV.— FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH, 1763-1776.
Virginia's Opposition to Boston Port Bill 76
The First Convention, 1774 78
The Second Convention, 1775 80
The Last House of Burgesses 82
The Third Convention, 1775 85
War with Dunmore 86
The Fourth Convention, 1775 87
The Fifth Convention, 1776: Adoption of a Constitution 88
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.— THE COMMONWEALTH OP VIRGINIA, 1776-1881.
Page.
Virginia Troops in the Revolution 90
The Virginia Navy of the Revolution 97
Conquest and Cession of the Northwest Territory 99
The Adoption of the Constitution of the United States 102
Resolutions of 1798-1799 104
Internal Improvements and the State Debt 106
State Sectionalism 107
Slavery 110
Secession Ill
CHAPTER VI.— VIRGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865.
Virginia's Unwillingness to Leave the Union 113
Virginia Secedes 117
Virginia's Army 119
Virginia's Contribution to the Confederate Armies 121
Conclusion 125
CHAPTER VII.— VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION, 1865-1909.
Reconstruction and Readmission into the Union 127
The State Debt 133
Political Conditions 135
Universal Education 137
New Industries and Wealth of State 141
Contrast of Old and New Economic and Social Conditions 144
MARYLAND.
CHAPTER I.— THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND, 1608-1776.
Geography of Maryland 149
Lord Baltimore's Grant 150
Religious Toleration 153
Settlement of Maryland 155
Government of the Province 156
Maryland, 1654-1676 160
Relations with Penn 164
Internal Disturbances 165
Annapolis and the Church Establishment 166
The Proprietors from 1715 to 1776 168
Maryland, 1765 to 1776 173
CHAPTER II.— MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868.
Steps to the Revolution 178
Maryland an Independent State 180
Maryland's Part in Forming the United States 182
Maryland's Part in the Revolutionary War 184
Maryland's Condition at Close of the Revolutionary War 186
James Rumsey 188
Maryland's Part in the Formation of the United States Con-
stitution 188
Maryland's Part in the War of 1812 190
Growth of Industries, 1815-1860 194
Slavery in Maryland 196
Political Parties 197
State Convention, 1837 198
Work of George Peabody 198
Slavery a Political Issue 199
Maryland in the War of Secession 202
Political Conditions During the War 206
Constitution of 1864 207
Maryland at the Close of the War 208
CHAPTER III.— HISTORY OF MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909.
Political Condition at Close of War 210
Constitution of 1867 215
Noteworthy Events, 1868-1908 217
Industrial Growth 226
Progress in Education, Etc 228
Religion 234
xii
CONTENTS.
KENTUCKY.
CHAPTER I.— KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA, 1606-1792.
Finding of Kentucky ."" 2~36
Settlement of Kentucky i 241
Kentucky a County in Virginia 247
Kentucky's Part in the Revolutionary War 249
Steps to Statehood 254
CHAPTER II.— KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865.
Steps to Statehood 259
The Constitutional History of Kentucky 264
The First Constitution 265
The Second Constitution 267
The Third and Fourth Constitutions 268
The Resolutions of '98 270
The School System 272
Early Military History of Kentucky 274
The War of 1812 278
Battle of New Orleans 283
The Mexican War 284
The War of Secession 287
Provisional Government of Kentucky 296
The Return of Peace 298
Mountain Feuds 299
CHAPTER III.— KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION, 1865-1909.
Conditions at the Close of the War of Secession 304
Interpretation of the Constitution and Abolition of Slavery 307
Peace and Development 309
The Period of Apathy 311
A New Awakening 313
The Negro To-day 314
The Mountain Region 315
Moral and Religious Growth 316
The Era of Progress 317
The Goebel Trial 322
Agricultural and Mineral Products 325
The New Social Consciousness 326
Educational Conditions 329
Conclusion < 331
WEST VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I. — WHILE THE TWO VIRGINIAS WERE ONE,
1750-1861.
Geography of West Virginia 333
Early Explorations 334
Settlements Before 1754 336
Wars with Indians 339
Settlements, 1760-1776 341
More Indian Wars: Battle of Point Pleasant 345
West Virginia in the Revolution • 347
Development After Revolution 350
Western Virginia in the War of 1812 • 353
Fight for Democratic Government 357
Western Virginia from 1830 to 1860 1 359
CHAPTER II.— STEPS TO STATEHOOD, 1861-1863.
The Two Virginias Before Divorce 365
Steps Leading to the "Parting of the Ways" 368
Reorganizing the Virginia Government 375
The Restored Government of Virginia in Operation 377
The New State Issue in Congress , 380
President Lincoln Starts the Machinery of the New State 382
CHAPTER III.— WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909.
West Virginia's Part in the War of Secession 385
Politics and Political Issues 385
Industrial Progress i 398
Population and Material Wealth 401
Education 404
Interstate Relations 407
CONTENTS.
NORTH CAROLINA.
CHAPTER I.— NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY, 1587-1728.
Page.
Settlers from Virginia 413
Cape Fear Region 418
The Proprietary 420
Government 421
Character of the Governors 425
The People > 426
Rebellions 427
Church of England Established 430
North Carolina and South Carolina Separate 433
Trouble with Indians 433
Pirates 435
Boundary Between North Carolina and Virginia 437
Proprietary Abolished 437
Conclusion 438
CHAPTER II. — NORTH CAROLINA A ROYAL PROVINCE,
1729-1776.
Condition from 1729 to 1752 441
Expansion of the Province, 1752-1765 444
Religious Conditions 445
Land Grants 446
French and Indian Wars 447
William Tryon and the War of the Regulation, 1765-1771 449
Regulators 452
The End of the Provincial Period 457
CHAPTER III.— NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861.
Governor Martin's Administration 462
Provincial Congress 465
An Independent State 466
North Carolina in the Revolutionary War 469
North Carolina's Attitude Toward the Federal Constitution 471
Domestic Affairs 473
New Constitution 474
Whig Ascendency 475
Internal Improvements 476
Charities 477
Whigs Defeated 477
Slavery 478
Secession 481
CHAPTER IV.— NORTH CAROLINA IN THE CONFEDERACY,
1861-1865.
North Carolina Joins the Confederacy 483
Preparing for War 484
Governor Vance 487
Tke War in 1861 487
The War in 1862 489
The War in 1863 , 491
The War in 1864 492
The War in 1865 493
Conclusion 494
CHAPTER V.— NORTH CAROLINA FROM 1865 TO THE PRESENT
TIME.
Reconstruction 497
Johnson's Plan of Reorganization ; Governor Holden 498
Governor Worth 499
New Constitution , 501
Reconstruction Acts 501
Constitutional Convention 502
Legislature of 1868 504
Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina 504
End of Reconstruction Period 506
State Politics Since 1876 507
Development of Governmental Activity 510
Educational Development 512
Economic Development 514
xiv
EDITORS' PREFACE.
5/
'HE widespread interest in Southern history
and the demand for a comprehensive and
authoritative work on the subject account
for the appearance of this series. It has
been planned with the double purpose of presenting
in brief compass the separate histories of the South-
ern States and of treating, in a satisfactory way,
the wider relations — interstate, intersectional and
federal — as well as the economic and social condi-
tions of the South, which have never received full
treatment at the hands of historians.
The multiplication of detached works on state
history and the publication, by local and state or-
ganizations, of valuable archives and monographs
have made the historical literature of the separate
states too extensive for the use of the general reader,
and have at the same time emphasized the need of
combining in one series the results of recent in-
vestigations in the various fields considered. Since
it was not intended that the volumes devoted to state
history, any more than the others, should be a mere
compilation from histories already published, this
part of the work also has been done by scholars
whose independent researches give ample assurance
of the originality and authenticity of their contribu-
tions.
The editors believe that, in attempting the more
difficult and important task of providing for a gen-
eral history of the South, they may, without pre-
sumption, lay claim to a larger aim than is repre-
sented by former works in this field. Until the
present time, the meagreness and inaccessibility of
the necessary sources have, in great measure, re-
EDITORS' PREFACE.
stricted the efforts of Southern historians to their
respective states. Since this method of work min-
imizes and often ignores entirely those developments
which are not confined by state limits and which are
consequently far-reaching in their effects, it has pro-
duced an unfortunate result from the standpoint of
the general historian. It is believed, too, that recent
historical activity respecting the South has now pro-
vided facilities which render possible the investiga-
tion of topics relating to the entire section without
relying wholly upon secondary authorities, which
have been prepared principally from a local point of
view.
It was evident to the editors that the proper exe-
cution of their task, within a brief time, would re-
quire a judicious division of labor, and they began
their work in the confident belief that its importance
would enlist the active cooperation of scholars in
every part of the South. Each member of the edi-
torial staff prepared a detailed outline of the sub-
jects to be treated in his department, being careful
to avoid trespassing upon the work of other depart-
ments and at the same time so to coordinate the sub-
ject matter as to provide in the series for an ade-
quate treatment of every important phase of South-
ern history. Assignments were then made with the
greatest care, contributors being chosen who were in
a position to write authoritatively upon their re-
spective subjects.
The pages of this series have not been burdened
with footnotes, this omission being supplied by the
insertion of a working bibliography at the end of
each chapter. No effort has been made, however, to
reproduce elaborate lists of obsolete works which,
although familiar to the contributors, would be in-
accessible to the general reader.
xvi
EDITORS' PREFACE.
The title of the series, THE SOUTH IN THE BUILD-
ING OF THE NATION, indicates the general point of
view from which the work has been planned and
executed. Owing to peculiar conditions the South
was, and to some extent still is, a sort of political
and economic unit — a definite section — with an inter-
related and separate history, special problems and
distinct life. It has been attempted, without dis-
paragement to other sections, to provide for a judi-
cious and unimpassioned account of the important
and honorable part the South has contributed to the
history and wealth of the Nation.
Since it is the function of the historian not only to
narrate facts but to interpret them, the writers have
been selected from scholars who, because of their
thorough familiarity with the historic traditions,
sentiments and facts of the South, are best qualified
to write its history. Through their intimate knowl-
edge of and contact with the South, it is believed that
the contributors of these volumes have had a special
preparation for the work which they have under-
taken.
In conclusion, the editors acknowledge with pleas-
ure their indebtedness to the many writers, too
numerous to mention separately in this connection,
whose hearty cooperation and scholarly work have
assured the success of the enterprise.
THE EDITOBS.
xvn
EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THE HISTORY OF
THE STATES.
•*/
5HREE volumes in this series have been de-
voted to the history of the states told
separately. The writing of the history of
each state has been assigned to several
writers, men who are recognized in their respective
states as authorities on periods which they treat.
The desire has been to have a somewhat encyclopaedic
account but not a dry chronological statement of
facts. The result, therefore, is that the essays in
these three volumes show much individuality and
represent many view-points.
In these volumes will be found a treatment
of fifteen states, the eleven states which organized
the "Confederate States of America," the three bor-
der states of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri and
the state of West Virginia which was carved out
of Virginia during the War of Secession.
The order of arrangement of the histories of the
states in these volumes is as follows :
I. Virginia and the states formed from her orig-
inal territory: Maryland, Kentucky, West Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
II. Georgia and the states formed from its orig-
inal territory: Alabama and Mississippi.
III. Florida, which, though it contains the oldest
town in the United States, is not treated in its his-
torical order since it did not become a part of the
United States till 1819, but is placed after the
Georgia group on account of its proximity.
IV. The states west of the Mississippi River in
the order of their admission to the Union.
A list of the governors of the states and other mat-
ter will be found at the end of Volume III.
J. A. C. C.
ziz
\
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE TO
THE HISTORY OF THE STATES.
The South Misunderstood.
OME years ago, Dr. Thomas Nelson Page
delivered an address on "The Want of a
History of the Southern People." In this
address he said :
"There is no true history of the South. In a few years there will be
no South to demand a history. What of our history is known by the
world to-day? What is our position in history? How are we regarded?
Nothing or next to nothing is known of our true history by the world at
large. By a limited class in England there is a vague belief founded on
a sentiment that the South was the aristocratic section of this country,
and that it stood for its rights, even with an indefensible cause. By a
somewhat more extended class its heroism is admired sufficiently to
partly condone its heresies. But these are a small part of the public.
By the world at large we are held to have been an ignorant, illiterate,
cruel, semi-barbarous section of the American people, sunk in brutality
and vice, who have contributed nothing to the advancement of man-
kind; a race of slave-drivers, who, to perpetuate human slavery, con-
spired to destroy the Union, and plunged the country into war. Of this
war, precipitated by ourselves, two salient facts are known — that in it
we were whipped, and that we treated our prisoners with barbarity.
Libby Prison and Andersonville have become bywords which fill the
world with horror. Why should this be, when the real fact is that Libby
was the best lighted and ventilated prison on either side; when the hor-
rors of Andersonville were greatly due to the terrible refusal of the
Northern government to exchange prisoners or to send medicines to
their sick; when the prisoners there fared as well as our men in the field,
and when the treatment of Southern prisoners in Northern prisons was
as bad if not worse, and the rate of mortality was as great there as in
ours?"
Much of what Dr. Page has said is correct. No
true history of the South has been written. The
South has been greatly misrepresented because her
history has not been given fully to the world. But
the feeling which existed a few years ago with refer-
ence to the South is fast disappearing and the other
sections of this country as well as the world at large
xxn INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
are realizing that the South is not such a section
as she has been represented to be. More and more
the historians are studying Southern conditions
and learning that the Southern people have
figured in more ways than one in the history of
America. Slavery was an institution which flour-
ished and grew chiefly in the South, and since the
only struggle in America between the states resulted
in the extinction of that institution, the first thought
in the mind of a Northern man when the South is
mentioned is the institution of slavery. But as
Southern life and Southern conditions are studied,
historians are beginning to associate the South with
other events in American history, and with institu-
tional development other than slavery. Much of the
investigation in Southern history, which of recent
years has been going on, has been made not by South-
ern writers but by men of the North, who in many
instances have faithfully and consistently tried to be
fair, but who, because they have not been reared
under Southern conditions, have been biased by the
environments of their youth and by their residence
without being aware of the fact. Notable among the
writers who have given prominence to Southern life
and history are Ehodes, Fiske, and Albert Bushnell
Hart. The latter two, connected with the great Har-
vard University have endeavored to present fairly
Southern conditions, but neither has been able to
view the life of the South through the same glasses
as a Southerner.
Need of a History of the South.
The time is, therefore, ripe for the production of a
comprehensive, broad and scholarly work by South-
ern writers. Such a work must cover much un-
traveled territory and new sources of material, and
necessarily cannot be all-inclusive or entirely ac-
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. Xxm
curate, but in its general concept will be true to the
South, showing its influence in the building of the
nation, with harshness and bitterness eliminated.
Such a work should turn the eyes of Southerners
to a more careful study of their own history, and
should likewise rectify the misconceptions of many
Northerners, placing the South in its true position
with reference to the rest of the nation. The need
of the presentation of the history of the South is
seen on every hand. School children in all parts
of the country know of the Mayflower, but few know
of the Discovery, the Godspeed and the Susan Con-
stant. The relative importance of Virginia and
Massachusetts in colonial days is rarely fully appre-
ciated, and few will remember that Virginia was a
colony of eleven plantations with a Representative
Assembly making laws for the government of the
Colony, planning for a college, asserting the rights
of British subjects before the Pilgrims had landed
at Plymouth. Few also recall the impetus given by
the Virginia colony to colonial enterprise resulting
in the establishment of other American colonies and
the development of the English colonial empire.
Few really recall the fact that the Pilgrims who
sailed in the Mayflower were searching for Virginia
but were unexpectedly driven to the bleak coasts
of New England. This is not in any way intended
to detract from New England's influence in the de-
velopment of the nation, but it is the duty of a South-
erner as well as the duty of a New Englander to
preserve the history of his own particular locality
and to give that locality its proper relation to the
history of the entire country. The local history of
New England as well as its relation to the nation
has been in many ways thoroughly written. The
South must do likewise with its history, but to the
present time only one phase — that which looked to
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
the disruption of the Union — has been written, — and
that in voluminous works.
In writing the history of the South a number of
elements must be taken into consideration. First,
it is necessary to think of the states in their indi-
vidual capacity. Each has in some ways a peculiar
life and a peculiar development which must be recog-
nized in the portrayal of its life as a whole. A com-
prehensive and general treatment, therefore, of each
state should be made. Moreover, the relation of one
Southern state to another, and finally the relation
of the Southern states to the Federal government,
both individually and as units, must come under the
ieye of the historian. In other words, we believe that
there should be a history of the Southern states in-
dividually, succeeded by a comprehensive treatment
of the political, economic and social history of the
states in their relations to each other and to the
nation. In such a history some states should be
considered that were not members of the Southern
Confederacy, but which owe their development to
the South, such, for instance, as the border states
of Maryland, Kentucky, West Virginia and Missouri.
Maryland is essentially Southern, while "West Vir-
ginia and Kentucky owe their origin to Virginians.
This might also be said of Missouri, which owes its
growth to Southerners. In such a work there should
also be sketches of the lives and accomplishments
of the statesmen who have figured so prominently
in the movements that have produced our growth
in territory and wealth, and have made ours the
greatest government on the earth.
South Settled Under Conditions Different from Those of
New England.
The question may be asked: "What are the essen-
tial facts of Southern History?" This question can-
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. XXv
not be easily answered because of the multiplicity of
important events and the lack of knowledge of many
events which have transpired in various sections of
the South. A full appreciation of the South in his-
tory, however, means some appreciation of its colo-
nial life. In the latter part of the Sixteenth century,
Elizabethan England was budding into a commer-
cial nation. Trading companies had been organized
in Holland, Scotland, Germany, France and even
Russia for trade and commerce, chiefly with the
East. England turned her eyes also to the Orient
but more particularly to the Occident. The phenom-
enal growth of Spain, due to the wealth secured from
South American and Central American countries and
the West Indies, excited the envy of English states-
men and merchant sailors. Moreover, the difference
in religion between Spain and England, as well as
other political causes, produced friction. The out-
come was that the English turned their eyes toward
America with the hope of securing wealth by means
of commerce and colonization, and at the same time
with the desire of checking the Spanish empire in
its progress and its acquisition of all the western
hemisphere. These mingled purposes resulted in
attempted settlements first in Newfoundland, and
later, under Sir "Walter Raleigh, in the present state
of North Carolina. Lack of proper organization and
failure to ascertain conditions prior to the estab-
lishment of a colony, caused the abandonment of
Raleigh's Roanoke settlement. With the success,
however, of the East India Company chartered by
Queen Elizabeth, the determination of the British
to again attempt to colonize America resulted in the
chartering by James I. of the Virginia Company in
two divisions, the London and Plymouth Companies,
both of which were commercial enterprises not un-
like the East India Company in plan and scope. A
xxvi INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
successful colony was planted in Virginia on James
River in 1607. The first result of American com-
munism there inaugurated was a failure, and never
since have communistic settlements proved success-
ful in the new world. Individual ownership of prop-
erty and the final overthrow of the company itself
followed, but the good work of the company in estab-
lishing representative government was left as a
monument to its efforts. The rapid growth of Vir-
ginia under representative government was a stimu-
lus to other schemes of colonization in the nature
of proprietaries, resulting in the planting of Mary-
land in 1634 as an individual proprietary under Lord
Baltimore, and the planting of the Carolinas as a
partnership proprietary in 1663 under eight Lords
Proprietors. Both Maryland and the Carolinas were
carved out of territory originally granted to Vir-
ginia in her charter and were settled for like pur-
poses, the chief one being the development of English
commerce.
Quite different was New England, which, taken all
in all, developed from the settling in the new world of
men fleeing from religious persecutions, dissenters or
would-be dissenters coming to America to establish
permanent homes and a government or governments
of a semi-theocratic order. Such was the Plymouth
Colony of 1620, the Massachusetts Bay Colony of
1628, the New Haven Colony of 1638, while Connec-
ticut, settled in 1634, and Rhode Island, in 1636,
were but colonies of dissenters from dissenters. In
the early planting of the colonies of the South, no
such condition was seen save in Maryland where
the first Lord Baltimore, when he applied for a grant
of land in the new world, undoubtedly was thinking
more of a haven for Catholics than a colony for his
own enrichment. The later proprietors, however,
were considering their private interests to a much
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. xxvn
greater extent than the question of any religious
impulse. One of the fundamental facts, therefore,
of American history is that from the very beginning
there was a wide divergence between the Northern
and Southern colonists in purpose and spirit. The
Northerners were home-seekers and English dis-
contents; the Southerners were money-seekers, in
touch and sympathy with the home government, and
with them naturally came a number of adventurers.
Between these Southern colonies and the New Eng-
land colonies, the English later established other
colonies, New York settled by the Dutch in 1614
being conquered in 1664 in order that the English
might control the Atlantic coast, while New Jersey
and Pennsylvania were settled partly for private
gain and partly for religious reasons ; for to William
Penn, a mixture of the shrewd business man and a
devout Quaker preacher, we owe more than to any-
one else the settlement by the English of the colonies
which have grown into the three states New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Delaware.
The Spirit of Expansion.
It should also be noted that the life of the South
was extensive, wandering, roving, expansive; while
the tendency of New England was intensive. Cli-
matic conditions and the resulting natural pursuits
of life had much to do with this fact of Southern
history. Cold New England was not suited to agri-
cultural pursuits and the people were forced into
towns to devote themselves to small industries
and to seafaring. The Southern people lived apart,
the lands being fertile and profitable, and after the
first ten years of communism in Virginia, it was
seen that to succeed the colony must encourage agri-
culture. Hence we find that, though the population
rapidly increased in the Southern colonies, the new
xxvin INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
settlers moved constantly westward, and the density
of the poulation changed but slightly, while in the
New England colonies the density of population was
constantly growing. The expansive spirit of the Vir-
ginians and the Carolinians resulted in the settle-
ment of Tennessee and Kentucky just before the
Revolutionary War and in the seizure of the great
Northwest Territory by Virginia troops during the
struggle against England. As a matter of fact, Vir-
ginians had before the Revolution partly occupied
and claimed all of the Northwest Territory from
which have been carved the five splendid states of
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
This western movement on the part of the English
in North America began with the Eighteenth cen-
tury in the Southern colonies, notably Virginia, and
was aided somewhat by migrations from Pennsyl-
vania. But, generally speaking, it is due to the
South even in colonial days that the English showed
their expansive tendencies in America. The explor-
ing expedition of Alexander Spotswood in 1716 into
the Shenandoah Valley, the expulsion of the Tusca-
roras from the Carolinas resulting in the western
movement there, the settlement of the Watauga Dis-
trict, the migration of some Virginians to lands
along the head waters of the Ohio and the occupancy
of Kentucky by Daniel Boone were but indications
of the Southerners' desire for more land, — a desire
that led George Rogers Clark into the Northwest
Territory, that caused the acquisition of Louisiana,
and finally the annexation of Texas. In not one of
these movements could New England be considered
a part.
The Government of Southern Colonies.
The last of the Southern colonies was Georgia,
established in the year of the birth of our great
Washington. It was established under somewhat
INTEODUCTOBY OUTLINE.
different conditions from the rest of the Southern
colonies, the movement leading to the planting of
that colony being humanitarian, the desire being to
establish a colony where debtor prisoners particu-
larly might get a new start in life. The settlement
was undertaken by an association of benevolent per-
sons organized into a corporation but with no desire
to make money. In a little while it seemed desirable
to change the mode of government, and Georgia fol-
lowed in the same steps as the other colonies. In
other words, Virginia under the London Company
and the Carolinas under the proprietaries had not
prospered and had passed into royal provinces under
the government of the king, Maryland being the only
one of the Southern colonies that was a pro-
prietary at the time of the Eevolution, though for
a period, from 1690 to 1715, it was a royal province.
This in itself was different, on the whole, from
the New England colonies where the charter colony
prevailed and the royal province was obnoxious.
The Southern people preferred government directly
from the crown; preferred in a sense to have the
same relation to the king that the people of England
themselves had. The commercial enterprises fail-
ing, they wished to be subjects of the king. Their
institutional development was, therefore, different
from that of New England and more like that of
the mother country. As everything in England was
centered in the hands of the crown and parliament,
so everything in the Southern colonies was centered
in the hands of the royal governor and the General
Assembly. The people of New England, however,
turned back to an older form of English government,
the local township system, and local government was
in a sense more important than that of the central
government under the governor and the General As-
sembly. Especially was this true in Massachusetts
xxx INTKODUCTOBY OUTLINE.
after the people of Massachusetts, in 1692, were
compelled to accept a governor appointed by the
king. The unit in the South was the county, and all
local government was determined by legislative en-
actment of the General Assembly, while the officers
in the county were usually appointed by the royal
governors. This, of course, gave rise to some dis-
sension, but it showed that, in general, the Southern
colonies were each trying to be a miniature English
kingdom, though without a class of nobles or privi-
leged orders, but with an established Church. Still
there was as much of an aristocracy in the South in
government as there was in England, each Southern
colony restricting the right of suffrage to the land
owners. The ruling class of New England in early
colonial days was limited to church members.
The South in the Revolution.
In the South there was an inherent love of Eng-
land, in New England a bitter antagonism; there-
fore the opening of the Eevolutionary period found
the Southern people greatly in sympathy with Eng-
lish government while the people of New England
were at discord with it. Against the Stamp Act and
the other measures leading to the Revolution, the
South showed opposition in somewhat the same spirit
as when the Englishmen first began to resist King
Charles I., later James It., and as some at the time
of the Eevolution were doing with reference to George
III. Southerners looked upon their fight as a struggle
for the rights of Englishmen, and it was only gradu-
ally that they were brought to a conception of a desire
for independence. The wish for independence was
probably not so quickly born in the South as in New
England, but when once desired it was more readily
demonstrated. The outcome was that the Southern
states were the first to call for a Declaration of In-
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. xxxi
dependence, and Southern leaders were among the
strongest advocates of independence. North Caro-
lina and Virginia early asked that independence be
established, and Henry, Rutledge and Jefferson were
ready for the movement for which doubtless John
Hancock and Samuel and John Adams had fre-
quently prayed. In the Revolutionary War, the
South furnished her part of the troops and the lead-
ers, giving the peerless Washington as commander-
in-chief of the armies of the united colonies, while
Virginia, on her own responsibility, conquered the
Northwest Territory, thus saving it from becoming
a part of Canada. When the independence of the
United States was accomplished, the Articles of Con-
federation had finally gone into operation by the
ratification of Maryland. The government was a
loose confederation, Congress having no power to
enforce its acts or regulations, and to the states
themselves was left the power to decide whether or
not they would obey the mandates of the Congress.
The result was that in many instances Con-
gressional action was absolutely ignored, hence a
new form of government was imperative. Among
the first to take the lead was Virginia, on whose sug-
gestion a convention met at Annapolis, Md., in 1786,
to discuss the affairs of the country. The outcome
of this conference was the Philadelphia Convention
of 1787 and the drafting of the document known to
us as the Constitution of the United States. Over
this convention George Washington presided, while
the main principles of the constitution were taken
from the plan drawn by James Madison. The new
constitution went into effect on the ratification of
eleven states, two not coming in until after Wash-
ington had been inaugurated President — North
Carolina in the South and Rhode Island in the
North.
xxxn INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
What It Meant to the South to Join tne Union.
The close of the Eevolutionary War saw the
United States with an area of 827,844 square miles,
of which area the Southern states contained 402,985
square miles. The population in 1790 was 3,926,214,
of which population the South contained 1,792,710.
There were 757,208 negroes in the United States in
1790, all of whom lived in the South, except about
42,000. In other words, about one-third of the
white population of the country resided in the South ;
that is, the white population of the North was about
twice the white population of the South which had
control of the affairs of state, for the other portion
of its population was its property. Before 1790, all
the states in the North had abolished slavery except
New York and New Jersey, the former not abolish-
ing it until 1799 and the latter not until 1804. We
should probably consider Delaware as a Northern
state, and it did not abolish slavery until forced to
do so by the Thirteenth amendment. Thus with the
opening of the Nineteenth century, not including
little Delaware, all the Northern states were free
from the institution of slavery, and its burden was
placed entirely upon the Southern people. Hence
the observant one could see, when the United States
was organized, that the slavery question was to be
an important one, and the South on entering the
Union played a most hazardous game.
In the convention itself at Philadelphia, the ques-
tion of slavery was a vital one, because the South
was unwilling that its slave population should be
ignored in the apportionment of representation in
Congress, and a compromise was effected whereby
five slaves should count in the apportionment as the
equivalent of three whites. It was also agreed in
the nature of a compromise between extreme slavery
and anti-slavery men that the slave trade should be
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. xxxm
allowed to continue for twenty years. There was a
decided sentiment on the part of certain leaders,
both North and South, in favor of the abolition of
slavery in all parts of the country, but on the other
hand it was clearly understood that the Federal gov-
ernment should in no way interfere with slaves in
the states, and upon this principle, definitely fixed
in their minds and consciences, the Southern people
entered into the Union cordially and heartily for
the most part, but with fear and trepidation in the
minds of some. To the South the notion of sovereign
independent states entering into a Federal Union of
defined limited powers was a clear concept, and was
probably so understood by the North at the time of
the adoption of the constitution. But the admission
of the states of the Northwest, which knew no exist-
ence outside of the Union, minimized the importance
of the concept of an independent state, and during
a period of seventy years many Northern people lost
the conception of a Federal government and recog-
nized only a national existence. The United States
government was no longer an "experiment."
History does not portray as faithfully as it should
the self-sacrificing spirit of the South in entering
into the Federal Union. "When one recalls that, in
1780, Georgia included the present Alabama and
Mississippi, that North Carolina owned Tennessee,
and that Virginia possessed what is now the present
states of West Virginia and Kentucky, and had good
claim to the entire Northwest Territory, it is easy
to realize that, had these three states, together with
South Carolina, desired to organize themselves into
a republic, the United States as we know it to-day
would never have come into being. The Northwest
Territory and the Southern states were a good three-
fourths of the area of the United States in 1790.
The South was, therefore, necessary to a great Fed-
xxxiv INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
eral government, and confidingly it did its part in
the establishment of the United States.
Southern Statesmen in American History.
The South furnished to the Union its Washington
to be its first President, its Jefferson as the first
secretary of state, its Edmund Kandolph as the first
attorney-general, its Madison to shape legislation in
the first House of Representatives. In a few years
after the Federal government had been formed, it
furnished John Marshall as chief justice to so con-
strue the law that the Federal government became
as strong and binding as if a nation had been created
in the beginning.
As the country grew, the population of the South
did not increase as rapidly as it did in the North,
for in 1790 the population of the two sections was
nearly equal, but by 1860 the population of the South
was 12,103,147 and of the rest of the country 19,340,-
174. It is thus seen that the great movements of
population were to the North and West rather than
to the South. The South, however, though its popu-
lation in seventy years decreased from one-half to
nearly one-third of the entire population of the coun-
try, maintained a greater influence in the affairs of
the government, in proportion to her population,
than any other section of the country. Especially
to be considered is the fact that when the slave popu-
lation is subtracted, the North and West always
had more than three times as large a population of
citizens. Bearing this in mind, we may note the
following suggestive facts:
Of the twenty-five occupants of the White House, the South has con-
tributed ten: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Will-
iam Henry Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor and Johnson; none elected
since the War of Secession, and all within the period of eighty years
from 1789-1869. Southern Presidents held the reins of government for
nearly fifty-three years.
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. xxxv
Of the twenty-six vice-presidents, seven were from the South: Jeffer-
Bon, Calhoun, R. M. Johnson, King, Tyler, Breckenridge and Andrew
Johnson.
Of forty secretaries of state, the South furnished twelve, as follows:
Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Randolph, John Marshall, James Madison,
Robert Smith, James Monroe, Henry Clay, Edward Livingston, John
Forsyth, Abel P. Upshur, John C. Calhoun and Hugh S. Legar£.
Of the forty-three secretaries of war, the South furnished fifteen, as
follows: James McHenry, James Monroe, William H. Crawford, John C.
Calhoun, James Barbour, John H. Eaton, Joel R. Poinsett, John Bell,
George W. Crawford, Charles M. Conrad, Jefferson Davis, John B.
Floyd, Joseph Holt, Stephen B. Elkins and Luke E. Wright; none
since 1860 except Elkins and Wright.
Of the thirty-seven secretaries of the navy, there have been sixteen
from the South: Benjamin Stoddert, Robert Smith, Paul Hamilton, John
Branch, George E. Badger, Abel P. Upshur, Thomas W. Gilmer, John
Y. Mason, William B. Preston, William A. Graham, John P. Kennedy,
James C. Dobbin, Nathan Goff, Jr., William H. Hunt, Hilary A. Herbert
and Charles J. Bonaparte. Four of these were since the War of Seces-
sion.
Of the twenty-two secretaries of the ulterior, the South contributed
nine, as follows: A. H. H. Stewart, Jacob Thompson, Carl Schurz, L. Q.
C. Lamar, John W. Noble, Hoke Smith, James A. Pearce, D. R. Francis
and E. A. Hitchcock.
Of the forty-two secretaries of the treasury, ten were from the South:
George W. Campbell, William H. Crawford, Roger B. Taney, George M.
Bibb, Robert J. Walker, James Guthrie, Howell Cobb, Philip F. Thomas,
Benjamin H. Bristow and John G. Carlisle; two since 1860, Bristow and
Carlisle, both of Kentucky.
Of forty-two postmasters-general, the South has furnished fourteen,
as follows: Joseph Habersham, William T. Barry, Amos Kendall, Charles
A. Wickliffe, Cave Johnson, Aaron V. Brown, Joseph Holt, John A. J.
Creswell, James W. Marshall, David M. Key, Horace Maynard, Mont-
gomery Blair, William L. Wilson and James A. Gary. Of the twenty
since the war, six were from the South.
Of the four secretaries of agriculture, there has been from the South
one, Norman J. Colman.
Of the forty-four attorneys-general, the South furnished eighteen,
as follows: Edmund Randolph, Charles Lee, John Breckenridge, William
Pinckney, William Wirt, John M. Berrien, Roger B. Taney, Felix
Grundy, John J. Crittenden, Hugh S. Legarg, John Nelson, John Y.
Mason, Reverdy Johnson, Edward Bates, James Speed, Amos T. Aker-
man, Augustus H. Garland and Charles J. Bonaparte. Three out of
ten since the war.
Of the eight chief justices of the Supreme Court, the South furnished
three, John Rutledge, John Marshall and Roger B. Taney.
Of thirty-five speakers of the House of Representatives, fifteen have
come from the South, Nathaniel Macon, Henry Clay, Langdon Cheves,
xxxvi INTEODUCTOEY OUTLINE.
P. P. Barbour, Andrew Stevenson, John Bell, James K. Polk, R. M. T.
Hunter, John White, John W. Jones, Howell Cobb, Linn Boyd, James
L. Orr, John G. Carlisle and Charles F. Crisp. For fifty-eight years out
of the one hundred and twenty of the existence of Congress, Southern-
ers have presided.
Of forty-four ministers to Great Britain, six only have hailed from the
South, and of forty ministers to France, as many as seventeen were from
the South.
These long lists will clearly demonstrate that in
the political life of the nation as a whole the South
has not been backward. In proportion to its white
population, it gave more than its share of leaders
before 1860, but since that date it has not been recog-
nized to any extent in the government.
Southern View of the United States Government.
From the beginning of the United States govern-
ment under the constitution, Southern leaders have
been custodians, as it were, of the constitution of
the United States. When Washington was undecided
as to the right of Congress to pass certain measures,
he took the written opinion of two secretaries, Mr.
Jefferson of the State Department, and Mr. Hamil-
ton of the Treasury Department. Mr. Jefferson's
opinion was that Congress could not legislate beyond
the definite prescribed powers granted it in the con-
stitution, while Mr. Hamilton held the view that
whatever was for the general welfare of the country
lay within the purview of the Federal Congress. Here
was a line of demarcation. The Jeffersonian view
was held from 1790 to 1860 quite consistently in the
South, while the North vacillated from Hamilton's
view to Jefferson's and back again. It is true that
one Virginian was strongly Hamiltonian, and for-
tunately for a strong Federal government he was
chief justice of the country for thirty years. It was
during this long period of chief justice of the
Supreme Court that Marshall so construed the con-
stitution as to broaden the scope of Congress and to
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. xxxvn
strengthen the Federal government, but Southern
legislatures and Southern statesmen were consistent
in their views, demanding a strict construction of the
constitution.
When the alien and sedition laws were passed, Vir-
ginia and Kentucky championed state rights and in
the Kentucky resolutions of 1798-99 and the Virginia
resolutions of 1798-99 they set forth the Southern
doctrine, clearly demonstrating that the Federal gov-
ernment was a creature of the states. The Federal-
ists winced under this doctrine, but though they
never conceded in words the soundness of it, the
fact that the Federal Congress repealed the alien
and sedition laws was in a sense an acknowledgment
of its correctness. Such a doctrine, if accepted by
all, would have led to the peaceable dissolution of the
Union, or would have kept Congress from interfer-
ing with state affairs. There seemed, however, to
have been on the part of neither Virginia nor Ken-
tucky, in passing these resolutions, any notion of a
formal secession from the Union, though some Vir-
ginians (notably John Taylor, of Caroline, who as
early as 1796 had suggested to Mr. Jefferson that
it might be wise for Virginia and North Carolina
to secede from the Union and unite to form a new
republic) did dream of separation from the Union.
Jefferson, however, was always a Union man. The
South regarded the Federal government as a great
experiment but thought that the states for the sake
of union should be long-suffering and forbearing,
demanding their rights in Congress. At times, some
of the leaders of New England accepted the doctrine
of state sovereignty as fully as it was ever asserted
in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, notably
Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, who probably was
the first man ever to suggest in the halls of Congress
any proposition of secession. In the debate of 1811
xxxvni INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
for the admission of Louisiana as a state in the
Union, he declared:
"If this bill passes, it is my deliberate opinion that it is virtually a
dissolution of this Union, that it will free the states from their moral
obligations, and as it will be the right of all, so it will be the duty of
some, definitely to prepare for a separation, amicably if they can, vio-
lently if they must."
In the midst of the "War of 1812, Massachusetts
by vote of her legislature called for a convention of
the New England states. On Dec. 15, 1814, dele-
gates from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode
Island, with unofficial representatives from New
Hampshire and Vermont, met at Hartford, and de-
clared that "states which have no common umpire
must be their own judges and execute their own
decisions" — the same doctrine as enunciated by the
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions. A number of
amendments to the constitution were proposed. Be-
hind the declarations of the Hartford Convention
"was the implied intention to withdraw from the
Union" if its demands were not accepted by the
Congress of the United States. Again, when the
question of acquiring territory from Mexico was be-
ing discussed in the House of Eepresentatives, John
Quincy Adams suggested that New England might
secede from the Union. In the early days of the
republic, however, the South evidently did not favor
anything looking to secession but rather the asser-
tion of the rights of the states by their legislatures
in something approaching nullification, and the Ken-
tucky and Virginia resolutions bore fruit in the
South Carolina nullification.
Slavery Agitation Makes Sentiment for Secession.
That which brought the South to a consideration
of secession as a practical solution of its difficulties
came out of the attack on an institution which un-
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. xxxix
fortunately had been fastened upon it — the long and
bitter controversy over slavery. The petition of
the Quakers of Pennsylvania to the first Federal
Congress asking for abolition of slavery was met
with a declaration that slavery was a state institu-
tion and not to be disturbed by Federal legislation.
This was the Southern point of view. The South-
erners accepted in good faith the abolition of the
slave trade because it was provided for in the con-
stitution of the United States. But when Missouri
applied for admission into the Union as a slave
state and Congress desired to exclude it, or to admit
it only if slavery should be abolished in its limits,
a new question arose — the question of whether it
was within the province of the United States govern-
ment to deal with slavery in the territories or in
territories applying as states for admission into the
Union. The question was really never presented to
the courts but was settled by a compromise, it being
agreed that Missouri should be admitted as a slave
state, but that slavery should be shut out of all other
territories north of the southern boundary of Mis-
souri. The Southern people as a whole were satis-
fied with this compromise, though there were many
who, at the time the measure passed in Congress,
regarded it as unconstitutional and as a very danger-
ous precedent, notably John Eandolph, of Eoanoke,
and John Taylor, of Caroline. The former though
favorable to all movements for emancipation of
slaves (for at his death he liberated his own) felt
that the United States government had no constitu-
tional right to interfere with slavery either in the
states or territories. John Taylor in his writings
on the constitution declared that Marshall 's decision
in the case of McCullough vs. Maryland and the pass-
ing by Congress of the Missouri compromise were
preparing the way to break down the Federal govern-
XL INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
ment to be followed either by the dissolution of the
Union or by a centralized national government which
had not been contemplated by the "fathers."
At this period of our history a great industrial
revolution began in the South. Through the use of
the cotton-gin, first invented by Whitney in 1793,
cotton production became more profitable and the
crop doubled from 1810 to 1820, and from 1820 to
1840 quadrupled, increasing from 400,000 to 1,634,-
954 bales. The labor saved by the invention of the
reaper by McCormick in 1831 made possible a won-
derful increase in the production of wheat in all
parts of the United States, especially the North.
The natural result of this revolution both North and
South was an increased demand for labor. In the
South there was a call for more slaves for the cotton
fields. Almost simultaneously with the new industrial
conditions came the Garrison abolition movement.
Some slight slave insurrections in the South caused
an uneasiness among the planter class, and a belief
that the abolitionists of the North were really in
favor of liberating the slaves at whatever expense,
either by slave insurrections or a breaking down of
the Federal government. In fact, William Lloyd
Garrison, recognizing that the constitution upheld
slavery in the states, characterized it "as an agree-
ment with death and a covenant with hell!"
At first the abolition movement made no serious
impression, however, upon the Federal government ;
but when Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845
as a slave state, and shortly thereafter the country
was at war with Mexico, a war which was advocated
by Southerners and maintained chiefly by them, the
abolition sentiment of the North manifested itself
strongly in Congress in opposition to acquiring more
territory into which slaves could be carried. The
abolition leaders believed that the expansion of the
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. XLi
United States dictated by Southerners had been for
the sake of slavery. As they conceived it, Jefferson
had purchased the Louisiana territory in 1803 to
please the South and out of that territory had been
made three slave states, Louisiana, Missouri and Ar-
kansas. The annexation of Texas added to the
United States an area of 265,780 square miles open
to slaves, and the result of the Mexican War in-
dicated that much more territory would be added;
hence David Wilmot, a strong anti- slavery leader
from Pennsylvania, introduced into the House of
Representatives a measure that if any new territory
should be acquired from Mexico it should not be
opened to slavery. The opposition to slavery was
so strong that this measure passed the lower House
but failed to be approved by the Senate. The result
of the war with Mexico was the annexation of what
is now California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada
and Utah. Including Texas, the increase in the area
of the United States from 1840 to 1850 was 921,907
square miles, a territory greater by 100,000 square
miles than the original United States in 1790. Since
the formation of the United States, the territory
annexed amounted to 2,153,106 square miles, nearly
three times the original area of the United States.
Of this area, 496,445 square miles was open to sla-
very, while by the Missouri Compromise 1,000,534
square miles had been exempt from slavery. The
question now was what should be done with the new
territory of 656,227 square miles acquired from
Mexico. The matter was brought to a head by Cali-
fornia in 1850 applying for admission into the Union
as a free state. After stormy debates in Congress,
California was admitted as a free state and the
question of slavery in the other territory acquired
from Mexico was left unsettled. In the eyes of the
Southerners this restriction on their institution was
XLII INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
too great, and a convention of all the Southern states
met at Nashville in 1850 to discuss the matter, but
it was not secession in spirit. By the compromise
of 1850, a sop was thrown to the Southern people
in a more stringent fugitive-slave law which was in
every way constitutional but which Northern states
ignored, most of them passing personal liberty acts
which really prevented the apprehension of fugitive
slaves. In 1854, through the influence of Stephen
A. Douglas, Congress passed a bill providing for the
organization of Kansas and Nebraska into terri-
tories and leaving the question open as to slavery.
Then followed a mad rush on the part both of aboli-
tionists and slaveholders to see who could secure
these territories. Over the admission of Kansas as
a state came a fight in Congress which could not be
settled until after the Southern states had seceded.
In the meantime by the Dred Scott decision of the
Supreme Court of the United States the Missouri
Compromise was declared unconstitutional and all
the territories of the United States were opened to
slavery. In other words, the Supreme Court had
accepted the Southern position. This decision made
the Republican party and was followed by Lincoln's
election resulting in secession.
The Meaning of the South's Attitude to the Federal Govern-
ment.
The one great fact of Southern history which has
not been emphasized as it should be, is that from
1789 to 1860 the South had not fought to break
down the constitution or to break down the Federal
government, but to maintain the constitution and to
maintain a Federal government. Its policy during
these years in Congress was to demand that the con-
stitution be preserved, that state institutions should
not be interfered with, and that the constitution
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. XLIII
should be interpreted in the light of its adoption.
A Southern history, therefore, must tell in a dis-
passionate way these facts, and must save from
future prejudices any impression which may prevail
that the South was fighting for human slavery with-
out regard to constitutional right or without love
of the Federal government. In other words, had
the people of the North been willing to have abided
by the constitution of the United States, and by the
decisions of the Supreme Court, and to have en-
forced the law of the United States with reference
to fugitive slaves, the South would not have seceded.
The contribution of the South, therefore, before 1860
to the political history of this country was its efforts,
to maintain the rights of the states as such and to
prevent centralization of power in the hands of the
Federal government. The War of Secession resulted
from the election of a President on a platform to
exclude slaves from the territories in opposition to
a decision of the Supreme Court. The demand of
the South before 1860 for a strict construction of
the constitution was, therefore, a valuable asset to
the country at large, and to-day it is still of great
importance.
The rights of the states as such and the province
of the Federal government as such are yet vital
questions. The best lawyers of the land to-day re-
cognize that the Southern view of the constitution
was the correct one, and constant appeal is being
made to maintain state rights, and to prevent any-
thing like the establishment of imperialistic ideas
in the nation. There is pending in the Supreme
Court of the United States at present a case with
reference to passenger rates fixed by the corporation
commission of Virginia for the railroads within the
state. As yet the matter is not entirely settled, an
important point being the question of the right of
XLIV INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
the individual state. Such decision as has already
been rendered recognizes certain state rights, yet
inasmuch as the court declared that a single judge
of a subordinate court of the United States can en-
join an order entered by the highest court of a
state, one is compelled to look askance and wonder
to what extent our state governments may be humil-
iated by the Supreme Court of the United States.
While it is recognized that the War of Secession
forever killed state rights in the sense of any state
peaceably seceding from the Union, still it was not
contemplated that the Federal government, either
by legislative or by judicial procedure, would have
the right to interfere with matters affecting pecu-
liarly the people of any state. The South, there-
fore, has from the beginning consistently faced the
issue and consistently fought centralization and im-
perialism. Its contribution, therefore, has been a
great one, and its attitude towards the Federal gov-
ernment before 1860 should be recognized as of
supreme importance to the country. Our Northern
friends should, therefore, be magnanimous and
acknowledge that the South in the period of Seces-
sion was fighting the battle of state governments,
just as our English friends acknowledge that in 17.76
we were fighting for British rights. Some Northern
historians have already been generous enough to
concede this point, among them Professor Burgess,
of Columbia University, who, while he insistently
claims that secession was entirely wrong, likewise
acknowledges that Eeconstruction was highhanded
and ignored the rights of the states. The North is
beginning to recognize this fact with reference to
Eeconstruction and many of its leaders are ready to
join with the South to see that there is no further
repetition of the violation of the rights of individual
states.
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. XLV
The War and Reconstruction.
The war was a break in the progress of the United
States. It was a terrible financial and economic
blow to the South. No people fought more gallantly,
no people fought more determinedly, no people ever
made in war greater sacrifices. They were willing
to surrender all for what they believed was right.
Dr. Thomas Nelson Page has well said:
" A proof of the deep sincerity of their principles is the unanimity with
which the South accepted the issue. From the moment that war was
declared, the whole people were in arms. It was not merely the seces-
sionist who enlisted, but the stanch Union man; not simply the slave-
holder, but the mountaineer; the poor white fought as valorously as the
great landowner; the women fought as well as the men; for whilst the
men were in the field the women and children at home waited and
starved without a murmur and without a doubt."
In 1860 the South had a white population of less
than 9,000,000. From 1861 to 1865 she put into the
field about 600,000 soldiers, an unusually large pro-
portion of the men to render military service. In
1860 the value of her taxable property was more than
six and one-half billions of dollars, which was about
42 per cent, of the entire value of taxable property
in the United States. Since the white population
of the South was only about 26 per cent, of the entire
white population of the country, her per capita own-
ership of property on this basis exceeded that of
the rest of the country. By the War of Secession
she lost slaves and property of taxable value of
about two and one-half billions of dollars. The
census of 1870 shows a valuation of taxable property
in the South of four and one-half billions, about 19
per cent, of the total taxable property of the country.
The per capita average of the South was far below
the average of the country at large.
The year 1870 found the South in the throes of
Reconstruction. Those who had been leaders in the
South, and the sons and descendants of these leaders,
XLVI INTBODUCTORY OUTLINE.
scarcely had time to gain a livelihood. Their chief
activity lay in planning to save the Southern states
from negro and "carpet-bag" domination. The Re-
construction period was one of humiliation and self-
control on the part of the whites. The Northern
people have never been able fully to understand the
Southern opposition to the government of Recon-
struction days. They really seemed to believe that
the chief desire was to keep the negro from voting.
Had the negroes been an inoffensive minority, dis-
turbances would have been less. But in view of the
fact that the negroes (many whites having been dis-
franchised) were, with a few carpet-baggers, giving
bad government and increasing the debts of already
bankrupt states, for the sake of the states them-
selves it was absolutely necessary that there should
be an end put to this rule. To be sure beyond all
this there was an absolute barrier, a barrier which
prevents two races ruling in the same country; for
one or the other must be supreme. It was but natural
that the whites should rule and not the blacks, for
were the negroes to migrate to the North, the whites
there would not yield to them the government with-
out a struggle. When we consider that the legislature
of South Carolina contained a majority of negroes,
and its debt was increased in four years from $5,407,-
306 to $18,515,033, when we recall that the situation
was just as bad in Mississippi and Louisiana, it is
obvious that such bad government had to end.
Race antipathy only intensified such a situation.
This the people of the North are beginning to realize
as the foreign element in this country increases. In
an economic sense the Pacific coast now appreciates
the meaning of a race problem on account of the
number of Mongolians who have come there. The
Mongolian and negro races, therefore, are two prob-
lems with which the United States has to reckon.
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. XLVII
The whites regained control of the state govern-
ments of the South some thirty years ago, and since
then have been ruling themselves. They have won-
dered, though, how the political rights of the negro
race could in the face of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth
and Fifteenth amendments be curtailed. Finally by
means of an educational test to determine who should
exercise the right of suffrage, the state of Mississippi
eliminated most of its illiterate voters, chiefly ne-
groes. Since then all of the states of the South have
modified their constitutions along the same lines. In
addition to an educational qualification there has
been introduced into many of these constitutions a
special clause admitting to the suffrage, without
reference to educational qualifications, war veterans
whether they fought for the North or for the South,
and sons of these veterans ; in some cases grandsons
are admitted, and for none of these is the educational
test required. The suffrage provisions have the
tendency to reduce greatly the vote of the colored
people in proportion to the vote of the whites, but
the requirements in several of the states of the pre-
payment of poll tax for several years previous to
the election have disfranchised a number of excellent
citizens, making in some ways the new constitutions
in the South unsatisfactory. But the new regime
of a limited suffrage, though some whites lose their
votes, is better than the old regime with many il-
literate voters, much bribery and corruption. The
new Southern constitutions have greatly purified
Southern elections, but counting the disfranchised
whites as well as the blacks, the number of voters
has been cut down nearly one-half in many states.
In studying the race problem in this country, it
is to be remembered that the North has never done
anything towards the solving of it. The Republican
party came with Reconstruction, the enfranchising
XLVIII INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
of all the negroes, and the disfranchising of many
of the whites, thus degrading the white people of the
South, people of their own Anglo-Saxon stock, a few
Northern adventurers hoping to ride into power on
negro suffrage. The idea as expressed by Thaddeus
Stevens was to maintain the supremacy of the Re-
publican party. The negro was encouraged to be in-
solent and "uppish," and as a result became indolent
and useless in many cases. The Southern people
had, after getting rid of the Northern incomers, to
remodel society so as to make the negroes useful.
This they have done, by maintaining a school system
for the negroes as well as for the whites. At the
same time the best thought of the Southern whites
is devoted to a consideration of the problem how
to improve the negro race and make it more useful
to society.
The New South.
Since the War of Secession, the South has not
entered prominently into politics. It has consist-
ently fought for state rights and will continue to
fight for them. It has consistently maintained that
the Supreme Court of the United States shall not
construe the constitution loosely but strictly, and
in this one particular it is of great service to the
Union. But the main contributions of the new
South are industrial in their nature.
The population of the South since the war has
remained homogeneous. The native population has
added, within the period between 1880 and 1900,
seven millions to their numbers. The foreign-born
population has added only 97,000. In 1900 the native
inhabitants formed 97.7 per cent, of the Southern
communities and the foreign-born only 2.3 per cent.,
while in 1900 in the North Atlantic states the per
cent, of foreign-born was 22.6. The foreign-born
population in the South to-day is practically smaller
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. XLIX
than it was twenty years ago. The South is anxious
for foreign population as seen by the fact that the
agricultural departments of all the states of the
South are constantly advertising for foreign im-
migrants, and North and South Carolina and Vir-
ginia within the last few years have sent represen-
tatives to Europe searching for immigrants. The
great number of negroes in the South, however, has
prevented the incoming of foreigners. The lack of
village communities in many rural districts is an-
other hindrance. It is only within the last few years
that foreign immigrants are being successfully in-
troduced by settling them in communities by them-
selves and placing them, as it were, in a little village
where they have their own school and their own
church. A hopeful sign for the industrial develop-
ment of the South also is the fact that the white
population is increasing at a greater ratio than the
colored. A careful study of the movements of popu-r
lation into other states shows that less whites are
migrating from the South. The negro is not thriv-
ing so well physically as he did in the days of slavery,
and had the abolition of slavery been delayed many
generations, the Southern states would in reality
have had an overwhelming majority. The abolition
of slavery came at the right time — the curse of it was
Reconstruction. Mr. Bruce thinks that by the con-
tinuation of slavery for thirty years longer "the
numerical disproportion between the slaves and
slaveholders would have been as great as it was in
the English West Indies when emancipation was pro-
claimed in those islands."
With the abolition of slavery, the trend of South-
ern population has been from country to town.
Farming lands are therefore cheaper in the South
than anywhere in the West, and necessarily new agri-
cultural conditions must come; in fact, they are al-
L INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
ready at hand. The census of 1900 shows that 17,-
000,000 Southern people lived in the country but
that the towns are rapidly growing; for example,
in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South
Carolina, the growth in towns averaged more than
75 per cent, from 1890 to 1900. This movement tends
to increase factories of all kinds. At the same time,
the large plantations are being divided ; for example,
the average number of acres in a farm in North Caro-
lina in 1860 was 316; in 1900, 101 acres. Like
conditions prevail in all Southern states. Generally
speaking, about one-fifth of the farms of the South
are owned by negroes, but the proportion of acreage
is probably not more than one-twentieth if we may
judge by the fact that in 1900 in Virginia out of a
total of 19,907,883 the negroes owned 990,790 acres.
Small farms with an intensive system of cultivation
now prevail in the South and within twenty years
the agricultural products have increased from $600,-
000,000 to $1,200,000,000 annually.
In 1900 the number of bales of cotton produced
was 10,000,000; in 1880 the production was only
6,000,000. As a result of this rapid increase hun-
dreds of mills have been put into operation. In 1880
the Southern states contained less than one-fourth
of the cotton factories of the Union; in 1900 they
possessed nearly one-half. It is confidently expected
that the census of 1910 will show that the South has
more than one-half of all the cotton factories of the
United States. The amount of money invested in this
industry has increased from $22,000,000 in 1880 to
$132,000,000 in 1900. The result of this growth has
been the creation of a number of technical schools
dealing with many industrial problems, notably
Clemson College in South Carolina. The cotton facto-
ries along with the growth of iron, wood and tobacco
industries have increased the population of the cities.
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE. u
The increase of farm and factory products has
necessarily caused an increase of transportation
facilities. The first railroad in the South was from
Baltimore to Ellicot Mills opened for traffic in 1830.
In 1831 a railway was laid between Richmond, Va.,
and coal mines in Chesterfield county. The first road
in the South to run over more than one hundred
miles of track was the line that connected Charleston
with Hamburg in South Carolina. In 1860 the en-
tire mileage of railroads in the South was 10,352;
in 1873, 18,000; in 1880, 21,612; in 1901, 54,654 miles.
Nearly every state is now well equipped with rail-
roads, though there are still great lumber and coal
regions in the mountainous sections, undeveloped
and lacking in railway facilities. "With the increase
of railroads, there has come a wonderful increase in
the products of the mines ; the output of the South-
ern mines in 1882 was $10,000,000; in 1890, $39,000,-
000 ; in 1900, $102,000,000. In 1880 the entire-output
of lumber in the Southern states was $39,000,000,
while in 1900 the value was $200,000,000, this great
increase being due largely to improved transporta-
tion facilities.
The material wealth of the South has increased
along all lines, and in 1901 there were 2,450 banks
with deposits of $638,000,000 and a capital of $191,-
000,000 representing an increase in the financial
facilities in the South of more than one hundred per
cent, in ten years. We should not fail also to men-
tion that the exports from Southern ports have in-
creased during the period from 1880 to 1900 from
$306,000,000 to $510,000,000.
Improved Educational Facilities.
Since the War of Secession one of the greatest
changes which has taken place in the development
of the country is in the increase of its educational
LII INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
facilities. The South in ante-bellum times had no
system of public schools such as that of New Eng-
land, and its first real public school system began
in the days of Eeconstruction, though, of course,
there were some provisions made for teaching poor
children at the expense of the state even before the
war. The wealthy families of the South, however,
had private tutors. Sometimes a number of families
in the community employed a teacher who taught in
what is known as an "old field school." To such
schools were sent a number of poor children whose
tuition was paid out of state funds. The sons of the
rich planters who were taught by private tutors or
at the old field school were sent afterwards to an
academy or to some small college, and frequently to
a university. The great mass of the Southern people
were not illiterate, as the children of persons of any
means whatever were educated, while about one-half
of the poor children were also sent to school at the
expense of the state. Maryland and North Carolina
had a public school system before 1860, and South
Carolina put one into operation in 1811, though it
was not strictly enforced, but in Charleston it proved
very successful. Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis-
sissippi, Kentucky and Tennessee all had laws before
1860 providing for a public school system. We may
say truthfully, however, that the best thing that was
given the South by the Eeconstruction constitutions
was the system of free public education. The old
aristocratic class in the South naturally opposed the
free school, but after a few years such schools be-
came more popular and to-day are accepted as the
basis of our educational life. In two states, Ken-
tucky and West Virginia, there is found a system of
compulsory education.
In 1900, there were 106,967 persons engaged in
teaching in the South and in the same year $26,000,-
INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
000 were expended for the support of public schools.
Those of school age were 3,961,000, while the public
school enrolment was 2,211,000.
The number in private institutions was about
350,000. There were in the South 216 institutions
of higher learning for the whites with an annual
income of about $3,500,000. It is not to be forgotten
that the negroes are receiving their share of the
educational fund and much more than their entire
taxes for educational and all state purposes. This
speaks well for the magnanimity of the whites and
their desire to increase the efficiency of the negro
race, if education will do it.
Conclusion.
The Manufacturers' Record, of Baltimore, recently
summarized the condition of the South from 1880
to 1908 as follows: Increase of population from
16,369,960 to 26,834,705; increase of value of prop-
erty from $7,000,000,000 to $20,000,000,000; increase
of value of manufactures from $257,000,000 to $2,-
100,000,000; increase of value of cotton mills from
$21,000,000 to $266,000,000; increase of value of cot-
ton crop from $312,000,000 to $614,000,000; increase
of expenditures for common schools from $9,000,000
to $37,000,000.
This record of achievement is small as compared
with what the South may accomplish when its popu-
lation increases. Its population per square mile now
is only about 31; consider that New England has
more than 100, and Illinois more than 93 to the
square mile ; consider also the undeveloped resources
of the South; that 33 Y8 per cent, of its farming
lands are unimproved and that other lands capable
of being drained contain an area nearly one-half
as large as the total of New England ; that the South
is the market garden of the North and that annually
LIV INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE.
it is shipping to the great cities many millions of
dollars worth of small fruits and vegetables; that
it is producing in commercial quantities more than
fifty of the leading minerals and has a coal territory
of 148,000 square miles. Think of what the better-
ment of its transportation facilities will mean, for
should there be as many miles of railroads in the
South to the square mile as in the state of Illinois,
we would have four miles for every one now in exist-
ence.
What then constitutes the chief things for us to
consider in the Southern civilization of to-day?
First, the determination of the Southern whites to
rule in the lands which they themselves have de-
veloped— white supremacy but with civil rights to
all. Secondly, the great industrial change — the abo-
lition of the large plantation and the introduction
of small farms ; greater diversity in agricultural pur-
suits; the development of all kinds of manufactur-
ing enterprises; the development of transportation
facilities ; the increasing of the efficiency of the entire
population for civic and industrial duties by public
education.
The South is making marvelous strides and its
activities are being directed by its own people who
understand its own conditions. The South has ac-
complished much under many obstacles; it will ac-
complish more since many of these obstacles have
been overcome, and its importance to the nation
is being more fully realized.
J. A. C. CHANDLEB.
THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA, 1584-1624.
Early English Explorations.
HEN Columbus sailed westward from
Spain in 1492, had any writer at-
tempted to picture the results which
were to follow from his voyage, his
views would have been regarded as
the utterances of an insane man. Nevertheless, it is
true that Columbus pointed the way for the develop-
ment of great continents, the possibilities of which it
took Europe more than two hundred years to grasp.
The goal was India, whose wealth was being sought,
and a new world was far from the thoughts of Co-
lumbus. The lands that he reached he regarded only
as a barrier to India, which, doubtless, lay near by.
Having established the fact that a westward voy-
age might be made to the oriental countries, ex-
plorers by the score were soon traversing the high
seas, each hoping to be the first to reach, by sea, the
long coveted goal. Among these explorers was
Americus Vespucius, who, having sailed far south,
touched the mainland of South America. In the
year 1507 he promulgated his view that the western
lands which Columbus and the other explorers had
reached were not portions of Asia but a new conti-
nent. In the meantime, some ten years before,
i
2 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Vasco da Gama had sailed southward along the coast
of Africa passing the Cape of Good Hope, and stri-
king across the Indian Ocean had reached India.
Thus an all-water trade route had been discovered
to the east while the explorers were still searching
for the westward passage. Da Gama's success,
however, did not deter others from looking for the
western passage ; in fact, it only stimulated western
voyages.
While Spain and Portugal were sending out ex-
plorers, England was not unmindful of her own de-
velopment, and desired to participate in whatever
good results might come from the discovery of such
a passage, and she, therefore, under the direction
of her business-like king, Henry VII., sent out expe-
ditions commanded by John Cabot and his son, Se-
bastian Cabot, in the years 1497 and 1498. These voy-
ages resulted in the discovery of the shores of North
America, extending from Labrador as far south
as Florida. Though the northwest passage was not
found other English explorers continued the search,
among them Martin Frobisher, who touched the
coast of Labrador some eighty years later than the
days of Cabot. But during the reign of Henry VIII.,
Edward VI. and Mary practically nothing was done
towards following up the explorations which had
been made in earlier years. It remained, therefore,
for the reign of Queen Elizabeth to see the expan-
sion of England in all directions. Along with the
growth of English towns, English industries and the
development of a splendid literature came a com-
mercial spirit which looked to the encompassing
of the globe — a spirit which has made England the
foremost nation of the Twentieth century. This
spirit grew out of opposition to Spain, a desire to
prevent her from being the most powerful nation
of Europe as the result of the riches which she was
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIBGINIA. 3
securing from South America. English merchant-
knights and sea-rovers were soon found in all direc-
tions upon the high seas, among them being
Hawkins, Grenville, Drake and Gilbert. Hawkins
and Drake plundered Spanish commerce on the
oceans and frequently touched new lands. Drake on
one voyage went as far north along the Pacific
coast as the mouth of the Columbia Kiver, and
circumnavigated the globe.
As opposition to Spain increased, a feeling grew
for the establishment of an English colony in North
America. Among the first to undertake it was Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, who was undoubtedly stimulated
by his half-brother, Ealeigh. In 1578 Gilbert started
out with his first colony, but on account of a storm
was forced to return to England. Five years later
he planted a colony on the coast of Newfoundland,
but was forced to abandon it, and on his return to
England was lost at sea. The next year, 1584, Sir
Walter Ealeigh secured, in his own name, the patent
which Queen Elizabeth had granted to Gilbert for
the planting of a colony in the new world. Raleigh
had been Gilbert's mentor in his colonization scheme,
and now he took upon himself the obligation, as he
saw it, of planting an English nation in America as
a bulwark against Spanish aggression. The letters
patent granted to Ealeigh gave all the colonists the
rights of English subjects, and allowed Ealeigh, his
heirs or assigns, to provide such governments for
the colony, or colonies, as were in harmony with the
English constitution.
The Roanoke Colony.
Having secured the letters patent Ealeigh sent
out two experienced sea-captains, Philip Amadas
and Arthur Barlow, who, sailing from England in
April, 1584, finally reached the coast of North Caro-
4 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
lina July 2 of the same year. A few days later they
entered Albemarle Sound and landed on Koanoke
Island. A glowing report they made of the new
world on their return to England, telling of the ex-
cellent timber and fruits, and of the game to be
found in the new land. It is said that when the
report was made to Queen Elizabeth she decided to
name the country in honor of herself, the Virgin
Queen, and called it "Virginia." Thereupon Sir
Walter proceeded to secure settlers to go to the new
land. Some one hundred men set sail from England
in a fleet of seven small ships under the command
of the famous fighter and sea-rover, Sir Richard
Grenville. The last of July, 1585, the colony landed
on Koanoke Island and proceeded to build a small
town under the direction of Ealph Lane, who had
been sent by Baleigh as governor of the colony.
Lane was a man of wisdom and good judgment, and
he opposed the selection of Eoanoke Island as the
site of the colony, and sent out two parties, one by
land and one by sea, to meet on the Chesapeake Bay
for the selection of a better site. With Lane was
Thomas Cavendish, afterwards to become renowned
as an explorer; John White, the artist and after-
wards governor of the second Boanoke colony;
Thomas Hariot, the historian and one of the best-
known mathematicians of England. Under Lane's
direction a fort was built and the lands in the neigh-
borhood of Boanoke Island explored as far south as
eighty miles. Exploring parties went 130 miles
north and northwest.
The neighborhood of Boanoke was not suitable
for a small colony in a strange land. Indians com-
bined against Lane under two Indian chiefs, Win-
gina and Wanchese. Among the friendly Indian
chiefs was Granganimeo and Manteo. An attack
was made by the Indians on the fort but it was re-
SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. 5
pulsed, and Wingina was shot and his warriors
scattered. A few days later, June 11, 1586, Sir
Francis Drake arrived at Eoanoke Island with a
fleet of twenty-three sails, and after consultation
between him and Lane it was decided that the colony
should be taken back to England. On June 19 they
sailed back to the mother country. Lane took back
to England with him three articles : tobacco, Indian
corn and Irish potatoes. Ealeigh introduced the use
of tobacco in England and also the cultivation of the
potato. Indian corn has since become the great
product of America. Ealeigh constantly thought of
the colony which he had planted on the American
shores, and before they sailed from America he had
sent supplies from England under the direction of
Sir Eichard Grenville, but they reached Eoanoke
Island after the colony had departed with Drake.
On returning to England they found, much to their
surprise, that the colony had not perished from
hunger or at the hands of the Indians.
Sir Walter Ealeigh was a man of great determina-
tion, and Lane's return to England did not, there-
fore, cause him to abandon the hope of establishing
an English colony in Virginia ; so, in the year 1587,
he sent out 150 colonists under John White, the
artist, who was appointed governor, with twelve as-
sistants, who received from him a charter and were
incorporated under the name of "Governour and
Assistants of the Citie of Ealeigh in Virginia. ' ' Of
the 150 settlers seventeen were women and nine
were children, and, judging from their names, ten
of the men brought their wives and children. In-
structions were given that the colony should be
planted on the Chesapeake Bay, and since Grenville,
who the previous year had carried over some sup-
plies, had left some men at the fort, they were in-
structed to go by Eoanoke Island and get these men
6 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
before proceeding to Chesapeake Bay. On reaching
Eoanoke the commander of the fleet, Simon Ferdi-
nando, refused to go farther, so that "White was
forced to land and reestablish the colony of Boanoke.
The men that Grenville had left behind had been
killed by the Croatan Indians according to the
stories told by the Indians themselves, but the
houses which Lane's colony had built remained
intact.
These houses were soon repaired and the colony
began work, but the fleet under Ferdinando sailed
away. In a little while the colonists were at war
with the Indians, though Manteo still remained
friendly and was baptized into the Christian faith.
Soon after this (August 18) Virginia Dare was born,
the first American child of English parents. In a
few weeks White returned to England to get sup-
plies. He was loath to go and tried to persuade
some of the assistants to undertake the journey, but,
on their refusal, he departed with two small ships
which had been left to the colony. On arriving in
England he found everything in bustle and confu-
sion on account of the reported invasion of England
by Spain; in fact, the Invincible Armada was al-
ready sailing towards the English channel. All
English ships and all English sailors were needed
to defend England against the Spanish power, yet
Ealeigh prepared, at White's suggestion, an expe-
dition to go to the relief of the colony, but at the
last minute orders were given that it should not
sail. A little later, however, two ships were sent
out, but being attacked by Spanish vessels were
compelled to return to England. Then came the
terrible struggle with Spain in which the Invincible
Armada was defeated, after which White was finally
able to get together supplies, and in March, 1590,
sailed for Eoanoke. In August, 1590, three years
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. 7
after he had left the colony, he reached Eoanoke
Island. Everything was found in ruins ; grass was
growing in the doorways and no sign of human life
was to be seen. On leaving the island in 1587 he
had instructed the settlers in the event of leaving
the island to carve on a tree or some conspicuous
place the name of the place to which they had gone,
and if in distress a cross in addition. After a search
the word "Croatan" was found carved on a tree
without a cross. Efforts were made to find Croatan,
but a storm drove the vessels from the sound, and
food supplies being low, the ships sailed to the West
Indies. Unfortunately these ships were not under
the direction of White.
Between 1592 and 1602 no less than five different
attempts were made to locate this lost colony, but
as a matter of fact no careful search was made at
any distance from the shore, and no one has ever
been able to place the lost colony of Roanoke.
Sir Walter Raleigh was very persistent in his ef-
forts. He had spent no less than $1,000,000 in at-
tempting to plant a colony and to locate the lost col-
ony. Still he never despaired of seeing Virginia
settled by the English. He once said, "I shall yet
live to see it an English nation," and he did, for
Jamestown had been settled and was a thriving col-
ony before he was led to the block. The lost colony
of Roanoke has remained a mystery in history, some
believing that all the colonists were killed, others
that they were absorbed by the Croatan Indians,
who to-day live in North Carolina and claim that in
their veins flows the blood of the Englishmen who
were members of White's colony. To-day the spot
where Raleigh's colonies were planted is marked
by a monumentwhich bears the following inscription :
"On this site in July- August, 1585 (O. S.), colonists, sent out from
England by Sir Walter Raleigh, built a fort, called by them "The
New Fort in Virginia.'
8 THE HISTOKY OF VIKGINIA.
"These colonists were the first settlers of the English race in Amer-
ica. They returned to England in July, 1586, with Sir Francis Drake.
" Near this place was born, on the 18th of August, 1587, Virginia
Dare, the first child of English parents born in America — daughter of
Ananias Dare and Eleanor White, his wife, members of another band
of colonists, sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587.
" On Sunday, August 20, 1587, Virginia Dare was baptized. Manteo,
the friendly chief of the Hatteras Indians, had been baptized on the
Sunday preceding. These baptisms are the first known celebrations
of a Christian sacrament in the territory of the thirteen original
United States."
Steps to Permanent Settlement.
The work of Sir Walter Ealeigh in trying to es-
tablish a colony in Virginia was not entirely futile,
though for something over a decade efforts to plant
a colony in Virginia were abandoned. However, it
was a time in England when progress was every-
where present, in letters, arts, science, explorations
and commerce. The spirit of the day was well exem-
plified in Ealeigh himself, and there were others
ready to lead in the same movement in which he had
figured. His plans and those of Gilbert were, how-
ever, too large for individual effort. The natural out-
come was the organization of a company, or com-
panies, for the promotion of colonial efforts, the basal
reasons being commercial.
Already large trading companies existed in Hol-
land, France, Sweden, Denmark and even in Russia.
In these countries during the 150 years after 1554
there were no less than seventy companies chartered
for commercial and colonizing purposes, the two
ideas being closely related in the purposes of these
companies. In the year 1600 Queen Elizabeth char-
tered the East Indian Company, which was given a
monopoly of the trade in all countries lying between
the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Magellan
going east. There were 125 stockholders, and the
government of the Company was in the hands of a
governor, deputy-governor and a directing board of
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH
Statue by Wm. Couper at Jamestown.
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. 9
twenty-four members. The organization of this
Company was taken as the basis of the organization
of the London Company of Virginia. Almost simul-
taneously with the establishment of the East India
Company plans were on foot for the establishment
of a Virginia company. The Eev. Mr. Hakluyt was
urging the establishment of a colony in the West,
and among the motives assigned for such a colony
were: (1) The discovery of a western passage to
India for commerce; (2) a colony to which the un-
employed class of England could be transported;
(3) to check the power of Spain, and (4) the Chris-
tianizing of the Indians.
These motives were freely discussed, each pro-
moter stressing that motive which appealed most
to him. As a matter of fact, the two arguments of
greatest weight were the ones for the promotion of
commercial enterprise and the Christianizing of the
"infidels." Mr. Hakluyt had earnest supporters in
Bartholomew Gosnold, a merchant sea-captain,
Edward Maria Wingfield, a London merchant, and
Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, two dis-
tinguished English gentlemen. Among other earn-
est advocates were Raleigh Gilbert, a nephew of
Sir Walter Ealeigh, William Parker, a rich mer-
chant of Plymouth, and other gentlemen and mer-
chants of England.
The London Company Charter.
Their plans for a large company to be divided
into two division were presented to King James and
met with his approval, and a charter was granted by
him on April 10, 1606, to two companies, one com-
monly known as the London Company and the other
was the Plymouth Company. The London Company
was to settle in southern Virginia and the Plymouth
Company in northern Virginia. To the London
10 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
company was granted the right to settle anywhere
between latitude 34° and 41°, and to the Plymouth
Company between latitude 38° and 45°, it being
stipulated that the lands between 38° and 41° were
open to both companies with the proviso that the
company last planting a colony should not come
nearer than 100 miles of any settlement founded by
the other company. The incorporators of the Lon-
don Company were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George
Somers, Eichard Hakluyt and Edward Maria Wing-
field. The incorporators of the Plymouth Company
were Ealeigh Gilbert, William Parker, Thomas
Hamhan and George Popham. The Plymouth Com-
pany was the first to make an effort at colonization.
In May, 1606, it sent out a colony which settled on
the Kennebec Eiver. The death of Popham and
Gilbert, both of whom accompanied the settlement,
caused the colony to be abandoned, and no other
serious attempt was made by this Company. It
remained to the London Company, therefore, to
make the first permanent English settlement in
America. The charter granted to the London Com-
pany in 1606 provided for a council of thirteen resi-
dents in England appointed by the King as the
ruling body. This council was to establish, with the
approval of the King, the form of government which
was to prevail in Virginia. To the settlers was
granted the right to hold lands and trial by jury,
and only five offenses were made punishable by
death, small as compared with English punishments
at that time — murder, manslaughter, incest, rape
and adultery. The plea of the benefit of clergy was
not to be allowed except in case of manslaughter.
It is interesting to note that this benefit of the clergy
was allowed in most of the American colonies for
this particular crime down to the Eevolution, but
the person pleading it was punished with being
GRANTS TO THE
PLYMOUTH AND XOXDON COMPANIES
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. 11
burned in the hand. All excesses, drunkenness, etc.,
were subject to punishment. It was provided that
everything in the colony should be held in common
for a period of at least five years, there being a
treasurer or cape-merchant to handle the goods and
properties of the adventurers. In matters of re-
ligion, the Church of England was established.
Under this charter three small ships were
equipped and 104 colonists sent to Virginia by the
Company. A council of seven selected from these
colonists were to rule in Virginia, one of that num-
ber being designated as president. In order to
gratify a whim of the King, it was provided that it
should not be known who the members of the council
would be until the colonists had arrived in Virginia,
their names being sealed in a box. The expedition,
composed of the three ships, the Susan Constant,
Godspeed and Discovery under the command of
Capt. Christopher Newport, sailed from England on
Dec. 19, 1606, and after a rough voyage passed be-
tween two capes, which were named Charles and
Henry in honor of the two sons of James I.
Settlement at Jamestown.
On April 26, 1607, a landing was effected at Cape
Henry, a cross planted, and the country taken pos-
session of in the name of King James of England.
After several days and several landings, they passed
up a broad river which was named "James" in
honor of the King, and on May 13 anchored off
Jamestown Island, then a low-lying peninsula. Here
the first settlement was begun. Here the council,
composed of Edward Maria Wingfield, as president,
and Kendall, Eatcliffe, Martin, Gosnold, Newport
and Smith, began their management of the first
permanent settlement of America. Smith, however,
was for a time excluded from the council until he
12 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
could be tried on the charge of mutiny which had
been made against him on the voyage, he being
brought to the colony under arrest. He was ac-
quitted and his accuser adjudged to pay him £200
damages. Eude houses were constructed and re-
ligious services were regularly held by the Eev. Mr.
Hunt, who accompanied the settlers, under an old
sail fastened to some trees. As soon as work had
begun on the building of the log huts, Newport re-
turned to England leaving the settlers to continue
their operations. Unfortunately, there were few
carpenters, laborers and servants among this early
body of settlers, most of them being classified as
gentlemen. More unfortunate still, however, was
the visitation of some terrible disease, probably
malarial fever, which fell upon the colonists, and in
a short time swept away more than fifty persons,
among them Bartholomew Gosnold. Wingfield, on
attempting to flee, was deposed as president and
Eatcliffe put in his place. Eatcliffe was incompe-
tent, and the colony went from bad to worse. Wing-
field and Kendall entered into a plot to seize the
small boat which had been left to the colony, but
were detected, and Kendall was tried for treason and
shot — the first reported execution in America. In
the meantime the food supply was low and much of
it had been injured by climatic conditions. Still the
settlers made some efforts at exploration. Hardly
had they landed at Jamestown before some went up
the river as far as the falls at Eichmond, and late
in the fall of 1607 Smith explored the Chickahominy,
was captured, carried before Opecancanough and
afterwards before Powhatan. Upon the entreaties
of Pocahontas he was finally released and allowed
to return to Jamestown. On reaching the colony in
January he found a large per cent, of the settlers
dead and the few remaining ones greatly in need of
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. 13
corn. Fortunately for the colony, Newport arrived
with a second supply and the colony was saved. In
1608 Smith explored the region of the Chesapeake
Bay and its tributaries, and drew a map of this
region which, considering the information which he
had at hand, was extremely accurate. During this
summer came Newport with other supplies and set-
tlers, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Forrest and
her maid, Anne Burras, who shortly afterwards
was married to John Laydon, the first marriage to
be celebrated in the colony.
Ratcliffe having proved absolutely unworthy,
Smith was finally made president, and during the
remaining portion of the year 1608 better houses
were built at Jamestown and a good fort con-
structed. The food supply was very limited, but he
made many expeditions among the Indians during
the winter and secured the necessary food to keep
the colony alive. During this winter his life was
threatened by the Indians, but Pocahontas remained
his faithful friend and informed him of their plots.
With the spring of 1609 new settlers arrived, all
told about 500, and several new settlements were
made in the colony, among them a settlement of 120
men in that portion of Richmond now called ' ' Rock-
etts. ' ' Difficulties arose there with the Indians, and
as Smith was returning from a trip to settle the
differences at this plantation, known as Captain
West's plantation, a bag of gunpowder exploded in
his boat and he was severely wounded. This forced
him to give up his residence in Virginia and he
returned to London, the reins of government being
placed in the hands of George Percy.
It was a sad day for Virginia when Smith left
the colony. Percy proved incompetent. Neither he
nor his assistants knew how to deal with the Indians ;
Pocahontas absented herself from the English; the
14 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
food supplies were extremely short and the colony
entered upon a period known as the starvation time.
Throughout the whole winter of 1609-10 suffering
was intense ; every horse, cow and hog were slaugh-
tered and eaten. The colonists even ate rats, dogs
and adders, and it was also reported that an Indian,
who had been killed, was eaten. Other horrible ac-
counts of cannibalism are also given us.
The London Company Reorganized.
While matters were going on thus in Virginia, the
London Company was considering the problem of
the new colony. No returns had been received from
the settlement to indicate that the Company would
reap any commercial benefit. The colonists had been
told to find precious metals, but Newport had only
carried to England a shipload of yellow sand and
clay that contained no gold. The colony had been
a drain upon the Company, and it was, therefore,
determined that efforts should be made to reorganize
the Company on a broader basis so as to sustain
the colony and eventually develop it. Consequently a
new charter, drawn by no other than Sir Edwin
Sandys, was granted in 1609. The Company was
now made into a great corporation composed of 659
distinguished nobles, knights, gentlemen and mer-
chants of England and some fifty-six city companies
of London. The prerogatives of the Company were
enlarged. Sir Thomas Smythe was made treasurer
and the Earl of Southampton and fifty-one others
were appointed a council resident in England. In
this council were fourteen members of the House of
Lords and thirty members of the House of Com-
mons. To this resident council was granted the
right to make all regulations and to determine the
form of government for the colony. Thus was es-
tablished the first great American trust with a
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIKGINIA. 15
monopoly of the trade with colonies to be planted
in Virginia.
The boundaries of Virginia were now to be 200
miles south and 200 miles north of Old Point Com-
fort, and to run west and northwest from sea to sea.
It was under this charter that Virginia claimed all
of the Northwest Territory in after years.
The governing council of this corporation at once
determined to change the government in Virginia.
It appointed Thomas "West, Lord Delaware, gov-
ernor and captain-general of Virginia, Sir Thomas
Gates as lieutenant-governor, and Sir George
Somers as admiral under the new charter. A large
expedition of ten ships was prepared to go to Vir-
ginia under the direction of Newport, Gates and
Somers, Lord Delaware to follow later. Eight ships
reached Virginia in August with a large number of
settlers, but unfortunately two were lost, one being
the Sea Venture, which carried Newport, Gates and
Somers. The result was that Smith and the old
regime refused to surrender the government into
the hands of any newcomers for lack of proper au-
thorization. When the ships sailed away, however,
Smith went with them, leaving the old regime in
existence under Percy. The Sea Venture was not
lost but wrecked on the Bermudas, and finally, after
having passed the winter there, two small boats were
constructed in which Somers, Gates and Newport
arrived in Virginia. They found the starved col-
onists who had numbered 500 in the fall now re-
duced to sixty with no provisions of any kind, so it
was agreed that the best solution of the whole mat-
ter was the abandonment of the colony. On June 9
all sailed away from Jamestown, fortunately not
burning any of the buildings. On nearing the mouth
of the river they met a small boat which announced
that Lord Delaware had passed through the Capea.
16 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
They thereupon returned to the Island the next day,
having been away for just one night.
Lord Delaware's timely arrival saved the colony.
On reaching Jamestown he fell upon his knees and
gave thanks for the salvation of the colony. The
new regime was now inaugurated. It was one of
pomp and display. The governor marched regu-
larly to church at stated times attended by his
guardsmen, forced the people to attend services reg-
ularly and put them to work. On account of the
climate Delaware was forced to leave, and in his
stead came Sir Thomas Dale, who was a soldier of
distinction. He at once inaugurated military rule.
Under him the colony prospered, though his gov-
ernment was one of absolutism. In the meantime,
Somers and Gates and others having reported the
discovery of the Bermudas, the charter of Virginia
was slightly modified in 1612, this being the third
charter of the London Company. The modification
was made in order to include the Bermuda Islands
as a part of Virginia. It also designated that the
council resident in London should meet weekly, and
that four times a year all members of the Company
should meet in a general court. It was further pro-
vided that all laws for the government of Virginia
were to be made by the Company or its authorized
agents.
Dale's administration is also marked by the mar-
riage of John Eolfe to the Indian princess, Poca-
hontas. John Eolfe had been wrecked along with
his family on the Bermuda Islands in the Somers
and Gates expedition, and there his first wife had
died. "While a resident of Jamestown he had seen
and become enamored of Pocahontas, who was
held there as a prisoner, she having been captured
by Captain Argall on the Potomac Eiver. The mar-
riage was celebrated in the church at Jamestown,
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. 17
and their honeymoon was spent at Eolfe 's estate on
the James River known as Varina. In 1616 Dale
returned to England, and with him went Master
John Eolfe and his wife, who was graciously re-
ceived at the court of King James and was lionized
by London society. Mistress Eolfe died in London,
leaving one son from whom so many Virginians
claim descent.
The First American Legislative Assembly.
Dale's successor was Sir George Yeardley, who
for some ten years with intervening periods was
governor of the colony. He was a resident of Vir-
ginia, had a large plantation at Flower de Hundred,
and was deeply interested in the development of the
colony. When he became governor there were some
700 or 800 settlers. Within three years the popu-
lation was probably 2,000, distributed among some
eleven settlements. This growth in population was
due to many causes: (1) More interest in the colony
on the part of the London Company secured by fre-
quent meetings; (2) the beginnings of the tobacco
trade, the first tobacco being shipped to England
by John Eolfe in 1612, and (3) Yeardley 's efforts to
secure married settlers and the building of perma-
nent homes.
The constant reports made from Virginia to the
London Company and the interest which was se-
cured caused a more liberal attitude to be developed
in the London Company towards the management
of the Virginia colony. Moreover, many members
of the House of Lords and especially of the House
of Commons were opposed to the high-handed meas-
ures of King James in England, and were anxious
to establish a colony where a liberal government
might prevail. The outcome was a struggle in the
Company, beginning in 1618, between the King's
Vol. 1—2.
18 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
party and the liberal faction as it existed in Parlia-
ment. In other words, the meetings of the council
of the London Company and the general courts be-
came the debating ground of English conditions as
well as Virginia conditions, and many a parliamen-
tary debate was, as it were, transferred to the meet-
ings of the London Company. In 1618 very liberal
instructions were given by the Company to Sir
George Yeardley for the management of the colony
of Virginia, instructions which allowed him to call
a General Assembly. Under these instructions the
governor issued a summons for the election of two
delegates from each of the eleven plantations of the
colony, which representatives met at Jamestown on
July 30, 1619, and proceeded to organize the first
legislative assembly of America. In addition to
these representatives, the Assembly was also to be
composed of the governor and his council, making a
unicameral body. The first Assembly was held in
the church at Jamestown. John Pory, secretary of
the colony, was elected speaker. Every member
was required to take the oath of supremacy as ad-
ministered to the members of the English Parlia-
ment. The proceedings of this Assembly in Pory's
autograph were found in the British record office by
Mr. Bancroft, and show what was discussed by these
early lawmakers. Among the important acts was
one stating that since the London Company insisted
on approving the laws of the Virginia Assembly,
the Virginia Assembly should likewise have the
privilege of approving the acts of the London Com-
pany— the early beginnings of resistance to legisla-
tion without representation. The London Company
was also requested to send over laborers and work-
men to build the college at Henrico.
The first movement for a college to be established
in Virginia was made about 1616, and the King an-
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. , 19
thorized the bishops of England to take up a collec-
tion for it, which resulted in securing £1,500. The
Company granted certain lands at Henricopolis,
now Dutch Gap, and in 1620 sent over George
Thorpe as superintendent of the college property
with workmen and carpenters. It was doubtless due
to the request of the Virginia Assembly, or House
of Burgesses, as it is so commonly called, that
Thorpe was sent. Later the Rev. Mr. Copeland was
elected rector, but never reached Virginia because
the massacre of 1622 had destroyed the college prop-
erty. Thus the first college in America had its be-
ginnings before any other settlement than Virginia
had been made. The early Virginians, therefore,
took an interest in educational matters, even in the
London Company period.
Some of the other acts of the first Assembly re-
lated to drinking, and it was unlawful for any man
to get drunk. It was also made unlawful for any
man to wear fine apparel provided he did not pay to
the support of the church according to the quality
of the clothes he wore. Anyone who was guilty of
swearing, after having been three times admonished,
should be fined five shillings for every offense, the
fine to go to the church. The Assembly was in ses-
sion only five days, but judging from the reports of
its proceedings the men were conservative and
business-like, and had little difficulty in passing such
regulations as seemed to them best for the colony.
The spirit of independence and freedom shown by
this Assembly was indicative of that spirit which
was afterwards to produce the American Revolution.
Charter of London Company Annulled.
For the next three years the colony grew rapidly.
Negro slavery was introduced in 1619, twenty slaves
being purchased from a Dutch man-of-war, eight
20 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
of whom became the property of the governor.
Some ninety young ladies were brought over
to become wives of the settlers, and thus
more permanent homes were formed. The to-
bacco industry increased, and in 1620 20,000
pounds were shipped to England. By 1622 the
number of settlements was some twenty-four or
twenty-five.
The Indians saw with amazement the occupancy
of their lands by the whites. At the time that the
first settlement was made at Jamestown, Powhatan,
as he was called, was ruler of a loose confederacy
of small Indian tribes in eastern Virginia. At first
he was hostile to the English, but though he was a
wily diplomat he was no match for John Smith, and
finally yielded to all the requests of the English
without serious conflict. After the capture of his
daughter and her conversion to Christianity and
marriage to John Eolfe, he and his tribe lived in
peace with the English. The tie between the races
was, however, somewhat broken by the death of
Pocahontas, and later entirely severed by the death
of Powhatan. The same chieftain who had first
captured Smith in 1607, Opecancanough, now be-
came the ruler of Powhatan 's people, and urged
them to prevent a further growth of the English
settlements. The outcome was a sudden and unex-
pected uprising in the spring of 1622 which re-
sulted in the destruction of the city of Henricopolis
and several other smaller plantations, and the death
of some 300 settlers, among them Capt. William
Powell, who had been a member of the first legis-
lative Assembly, and probably John Eolfe, who had
married Pocahontas. This was a severe blow to the
colony, and it was some six or eight months before
it again began to receive new settlers and to take on
new life.
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA. 21
While these affairs were going on in Virginia, the
situation in the London Company in London was
becoming more critical. Sir Thomas Smythe, in
1619, having been appointed by the King a commis-
sioner of the navy, declined reelection as treasurer
of the London Company, and Sir Edwin Sandys
was elected as his successor. The following year
when the question of election came up the King
sent word that Sir Edwin Sandys was persona non
grata, whereupon the liberal faction placed in nomi-
nation the Earl of Southampton, who was elected.
Southampton was equally as objectionable, but as
long as the London Company remained in existence
he was reflected to his office. In other words, the
London Company was controlled by the more lib-
eral element of Parliament which was opposed to
King James' notion of Divine Eight and royal pre-
rogative. It was, therefore, the King's desire to
annul the charter of the London Company and to
break up its meetings, which, to his mind, were the
hot-bed of sedition. Among the King's supporters
were Sir Thomas Smythe, Robert Rich (Earl of
Warwick), and many other prominent English gen-
tlemen and merchants. In other words, the mer-
chant class, who had the monopoly of the trade, were
afraid of the liberal policies of the Sandys-South-
ampton people who were led by Sir Edwin and the
Earl, with their able associates George Sandys, the
Ferrars, the Earl of Dorset, William Cavendish and
others. In 1623 the King, disgusted with the man-
agement of the London Company, sent a commis-
sion to Virginia to report on the state of the colony.
Its report was adverse to the London Company,
claiming that its management of Virginia was
unsatisfactory. The Virginians sent a commis-
sioner saying that they were thoroughly satisfied
with the government they enjoyed. The London
22 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Company itself prepared an answer to the King.
However, James pushed proceedings to a finish, and
by quo warranto Chief Justice Ley declared the
charter of the London Company null and void. Thus
ended, in 1624, the rule of the London Company in
Virginia.
Fortunately for the students of history, the pro-
ceedings of this Company were preserved by Nicho-
las Ferrar and were finally bought by William Byrd,
of Virginia, and, passing through several hands,
reached Thomas Jefferson, and with his library
were purchased by the United States. To-day they
are preserved in the Library of Congress.
Virginia now became a royal province, but the
work of the London Company could not be entirely
undone. To this great trust or corporation is due
the establishment of the first permanent settlement
in America at the expense of several millions of
dollars to the incorporators. The establishment of
a representative form of government in the new
world is a heritage which we have from the London
Company. It was the purpose of James to take from
the colony much of the freedom in governmental af-
fairs which it had enjoyed under the London Com-
pany. Fortunately for Virginia, James died before
he could prepare a plan of government for the col-
ony, and Charles I. was persuaded by the Virgin-
ians, who granted him certain duties on tobacco from
the colony, to continue a representative form of gov-
ernment. Thus one of the most abiding influences
of the London Company — popular government — was
preserved in the American colonies and eventually
produced our republic.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Brown: Genesis of the United States; Campbell: Hi»-
tory of Virginia; Chandler and Thames: Colonial Virginia; Connor: Be-
ginnings of English America; Fiske: Old Virginia and Her Neighbors;
Hariot: A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia;
Hening: Statutes at Large; Kingsbury: Records of the Virginia Company
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 23
ef London; Neill: The Virginia Company; Smith, John: General History
of Virginia; Tyler: Cradle of the Republic, England in America, Narra-
tives of Early Virginia.
JULIAN ALVIN CARROLL CHANDLER,
Professor of History, Richmond College; author of Makers of
Virginia History, etc.
CHAPTER II.
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE,
1624-1763.
Government of the Royal Province of Virginia.
After the dissolution of the London Company, af-
fairs were very much depressed in the colony on ac-
count of the uncertainty attending land titles and
even the form of government. King James declared
that he did not intend to disturb the interest of
either planter or adventurer, but as he subsequently
appointed a commission consisting of opponents to
the Company to take charge, temporarily, of Vir-
ginia affairs the people did not know exactly what
to expect. Serious fears were entertained as to the
fate of the representative government, which they
had enjoyed under the Company ; for while the then
governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, and twelve others in
Virginia as councillors were authorized to conduct
the local government, no summons went out for an
assembly. King James, however, died March 27,
1625, and by his death the commission for Virginia
affairs in England expired.
Charles I. had all the arbitrary notions of his
father, but fortunately he was under personal ob-
ligations to Sir Edwin Sandys and Nicholas Fer-
rar, Jr., and for their sake he dismissed the former
24 THE HISTOKY OF VIRGINIA.
royal commissioners and intrusted affairs relative
to Virginia to a committee of the Privy Council
friendly to the old Company. The Virginians sent
George Yeardley to England, and as the result of
his representations he was returned as governor;
and not long after, on March 26, 1628, under in-
structions from the King, the regular law-making
body again assembled at Jamestown — an event sec-
ond only in importance to the original meeting in
1619. It seems that the division of the General As-
sembly into two chambers — the council sitting as
an upper house and the representatives of the people
sitting as the lower house in imitation of the houses
of Parliament — dates from this period. Never again
were the regular sessions of the law-making body
interrupted, and the Virginians, practically left to
themselves by the King, enjoyed a larger share of
free government than could have been possible un-
der the Company.
Claiborne's Struggle for Territorial Integrity.
The question of land titles was kept in uncertainty
for a much longer period. Despite the assurances
of King James, which were repeated by his son,
Charles I., the colonists and those interested in Eng-
land were soon given to understand that the privi-
leges of the planters and adventurers did not ex-
tend to unoccupied lands. On Oct. 30, 1629, the
King granted to Sir Eobert Heath the province of
Carolina in the southern part of Virginia between
31 and 36 degrees. And about the same time Cot-
tington, the secretary of state, in answer to an ap-
plication from George Calvert, Lord Baltimore,
promised him "any part of Virginia not already
granted." Soon after on the death of George Cal-
vert, a charter was made out on June 20, 1632, to
his son, Cecilius Calvert, for that part of Virginia
VIRGINIA AS A EOYAL PROVINCE. 25
lying north of the Potomac, which was called
Maryland.
It happened, however, that William , Claiborne,
the secretary of state of Virginia, under the author-
ity of the King, had established within the limits of
the proposed province, in 1631, a trading post on
Kent Island, which was recognized by the Virginia
authorities as a legal occupation. Backed by the
Virginia authorities and the members of the old
Company, Claiborne disputed the validity of Balti-
more's grant, and when this was decided against
him by the commissioners for foreign plantations,
he contested the point as to Kent Island itself, hold-
ing it to be expressly excepted by the terms of the
charter, which described the land given to Lord Bal-
timore as "hitherto unsettled and occupied only by
barbarians ignorant of God." The government in
England vacillated from one side to the other, and as
a result there was a miniature war in which several
persons were killed in Chesapeake Bay. Great ex-
citement prevailed in both colonies, and in Virginia
much indignation was felt against the governor,
Harvey, who upheld the cause of the Marylanders,
and in his general conduct reflected the views of the
court party in England. He acted in important
matters without the consent of his council, which
was contrary to his instructions ; he attempted to lay
taxes and suppressed a petition addressed to the
King by the Assembly on the tobacco contract. Mat-
ters came to a crisis in April, 1635, when the council
turned Harvey out of office and shipped him back to
England.
This deposition of a royal governor mightily sur-
prised King Charles, who declared it an act of
"regal authority." He restored Harvey to his
government, and on April 4, 1638, the commissioners
for foreign plantations rendered a report giving
26 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Kent Island and the right of trade in Chesapeake
Bay wholly to Lord Baltimore, and leaving all per-
sonal wrongs between the parties to be redressed
by the courts.
This territorial question at last seemed settled,
but in the vicissitudes of English politics King
Charles soon found it wise to once more turn a
favorable ear to the friends of the old Company, and
on Jan. 16, 1639, Sir Francis Wyatt, who had gov-
erned in Virginia acceptably once before, was com-
missioned to succeed Harvey. The agitation for a
renewal of the charter was resumed and George
Sandys was sent to England as agent for the colony
to present to the King the wishes of the people.
But soon another change in politics ensued by the
breach between King and Parliament, and Sandys,
despairing of success with the King, appealed to
the Parliament, and the Virginia patent was taken
out again "under the broad seal of England."
To offset these proceedings the King commis-
sioned Sir William Berkeley, a vehement royalist,
as successor to the popular Wyatt, and he arrived
in Virginia in January, 1642. Under his influence
the General Assembly changed views, and a peti-
tion against the restoration of the Company was
presented to Charles at his headquarters in York
on July 5, 1642. He returned a gracious reply that
"he had not the least intention to consent to the
introduction of any Company."
The civil war between the King and Parliament
greatly influenced affairs in America. The inhabi-
tants of Kent Island were Protestants and were
restless under the new authority of Lord Baltimore,
who was a Catholic. As a consequence civil war
ensued in Maryland between the Protestant and
Catholic factions. In Virginia the Indians, encour-
aged by the rumors of war in England, attacked the
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 27
colonists and killed over 300. Nevertheless, Lord
Baltimore in Maryland and Sir William Berkeley
in Virginia managed to assert their authority over
Indians and Parliamentarians alike. In Maryland
the chief agitator, Ingle, was expelled, and in Vir-
ginia the savages, by the activity of Claiborne and
other officers, were driven far away into the forests.
Old Opechancanough, the Indian chief, was cap-
tured, and peace was not long after made with
Necotowance, his successor, by which the Indians
agreed to retire entirely from the peninsula between
the York and James rivers, and from the south side
of James River as far as the Black Water.
In 1649 Maryland was the gainer by an emigra-
tion from Virginia of over 1,000 Puritans, who
would not accept the forms of the Church of Eng-
land; but Virginia did not feel the drain because
of the much larger accession to her numbers through
the civil war in England. These new people were
not like many of the old settlers, servants who went
thither to make tobacco, but English yeomen, mer-
chants and gentlemen, frequently of great estates
and influential family connections, who crossed the
seas to make homes. Tobacco planting was, in fact,
no longer much of a temptation, as the price had
fallen from 10 shillings a pound in 1612 to one penny
a pound in 1642.
Commonwealth Period in Virginia.
The execution of King Charles in 1649 caused
much excitement in Virginia, and under the influ-
ence of the immigrant cavaliers Sir William Berke-
ley denounced the murder, and the General As-
sembly declared it treason either to defend the late
proceedings or to doubt the right of his son, Charles
II., to succeed to the crown.
This was bold talk, but the challenge thus ten-
28 THE HISTOKY OF VIRGINIA.
dered was not unnoticed by Parliament very long.
In October, 1651, was passed the first of the naviga-
tion acts which limited the colonial trade to Eng-
land, banishing from Virginia the Dutch vessels
which hitherto carried abroad most of the exports.
About the same time having taken measures against
Barbadoes, the council of state ordered a squadron
to be prepared to reduce Virginia and Maryland,
Thomas Stegge, Richard Bennett and William Clai-
borne, members of Berkeley's council, were made
commissioners, and the result was that in March,
1652, when the fleet appeared before Jamestown the
assembly and council overwhelmed Berkeley to make
an accommodation. The Virginians recognized the
authority of the commonwealth of England, and
promised to pass no statute contrary to the laws of
Parliament. On the other hand the commissioners
acknowledged the submission of Virginia "as a vol-
untary act not forced nor constrained by a conquest
upon the country." They conceded to the General
Assembly the sole right to lay taxes, and promised
to secure to her the ancient limits granted by the
former royal charter. Bennett was made governor,
and Claiborne secretary of state, and Berkeley re-
tired to Green Spring, near Jamestown, where his
home was the favorite resort of fugitive cavaliers.
The commissioners then proceeded to St. Mary's,
the capital of Maryland, where they met with even
less resistance than at Jamestown.
During the next six years the Virginians had
pretty much the control of their own affairs. De-
spite the navigation act they renewed their trade
with Holland and prospered accordingly, and in
1654 there were fifteen counties inhabited by about
22,000 people. Benjamin Symes founded a free
school in 1635 and Thomas Eaton one in 1659, and
the General Assembly required the churchwardens
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVItfCJS. 29
to see that all poor children were taught to read and
write.
In this time there was but one serious setback.
Maryland was, until 1657, practically ruled from
Virginia by the commissioners Bennett and Clai-
borne, who vigorously asserted against Lord Balti-
more the rights of Virginia to all territory claimed
by him in Maryland. But Lord Baltimore paid such
court to Oliver Cromwell and made to him such
exaggerated statements of his devotion to the com-
monwealth that the Virginia representatives, see-
ing that they could accomplish nothing, hastened
to make an accommodation. They recognized his
Lordship's authority in Maryland, and sought only
in return to guarantee to the Protestant inhabitants
of Maryland their individual land titles and the
maintenance of the toleration act of 1649.
During the anarchy in England following the
resignation of Richard Cromwell from his office as
Lord High Protector, the Assembly of Virginia as-
sumed the supreme power, and, on the death of Gov.
Samuel Matthews, recalled Sir William Berkeley to
the government in March, 1660. Two months later
General Monk proclaimed Charles II. in London,
and his example was joyfully followed at Jamestown
by Sir William Berkeley, September 20.
Bacon's Rebellion.
Claiborne's struggle to preserve the integrity of
the domain of Virginia was at an end, and a new
era identified with the name of Nathaniel Bacon
commenced. The rebellion which broke out sixteen
years after the restoration was mainly produced by
the long continued exercise of prerogative conflict-
ing with the rights of the people. Thus against the
protest of the colonists the navigation act was re-
enacted by Charles II. in 1663, and by its strict en-
30 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
forcement caused a great depression in the sale of
tobacco. Then titles to lands were rendered very
uncertain by extensive grants to Lord Culpeper and
other court favorites, and there was a heavy burden
of taxation due to the extravagance of officials in
Virginia. The Assembly called in 1662, composed
of the friends of the governor, continued for four-
teen years, and by it taxes were imposed for towns
that never flourished, and for public utilities that
exceeded the needs of the people and cost three
times as much as they were worth. To all these
impositions on the people by government were added
other misfortunes — invasions in 1667 and 1673 by
Dutch fleets, which destroyed the shipping in the
river, and the ravages of a great storm in the
former year which blew down 15,000 houses (prin-
cipally tobacco barns) in Virginia and Maryland.
At length, in 1676, matters were brought to a crisis
by troubles with the Indians, who committed many
murders on the frontiers of the settlements, which
stretched at that time to the falls of the different
rivers. The people begged Nathanial Bacon, Jr.,
of Curls, in Henrico county, to protect them; and
he, after petitioning Governor Berkeley in vain for
a commission, went out against the Indians on his
own authority. He won a great victory over the
Occaneechees on an island in the Roanoke River, and
on his return home was elected to the new Assembly
which convened at Jamestown June 5, 1676. Berke-
ley resented Bacon's fighting without his authority
and, when the latter came to the Assembly, he had
him arrested for high treason; but as Bacon's
friends were very numerous, Berkeley soon let him
go and restored him to his seat in the council.
The conciliation was not cordial, and after a few
days Bacon, fearing that his life was in danger,
secretly left Jamestown and hurried home to Hen-
GOV. BERKELEY AND BACON THE "REBEL.'
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 31
rico. Here his neighbors thronged around him and
begged him to lead them down to Jamestown. Bacon
consented, and on June 23 he was again at the
island, this time with 500 men at his back. Yielding
to force, the governor gave him a commission and
the legislature passed some very wholesome laws,
correcting many long-standing abuses, and among
them was one making the bounds of "James City"
include the whole island as far as Sandy Bay, and
giving the people within those limits the right for
the first time of making their own local ordinances.
Bacon returned to Henrico and was on the eve of
going out for a second time against the Indians,
when news arrived that Berkeley was over in
Gloucester county, endeavoring to raise forces to
surprise and capture him. This caused him to give
up his expeditions and to direct his march to Glou-
cester, where, having arrived, he found that the
governor had fled to Accomac. Bacon thus left su-
preme, summoned the leading men of the colony to
Middleton Plantation, and there on August 1 made
them swear to stand by him even against soldiers
sent from England, saying "500 Virginians might
beat 2,000 redcoats." After this his next move was
to lead his troops against the Pamunkeys, whom he
discovered and defeated in the recesses of the
Dragon Swamp, somewhere in King and Queen
county. But his troubles did not end, and when he
returned to the settlement he found the governor
once more established at Jamestown.
Bacon made straight for his antagonist, and hav-
ing arrived on September 13 in "Paspahegh Old
Fields" across from the island found that Berkeley
had fortified the isthmus on the island side. He
caused his men to throw up some earthworks, and
in an engagement on the neck soon after killed some
of Berkeley's soldiers, which so disheartened the
32 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
rest that they took ship and abandoned Jamestown.
Bacon, thereupon, entered the town and, supposing
that Berkeley would soon return, gave orders for its
destruction, setting the example by applying a torch
to the church, while Lawrence and Drummond, his
two most important supporters, fired their own houses.
In the general conflagration the state house and
church perished with the other buildings, but Drum-
mond did a good deed in saving the public records.
Berkeley, driven from Jamestown, made the house
of Col. John Custis in Northampton county his
headquarters, while Bacon, after pillaging Green
Spring, marched to Gloucester and encamped at
Major Pate's house, near Poropotank Creek, where
he was taken sick, and died Oct. 26, 1676. The re-
bellion being without a real leader soon collapsed.
It continued, however, for a few months longer un-
der Ingram and Walklate, but they soon made haste
to ensure their own safety by surrendering West
Point in January, 1677. Lawrence, who was at the
"Brick House" opposite, was informed of the
treachery, fled to the forest and was never heard of
again, but Drummond was taken and presented to
Berkeley at King's Creek, Jan. 19, 1677, the day
he first set foot on the western shore after the flight
from Jamestown in September previous.
Berkeley hanged Drummond and about forty
other of the insurgents, and would have hanged
more had his hand not been stayed by the royal
commissioners sent over by the King to enquire into
and report upon the disturbances. They brought a
summons from the King for his return, and there
was great rejoicing among the people when he
finally departed, May 5, 1677, for England, where he
died soon after his arrival.
Sir Herbert Jefferys, one of the commissioners,
succeeded Berkeley as lieutenant-governor, but the
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 33
spirit of the late troubles dominated politics during
his administration and for several years later. The
excesses of Berkeley and his adherents turned the
sympathies of Jefferys and the other commissioners
against them, and for the next twelve years "the
Green Spring" faction, as the friends of Berkeley
were called, were found in opposition to the
government.
Despite the suppression of the rebellion the work
of Bacon was not in vain; for, as a consequence of
his stout measures, the colonists got rid of Berkeley
and the rule of the aristocracy, and obtained through
the commissioners an opportunity to state their
grievances, and many of the abuses were remedied
by the express command of the King. Thus Lord
Culpeper surrendered his more extensive grant of
the whole of Virginia and retained only his title to
the Northern Neck, and no similar grants were ever
again made by the Kings of England. Moreover,
the punishment inflicted by Bacon upon the Indians
removed any trouble from that source for many
years. Finally, as we have seen, the political tables
were reversed and the friends of Berkeley learned
to have more sympathy with the rights of man.
Under the form of the government Robert Beverley
and Philip Ludwell, who had upheld Berkeley in his
contest with Bacon, became the representative of the
dearest rights of the people which they had at one
time despised. As a punishment for their resistance
to the attempts of governors Jefferys, Culpeper and
Howard to tamper with the journals of the house,
to suppress the writ of habeas corpus, to assume the
right to lay taxes, and to exercise the right of a
double negative on the acts of the Assembly, Bever-
ley and Ludwell were deprived of their respective
offices as clerk of the House of Burgesses and mem-
ber of the council. These jealousies inherited from
Yd 1—8.
34 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Bacon's rebellion entered into the restlessness of the
people in 1682, when the low price of tobacco seemed
to portend another rebellion.
The people clamored for a law to limit the amount
of tobacco to be raised, and when the General As-
sembly adjourned without taking any action the
people in the counties of Gloucester and Middlesex
ran from one plantation to another and cut down
the growing plants. The governor sent a military
force against them, and the disturbances were
speedily suppressed. Several of the ringleaders
were hanged, and Beverley was much persecuted
because of his professed sympathies with the plant-
cutters.
Other commotions ensued when the governor and
his council delayed to recognize the revolution in
England, in the winter of 1688-1689. Eoman Catho-
lics were believed to be concerting with the Indians
to murder the Protestants. There was great excite-
ment in the Northern Neck, where the people were
boldly harangued by a preacher named John Waugh.
Finally in April, 1689, fears were quieted by orders
received from England to proclaim the new sover-
eigns, and "with unfeigned joy and exultation"
William and Mary were declared sovereigns of Eng-
land and her dominions.
The English Revolution Ushers in a New Era.
The accession of the new sovereigns was the be-
ginning, politically, educationally, religiously and
territorially, of a new era in Virginia. The popula-
tion had reached 85,000, and an immense increase
of negro slaves placed white people above depend-
ence on tobacco and rendered them prosperous.
From this period also dates the complete ascendency
in colonial affairs of the popular House of Bur-
gesses, though after all but two of the attacks made
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 35
by the Stuart Kings upon public and private rights
had the character of permanency. These exceptions
were the navigation law and the suffrage restric-
tions, though in the latter case the political rights of
the people were not so greatly affected as one might
suppose.
Down to 1670 everyone above the condition of a
servant had the right of suffrage for members of
the House of Burgesses. In that year the suffrage
was limited by Berkeley's long parliament to house-
holders and freeholders. This law was repealed by
Bacon, but reestablished under orders from the
King by the Assembly which met after Bacon's
rebellion. And yet the limitation was more in words
than in reality, for as the law did not define the
freehold manhood suffrage remained practically the
constitution of Virginia till 1736, when the first real
restriction on the suffrage was made. Nevertheless,
even after that time the proportion of voters in
Virginia was greater than in Massachusetts.
Educationally also, the colony took a new turn for
the better. Free schools were established in most
of the counties, and in 1693 a college was erected at
Middle Plantation which took the names of the
reigning monarchs — "William and Mary. This insti-
tution served the purpose of educating most of the
leading characters of Virginia during the War of
the Revolution. The transfer of the capital to
Williamsburg, in 1699, emphasized the onward
march of events.
In a religious significance there was also a great
change during this era. Hitherto the uniformity of
worship according to the rules of the English
church had been very little disturbed, but the end of
the period witnessed more than half of the people
of Virginia turned dissenters.
Greatly affecting all the tendencies of Virginia
36 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
life was the train of events which marked the long
contest between England and France for dominion
on the continent. The effect of this quarrel was to
bring the different colonies into closer affiliation
with one another and to prepare the way for the
American Eevolution. Though the government of
Virginia after 1697 was directed by a line of lieu-
tenant-governors, while the chief office was a sine-
cure for somebody in England, it was vigorously
managed, and there were fewer abler executives any-
where than Francis Nicholson, Alexander Spots-
wood, William Gooch and Robert Dinwiddie. They
were singularly active in asserting the English
title to America and resisting the French and In-
dians. Nicholson, who was lieutenant-governor
from 1690-92 and from 1697-1705, followed up and
carried yet further a suggestion made by Lord Cul-
peper for a confederation of the colonies, under the
supremacy of the loyal colony of Virginia. He was
a warm friend of the college, promoted the building
of a capitol at Williamsburg, at the close of the cen-
tury had a census made of the inhabitants, schools,
churches and property in the colony, and reported
the urgent need of reform in the militia and military
defenses. His hot, peppery temper, however, got
him into trouble with Dr. James Blair, president of
the college, and the members of his council, and in
1705 he was recalled to England.
Western Movement and Settlements.
Two important events were connected with the
administration of Edward Nott, his successor — the
burning of the college in October, 1705, and the pas-
sage of an act shortly after for the erection of a
governor's house or palace. In 1710 Alexander
Spotswood, one of the most active men of the age,
became governor. He bestowed much attention
.VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 37
upon the improvement of Williamsburg and assisted
in building a new brick church in Williamsburg and
in restoring the college. He purged the coast of
pirates, built an armory in Williamsburg, encour-
aged innocent social gatherings and promoted the
iron industry, but his largeness of view was more
especially seen in his plan of preventing the French
design of connecting Canada with Louisiana by
wedging the frontiers of the colony in between
these northern and southern possessions of France.
He got the legislature to lay out two new counties
— Brunswick and Spotsylvania — to act as buffers
against invasion, and established a fort respectively
in each, Christanna and Germanna. In 1716 he led
from Williamsburg to the valley of the Shenandoah
an expedition which blended romance with politics.
He claimed the country for King George, and upon
his return to Williamsburg he presented every one
of his company with a golden horseshoe bearing the
inscription Sic Juvat Transcendere monies.
Spotswood's opinion of the significance of his ex-
ploration is exhibited in a letter to the Board of
Trade. In recent years, he says, the French have
built fortresses in such positions ''that the British
plantations are in a manner Surrounded by their
Commerce w'th the numerous Nations of Indians
seated on both sides of the Lakes; they may not
only Engross the whole Skin Trade, but may, when
they please, Send out such Bodys of Indians on the
back of these Plantations as may greatly distress
his Maj'ty's Subjects here, And should they multi-
ply their settlem'nts along these Lakes, so as to joyn
their Dominions of Canada to their new Colony of
Louisiana, they might even possess themselves of
any of these Plantations they pleased. Nature, 'tis
true, has formed a Barrier for us by that long Chain
of Mountains w'ch run from back of South Carolina
5
JL JL %/
38 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
as far as New York, and w'ch are only passable in
some few places, but even that Natural Defence may
prove rather destructive to us, if they are not pos-
sessed by us before they are known to them. To
prevent the dangers w'ch Threaten his Maj'ty's
Dominions here from the growing power of these
Neighbours, nothing seems to me of more conse-
quence than that now while the Nations are at peace,
and while the French are yet uncapable of possess-
ing all that vast Tract w'ch lies on the back of these
Plantations, we should attempt to make some Settle-
ments on ye Lakes, and at the same time possess
our selves of those passes of the great Mountains,
w'ch are necessary to preserve a Communication
w'th such Settlements."
Unfortunately Spotswood's haughty carriage and
impatience of contradiction involved him, as Nichol-
son had been, in quarrels with the council and Dr.
Blair, president of the college, and he was removed
in 1722.
However, Spotswood's visit to the valley of Vir-
ginia was soon to bear valuable fruit. During the
administration of Sir William Gooch the immigra-
tion to Virginia was so great that population doub-
led, being, in 1749, upwards of 292,000. In the east-
ern section there was a large addition of negroes,
which aroused serious fears and called forth re-
peated legislative acts to restrict the importation,
which were always vetoed by the home government.
But the greatest changes ensued in the western por-
tion of the colony. Starting with the year 1726 the
great valley between the Blue Eidge and the Alle-
ghany Mountains began to fill up with large num-
bers of German and Scotch-Irish settlers, who soon
carried the English frontier against the French line
of advance.
This made the contest more realistic to Virgin-
VIRGINIA AS A EOYAL PROVINCE. 39
ians, for hitherto the scene of actual hostilities was
along the Canadian border, and the colonies to the
south of New York were not directly involved.
Intercolonial Affairs and Indian Wars.
In 1739 England declared war against Spain, of
whom France was secretly an ally, and in 1740 Vir-
ginia cooperated with the other colonies and the
mother country in sending an expedition against
Carthagena — a city of Central America. The Vir-
ginia troops were under the command of the late
governor, Alexander Spotswood, who died at An-
napolis just as they were ready to embark, and
thereupon Governor Gooch assumed command of the
colonial contingent. In the attack upon Carthagena
Gooch was severely wounded, and the expedition
proved a failure. Four years later England de-
clared war against France, and the General Assem-
bly appropriated £4,000 to the raising of Virginia's
quota of troops for an invasion of Canada by a joint
British and colonial army. They sailed from Hamp-
ton in June, but the British auxiliaries failed to
appear and the Virginians returned home not long
after. Governor Gooch was again offered the com-
mand of the colonial soldiers but declined. Never-
theless, in recognition of his services at Carthagena,
he was made a major-general the next year. At
length in 1749, after a long and popular adminis-
tration, he returned with his wife — Lady Rebecca
Stanton Gooch — to England, where he died, Dec. 17,
1751.
In the meantime the settlement of the valley had
been accomplished, and many enterprising spirits
were looking to the country beyond the Alleghanies.
In 1748 some of the valley settlers crossing the
Alleghanies made a settlement at Draper 's Meadows
upon Greenbrier River. The next year 500,000
40 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
acres of land, lying west of the Alleghanies and
south of the Ohio River, were granted to a company
of planters and merchants called the Ohio Company
for the purpose of settlement. Christopher Gist, as
agent for the Company, was promptly dispatched to
explore the country, and he visited what are now
the states of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
While he was absent on this business the Company
constructed a trading house at Wills' Creek, now
Cumberland, Maryland, near the head of the Poto-
mac, and in 1752 they built another stockade on the
Monongahela.
And neither were the French idle during this time.
In 1749 they sent an expedition to the Ohio River
under Celeron de Bienville, who was charged with
the double purpose of taking possession by planting
leaden plates graven with the French claim, and of
driving out the English traders who were found
already swarming into the country.
In the spring of 1753 the French erected a log
stockade called Fort Le Boeuf, upon French Creek,
a northern tributary of the Alleghany River, and
soon after another outpost was established by them
at the Forks of the Ohio, 120 miles to the south.
The English trading post at Venango, at the junction
of French Creek and the Alleghany, was seized and
occupied by a small detachment from Le Boeuf.
It was fortunate that at this juncture the govern-
ment of Virginia was in the hands of such an active
man as Lieut.-Gov. Robert Dinwiddie. He was a
Scotchman and came over in 1751. He was an able
man, a hard worker, and by his alertness in detect-
ing a fraud in the collection of the customs was ap-
pointed "surveyor-general of the customs of the
southern part of the continent of America," and
afterwards chief magistrate of the colony of
[Virginia.
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 41
Dinwiddie resented the intrusion of the French,
and in October, 1753, sent Maj. George Washington,
adjutant-general of the colonial militia, guided by
Mr. Gist, to remonstrate with them against occupy-
ing a district "so notoriously known to be the prop-
erty of the crown of Great Britain." Washington,
then only 21 years of age, was already a man of
mark. After a dreary and hazardous voyage Wash-
ington and his small party of attendants arrived
late in November, first at Venango and then at Le
Boeuf. The French commandant read Dinwiddie 's
letter, but returned word that he would hold his
ground till ordered off by his superior, Marquis Du-
quesne, the governor of Canada. Washington there-
upon set out for Williamsburg, where he arrived
Jan. 15, 1754, after an absence of eleven weeks and
a journey of 1,500 miles.
Upon receiving Washington's report, Governor
Dinwiddie authorized William Trent, of Lexington,
to march with a small company to build a log fort
at the Forks of the Ohio. Another company was to
rendezvous at Alexandria and proceed to the same
point, and Washington was to take command of both
as major. In February the Assembly voted £10,000
to support the governor's purposes, and he was
thereby enabled to increase his force to a regiment
of 300, making Joshua Fry colonel and George Wash-
ington lieutenant-colonel. On April 2, 1754, Wash-
ington began his march from Alexandria with about
fifty men to help Captain Trent, but on the 20th news
reached him that the fort was taken by a force of
French and Indians of more than twenty times the
number of the garrison. Trent's command of thirty-
three men joined Washington at Wills' Creek, and
the latter, undaunted by the report of superior force
before him, marched with about 300 men through the
mountain passes to within a short distance of the
42 THE HISTORY OF VIBGINIA.
Forks of the river, where the French had converted
Trent's little work into a stronghold which they
called Fort Duquesne. Here Washington, at the
head of a scouting party, came in contact with a
scouting party of French commanded by the Count
de Jumonville. The Virginia commander promptly
attacked and defeated the French with the loss of
their commander and about twenty men. This was
the first regular battle of the war, and greatly in-
censed the French at Fort Duquesne who, on receipt
of the news, sent a large force to attack the Virgin-
ians. Washington, after proceeding as far as Gist's
plantation, thought it prudent to retreat, and at the
Great Meadows erected a stockade which he called
Fort Necessity. Here on July 3, sorely distressed
for provisions and ammunition, he was closely be-
sieged by the enemy possessed of double his numbers.
Finding that he could not hold out successfully,
Washington listened to terms of accommodation.
The fort was surrendered and he was allowed to
march his troops back to their homes. The French
had now complete possession of the west, but the
behavior of the Virginia troops met with the warm
applause of their countrymen, and Washington was
more highly thought of than ever.
Dinwiddie, more than any of the colonial authori-
ties, realized the gravity of the situation and was
not idle under defeat. He persistently appealed for
assistance to the home authorities, who at last were
moved to the importance of regaining the country
back from France.
The war proved at first very disastrous, however,
under the weak administration of the Duke of New
Castle in England. In 1755 Gen. Edward Braddock
sent with a strong force of British regulars to cap-
ture Fort Duquesne, was caught in an ambush and
slain with many of his men. Indeed, Washington
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 43
and his Virginians alone saved the army from com-
plete destruction. In the North the French under
General Montcalm captured Oswego and Fort
William Henry, and the torch of their Indian allies
enveloped the frontiers with fire. For four years
the evil days followed one another, and amid all these
disheartening scenes Washington and his 1,500 Vir-
ginia riflemen presented the only bright and redeem-
ing picture. Theirs was the task of protecting 350
miles of frontier and they performed their duty
well. The arduous work of supporting and direct-
ing these troops fell to Gov. Eobert Dinwiddie, and
that on the whole he met the varied and onerous
duties of his trust with ability is attested by the re-
peated commendations which he received from the
English ministry, and the General Assembly and
people of Virginia. In 1758 he was relieved from the
post of governor of Virginia at his own request, and
sailed for England in January. After his departure
Hon. John Blair, as president of the council, was
acting governor till relieved by Francis Fauquier,
who arrived as lieutenant-governor on June 17, 1758.
Shortly after Fauquier 's coming the war with
France, under the guidance of the great William
Pitt at the head of affairs in England, took a course
of uninterrupted British success. In July, 1758,
Wolfe captured Louisburg, the famous stronghold
of the French on Cape Breton Island; in August
Fort Frontenac fell before Bradstreet, and in No-
vember Gen. John Forbes, assisted by Washington,
captured Fort Duquesne. The next year Quebec, the
very centre and heart of the French power in Amer-
ica, fell before the assault of the intrepid Wolfe.
The fall of Quebec was sealed with the death of the
great general, Montcalm, who had been the soul of
the French resistance. The next year Montreal sur-
rendered, and as a result a peace was made, by the
44 THE HISTOKY OF VIRGINIA.
terms of which all the possessions of France on this
continent passed into the hands of England. Then
France, by defeats in other quarters of the globe,
also lost extensive holding in Asia and the West
Indies. Great Britain never appeared half so im-
perial as at the conclusion of this war, but out of
this triumph were to grow domestic difficulties which
avenged France for her misfortunes and ultimated
in the independence of her American colonies.
Social Conditions, 1760.
The period of Fauquier's administration has been
called the golden age of colonial Virginia. The peo-
ple in the old settled portions were in possession of
many of the comforts that dignified the life of the
higher classes in England. In contrast to the log
cabin of the early settlers the majority of the homes
were comfortable wooden structures of a story and a
half, while the wealthy planters lived in large square
brick houses with handsome paneling and superior
furniture. As to the means of getting about, the
country was interlaced with roads which were good
nine months of the year and very bad the other three.
In the earliest days the only means of travel was by
horse; carts were introduced about 1618. At the
close of the Seventeenth century carriages were in
use, and at the time of which we speak the chariots
of Virginia were as costly as the best in England.
It was generally conceded that the horses of Virginia
were the finest in America.
In table diet the mode of living was distinctively
higher than in the northern colonies. There was a
great display of plate and variety of eatables, and
the gentry had their "victuals dressed and served up
as nicely as if they were in London. " As to learn-
ing, the county court and vestries saw to the educa-
tion of the poor, and the sons of the well-to-do had
VIRGINIA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE. 45
the benefit of private teachers, public schools, the
College of William and Mary and the European
colleges. Jefferson wrote to Joseph C. Cabell, in
1820, that "the mass of education in Virginia before
the Revolution placed her among the foremost of
her sister states." Domestic commerce was exten-
sive, and the rivers and the creeks swarmed with
small craft, all of which were made in Virginia; as
early as 1690 ships of 300 tons were built, and after-
wards trade to the West Indies was conducted in
ships of Virginia make.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Andrews: Colonial Self Government; Beverley, Rob-
ert: History of Virginia (1722); Bruce: Social and Economic History of
Virginia; Burke, John D.: History of Virginia; Campbell, Charles: His-
tory of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia; Doyle, J. A. : British
Colonies in America; Letters of Alexander Spotswood (2 vols.); Letters of
Robert Dinwiddie (2 vols.); Fiske, John: Old Virginia and Her Neigh-
bors, Calendar of State Papers; Force: Tracts; Greene: Provincial America
(Vol. VI. of Hart's American Nation); Hening: Statutes at Large; How-
ison, R. R.: History of Virginia; Hartwell, Blair and Chilton: An Account
of the Present State of Virginia; Jones, Hugh: Present State of Virginia;
Neill: The Virginia Company (1868), Virginia Carolorum (1886), Vir-
ginia Vetusta (1885), Virginia and Virginiola (1878); Stith, William:
History of Virginia (1747); Thwaites: France in America (Vol. VII. of
Hart's American Nation); Tyler: England in America (Vol. III. of Hart's
American Nation), Cradle of the Republic, Jamestown and James River;
Virginia Historical Magazine (15 vols.); William and Mary College Quar*
terly Historical Magazine (16 vols.); Virginia Historical Register.
LYOST GARDINER TYLER,
President William and Mary College; editor Narratives of
Early Virginia; author The Cradle of the Republic,
Williamsburg, The Old Colonial Capital, etc.
46 THE HJSTOBY OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER III.
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE OF VIR-
GINIA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
I.— The Plantation System.
Throughout the Seventeenth century the entire
system of Virginia life rested, not upon a civil divi-
sion— the township, as in New England, but upon an
economic division — the plantation. A just concep-
tion of its economic framework, either in whole or
part, may be obtained by studying the character of
a single large plantation in any section of the colony.
The community was simply a series of plantations,
differing one from another really only in size ; in all,
the same staple crop was produced, the same kind of
labor was employed. Practically, the cultivation of
tobacco was the only occupation. There were no
towns, no organized manufactures, few trained arti-
zans. A perfect simplicity, an almost complete mo-
notony, was the universal economic keynote.
Taking the plantation as the centre of the eco-
nomic life, it is easy to follow the growth of one of
these communities from its very birth. The pressure
of the advancing landowners against the barrier of
the frontier forest was, from the start, like the pres-
sure of an army besieging a town ; the progress was
step by step, but ever forward, irresistibly though
slowly. A public grant of one little corner in the
wilderness, at the outer edge of the settlements, was
followed by the grant of another corner, close at
hand but slightly ahead, until what was wild land
to-day became tilled and inhabited land to-morrow.
Most of these patentees were men who had been long
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 47
established in the colony, and who, in choosing new
ground, understood by experience what were the
physical conditions desirable. There were two of
prime importance : first, the soil must be rich in the
elements suitable for tobacco, the best indication of
which would be a thick growth of towering trees;
secondly, the land must lie upon the banks of a
stream navigable either by ships or shallops, so as
to give access to the great highway of the ocean and
thereby to the markets of the world.
Having inspected the soil, satisfied himself as to
its quality and defined its bounds, the would-be
grantee petitioned the Governor and Council to is-
sue, in his favor, the necessary patent, under the
colony's great seal. These officers, in consenting,
were presumed to represent the King, in whom the
paramount title to every acre was supposed to be in-
vested. This was the legal fiction even before the
Indians had been driven from the lands which they
had held long before the English throne itself had
come into existence. The King's right was thought
to be as positive, absolute and exclusive as if it had
descended undisputed from a remote ancestry. But
in spite of this view there was, especially after the
revocation of the charter in 1624, a disposition to
recognize the Indian's real ownership of the country
back of the frontier. This arose from a desire to
avoid all causes of quarrel with those restless and
treacherous people. But whether the paramount
title of the King had been acquired by force or by
treaty, the method of conferring on the private indi-
vidual title in a given area of ground was substan-
tially the same throughout the century — the only dif-
ference was that, in the company's time, the gov-
ernor and council issuing the patent had to transmit
it to the quarter court in London for confirmation,
while, after the company's overthrow, the patent
48 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
was granted under a general law which did away
with such unnecessary delay.
There were two grounds on which the public lands
were conveyed to individuals. First, the perform-
ance of public services which were thought to be
worthy of some reward. During the company's ex-
istence such services were generally performed only
by officers of state who had made extraordinary sac-
rifices of ease and fortune to increase the prosperity
of the colony. Latterly, meritorious service usually
consisted of some form of self -exposure in defending
the frontiers against Indian attack.
But by far the most important basis of conferring
title was the headright. Every person who came out
to the colony or paid the expense of some other per-
son's transportation, whether a member of his own
family, a friend or a servant, could claim a patent
for fifty acres out of the public domain. There was
but one condition imposed: the person or persons
whose importation had led to the grant must remain
in Virginia at least three years, unless in the interval
overtaken by death.
The headright was one of the most farsighted of
provisions. In that age there were no such facilities
for crossing the ocean as exist at the present day,
when even the European peasant can meet all the
costs of the passage. So expensive was the voyage
then that, unless the importer had been allowed fifty
acres in compensation for his outlay for every per-
son, including himself, brought over by him, only a
small number of the agricultural servants could have
found their way to Virginia ; and without that class,
the destruction of the primaeval forest would have
gone on very slowly. But in addition to this, the
headright gave the practical assurance that the ap-
propriation of the soil would not outstrip the growth
in population. If any one could have secured a
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 49
patent by paying down a sum of money, vast tracts
of land would have been acquired in the most favored
regions, to be held simply for speculative purposes,
without any attempt at seating or tilling them. Es-
pecially was this to be deprecated in times when the
proximity of a navigable stream to every estate was
considered to be indispensable. It would not have
been long before all the eligible parts of the public
domain would have been engrossed by the wealthy
colonists.
The expense of the ocean passage in the Seven-
teenth century was about six pounds sterling. Such
was the amount which citizens like William Fitzhugh
or William Byrd had to pay for every servant whom
they imported, which would signify that each of
these opulent planters obtained the fifty acres
granted in compensation, at the rate of two and two-
fifths shillings, or, in our modern currency, two dol-
lars and eighty-five cents. Very properly, no limit
was set to the number of acres to be acquired under
the operation of the headright. If a colonist had the
means to bring in ten thousand immigrants, he was
as legally entitled to 500,000 acres as the man who
had brought in one was entitled to fifty acres; but,
as a matter of fact, owing to the expense of import-
ing servants, the size of the patent rarely ran over
a few hundred acres. Between 1630 and 1650, the
average area embraced was 446 acres ; between 1650
and 1700, it was 674; but there were instances of
grants for as much as 10,000 acres.
When the grant had been made, two conditions
had to be observed by the patentee to avoid a for-
feiture. First, the plantation had to be seated. A
very liberal interpretation of this requirement was
permitted — it was deemed to have been fulfilled
should the patentee have erected a small cabin of
the meanest pretensions on the land ; had suffered &
Vol. 1-4.
50 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
small stock of cattle to range for twelve months in
its woods, or had planted an acre in corn or tobacco.
In the greatest number of cases, the new plantation
was promptly occupied as provided by law, since the
owner wished to erect a home of his own at once.
The second requirement was the payment to the
King of an annual quit rent of twelve pence for
every fifty acres in the tract. This rent continued
throughout the century to be a cause of ill-feeling in
the landowners, as they looked on it as a cloud on
their titles, and they used every kind of device either
to diminish its burden or to evade it altogether.
The Two Classes of Labor.
When the patentee had acquired a complete title,
how did he bring his new lands under cultivation?
There were two classes of laborers employed by the
planters to this end: (1) white servants bound by
indentures for a term of years; (2) African
slaves.
During the whole of the Seventeenth century the
first class, by its superior numbers, was the most
important of the two. When the Dutch ship, in 1619,
disembarked its memorable cargo of negroes, the
earliest to be transported to the colony, the popula-
tion of all the settlements consisted largely of these
indentured white servants. In 1625 they numbered
about four hundred and sixty-four, while the black
slaves numbered only twenty-two. Sixty years
later the proportion of slaves had risen — there were
six thousand white servants and two thousand Afri-
cans. During the ninth and tenth decades the pro-
portion of negroes rose higher still, but the white
servants continued to hold the economic supremacy
as between the two classes of laborers.
There were, throughout the century, two influences
at play to swell the number of white servants in the
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. ftl
colony — the one in operation in England, the other
in Virginia.
First as to the influence in operation in England.
The great bulk of the lower classes in that country
at this time were compelled, by the rigid trade laws,
to earn a livelihood as laborers in the fields ; but the
opportunities to do so fluctuated with the prosperity
or depression in agriculture. As each parish was
required to support its own poor, there was among
some parishes, about 1622, a disposition to shirk this
charge by allowing their unemployed to wander into
other parishes in search of work; this led to re-
strictive regulations by the parishes suffering most,
and finally to the passage of a statute by Parliament
which confined the great body of the English labor-
ers to their native parishes, a measure that not only
curtailed their personal liberty, but diminished and
even destroyed their ability to improve their condi-
tion. But to make their state even worse, their
wages were fixed at regular intervals by the land-
owners. In the years in which tho price of wheat
rose high above the average, as so often occurred,
the agricultural laborer's straits were deplorable be-
cause the advance in the cost of bread was not or
could not be anticipated. Confined to his native
parish as to the bounds of a prison, receiving a rate
of remuneration which had been dictated by his em-
ployer— a rate not furnishing an easy subsistence
for himself and his family even in seasons of plenty
— compelled to buy his supplies at prices set by
the producers, and subject to heavy penalties for the
slightest infractions of law — was it surprising that
he looked upon emigration to Virginia as a provi-
dential opening for improving his condition after a
term of years had been served?
Powerful as was the pressure forcing him out of
England, the inducements drawing him to Virginia
52 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
were more powerful still. The only thing in thft
colony that was said to be dear was labor, and this
continued so throughout the century. The great and
uninterrupted demand for agricultural servants had
its origin in the physical peculiarities of the country.
The very anxiety of the planters to acquire title to
the richest soil, as assuring the most profitable crops
of tobacco, increased the difficulties in opening up
new land, because the growth of timber was in pro-
portion to the fertility of the ground. In removing
the forest — this being the supreme obstacle to be sur-
mounted— the settler required the aid of others to
carry through the work that was essential. The
person who had obtained a patent to fifty or five hun-
dred acres was, in a few years, compelled to sue ouV
a patent to an additional tract in order to again ob-
tain the virgin soil necessary for the production of
tobacco of the finest quality in the largest quantity,
since, in that age, no manures were used in enriching
the fields. This course of acquiring new lands was
prolonged for an indefinite series of years. Through-
out the whole period he needed the assistance of
laborers. As long as there was a surplus popula-
tion there could be no difficulty in securing these
laborers. The facilities for their transportation
were ample. Not a year, during the company's ex-
istence, passed that English worldngmen did not
pour into the colony, and after its abolition the
stream grew larger and larger in its volume.
Proportion of Criminals.
What was the proportion of criminals among this
great class of agricultural servants f In those times
there were three hundred offenses in the English
code punishable with death, but it seemed too harsh
even to the hardened judges of that age to inflict the
extreme penalty for most of these offenses. Sen'
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 53
tence to transportation was, on their part, a com-
promise with the more humane feelings of their na-
tures. It is doubtful whether a single convict was
imported into Virginia during the Seventeenth cen-
tury whose case, when tried in the English courts,
was not marked by circumstances in mitigation of its
heinousness. There are many proofs that all at-
tempts by the English government to impose on the
colony utterly abandoned jail-birds met with strong,
and generally with successful, opposition by the au-
thorities at Jamestown. A large proportion of the
servants who came in as convicts were simply men
who had taken part in various rebellious move-
ments, a class of population which, so far from al-
ways belonging to a low station in their native coun-
try, frequently represented the most useful and re-
spectable elements in the kingdom. It was no crime
for Irishmen to defend their own soil against the
tyrannical intrusion of Cromwell, or for disaffected
Englishmen or Scotchmen to rise up against the
harsh and cruel measures of the Second Charles or
the Second James. It was the men who loved their
homes and were devoted to their church who led
these movements; and their followers, in spite of
ignorance and poverty, shared their courage, their
steadfastness and their patriotism.
The youthfulness of the great majority of the
laborers — an additional proof of the comparative
smallness of the criminal element in that class — is
revealed in a number of ways : by the reports of the
early censuses, by the surviving cockets of mer-
chantmen, and by the entries in the county records.
It is highly probable that the average age did not
exceed nineteen. A considerable section had been
obtained by felonious means; it was no uncommon
thing in those times to find men and women — ' ' spir-
its," they were called — in the seaport towns of Eng-
54 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
land who earned a livelihood by alluring very young
persons to their houses by gifts of sweetmeats, and
having cropped the victims' hair so as to alter their
appearance beyond recognition, disposed of them to
shipmasters engaged in the plantation trade. But
there is reason to think that the means employed
even by this class were not always so criminal; they
played on the ignorance of simple-minded adults, the
restlessness of persons in the lower walks of life who
were anxious for a change, the despair of those who
were sunk in hopeless poverty, and the eagerness of
those guilty of infractions of the law to escape from
the country. There were also agents of high stand-
ing in every great port who were prepared to supply
all the servants needed by emigrants of means who
intended to open up new plantations. The most con-
stant patron of these agents was the merchant who
made annual shipments of various kinds to Virginia,
and who exported these servants as so many bales
of goods for exchange for the principal commodity
of the country. In assigning servants to the plant-
ers, he could only dispose of their labor for the pe-
riod covered by their indentures. In the absence of
indentures the length of the term was fixed by the
custom of the colony — if the servant was under nine-
teen years of age, his term lasted until he was
twenty-four ; if he was over, it lasted for five years.
The length of service rarely exceeded seven, as it
was contrary to public policy that it should continue
too long.
Frequency of Change.
A serious drawback to indentured labor was the
frequency of the change distinguishing this form of
service. In a few years the servant's time would
come to an end, and his place would have to be sup-
plied by another. The planter might introduce an
hundred industrious workingmen who might prove
SEVENTEENTH CENTUBY. 55
invaluable to him while their covenants lasted, but
at the end of five years, when their hands had be-
come skilful and their bodies hardened to the change
of climate, they recovered their freedom and almost
invariably left the plantation immediately to found
homes of their own. Unless the landowner had had
the foresight to provide against their departure by
the importation of other servants, he would be left
without men to tend or reap his crops, or to widen
the area of his new grounds. It was not simply a
desire to own vast tracts which led the Virginian of
that day to bring in successive bands of agricultural
servants, whose introduction entitled him to a pro-
portionate number of headrights; in the great ma-
jority of cases his object was to obtain laborers who
might take the place of those whose terms were on
the point of expiring. It was this constantly recur-
ring necessity — which must have been the source of
much anxiety and annoyance as well as of a heavy
pecuniary outlay — that caused the planter to prefer
youths to adults, for, while their physical strength
might have been less, yet the periods for which they
were bound extended over a longer time.
The Superiority of Slave Labor.
It can be readily seen that, from this economic
point of view, the slave was a far more desirable
form of property than the indentured servant. As
his term was not for a few years but for life, there
was no solicitude as to how his place was to be filled.
He not only belonged to his master up to death, but
generally left behind him a family of children who
were old enough to give important assistance in the
tobacco fields. In physical strength he was the
equal of the white laborer of the same age, and in
power of endurance he was the superior. Not only
was he more easily controlled, but he throve on
56 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
plainer fare and was satisfied with humbler lodg-
ings. Nor was he subject to seasoning — a cause of
much loss of time in connection with the raw white
laborers ; nor could he demand the grain and clothing
which, by the custom of the country, were allowed
the white servants at the close of their terms — a
heavy drain on the resources of even the wealthy
planters.
In the light of the slave's economic superiority
over the white servant, it is surprising to find that
African bondsmen were not earlier imported, in
great numbers, into Virginia — the explanation of
which lies in the insufficient means then existing for
their conveyance across the ocean to supply the de-
mand. It was not until 1680 that the number brought
in began to increase substantially, and this was due
to the fact that the Eoyal African Company, which
had been chartered in 1662, with the virtual grant
of a monopoly, became, either directly or indirectly,
extremely active in the traffic. Many of the planters
after 1680 transmitted their orders for slaves to
their London merchants to be filed with the com-
pany's agents in that city, while a large number
also were bought, in Virginian waters, of vessels
which had been licensed by the company. Many
were introduced in New England bottoms straight
from the West Indies. In 1649 the negro popula-
tion was three hundred, in 1671 two thousand, but
by 1700 their number had probably quadrupled.
A white agricultural laborer, with the usual term
of five years to serve, was valued at from twelve to
fourteen pounds sterling. On the other hand a raw
negro, as early as 1669, was, on his arrival in the
colony, sold by the Eoyal African Company for
twenty pounds. Later on a native male negro adult
brought thirty pounds sterling, and a native female
from twenty-five to thirty pounds, a sum, in our pres-
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 57
ent currency, equal in value to five hundred or six
hundred dollars.
Having obtained all the laborers — whether white
indentured servants or black slaves — he needed to
bring his new plantation under cultivation, what
were the crops which the patentee sought to pro-
duce! During the first years following the founda-
tion of Jamestown there were spasmodic efforts to
produce a considerable variety of commodities. Cot-
ton was experimented with, hemp and flax, mulberry
trees for silk and vines for wines. Wheat, also, was
sown in small quantities down to the end of the cen-
tury. But the really profitable crops soon narrowed
down to maize and tobacco. Although landowners
were dependent upon maize for bread, the General
Assembly was compelled to pass a law from year
to year to force them to plant a certain acreage in
Indian corn. The irresistible disposition was to pro-
duce tobacco alone. Never has any other staple en-
tered so deeply into the spirit and framework of any
modern community — it was to the colony what the
potato has been to Ireland, the coffee berry to Bra-
zil, the grape to France and corn to Egypt; but it
was something more, for it was in universal use as
the currency in which all debts, from the public taxes
to the grave-digger's bill, were paid. Moreover, the
whole system of large plantations was directly at-
tributable to the recurring need of virgin soil in to-
bacco culture, and from that system arose those
social characteristics of the higher planting class
which gave Virginia such unique distinction in the
colonial age.
Apart from the great demand in England for the
leaf, tobacco had particular advantages over all other
agricultural crops. First, it could be produced in
larger quantities to the acre than any other, a fact
of vast importance in a country where so much labor
98 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
was required to strip the surface of the thick growth
of timber preparatory to tillage. Besides, as tobacco
could be shipped in a more compressed bulk, a cargo
of it was far more valuable than an equal cargo of
any other product. The freight charge was propor-
tionately smaller because the price at which the leaf
was sold was so much higher.
New England, having practically nothing to export
to England, was compelled to exchange her timber
and provisions in the West Indies for rum, sugar,
molasses and slaves as her only means of procuring
the manufactured supplies which she could not her-
self make at her own hearthstones. Virginia, having
a direct trade with the mother country in a com-
modity always in demand there — a demand that as-
sured its inhabitants an abundance of manufactured
supplies — was deprived of one of the strongest mo-
tives in which local manufactures have their origin.
The English ship which carried away the planter's
annual tobacco crop from his own wharf brought
back all the clothes, all the furniture, all the tools
and all the implements he needed. But while Vir-
ginia was not, in the modern sense, a seat of manu-
factures, it would be inaccurate to say that domestic
manufactures in the ruder forms were unknown.
There were few homes in that colony which did not
contain a spinning wheel or a weaver's frame; there
were no important plantations which did not number
among its white servants or its slaves skilful car-
penters, blacksmiths, saddlers, masons and brick-
layers.
n. — Social Life Under the Plantation System.
Such, in brief outline, was the general economic
history of each plantation in those early times. The
entire community was made up of plantations and
plantations only, and, therefore, the economic history
SEVENTEENTH CENTUEY. 59
of the single plantation was the economic history of
the entire community — with this slight modification
that, as the years passed, the ownership of many
estates changed hands either by purchase or descent.
Long before the end of the century all the lands in
the older parts of the colony had been taken up, many
substantial mansions erected, influential families
founded and all the varied interests of an organized
social life created and cemented. When we come to
examine the social framework of the community in
that age, we find it much more complex than the eco-
nomic framework. This was due to the existence of
several distinct social classes — there was first the
African slaves standing on the lowest footing, next
the indentured white servants, and finally, overtop-
ping all, the large landowners.
Although for the time being the white servants
occupied a very subordinate position socially, yet it
was from this class that the ranks of the small land-
owners were recruited chiefly. Many men who be-
gan in this humble character accumulated, after the
close of their terms, good estates, exercised wide in-
fluence and even filled important offices. There is,
indeed, reason to think that some of the agricultural
servants were of highly respectable social origin, and
that some, like Adam Thoroughgood, had simply
bound themselves out in order to learn the art of
tobacco growing. But the most ordinary way in
which the ranks of the small landowners were
swelled was by the emigration of yeomen from Eng-
land. Previous to 1650, as we have seen, the aver-
age size of the patent was 446 acres. In most in-
stances, perhaps, these patents were sued out by
men who had acquired the necessary headrights by
the importation of their families and a couple of
agricultural servants. The social esteem in which
the yeomen, as a class, were held was undoubtedly
60 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
enhanced, not only by the restriction to landowners
of the right of suffrage, but also by the increase in
the number of slaves. The presence of negro bonds-
men had a marked tendency to foster pride of race
in every branch of the white population, for, to be
white, gave the distinction of color even to the agri-
cultural servants — to be white and also to be free
combined the distinction of color with the distinction
of liberty.
The class of large planters was necessarily small
in comparison with that of yeomen, but it was they
who gave charm and elevation to the colony's social
life, although, as we shall see, the recreations and
diversions of that life were shared by all freemen,
and in a measure even by the slave and indentured
servant. A citizen like Nicholas Spencer, or Richard
Lee, in Westmoreland, Eobert Beverley in Middle-
sex, Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., in York, Adam Thorough-
good in Lower Norfolk, or "William Byrd in Henrico,
occupied the position held by the greatest squire in
an English parish. He owned the principal pew in
the parish church, sat at the head of the justices on
the county bench, was colonel of the county militia,
and senior warden of the local vestry. It was these
men and their fellows who, with their families, con-
stituted the highest social body of the colony, and
reflected as such all that was most attractive in its
social character.
The Origin of the Planting Class.
What was the origin of the higher planting class ?
By the end of the century a large number of the con-
spicuous members of the landed gentry had been
born in the country. But from 1618 down to 1700, not
a year went by that this class did not receive acces-
sions from England of men of equal social standing,
and almost equal means, if not actual, prospective.
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 61
What were the influences which led these men to emi-
grate to Virginia? First, the restless and enter-
prising spirit of the English, which has made them
the greatest colonizers of modern times; secondly,
the narrow chances of fortune in that age in their
native land, even for men of influential family con-
nections. The foreign empire of England had not
then spread entirely around the globe to furnish an
enormous group of civil and military offices to be
filled by the cadets of well-known English houses,
nor was the English regular army and navy yet large
enough to afford much room for the host of young
men whose parents were seeking to set them up in
life, nor did trade or the professions, or even the
ordinary manual callings, supply all the employ-
ment needed. How natural that the father of many
children — and England was as noted then as now for
large families — whether landowner, clergyman, law-
yer or physician, should have turned to Virginia as
offering a place of settlement for at least some of
his sons.
There were particular reasons why that colony
should appeal to the English landowner under the
circumstances : first, it was firmly loyal to the mon-
archy; secondly, its church establishment was mod-
eled precisely upon that of the mother country;
thirdly, the entire power of Virginian society, even
in the period of manhood suffrage, was possessed
and directed by the landed proprietors. That society
was composed practically altogether of such propri-
etors and their dependents, and, therefore, on reach-
ing the colony, the son of the English country gen-
tleman could take up the same calling as his own
ancestors had always followed, and would enter upon
essentially the same general life as they had led
before him — only accentuated in Virginia by the dis-
persion of the population.
«2 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Hardly less strong was the appeal which the col-
ony made to the English father who was a merchant.
He saw that in addition to the independence, refine-
ment and heartiness of its social life, the colony pos-
sessed in tobacco culture a means by which his son,
starting there with a fair estate, might steadily im-
prove his fortunes. He knew, also, how profitable
trading in that commodity could be made by the
employment of capital and shrewdness combined.
Social Organization.
It was a conspicuous feature of the social life of
Virginia in the Seventeenth century that, like the
political system, it was fully organized from the be-
ginning. There was never a period when, as in our
western communities, every social division was sub-
merged in a rude social equality. On the contrary,
all the immemorial social distinctions took root there
at once, as if the population of some English county
had been moved bodily over sea. There was not the
least desire to leave the old privileges and customs
behind. Proofs of social divisions and distinctions
were as conspicuous to the Englishman after his
arrival in the colony as if he had passed, not across
the ocean, but from Devon over into Hampshire, or
from Sussex over into Surrey. For instance, one of
the most ordinary social badges was the coat of
arms, to which most of the prominent families ap-
pear to have had a legal right. In using these
badges, such families were simply doing what their
fathers had done before them in England, and what
they themselves had done previous to their emi-
gration.
Class Distinctions.
Nowhere was there a more formal recognition of
class distinctions than in the legal documents. All
the terms showing such distinctions were there in
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 63
nse, such as ''yeoman" and ''gentleman," "es-
quire ' ' and ' ' Honorable. ' ' In conversation, the term
"mister" was doubtless applied equally to gentle-
men and yeomen, but in documents it appears to
have been reserved for gentlemen in the ordinary
sense of the designation. So with the word "gentle-
man" itself — it was never in such a document em-
ployed with inexactness, but quite invariably nicely
and advisedly. But the most valued of all titles was
"esquire," now used so indiscriminately, but in
those times with such perfect precision. It seems to
have been confined to the members of the Upper
House of Assembly, a position which, as well in its
social dignity as in its relation to legislation, was
comparable to that of a member of the House of
Lords. The term "Honorable" was applied only to
the incumbent of the great office of Secretary, Audi-
tor or Treasurer.
Practically no distinction was created in the social
life of Virginia in these early times by the existence
of the law of primogeniture, as that law was very
slightly in operation. When in operation at all, it
was generally so under the Statute of Descent, which
gave all the land to the eldest son should the father
die intestate. But the almost universal rule then
was for that father to divide his property among all
his children, because in that century estates were
composed entirely of land, household articles and
live stock, and unless the owner provided for his
younger offspring by dividing and bequeathing to
them a part of this property, he would have nothing
to leave them ; secondly, there were then no arts, and
practically no trades, as in England, for the younger
sons to turn to for a livelihood, nor was there room
in such professions as law and medicine for many,
nor openings, as in the English towns and cities, in
mercantile life, for what mercantile life did exist was
64 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
restricted to a few stores, and to casual dealings in
tobacco and imported goods on a large scale.
Virginians and the Mother Country.
In studying the spirit of the people, one is very
much struck with the vigor of the social tie which,
in those times, bound the Virginians to the mother
country. They clung with tenacity to the habits and
customs, the moral ideas and standards that pre-
vailed and governed there. This was chiefly due to
the fact that such a large part of the population had
not left their native land over sea until long after
the age of their earliest and most graphic impres-
sions. The children of an emigrant, though born in
Virginia, are likely to have had almost as vivid a
conception of the mother country as their father, for
that father, especially if sprung from the English
landed gentry, was certain to have omitted no oppor-
tunity of recalling for their instruction or amuse-
ment his own childhood and youth in his native coun-
try, of describing all the varied scenes associated
with his early experiences, of picturing the old
home, of delineating the characters of the different
members of the circle of kindred, and relating an
hundred interesting stories drawn from the long an-
nals of the family history. Members of all classes
spoke of England as ' ' home ; ' ' even persons born in
Virginia, who had never seen and never expected to
see England, always designated it by the same lov-
ing word. It was not simply the demands of busi-
ness that, during the Seventeenth century, led so
many citizens of the colony to visit the mother coun-
try— a deep love of their native land influenced
many of those who had first seen the light there to
return — while a natural curiosity to see what had
been so often described to them, and a desire to meet
relatives whom they had never met, prompted many
of the native colonists to maka the voyage.
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 65
The little band of sea captains were very active
in keeping up an uninterrupted communication be-
tween English and Virginian kinsmen. Many a
verbal message and letter were carried by them from
relatives in Virginia to relatives in England, or the
reverse; and through them, also, there was a con-
stant exchange of gifts testifying to mutual interest,
affection and esteem. Now it was an assortment of
hickory nuts or walnuts, or slips of sassafras and
pawpaw ; now a butt of cider, or a caged redbird or
mockingbird ; now a flying squirrel, opossum or rac-
coon.
There were numerous bequests from the Virginian
branch of a family to the English, and a like interest,
though of a more general character, was also re-
flected in bequests for the benefit of indigent per-
sons dwelling in those English communities with
which the testators had been associated in early life.
In many instances Virginian children were recom-
mended to the care of their kindred oversea while
receiving an education at some English school. Love
of the mother country was also disclosed in the ob-
servance of old English domestic customs, such as
gifts by last will of mourning rings to relatives and
friends; bestowal, by the same instrument, of the
distinction of heirlooms on articles in household use,
such as silver or furniture, which had acquired cer-
tain cherished associations for one reason or an-
other; the naming of the family residence after the
ancestral seat in England; the burial in the chancel
of the parish church of those citizens who, in their
lifetime, had occupied a very exalted place in popu-
lar esteem.
The Home Life.
Nowhere were the characteristic features of the
social life of the colony more faithfully presented
than in its homes. As early as 1675 the general com-
Vol 1—5.
66 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
munity had been established long enough for its
principal residences, in their outer and inner aspect
alike, to have acquired some of the dignity distin-
guishing the ancient English manor houses; and in
their intimate domestic annals, nrach of that charm
which was thrown around the society of England in
that age by ease of fortune, refined manners, wide
culture and the amenities springing from the closest
bonds of kinship and friendship.
Even these superior residences were, as a rule,
built of wood. The history of William Fitzhugh's
mansion was the history of nearly all — it had gradu-
ally spread out by the erection of wing after wing
as his family grew in size, until the whole covered
a considerable area of ground. The homes of this
class of citizens contained, in the way of halls, dining-
rooms and chambers, ample space for the most gen
erous entertainment of guests as well as for the
comfortable accommodation of the regular inmates.
The different apartments were furnished and orna-
mented after the most substantial and attractive pat-
terns afforded by England. There was every variety
of handsome bed, couch, chair and table. The floors
were covered with carpets, the windows shaded by
linen curtains, the chimneys hung with printed cot-
tons, the bedframes adorned with gaily colored va-
lences, the walls, in some cases, hung with tapestry,
and in all, lined above the floor with panneling. In
some houses, numerous portraits, in others, collec-
tions of books were to be seen. Open cupboards of-
fered a shining array of both pewter and silver. In
every drawing-room there were to be found musical
instruments such as the virginal, the handlyre, fid-
dle, violin, flute, recorder and hautboy.
The wardrobes of men and women alike contained
clothes of the latest English fashion. On gay occa-
sions the men strutted about in camlet coats, with
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 67
sleeves ending in lace ruffles; in waistcoats, black,
white and blue, or adorned with patterns of Turkey-
worked texture, and in trousers made of the finest
plush or broadcloth. In their shoes they wore shin-
ing brass, steel or silver buckles, while they carried
in their hands or pockets silk or lace handkerchiefs,
delicately scented. As to the ladies ' dress, there are
in the inventories numerous references to silk or
flowered gowns, bodices of blue linen or green satin,
waistcoats, bonnets, and petticoats trimmed with
silk or silver lace, sarsanet and calico hoods, scarfs
of brilliant shades of color, mantles of crimson taf-
feta, laced and gallooned shoes, gilt and golden
stomachers.
The tables of the wealthy citizens were loaded with
a most varied abundance of food. The herds of cat-
tle which ran almost wild supplied an inexhaustible
quantity of milk, butter, cheese, veal and beef, while
the hams were pronounced by travelers to be equal
in flavor to those of Westphalia. Deer were shot in
such numbers that the people were said to be tired of
venison. On every plantation a flock of sheep nibbled
the pastures ; poultry abounded in every houseyard,
partridges in the open fields, wild turkeys in the
forests. Clouds of wild pigeons broke down the
limbs of trees with their weight in the spring, and
in autumn, countless duck and wild geese darkened
the surface of the creeks, rivers and bays. Perch,
bass, shad, pike and sheepshead were to be caught
almost at the very door, while oysters and other
shell fish could be raked up by the bushel from the
bottom of the nearest inlet. Peaches, plums and ap-
ples were produced in every orchard, and figs and
grapes in every garden. Sloes, scuppernongs and
pawpaws were to be found along the banks of every
shady stream. Wild strawberries were so plentiful
that the domestic berry was neglected. Huge pump-
68 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
kins and masses of peas sprang up in every corn-
field between the stalks of maize. Potatoes, arti-
chokes, onions, cymblins, watermelons — all were cul-
tivated in profusion. Hickory and hazel nuts were
to be picked up by the peck in the woods. Every
table was supplied with homebrewed beer and cider.
Perry was made from the juice of pears, punch from
West Indian rum. The wines in domestic use were
claret, Fayal, Madeira and Ehenish. It was a char-
acteristic of the times that these fine wines could be
bought in all the taverns.
With such abundance prevailing, it was natural
that the people should have been extraordinarily hos-
pitable— a feeling further promoted by the secluded
life of the plantation. By 1675 negroes had become
sufficiently numerous to furnish all the principal
households with trained servants for life. Do-
mestic service of that kind became more abundant
still after that date, making the liberal entertain-
ment of friends and strangers less troublesome than
ever. The spirit of hospitality was further encour-
aged by the facilities for getting about from resi-
dence to residence afforded by sail or rowboats, for,
as we have seen, every important mansion was situ-
ated on a navigable stream. The traveler was re-
ceived everywhere with distinction. Beverley de-
clared that the only recommendation needed by the
stranger was that he was ' ' a human creature, ' ' and
that he had but to inquire of anyone he met on the
public road the shortest way to the nearest gentle-
man's seat.
The Diversions of the People.
What were the popular diversions'? Very free
drinking in private and public was certainly one of
the most favored. Governor Berkeley declared that
"Virginia was as sober and temperate a colony, con-
sidering their quality, as was ever sent out of the
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 69
kingdom," by which he meant that the Virginian
planters, on the whole, were less bibulous than the
English gentlemen of the same period. Whenever,
however, a little company of citizens gathered to-
gether, whether as appraisers to value an estate, or
as commissioners to accept a new bridge, or as
county justices to hear causes, a liberal supply of
spirits was kept near at hand to quench their thirst.
But it was not always at their own tables, or in
taverns, or at the courthouses that the planters laid
the ground for the inroads of gout — there is at least
one recorded instance of a little band of wealthy
gentlemen having built in one of the counties a large
banquetting hall.
As we have seen, there were numerous musical
instruments to be observed in the drawing-rooms.
The county records show that, among the slaves and
servants, there were some who were especially val-
ued for their skill in performing with the fiddle, and
that this skill was often called into use at the enter-
tainments in private houses. There is some evidence
of play-acting occurring under the same roofs, which
was natural enough after the Kestoration, when the
theatre had become in England a popular passion.
Governor Berkeley himself was a playwright of no
mean ability, and very probably encouraged this
form of amusement in the parlors of his friends
among the planters.
The game of ninepins was played at all the tav-
erns and in many private residences. Equally popu-
lar was the game of cards known as "put." These
games, as well as dice throwing, led to much gam-
bling. Wagers were always sustained by the courts
if the bet had been first reduced to writing, and was
not in its nature injurious to public morals. But the
betting was perhaps most active at the horse races,
which formed the most popular of all open-air diver-
70 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
sions. As late as 1673 only gentlemen were permit-
ted to enter horses on the regular race course, and in
that year a tailor was heavily fined by court for
daring to violate this rule. The ordinary heats took
place on Saturday as a half holiday, but in some
parts of the colony there were what were known as
Fall and Spring races.
It was the habit of the Virginians of every class,
from their early youth, to use the gun. During many
years the laws of the colony required that the head
of every family should keep in his house, ready to
hand, at least one firearm of some sort for every
person under him able to employ such a weapon.
Whether directed against wild game or Indians, the
aim of the gunners was among the surest of those
times. There was an extraordinary variety and
abundance of birds for the exhibition of quick sight
and firm nerves — partridge, wild pigeon and wild
turkey on land, the wild goose and wild duck on the
water, furnished constant sport in season. And so
with the game pursued with dogs only. Though
foxes were hunted, there is no surviving record of
packs of trained hounds having been used. Hares
were caught in large numbers by running them down
or smoking them out of hollow trees. Eaccoons and
opossums were tracked at night in the forests, while
bears and panthers were killed even in the older
parts of the colony as late as 1683. Wolf driving
was, in some counties, an annual diversion, while in
all, capturing wild horses furnished a profitable
amusement. Under the existing custom, all animals
of this kind without an owner's mark belong to who-
ever could overtake and catch them. Another popu-
lar sport was fishing, chiefly with the rod, but seines,
cast and stationary nets, as well as gill lines, were in
common use. The most exciting form of the sport,
however, was "striking," a method adopted from
SEVENTEENTH CENTTJEY. 71
the Indians. This was done after nightfall with
spears by the light of a flaming brazier fixed in the
prow of the boat.
Much diversion was also derived by the people
from such public or semi-public occasions as the
funeral, wedding, the assemblage at church, court
and muster days.
Having in most of the counties to travel far to
attend a funeral, the persons present were always
treated by the family of the deceased as special
guests who were in particular need of refreshment
after the obsequies were concluded. Extraordinary
provision was made for their entertainment. At
one funeral occurring in York county in 1667, it re-
quired twenty-two gallons of cider, twenty-four of
beer and five of brandy to assuage the mourners'
thirst. A whole ox and a half dozen sheep were not
infrequently roasted to satisfy their hunger.
The wedding was marked by a gayety that was
both prolonged and extravagant. The country neigh-
borhoods were not so thickly settled that an occasion
of this kind occurred so frequently as, by rapid repe-
tition, to dull the edge of the pleasure derived from
dancing, feasting and a reunion of friends and ac-
quaintances. Most of the guests had to come from
distant plantations, and were in no humor to shorten
the festivities. Of a more promiscuous character
was the popular assembly at the musters. From
the remotest corners of the county the people gath-
ered, some trudging on foot, some perhaps traveling
in cart and rude carriages, but the greater number
riding on horseback, with their wives and daughters
perched up behind them on pillions. The muster
itself, by varying the character of the occasion with
a military display, gave a fillip to its social pleas-
ures. The event very probably also had its darker
side in the presence of many who were disposed to
72 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
indulge too freely in spirits. A free enjoyment of
rough horseplay was also a characteristic of the
monthly court. In spite of the fact that its principal
aspects were political and business, the occasion was
invariably enlivened by drunken bouts, which were
not entirely confined to the lowest class of the popu-
lation present. This was so well known that discon-
tented indentured servants very often took ad-
vantage of the relaxed vigilance of that hour to make
their preparations for flight.
The holding of services in the parish church gave
rise to an occasion which was as remarkable for its
social as for its religious aspects. In this edifice all
the free people of the parish were required by law to
assemble every Sabbath morning. Apart from any
desire to join in public worship, the prospect of meet-
ing friends and acquaintances must have had a
strong influence in bringing a large number of per-
sons together at the church door. Before and after
the hour of service, they had a full opportunity to
mingle in the closest social intercourse. For a few
hours the church was the centre of overflowing life.
A spirit of social kindness, as well as of religious
devotion, was nourished from Sunday to Sunday;
the bonds of mutual sympathy and helpfulness were
made more intimate; the more innocent vanities
aired; the manners of the young improved by con-
tact with their elders, and the minds of the old re-
freshed by renewed association with their neighbors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Abstracts of Proceedings of the Virginia Company
of London (2 Vols., Va. Hist. Society Publications); Beverley, Robert:
History of Virginia (Richmond, Va., 1855); British Public Records Office,
Original Papers Relating to Virginia in the Seventeenth Century; Brown,
Alexander: Genesis of the United States (2 Vols., Boston, 1891); Bruce,
Philip Alexander: Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Cen-
tury (New York, 1896); Bulloch, William: Virginia (London, 1649);
Byrd, William, Sr.: Letters of (Va. Hist. Soc. Mss. Colls.); County Rec-
ords for Seventeenth Century, Copies in Va. State Library, originals at
Virginia Courthouses; Fitzhugh, William: Letters of (Va. Hist. Soc. Mss.
Coll.); Ford, Peter: Collection of Historical Documents Relating to Colon-
- 'C
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8" -s
a «
P VI
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IS.
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o
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 73
tes of North America (4 Vols., Washington, D. C., 1836-46); General
Court of Virginia, Mss. Records of 1670-76 (Va. Hist. Soc. Mss. Coll.);
Godwyn, Morgan: Negro's and Indian's Advocate (London, 1680);
Hamor, Ralph: True Discourse; Hartwell, Chilton and Blair: Present
State of Virginia, 1696-7 (London, 1727); Hellier, Thomas: Life of (Lon-
don, 1680); Hening, Wm. Waller: Virginia Statutes at Large (Vols. I., II.,
III.); Hotten, J. C.: Original Lists of Emigrants to America, 1600-1700
(New York, 1874); James, E. W.: Lower Norfolk County Antiquary; Lud-
well Mss. (Va. Hist. Soc. Mss. Coll.); McDonald Papers (7 Vols. Mss. Va.
State Library); Neill, Rev. E. D. : English Colonization of America
(London, 1871), History of Virginia Company of London, 1606-24
(Albany, N. Y., 1869), Virginia Carolorurn, 1625-85 (Albany, 1869),
Virginia Vetusta; Percy, George: Discourse; Randolph Mss. (Va.
Hist. Soc. Mss. Coll.); Robinson, Conway: Transcripts of Miscel-
laneous Mss. (Va. Hist. Soc. Mss. Coll.); Royal Historical Mss.
Commission Reports (8 Vols.); Sainsbury, E. Noel: Abstracts of Records
in British Public Record Office relating to Virginia in the Seventeenth
Century (Va. State Library); Smith, Capt. John: Works of (edited by
Prof. Arber, Birmingham, England, 1884); Spelman, Henry: Relation
of Virginia; Spottswood, Gov. Alexander: Official Letters of (Va. Hist.
Soc. Pubs.); Stith, William. History of Virginia (Williamsburg, Va.,
1747); Strachey, William: Historie of Travaile into Virginie Britannia;
Virginia Historical Register (6 Vols., Va. Hist. Soc. Pubs.); Virginia
Land Patents, 1621-1700 (Va. State Capitol); Virginia Magazine of His-
tory and Biography (Va. Hist. Soc. Pubs.); William and Mary College
Quarterly (Williamsburg, Va.); Winder Papers (2 Vols., Va. State
Library).
PHILIP ALEXANDER BRUCE,
Author of The Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century.
CHAPTER IV.
FEOM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH,
1763-1776.
The French and Indian War, which closed the
issue as to whether the English, French or Spanish
should dominate this continent, opened the question
as to whether sovereignty over the country should
be British or American. The American Devolution
was less a revolt from England than the growth of
instinctive forces in the life of Anglo-Saxons set-
74 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
tied in the western wilderness. In that creative era
there culminated three tendencies which sprang
naturally out of the conditions of colonial life —
democracy, union and independence. Hence the
significance attaching to that period is the genesis
of ideas, the progress of social forces, and the subtle
motives that weave institutions. It was, in fact, an
evolution rather than a revolution.
Virginia gladly acknowledged itself the child of
England, but a child having substantive aims, and
claiming as an heir the great "moral discoveries of
habeas corpus and trial by jury, of a representative
government and a free press." The Virginia As-
sembly as early as 1624 declared that it had the
right "to lay taxes and impositions, and none
other." "When, therefore, the intention of the Brit-
ish Ministry as to the Stamp Act became known in
1764, the Virginia Burgesses promptly forwarded
their remonstrance.
Despite colonial protests, the Stamp Act was to
go into effect Nov. 1, 1765. Acquiescence seemed
the only course, when Patrick Henry entered the
House of Burgesses on May 1 of that year. He had
sprung into prominence in the famous Parsons'
Cause, by upholding with rare eloquence the right
of Virginia to make her own laws without the in-
tervention of the king's veto. Nine days after
Henry took his seat in the Assembly he wrote on the
fly-leaf of an old copy of Coke Upon Littleton a
series of resolutions against the Stamp Act, which
he presented to the House, and thereby "gave the
first impulse to the ball of the revolution." Jeffer-
son, then a student, witnessed "the bloody debate,"
and heard Peyton Randolph exclaim after the count,
"By God, I would have given five hundred guineas
for a single vote!" Another negative vote would
have killed the measure. Governor Fauquier, af-
FEOM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 75
frighted, at once dissolved the Assembly. But the
work had been done. Virginia's voice echoed in the
New York Congress, and the Stamp Act was re-
pealed.
The crisis seemed past. Not so, for Townshend,
in 1767, aroused anew the colonies by import duties
upon glass and tea. In the choice of the courtly
Botetourt as a successor to Fauquier, the Ministry
hoped to detach Virginia from the side of Massa-
chusetts. The Burgesses, however, would not de-
sert New England at that critical moment. They
embodied, in 1769, their patriotic views in energetic
resolves, while sitting behind closed doors. Hardly
had the vote been taken when the governor abruptly
summoned them to meet him in the council cham-
ber. With flushed face he angrily dissolved them.
Turned out of the capitol, the representatives with
one accord went to the Raleigh Tavern and agreed
to import no more goods from Britain. It is
worthy of record that at this session of the Assem-
bly Thomas Jefferson urged a bill allowing owners
to manumit their slaves. Of like import was the
attempt of the Burgesses, in 1772, to put an end to
the iniquitous slave trade. The king denied this ap-
peal and thereby laid himself open to Jefferson's
fierce indictment on that score in his draft of the
Declaration of Independence.
After 1769 there was a lull in Virginia, in spite
of the unrepealed tax on tea. Upon the death of the
genial Botetourt, the suspicious Dunmore took his
place. Violence, however, manifested itself in other
provinces. The Boston Massacre, the burning of the
Gaspee in Ehode Island, and the counter coercive
measures of the British Ministry, kept alive the
great debate. To secure unity, the Assembly, in 1773,
devised committees of correspondence to act as a
nervous system for the colonial cause.
76 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Virginia's Opposition to Boston Port Bill.
Throughout the events that led up to the Eevolu-
tion, it seemed ordained that Massachusetts was to
suffer and Virginia to sympathize. Until the out-
break of actual hostilities scarcely anything of mo-
ment occurred on the soil of Virginia to incite her
sons to champion the cause of freedom. Indeed,
from the beginning of the controversy between the
colonies and the mother country, the British Min-
istry seemed to have avoided any special cause of
irritation to the people of the Old Dominion. The
part, therefore, which Virginia took in the events of
those days must be attributed to her devotion to the
principles of liberty, to her interest in the common
cause of the colonies, and particularly to her sym-
pathy with Massachusetts in the suffering which
that province was called upon to endure. If we lose
sight of these motives as the springs of Virginia's
conduct in that struggle, we shall be unable to appre-
ciate either the nobility of her spirit or the wisdom
and energy which marked her initiative.
The Port Bill, which closed the harbor of Boston
as a retaliation for the famous Tea-party, reached
Boston on May 10, 1774, the day of the accession
of Louis XVI. Three days later the Bay patriots
drafted a circular-letter, appealing to the colonists
for united support and urging the cessation of all
trade with Great Britain. One writing from the
doomed city in New England on May 29, just before
the Port Bill was to go into effect, sketches for us
the situation there: "Preparations are now making
for blocking up this harbor, and affairs at present
bear a gloomy aspect in this metropolis. However,
we are in good spirits, and if the other colonists
will but stand by us we doubt not of doing well.
Nothing but an union can be the salvation of
America."
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 77
On the afternoon of the very Sunday on which
the writer was penning these words to his friend,
Boston's circular-letter arrived by special messen-
ger in the quiet Virginia capital at Williamsburg,
causing hurried consultations among the score or
more members of the General Assembly that still
lingered in town. On the previous Thursday the
House of Burgesses had been abruptly dissolved by
the irate governor on account of an active expres-
sion of sympathy with the cause of Massachusetts.
The reply to Boston's proposal to break off all
trade relations with Britain seemed too grave a
step for the Virginia Committee of Correspondence,
instituted the previous year, to take. Accordingly,
at a meeting on the following morning, at which all
the twenty-five remaining ex-Burgesses were pres-
ent, it was decided to ask the counties to appoint
deputies to a convention which should consider the
question of the cessation of all trade with Great
Britain and which should select delegates to a pro-
posed Congress of the American colonies. The
Revolution in Virginia had begun; a body, deriving
its mandates not from the Crown but from the
people of the colonies, had been called into existence,
and this democratic legislature was gradually to
draw to itself all the governmental functions of the
province. Boston's appeal for support was thus
referred by the Committee of Correspondence in
Virginia to the representatives of the sovereign
people, whom royal writs did not summon nor royal
governors dissolve. This call for the first Virginia
convention, the original of which is in the State
Library at Richmond, was evidently written by Pey-
ton Randolph, the recent Speaker of the Burgesses,
whose signature stands first in the list of signers.
There follow the names of Thomas Jefferson, Henry,
Lee, George Washington, etc.
78 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
June the first, the very day on which the Boston
Port Bill was to go into effect, had, by appointment
of the Virginia Burgesses, been set apart "as a day
of fasting, humiliation and prayer to avert the
heavy calamity which threatened destruction to
their civil rights" — the precise resolution that
brought Lord Dunmore's wrath down upon their
heads. Food was not tasted from the rising to the
setting of the sun throughout the colony, and solemn
services were held in the local churches. George
Mason, in writing from Williamsburg to a neighbor,
mentions the day of fasting appointed and adds,
"please tell my dear little family that I charge them
to pay strict attention to it, and that I desire my
three eldest sons and my two eldest daughters may
attend church in mourning." At Bruton Church
in the ancient capital Rev. Mr. Price, before whom
sat Washington and his fellow Burgesses, took as
the text of his discourse the words : "Be strong and
of good courage ; fear not nor be afraid of them, for
the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee.
He will not fail thee nor forsake thee" — admirably
chosen as suggesting divine succor and ultimate
success. "The people," wrote Jefferson, "met gen-
erally with anxiety and alarm in their countenances,
and the effect of the day through the whole colony
was like a shock of electricity, arousing every man
and placing him erect and solidly on his centre."
The First Convention, 1774.
During the summer of 1774 the Revolution was
organizing itself throughout the province by the
appointment of local committees of correspondence
as a means of promoting union and diffusing in-
formation, and by spirited county mass-meetings
called to consider the crisis of public affairs and to
elect delegates to the Virginia convention, in which
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 79
the Burgesses were in general empowered to act as
representatives of the people.
All eyes now turned to the convention which was
to meet at the capital on August 1, just eleven days
previous to the time set by Lord Dunmore for the
session of the General Assembly. The sinister gov-
ernor, by way of avoiding any pretext for the gath-
ering of the people's representatives, began a series
of six prorogations of the legislature, hoping that
meantime patriotic feeling would subside. His
proclamation to that effect stands on the page of
the yellowed Journal just opposite to the record of
the impetuous words with which he dissolved the
May Assembly. Little did Lord Dunmore suspect
that his act on that occasion virtually closed the
labors of a legislature that dated from 1619.
The first Virginia convention met at Williams-
burg on Aug. 1, 1774, and remained in session six
days. Peyton Eandolph was made president. In
support of Boston it was unanimously .agreed that
after November 1 following, no goods except medi-
cines should be imported from Great Britain; that
the Virginians would neither import nor purchase
slaves imported, after that date, from any place
whatsoever; and that, unless American grievances
were redressed by Aug. 10, 1775, they would stop all
exports of their product to the British Isles. Dele-
gates were chosen to represent Virginia in a gen-
eral Congress of the colonies. Provision was made
for the future sessions of the convention, should the
course of affairs demand. The spirit of the planters
voiced itself in the words of Washington: "I will
raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own
expense, and march myself at their head for the
relief of Boston."
Following the session of the first Continental
Congress which met in Philadelphia on Sept. 5, 1774,
80 THE HISTOKY OF VIRGINIA.
local military companies were raised in various
parts of Virginia and steps were taken to arm and
provision them. Events in Boston hastened the
pace of the patriots, while Parliament, in January,
1775, declared Massachusetts in a state of rebellion
and interdicted all trade on the part of the resisting
colonies with Britain and the West Indies.
The Second Convention, 1775.
It was under such circumstances that the second
Virginia convention was held at Eichmond on March
20, 1775. It sat in St. John's church, which crowns
an eminence overlooking the valley of the James.
The historic building stands to-day amid a beautiful
grove under whose shade sleep the village fathers.
A hundred and nineteen delegates were present and
remained in session for one week. A cleavage in
parties soon appeared. The conservative members
brought forward a conciliatory resolution, express-
ing a desire "to see a speedy return to those halcyon
days when we lived a free and happy people" under
British rule.
There were, however, some men in the convention
who favored action on the part of the colony. See-
ing no reason to put their trust in papers addressed
to King and Parliament — were not the royal waste-
baskets full of these? — they began to rely on their
muskets as the means of freedom. Were not the
Virginian youth from sea to mountains already on
the drill-field, but without authoritative organiza-
tion? Did not a state of war then exist in Massa-
chusetts? Moved by such considerations, Patrick
Henry sprang to his feet and offered a barbed reso-
lution to the effect "that this colony be immediately
put into a state of defense." The scene that fol-
lowed this proposal was a repetition of that which
the House of Burgesses had witnessed ten years be-
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 81
fore in the fiery protest against the Stamp Act, whe&
Patrick Henry, by eloquence as natural as it was
overwhelming, carried all before him. Bland, Nich-
olas, Harrison and Pendleton fought the martial
resolution, while Richard Henry Lee and Thomas
Jefferson seconded the impassioned words of the
son of Hanover. The proposition to arm the colony
was carried, and the committee, including Patrick
Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison,
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, at once
formulated plans for executing it. Companies of
infantry and horse were soon marshalled in the
various counties. Trade was stagnant ; government
was practically suspended, and the courts closed.
For instance, Patrick Henry's fee-books show that
hi 1765 he charged 555 fees, and in 1774 none.
The convention appointed the same delegates as
in the previous year to represent Virginia in the
Continental Congress, adding the name of Thomas
Jefferson as an alternate in case Peyton Randolph
should be unable to attend. It took steps for pro-
moting woolen, cotton and linen manufactures, salt
works and the making of gunpowder, steel and
paper. The delegates concluded that their labors
must be submitted to the approval of the people;
that future conventions would be necessary; and
that delegates thereto should be elected for one year.
Thus a body, which was hastily summoned to give
advice on a knotty question proposed by Boston,
had largely assumed the direction of affairs in Vir-
ginia. It is easy at this time to observe the parts
of the patriot government taking shape; first, a
committee of correspondence with advisory powers
in all questions touching the patriot cause ; secondly,
similar committees in the counties calling forth mili-
tary companies; thirdly, a representative body, at
present only consultative, but soon to become legis-
Vol. 1— «.
82 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
lative; fourthly, a militia made up of men trained
to the use of the musket and pulsing with patriotism.
The Virginians in fashioning these democratic in-
stitutions showed how well they had profited by
their long political experience. Needless to say,
Lord Dunmore growled his dissent at such patriot
proceedings by a public proclamation, which went
unheeded.
While the sturdy New Englanders were burying
the farmers who met death on the Lexington Green,
an act of Lord Dunmore in removing some ammuni-
tion from the "Powderhorn" to a British man-of-
war seemed, for the moment, to threaten bloodshed
in Virginia. Patrick Henry headed a movement of
troops against Williamsburg. Dunmore became
alarmed, fortified the palace, summoned marines
from the Fowey, sent his wife and children aboard
this ship lying at York, and drew a full breath only
after he had learned that Henry had turned back at
Doncastle's ordinary upon receiving payment for
the powder. The governor's threat that if injury
were offered to him or his he would free the slaves
and burn the town, greatly embittered the feeling of
the people against him.
The Last House of Burgesses.
After repeated prorogations of the General As-
sembly Dunmore summoned it to meet on the first
day of June, 1775, so as to receive Lord North's
"olive branch." In order to preside over the House
of Burgesses, Peyton Eandolph left the session of
the second Congress in Philadelphia at a time when
the news of the battle of Lexington, the capture of
Ticonderoga, the investment of Boston by a provin-
cial army, and the arrival of large bodies of fresh
British troops at New York and Boston had swept
the public mind toward the precipice of revolution.
FEOM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 83
Such was the enthusiasm in his home town for the
Speaker, who had been twice honored with the presi-
dency of the general Congress, that companies of
horse and foot met him on his approach to Williams-
burg and escorted him into the city. When the
Burgesses assembled on that June morning, it was
noted by Randolph that many of them were habited
in hunting shirts and armed with rifles. This as-
sembly marked the last rehearsal of royalty in Vir-
ginia. Following the report of a committee that
Dunmore had declared his purpose to raise, free
and arm the slaves, it was enacted that the import
of slaves from the West Indies be checked by a spe-
cific duty of five pounds on the head, to which meas-
ure the governor refused his assent. "The last ex-
ercise of the veto power by the King's representa-
tive in Virginia was for the protection of the slave
trade."
Consideration of Lord North's conciliatory prop-
osition was interrupted by an untoward incident.
The people were uneasy lest the governor should
remove the remaining guns from the "Powder-
horn." When, through curiosity, a Burgess and
two other men sought an entrance into the arsenal,
three guns went off automatically upon the opening
of the door, as had been deliberately planned. The
men were all wounded; excitement ran high; the
governor, upon being questioned, threw the blame
upon his servants, who declared to his face that it
had been done by his orders. Stricken with guilt
and fear, Lord Dunmore with his family fled on
June 7 to the Fowey, anchored at York. From the
cabin of this man-of-war he sent repeated communi-
cations to the legislature at Williamsburg, twelve
miles away; and finally, as this method proved
tedious, he requested the House to meet him on ship-
board— an invitation which the planters were in no
84 THE HISTOKY OF VIRGINIA.
way minded to accept. The Fowney sailing up the
Thames with the Virginia House of Burgesses
aboard would have been a sight to thrill the heart of
King George. Jefferson was called upon to draft
the answer to Lord North's proposal, which pur-
posed to divide the colonies by getting them to treat
separately on conciliatory terms. The import of the
reply to the King is sufficiently indicated by this
sentence: "We consider ourselves as bound in
honor as well as interest to share one general fate
with our sister colonies, and should hold ourselves
base deserters of that union to which we have ac-
ceded were we to agree on any measures distinct
and apart from them." Along with Jefferson's
"Summary of Eights," which was intended to be
presented to the first Virginia convention, this paper
marks another step in the genesis of the Declaration
of Independence. "In my life," said Shelburne, "I
was never more pleased with a State paper than
with the Assembly of Virginia's discussion of Lord
North's proposition. It is masterly." With Vir-
ginia's reply in his pocket, Jefferson hastened to
Philadelphia, where he reported its passage to Con-
gress. He was likewise requested by that body to
write its report on Lord North's terms, and did so
with no less cogency.
When the House of Burgesses adjourned on June
4, 1775, it completed a legislative career that ex-
tended over 156 years. As the members strolled
out of the House, Eichard Henry Lee, standing with
two colleagues on the portico of the capitol, in-
scribed with his pencil on a pillar these lines :
"When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning and in rain?
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won."
True, there were three other attempts to hold
sessions, but in each case a quorum did not appear.
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 85
The last entry on the manuscript Journal stands thus :
"Monday, the sixth of May, 16 George III., 1776.
Several members met, but did neither proceed to busi-
ness nor adjourn as a House of Burgesses. Finis."
The Third Convention, 1775.
"While the House of Burgesses must decrease, the
convention must increase. The third session of this
Revolutionary body was held at "Richmond town"
from July 17 to Aug. 26, 1775. Fifteen days before
the planters came together on the James, George
Washington had taken command, under the old elm
at Cambridge, of the American armies. Both the
circumstances of the colony and the movement of
thought strengthened the hands of the delegates and
forced the convention to assume responsibilities
undreamt of by those who suggested in the previous
year calling it for the first time. Lord Dunmore
had not only abandoned the capital, but he was also
threatening to make war on the colony. The royal
government was dissolved. The convention tried to
meet this new turn in affairs. No longer content
with resolutions and recommendations, it followed
legislative methods and gave to its acts the forms
of law, terming them ordinances.
The chief measures adopted by this convention
were to organize the forces for the defense of the
colony, to create an executive to act during the re-
cess of the convention, to raise adequate revenue for
the provisional government, to establish executive
county committees, to regulate the election of dele-
gates to the convention, and to elect new repre*
sentatives to Congress. As the bare enumeration
shows, these were tasks of no little difficulty, and
we find the members laboring at hours early and
late to solve them. The chaplain was "desired to
read prayers every morning at eight o'clock."
86 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Patrick Henry was made colonel of the first regi-
ment, and as such acted as commander-in-chief of
the Virginia forces. Fortunately there is extant the
little slip of paper on which the tellers made their
report to the convention as to the balloting for rep-
resentatives in Congress: " Peyton Eandolph 89,
Eichard Henry Lee 88, Thomas Jefferson 85, Ben-
jamin Harrison 83, Thomas Nelson 66, Eichard
Bland 61, George Wythe 58, Carter Braxton 24,
George Washington 22, George Mason 19, etc." It
will be seen that twenty-two members insisted upon
honoring Washington again with a seat in Congress
in spite of his military commission.
The formation of a temporary executive was a
subject of much discussion. There existed the com-
mittee of correspondence, originally a kind of bu-
reau of agitation. Now, however, agitation had
done its perfect work ; war was at hand. It seemed
expedient, therefore, to create a Committee of
Safety, consisting of eleven members, of whom Ed-
mund Pendleton was made president. This com-
mittee piloted the colony during the trying time from
Aug. 17, 1775, until July 5, 1776, when Patrick Henry
took the oath as governor of the commonwealth
of Virginia. During this era of political excite-
ment religious dissent increased rapidly. The spirit
of patriotism which animated all classes of citizens
finds expression in a petition from the Baptists to
the convention, asking for four of their brethren to
be granted liberty of preaching, at convenient
times, to the troops of that religious persuasion,
without molestation or abuse. The petition was
granted "for the ease of such scrupulous con-
sciences. ' *
War with Dtmmore.
Toward the close of the summer of 1775 the fugi-
tive governor had gathered a flotilla in the Chesa-
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 87
peake, troubling merchant ships and threatening a
descent on the coast towns. In October one of his
landing parties seized, at Norfolk, and carried on
shipboard the press of a newspaper imbued with the
patriotic sentiments of the day. On this press was
printed Dunmore's proclamation of November 7, in
which he proclaimed martial law, declared traitors
all persons capable of bearing arms who did not
resort to his standard, and offered freedom to "all
indentured servants, negroes, or others appertain-
ing to rebels." A messenger was even despatched
to the western border to incite the savages against
the Virginians. The war in Virginia really began
at Hampton, at the very place where occurred the
first encounters of the early settlers with the In-
dians. In a severe storm in September, 1775, one
of Dunmore's ships was beached near Hampton and
subsequently captured and fired by the inhabitants
of the little seaside town. To avenge this act the
governor blockaded and attempted to burn the vil-
lage. The British assault made on October 26 was
bravely repulsed by the citizens, reenforced by the
Culpeper riflemen. On December 8 the battle of
Great Bridge took place, where the regulars were
again routed, losing over sixty killed and wounded.
On Jan. 1, 1776, after a severe cannonade from
sixty guns, Dunmore fired Norfolk, the chief town
of the colony with a population of 6,000.
Fourth. Convention, 1775.
The fourth Virginia convention was sitting al-
most within hearing distance of the cannon at the
battle of Great Bridge. It had met at Richmond on
Dec. 1, 1775, but, after organizing, adjourned to
meet at Williamsburg. The chief matters that en-
gaged the attention of this convention were the in-
crease of the troops, which were straightway
8S THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
merged into the continental army; the establish-
ment of an admiralty court; the appointment of a
commission of five men in each county to try the
causes of those deemed enemies of America; the
authorization of county courts to elect severally a
sheriff for one year; and instruction to the Virginia
delegates in Congress to urge the opening of the
ports of the colonies to the commerce of the world,
excepting Britain and the British West Indies.
After the harrowing assaults of Lord Dunmore, it
is not surprising that the demand for independence
of British rule echoed in every quarter of Virginia.
We find, accordingly, during that spring, the several
county committees instructing their delegates "to
cause a total and final separation from Great Britain
to take place as soon as possible." Meantime the
prime question in the mind of the Virginian states-
men was how to bridge the chasm from royalty
to republicanism, from colony to commonwealth.
There was a brisk correspondence between the lead-
ing men in the province with a view to the declara-
tion of independence and the taking up of govern-
ment.
The Fifth Convention, 1776 — Adoption of a Constitution.
The fifth convention met at William sburg on May
6, 1776, sixty counties and corporations being rep-
resented by 131 delegates. Edmund Pendleton was
elected president. The three constructive measures
which it formulated were: first, the instructions to
the Virginia delegates in Congress to propose In-
dependence of Great Britain; second, the Bill of
Rights ; and third, the constitution of the new Com-
monwealth. After the passage, on May 15, of the
resolution instructing their delegates in Congress
to propose independence, the British flag on the
capitol was at once struck and the colonial colors
FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. 89
hoisted in its stead. At night the town was illumi-
nated in celebration of that epochal event.
On June 12 the convention adopted the Bill of
Rights. This summary of liberties, at once so com-
prehensive and concise, we owe to George Mason,
whose original draft was afterwards presented to
the state. The only serious amendment made to
this celebrated paper was that urged by the youth-
ful James Madison, substituting religious liberty
for toleration. The air was rife with political
theories. Seven different plans of government
came before the convention. From these, guided by
political sagacity of rare order, they wrought out a
republican constitution which, though conceived in
the midst of war and framed in a brief space of
time, met admirably the needs of the people and
presided for more than half a century over the
rapidly expanding state. The constitution was
adopted finally on June 29, 1776 — the natal day of
the Commonwealth of Virginia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Burk, John: History of Virginia', Chandler, J. A. C.:
Rerrresentation in Virginia', Frothingham, Richard: The Rise of the Re-
public; Gordon's History of America] Grigsby, Hugh Blair: The Virginia
Convention of 1776; Henry, William Wirt: Life of Patrick Henry; Hart.
A. B. : Formation of the Union; Hening's Virginia Statutes at Large; Ingle:
Local Institutions in Virginia; James, C. F.: History of the Struggle for
Religious Liberty in Virginia; Johnson, T. C.: Religious Liberty in Vir-
ginia; Rowland, Kate Mason: Life of George Mason; Tyler, Lyon G.:
Life and Times of the Tylers; Wilson, Woodrow: Life of George Washing-
ton ; The Works of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, etc. ;
The Journals of the Virginia House of Burgesses; The Journals of the
Virginia Conventions of the Revolution; Calendar of Virginia State
Papers; The files of the Wittiamsburg Gazette; Manuscripts in Virginia
State Archives.
S. C. MITCHELL,
President of the University of South Carolina.
90 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER V.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA,
1776-1861.
Virginia Troops in the Revolution.
The political leadership of Virginia during the
revolutionary epoch has been universally recog-
nized and the published writings of her statesmen
have placed their fame beyond the reach of cavil or
detraction. The military history of the state has, on
the contrary, been sadly neglected, and what is still
worse many of the most important documentary
sources are now lost. To have contributed Washing-
ton to the cause of independence seemed glory
enough for one state, and the services rendered by
the Virginia line have consequently received scant
treatment even at the hands of the state historians.
When Virginia's own writers have neglected the
part played by her troops in the Revolution, it is not
strange that others have disparaged it. It is fre-
quently claimed that New England furnished more
troops than all the other states combined, and that
Massachusetts sent to the front nearly double the
number furnished by any other state. By merely
adding up the yearly returns of the continental army
as given by General Knox in a report prepared for
Congress in 1790, when he was secretary of war, the
Massachusetts historians arrive at the conclusion
that their state furnished a total of 67,907 men to
the continental line and Virginia 26,672. Knox also
gives estimates of the militia, these figures being
very full for New England and very meagre for the
South, but he states by way of explanation that "in
some years of the greatest exertions of the Southern
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 91
States there are no returns whatever of the militia
employed." Heitman, in his Historical Register of
the Officers of the Continental Army, after a careful
study of the subject, places the number of Massa-
chusetts militia at 20,000 and the number of Vir-
ginia militia at 30,000. Adding together Knox's and
Heitman 's figures it would appear that Massachu-
setts furnished 87,907 men during the Revolution,
and Virginia 56,672. Next to Virginia comes Con-
necticut with 40,939.
But a careful analysis of Knox's figures will show
that they are subject to certain corrections. The
16,444 men credited to Massachusetts in 1775 were
not regularly organized continentals, but militia on
continental pay, whose terms expired in December
of that year. The 13,372 men credited to the same
state for 1776 likewise include militia on continental
pay, whose terms expired at the end of the year.
The explanation of this is that Massachusetts was
so hard pressed during the first and second years
of the war that she was unable to pay her militia
and appealed to Congress to assume the burden.
This Congress consented to do and large sums of
money were forwarded to Washington's headquar-
ters to be paid out to the Massachusetts militia un-
der his direction. Here then is a deduction of nearly
30,000 to be made from the Massachusetts total of
continental troops. Another point to be noted is
that Knox takes no account of the term of enlist-
ment and makes no effort to reduce his figures to a
common basis. It is well known that enlistments in
Massachusetts were for short periods, while enlist-
ments in Virginia were for three years or the war.
For instance the 3,732 continentals credited to
Massachusetts in 1781, when the war had been trans-
ferred to the South, were enlisted, according to
Knox's report, for four months only. When we
92 THE HISTOEY OF VIKGINIA.
come to consider the terms of service of the militia,
an examination of the volumes published by the sec-
retary of the commonwealth of Massachusetts under
the title of Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the
Revolutionary War shows that many of them served
for very short periods. Hundreds of men listed in
these volumes served in reply to some alarm for
from one to thirty days and saw no other service,
while thousands of them served for one, two, three
or four months. The completeness and detail of
these records is remarkable. We do not wish to dis-
credit or underrate the services of Massachusetts to
the cause of independence, which were very great,
particularly in the early years of the war, but merely
to point out the extravagance of many of the claims
advanced by her historians. These claims have been
so often repeated that they have almost acquired the
force of truth. After all the real interest centres
not in the number of troops furnished by a state but
in the character of the service performed, and in this
regard Virginia yields precedence to none. Her
troops fought over a wider area and further from
home than those of any other state. They served in
every part of the country from Quebec to Savannah
and from Boston to Kaskaskia and Vincennes.
The fact that the commander-in-chief was a Vir-
ginian was a serious obstacle to the advancement of
other officers from that state. Three of the major-
generals appointed by Congress, however, claimed
Virginia as their residence, though only one was a
native. They were Charles Lee and Horatio Gates,
former British army officers who had acquired es-
tates in Berkeley county near Leetown, in what is
now Jefferson county, West Virginia, and Adam
Stephen, of the same county, who had served with
distinction in the Indian wars. By a strange coinci-
dence these three generals, whose homes were within
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 93
a few miles of one another, all fell into disgrace.
Lee was dismissed for his conduct at Monmouth,
Gates was suspended after his defeat at Camden, and
Stephen was cashiered for drunkenness and blunder-
ing at the battle of Germantown.
But the names of the brigadier-generals of Vir-
ginia form an honor roll of which the state may well
feel proud. They are Daniel Morgan, who led the
first body of Southern troops to join Washington
before Boston, fought his way into the heart of
Quebec only to be captured through failure of the
supporting column, twice turned the tide at Sara-
toga and finally, after a tardy promotion to the grade
of brigadier, routed the dread Tarleton at Cowpens
in one of the most brilliant engagements of the war ;
Peter Muhlenberg, who led a German regiment from
the valley of Virginia to the relief of Charleston in
1776, commanded a brigade at Brandywine, German-
town, Monmouth, Stony Point and Yorktown ; Hugh
Mercer, whose brigade formed the attacking column
at Trenton and at Princeton, and who died of his
wounds a few days later lamented by the entire
army; George Weedon, who commanded a brigade
at Brandywine and at Germantown ; William Wood-
ford, who commanded the Virginia militia at Great
Bridge and led a Virginia brigade at Brandywine,
Germantown and Monmouth; Charles Scott, who
commanded a Virginia regiment at Trenton and at
Stony Point and was the last to leave the field at
Monmouth when Charles Lee retreated; Edward
Stevens, whose regiment checked the British ad-
vance at Brandywine and who served with distinc-
tion at Germantown and at Guilford Court House;
Eobert Lawson, who commanded a brigade of Vir-
ginia militia at Guilford Court House; William
Campbell, who led a regiment of 400 Virginians to
King's Mountain and was chosen by the other offi-
94 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
cers to lead in that fight ; Gov. Thomas Nelson, who
commanded the Virginia militia in the Yorktown
campaign, and George Rogers Clark, whose conquest
of the Northwest will be described later. Morgan,
Muhlenberg, Mercer, Weedon, Woodford and Scott
were brigadiers in the continental line ; Stevens and
Lawson served as colonels in the continental line and
later received commissions from Virginia as briga-
diers of militia; Campbell, Nelson and Clark also
commanded militia or volunteers.
Not less distinguished, though of lower rank, were
Col. Henry Lee ("Light-Horse Harry"), whose
legion rendered such brilliant service under Wash-
ington in New Jersey, and later under Greene in the
Carolinas; and colonels William Washington,
George Baylor and Theodoric Bland, who shed new
lustre on the chivalry of Virginia, while Col. Charles
Harrison, the commander of the First Continental
Artillery, was equally conspicuous in another arm
of the service.
The first year of the war was fought mainly in
New England by New England militia, who were
enlisted at first to serve until December, 1775, when
twenty-six new regiments were raised to serve for
one year. When the seat of the war was transferred
to the Hudson many of these troops accompanied
Washington and served during a part of the cam-
paign in New Jersey, but very few of them would
consent to reenlist when their terms expired. Wash-
ington was reduced to great straits and appealed to
Congress and the states for troops to take their
place. In a letter to the president of Congress Dec.
24, 1776, he says: "By the departure of these regi-
ments, I shall be left with five from Virginia, Small-
wood's from Maryland, a small part of Rawlins's
(Maryland and Virginia Rifles), Hand's from Penn-
sylvania, part of Ward's from Connecticut and the
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIEGINIA. 95
German Battalion, amounting in the whole at this
time from fourteen to fifteen hundred effective
men. ' ' In the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandy-
wine, Germantown and Monmouth, Virginia troops
bore the brunt of the fighting. In December, 1779,
practically the whole Virginia line, its ranks greatly
depleted by hard service in New Jersey, was ordered
to South Carolina under generals Woodford and
Scott, and was surrendered to the British by the
capitulation of Charleston, May 12, 1780.
During the greater part of the war the soil of Vir-
ginia was free from the invader. After the repulse
of the British at Great Bridge, Dec. 9, 1775, and the
destruction of Norfolk by Lord Dunmore's fleet
three weeks later, there were no military operations
in Virginia for several years. Patrick Henry was
the first governor of the commonwealth, having been
elected June 30, 1776, by the convention which
framed the original constitution. He filled the office
ably and acceptably for three terms of one year each.
During this time a number of important legal re-
forms were enacted by the legislature under the
leadership of Thomas Jefferson. The most impor-
tant were the act abolishing entails, the statute of
descents, the act repealing the laws on which the
established church rested, and an act prohibiting the
further importation of slaves. At the same time
Jefferson prepared a bill providing for the gradual
emancipation of slaves and the celebrated statute of
relisrious liberty. The former was never enacted;
the latter after an interval of several years.
Jefferson succeeded Henry as governor, and Ms
two terms fell in what was for Virginia the most
stormv period of the war. While he was governor
Sir Henrv Clinton sent three expeditions to raid and
harry the coasts and rivers of Virginia, Matthews
and Collier in 1779, Leslie in 1780, and Arnold and
96 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Phillips in 1781. In the spring of 1780 Washington
sent General Muhlenberg to Virginia to take charge
of the defenses of the state. With the aid of a few
officers of the continental lines, who were at home
on furlough, he collected and organized a sufficient
body of militia to lay siege to Leslie in Portsmouth,
but through the failure of the French fleet to cooper-
ate that officer made his escape and joined Corn-
wallis at Charleston. Shortly afterwards Maj.-Gen.
Baron von Steuben was sent to Virginia and Muhlen-
berg became second in command. The best equipped
troops were sent to join Greene in the Carolinas and
the militia and volunteers disbanded. On Jan. 2,
1781, Benedict Arnold landed at Portsmouth and
two days later proceeded up the James to Richmond.
After destroying nearly everything of value he fell
back down the river to Portsmouth, where he was
kept closely within his intrenchments by the militia
which Muhlenberg quickly collected. In view of the
helpless state of Virginia, Washington dispatched
Lafayette to its aid with 1,200 regulars from the
main army, hoping, through the cooperation of the
French fleet, to capture Arnold. Leaving his troops
at the head of Elk River, Maryland, Lafayette ha-
stened forward to Virginia. On March 19 he ar-
rived at Muhlenberg 's camp near Suffolk, but the
next day the British fleet of Admiral Arbuthnot,
having defeated the fleet of Destouches off the capes,
landed 2,000 men at Portsmouth under command of
Major-General Phillips. Advancing up the James
again the British destroyed a large quantity of to-
bacco and other stores at Petersburg, but were pre-
vented from taking Richmond by the timely arrival
of Lafayette 's force. On May 13, 1781, General Phil-
lips died at Petersburg, and a week later Cornwallis
arrived with his army from the Carolinas and as-
sumed direct command, soon after which Arnold
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, 97
returned to New York. The events of the campaign
that followed, ending at Yorktown and bringing the
war to a close, are too familiar to need repetition
here.
Governor Jefferson was severely criticized for his
management of affairs during Arnold's invasion.
He had to abandon Eichmond and adjourn the legis-
lature to Charlottesville, where he barely escaped
capture by Tarleton's cavalry which Cornwallis
sent there for that purpose. Jefferson could do little
or nothing without the cooperation of the regular
army, and Washington advised that the only safety
for Virginia lay in the defense of the Carolinas.
Accepting this view of the situation Jefferson ha-
stened to the South every available musket, man,
wagon and horse, thus leaving Virginia defenseless.
Lincoln's surrender of Charleston and Gate's defeat
at Camden were appalling disasters, but the bril-
liant strategy of Greene saved the day and justified
the course that had been pursued.
The Virginia Navy of the Revolution.
Lord Dunmore's raids on the coasts of Virginia
in the summer and fall of 1775 led the provincial
convention, in December, to instruct the committee
of safety to provide and equip vessels for the de-
fense of the colony. The committee purchased five
vessels and commissioned a number of officers, the
most prominent of whom were captains James Bar-
ron, Richard Barron, Richard Taylor, Thomas Lilly
and Edward Travis. In May, 1776, the convention
appointed a board of naval commissioners consist-
ing of five persons. During the next two years ves-
sels were built on the Eastern Shore, on the Poto-
mac, Rappahannock, Mattapony, Chicahominy and
James, and at Portsmouth, Go sport and South
Quay. A rope-walk was established by the state at
v»i. 1—7.
98 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Warwick on the James, a few miles below Bich-
mond; four naval magazines were opened at points
on the James, York, Bappahannock and Potomac;
the manufacture of sail-duck begun, and a foundry
operated. In March, 1776, John Henry Boucher, who
was then serving in the Maryland navy, was ap-
pointed to command the Potomac fleet, and soon
after made commodore of the Virginia navy. He
resigned in November, and in April, 1777, Walter
Brooke was made commodore and served until
September, 1778. The navy seems to have been
practically out of commission for the next year or
more, but on the transference of the war to the
South it was reorganized, and in July, 1780, James
Barren was appointed commodore and served until
the close of the war.
We have the names of about seventy vessels com-
missioned by the state during the course of the war.
Of these at least fifty were armed and equipped as
vessels of war ; the others were trading vessels serv-
ing under the direction of the navy board and under
the immediate charge of William Aylett. As far as
numbers go Virginia had the largest navy of any of
the states. Massachusetts came next with sixteen
ships. The energy of her maritime population went
out mainly into privateering, so that it was difficult
to get enough men to man the state ships; but in
Virginia there was little privateering. The main
service by the Virginia navy was in suppress-
ing Tories and in freeing the waters of the Chesa-
peake of British privateers, but some of the Virginia
vessels went as far as the West Indies and took
some valuable prizes there. Some of the Virginia
vessels were taken at sea and more than twenty were
taken or destroyed by Matthews and Collier in 1779.
When Arnold and Phillips invaded the state in 1781
only twelve vessels of the state navy remained, and
GEORGE WYTHE.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 99
these were too poorly manned to be of much service.
As the hostile force advanced up the river towards
Richmond, this little fleet made a stand at Os-
borne's, supported by militia on the shore. The
Virginians were soon compelled to abandon their
ships. Some were scuttled or fired and others cap-
tured. None escaped. Only one vessel of the Vir-
ginia navy now remained — the Liberty. According
to a recent authority, "The Liberty saw more serv-
ice than any other state or continental vessel of the
Eevolution. She was in the employ of Virginia
from 1775 until 1787."*
Conquest and Cession of the Northwest Territory.
By the Quebec Act of 1774 the territory lying be-
tween the Ohio and Mississippi rivers was annexed
to the province of Quebec, and soon after the begin-
ning of the Eevolution Colonel Hamilton, the Brit-
ish commander at Detroit, undertook to organize the
Indians of the Northwest for an attack on the set-
tlers south and east of the Ohio Eiver. But his
plans were thwarted by the foresight of a young
Virginian, George Eogers Clark, one of the early
settlers in Kentucky who, counting on the support
of the French inhabitants, was convinced that with
a small force he could take possession of this ter-
ritory. Late in the autumn of 1777 he made his
way back to Virginia along the Wilderness Eoad
and laid his plans before Governor Henry. As it
was of the utmost importance that the enterprise
should be kept secret, the governor did not consult
the legislature, but after conferring with Jefferson,
Wythe and Madison he authorized Clark to raise a
force of 350 men for the expedition. Clark imme-
diately recrossed the mountains and began collecting
*Paullin: The Navy of the American Revolution, 417
100 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
men and supplies on the upper Ohio, nominally for
the defense of Kentucky. By May, 1778, he had
succeeded with difficulty in getting together 180
picked riflemen, a flotilla of small boats and a few
pieces of light artillery. With these he proceeded
down the Ohio to its junction with the Mississippi
and disembarked in what is now southern Illinois.
Marching his force over the prairie to Kaskaskia
he surprised the garrison and took possession of the
town without resistance. With the aid of Father
Gibault, a Catholic priest, he succeeded in winning
over Cahokia and other neighboring villages.
As soon as Governor Hamilton heard of these
events he marched from Detroit with a motly force
composed of 500 men, regulars, Tories and Indians,
to Vincennes on the Wabash and garrisoned that
fort. But Clark was not to be outdone. Sending
some provisions and a few pieces of artillery around
by the Ohio and Wabash, he set out from Kaskaskia
in the dead of winter with 130 men, marched for
sixteen days in the face of apparently insurmount-
able difficulties across the drowned lands of Illinois,
met his boats just in time to save his party from
starvation and despair, and appeared before Vin-
cennes to the utter amazement of the British gar-
rison. The town readily submitted, and after a
siege of twenty hours Hamilton surrendered the
fort February 23. The Northwest territory was
thus secured to Virginia and organized as the
"county" of Illinois.
The importance of this brilliant exploit was des-
tined to be far greater than even Clark foresaw, for
when the treaty of peace was being negotiated at
Paris in 1782 our allies, France and Spain, were both
more than willing to sacrifice our interests in order
to keep us out of the Mississippi Valley, and the
western boundary of the United States would un-
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 101
doubtedly have been fixed at the Alleghanies instead
of the Mississippi but for the fact that this western
region was actually occupied by Virginians.
At the close of the Revolution the boundaries of
Virginia extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Mississippi, and from the parallel of 36° 30' on the
south to the Great Lakes on the north ; but the vast
extent of these imperial possessions aroused the
jealousy of the other states and rival claims to a
part of the territory north of the Ohio River were
revived. Virginia's original claim to this region
was based on the charter of 1609, which conveyed
all the lands 200 miles north and 200 miles south of
Point Comfort, "up into the land, throughout from
sea to sea, "West and Northwest." The later grants
to Massachusetts and Connecticut, as described in
their charters, likewise ran west to the Pacific, the
impression of that day being that the continent was
no broader here than in Mexico. New York, as suc-
cessor to the rights of the Iroquois, asserted a
rather shadowy claim to this territory, whose tribes
had formerly been subject to the Six Nations. To
her original claim Virginia added the stronger claim
of conquest and possession. The little states, Rhode
Island, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, which
had no claims to western lands, were strongly op-
posed to recognizing the claims of the larger states.
Maryland first proposed the cession of all western
lands to the Union, and later declared that she
would not ratify the Articles of Confederation until
she should receive some assurance that the states
in question would cede their claims. In February,
1780, New York decided to surrender her claims to
the general government, not a very great sacrifice
on her part, and a little later Connecticut offered to
cede her claims with the exception of 3,250,000 acres
reserved for school purposes. This arrangement
102 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
was not approved at the time, but was finally
agreed to in 1786. In January, 1781, Virginia
agreed to cede her lands on condition of being guar-
anteed in her possession of Kentucky, but three
years later the cession was made without this pro-
viso, and a few weeks later Massachusetts followed
with a surrender of her claims.
In 1784 Jefferson proposed in Congress a scheme
for the government of the Northwest Territory
which, among other provisions, excluded slavery.
Though stricken out at the time, this provision was
later embodied along with other ideas of Jefferson
in the celebrated ordinance of 1787. The creation
of a national domain was a mighty stride forward
in the formation of a permanent union. The pos-
session of a territory of its own outside the limits
of the several states gave the government something
of a national character, and was destined to have
far-reaching influences on its development.
In 1791 Kentucky was organized with the con-
sent of Virginia as a separate state, and the bounds
of the "Old Dominion" were thus reduced to the
point at which they remained until 1861.
The Adoption of the Constitution of the United States.
When the Articles of Confederation had proven
inadequate and the union of states seemed drifting
toward anarchy, Virginia took the first step in the
formation of a new government by inviting the
states to send delegates to Annapolis for the pur-
pose of conferring additional powers on Congress,
and when the Federal convention met at Phila-
delphia in May, 1787, Washington was chosen to
preside over its deliberations. His sound sense,
dignified bearing and tactful manner contributed
more than any other single factor towards the ulti-
mate success of the work. The leading part in the
JAMES MADISON.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 103
proceedings was taken by another son of Virginia,
James Madison, who became known as the ' * Father
of the Constitution." He was the author of the
Virginia plan which formed the basis of discussion
and entered largely into the new constitution.
Washington laid the work of the convention before
Congress, accompanied by a letter, and after eight
days of discussion the constitution was submitted
to the states for ratification. The next question
was, would the states ratify! Of this there was
grave doubt.
In Virginia Patrick Henry and Richard Henry
Lee had opposed the whole plan of a Federal con-
vention and had refused to go as delegates, while
George Mason and Edmund Randolph had refused
to sign the constitution after it was drafted. Dela-
ware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecti-
cut, Massachusetts, Maryland and South Carolina
ratified in the order named before the meeting of the
Virginia convention June 2, 1788. As it took nine
states to put the new government into operation, all
eyes were now turned to Virginia. Patrick Henry
led the fight against the constitution and brought
to bear against it all the force of his fiery eloquence.
He was ably seconded by George Mason and Wil-
liam Grayson. Madison, meanwhile, had won over to
his side Gov. Edmund Randolph, and Washington's
influence, though he did not attend the convention,
carried great weight with the members. Madison
was aided by the popular eloquence of " Light-Horse
Harry" Lee and the forceful arguments of John
Marshall. The debate finally narrowed itself down
to the question whether the constitution should be
ratified as it stood and amendments subsequently
proposed, or whether ratification should be post-
poned until another Federal convention could con-
vene and make the desired changes. The former
104 THE HISTOKY OF VIRGINIA.
alternative was finally adopted, and on June 25 the
constitution was ratified by a vote of eighty-nine to
seventy-nine. It was learned later that New Hamp-
shire had ratified four days earlier, making the
ninth state, but the action of Virginia was none the
less decisive for it turned the scale in New York,
which, after a long struggle, followed Virginia's
example, and the new government was organized
notwithstanding the fact that Ehode Island and
North Carolina still held back. Patrick Henry's
principal objection to the constitution was the ab-
sence of a bill of rights. His fierce opposition had
its effect, and in ratifying the constitution the con-
vention proposed a score of amendments which, to-
gether with those proposed by other states, were
finally reduced to ten. The first ten amendments
are thus, in part at least, Henry's contribution to
the constitution, and no student of constitutional
history will deny that he was right in insisting on a
bill of rights.
Resolutions of 1798-1799.
The closing years of the century were marked by
the bitterest partisan feeling. During the admin-
istration of President Adams, while relations with
France were strained and war imminent, the Feder-
alist majority in Congress passed the alien and
sedition acts, the first empowering the President
to remove objectionable aliens from the country,
and the second seriously restricting freedom of
speech and the liberty of the press. The intention
of the acts was to intimidate the Republicans and
suppress certain of their newspapers. Jefferson's
followers were greatly incensed and at once took
steps to counteract the effect of the acts and to se-
cure their repeal. Jefferson prepared a set of reso-
lutions for the Kentucky legislature which were
introduced by John Breckinridge and passed Nov.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 105
10, 1798. They declared that the alien and sedition
acts were "void and of no force," and appealed to
the other states to protest and to take steps to
secure their repeal at the next session of Congress.
At the same time Madison prepared resolutions
of similar purport which were introduced in the
Virginia legislature by John Taylor, of Caroline.
They declared that the Federal government was a
compact, that the powers of Congress were limited
by the plain sense and intention of the instrument
constituting that compact, and that in case of a de-
liberate, palpable and dangerous exercise of other
powers not granted, the states had the right and
were in duty bound "to interpose for arresting the
progress of the evil, and for maintaining within
their respective limits the authorities, rights and
liberties appertaining to them." The resolutions
were forwarded to the governors of the other states,
inviting them to declare the said acts unconstitu-
tional and to cooperate with Virginia in maintain-
ing the rights of the states unimpaired. Answers
decidedly unfavorable, some of them strongly con-
demnatory, were received from Delaware, Rhode
Island, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut,
New Hampshire and Vermont. This threw Vir-
ginia on the defensive and precipitated a hot dis-
cussion between the two political parties within the
state. At the next meeting of the legislature Madi-
son presented an able and lucid report in defense of
the resolutions of the previous year. The ' * Madison
Report" of 1799 was widely accepted as an authori-
tative exposition by the "Father of the Constitu-
tion" of the doctrine of states' rights. In the ef-
fort to perpetuate their power the Federalists had
overstepped themselves, and the following year they
were swept out of office never to recover control of
the government.
106 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Internal Improvements and the State Debt.
When the National government assumed the revo-
lutionary debts of the several states in 1790, Vir-
ginia had already extinguished the greater part of
hers and hence opposed assumption. Most of the
states remained free from debt until the period of
development following the war of 1812, when the
demand for better means of communication led to
the creation of public debts for the construction of
roads, bridges and canals. At this time the part of
Virginia lying east of the Alleghanies was devoted
largely to agriculture and grazing with but few
manufactures, while to the west, in the counties
now embraced within the state of West Virginia,
lay vast stores of minerals and timber as yet inac-
cessible. In order to develop these resources and
bring them to the markets of the world, the state
undertook the construction of graded roads, bridges,
canals and, later, railroads, extending from tide-
water towards the Ohio River. Some of these works
were constructed on state account, but the greater
part of them by state subscription to the capital
stock of incorporated companies. The appropria-
tions and subscriptions were expended under the
direction and supervision of a board of public works
created as early as 1816, the members of which were
elected by the voters of the state at large. The
expenditures did not assume very large proportions
until 1837, but from that time on they grew at a
progressive rate until 1860. The total sum appro-
priated for internal improvements and banks was
over $40,000,000, less than a fourth part of which
had been liquidated before the War of Secession.
By 1850 the state debt had grown to about $10,000r
000, and by 1860 it had reached the sum of $33r
000.000. Of this amount $4,761,564 had been in-
curred for roads, turnpikes and bridges ; $12,492,616
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 107
for canals and river improvements, and $15,440,910
for railroads. Appropriations for works of internal
improvement were almost invariably supported, as
the legislative records show, by a majority of the
members from the counties west of the Alleghanies,
and almost invariably opposed by a majority of the
members from the eastern counties. Thus Virginia
entered on the War of Secession burdened with a
heavy debt, which was soon made all the heavier by
the separation of the counties in whose interests and
by whose votes the debt was created.*
State Sectionalism.
The diversity of interests between the East and
the West was responsible for the early development
of sectionalism within the state. The constitution
of 1776 continued in force the colonial system of
representation in the state legislature, which was
based on districts and not on population. With the
development of the western counties came the de-
mand for larger representation in the General As-
sembly and the extension of the suffrage, but the
en stern counties resisted every attempt to deprive
+>>em of the political ascendancy they had inherited
A-om earlier times. From 1790 on petitions for re-
form were presented at nearly every session of the
IPOH Mature, but without effect. Finally, in 1816, a
convention of prominent men from the western
counties met at Staunton and drew up a memorial
asking the legislature to submit to the voters the
auestion whether or not a convention should be
called to equalize representation on the basis of the
white population. The organization of the Senate
was especiallv unfair. The western section, with a
white population of 233,469, had only four senators,
*For most of the facts in regard to the creation of the state debt the writer is in-
debted to the briefs and papers prepared by Hon. William A. Anderson in the case of
Virginia vs. West Virginia.
108 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
while the eastern counties, with a white population
of 342,781, had twenty senators. As a result of the
Staunton memorial the House of Delegates passed
a bill in favor of a convention, but the Senate re-
jected it. In order to allay the growing discontent,
however, the legislature proceeded to reorganize the
Senate, giving the East fifteen and the West nine
senators.
Finally, in December, 1827, the legislature agreed
to submit the question of calling a convention to the
voters. The measure was carried by 21,896 to
16,637 votes. The reformers wanted the delegates
to the convention assigned on a basis of white popu-
lation, while the conservatives demanded a mixed
basis of white population and taxation, or Federal
numbers, that is, white population and three-fifths
of the slaves. After long discussion the House
adopted the county system as the basis of organiza-
tion, but this plan was rejected by the Senate and
the two houses finally agreed on the senatorial dis-
trict as the basis, each district to be allowed four
delegates.
The convention of 1829-30 was remarkable for the
number of able men who sat in it, among them ex-
Presidents Madison and Monroe, and Chief Justice
Marshall. After discussing the basis of repre-
sentation for weeks, a committee was finally ap-
pointed to apportion delegates for the House with-
out adopting any basis. As a result the Trans-
Alleghany district was given thirty-one delegates,
the Valley twenty-five, Piedmont forty-two and
Tidewater thirty-six.
The suffrage question was the next most impor-
tant subject before this convention. The constitu-
tion of 1776 had left the suffrage where it was fixed
by act of the House of Burgesses in 1736. This act
vested it in freeholders, a freehold being defined as
t
JAMES MONROE.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 109
100 acres of unimproved, or twenty-five acres of
improved land, with a house on it, or a house and
lot in town. The convention of 1829-30 refused,
after a stormy debate, to consent to any radical
reform. The suffrage was extended to leaseholders
and taxpaying housekeepers, but this added only a
few thousand to the electorate.
The West was by no means satisfied, but remained
quiet for a while. In March, 1850, the General
Assembly finally agreed to submit the question of
calling another convention to the people, determin-
ing in advance, however, that the convention should
be organized on the mixed basis (white population
and taxation). This arrangement gave the East
seventy-six delegates and the West fifty-nine, an
eastern majority of seventeen; whereas, on the
white basis, the East would have had sixty-one and
the West seventy-four, a western majority of thir-
teen. In spite of the fact that the East controlled,
the convention of 1850-51 is known as the reform
convention. The apportionment of representatives
for the House was finally fixed on the white basis,
giving the West eighty-three delegates by the census
of 1850, and the East sixty-nine, while the Senate
was still based on an arbitrary apportionment of
thirty to the East and twenty to the West. The
West now had a majority of four on joint ballot.
This convention also extended the suffrage to every
male white over twenty-one years of age who had
resided two years in the state and one year in the
district. These two reforms, together with the pop-
ular election of governor and judges, changed Vir-
ginia from an aristocratic government into one of
the most democratic in the Union.*
*For th« facts stated in this section the writer is largely indebted to J. A. (J.
Chandler's two monographs on Representation in Virginia and History of Suffrage
in Virginia in the Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political
Science,
110 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Slavery.
We have already referred to Jefferson's desire
for the abolition of slavery in 1776. There were no
stronger abolitionists in America at that time than
Jefferson, George Mason and St. George Tucker,
while Madison, Washington and Henry, though
more conservative, earnestly desired to see slavery
disappear. The disposal of the free negro — a ques-
tion of little consequence at the North where the
relative proportion of blacks was small — retarded
all plans for general emancipation at the South, and
while the question was continually discussed, no
action was taken.
Nat Turner's insurrection in Southampton
county in August, 1831, in which sixty-one persons,
mostly women and children, were barbarously mur-
dered, brought the question very forcibly to the at-
tention of Virginia statesmen. On Jan. 11, 1832,
Thomas Jefferson Eandolph, a grandson of Jeffer-
son, proposed to submit to the voters a plan for
freeing all slaves born after July 4, 1840, the males
on arriving at twenty-one and the females at
eighteen, and for removing them beyond the limits
of the United States. This motion was tabled with-
out a recorded vote. The general question contin-
ued to be very earnestly debated, however, for two
weeks, when it was finally disposed of on a test
resolution declaring that it was expedient to adopt
some legislative enactments for the abolition of
slavery. This motion was defeated by a vote of
seventy-three to fifty-eight. The rise and growth of
Garrisonian abolition at the North during the next
twenty years threw the South on the defensive, and
the abolition sentiment in Virginia never again ac-
quired the force that it had in 1832. It is estimated
that at least 100,000 slaves were freed by Virginians
between the Eevolution and the War of Secession
JOHN TYLER.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. Ill
without legal compulsion, as against a total of
59,421 freed in the entire North by legislation.
Secession.
South Carolina passed the ordinance of secession
Dec. 20, 1860, and was followed during January by
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisi-
ana, and on February 1 by Texas. The Virginia
legislature was convened in extra session by Gov-
ernor Letcher January 7, and issued an invitation
to the other states to send commissioners to a con-
vention in Washington "to adjust the present un-
happy controversies." But the time for compro-
mises had passed, and the so-called "peace conven-
tion" which assembled at the national capital Feb-
ruary 4, and over which ex-President Tyler pre-
sided, accomplished nothing.
On the day that the peace convention assembled
the election of delegates for a state convention was
held in Virginia, and resulted in a Union victory.
Of the 152 delegates chosen 30 were classed as se-
cessionists, 20 as Douglas men and 102 as Whigs,
but not more than half a dozen were "actual sub-
missionists — that is, men in favor of the preserva-
tion of the Union under any and all circumstances."
When the convention met it soon became evident
that, while a large majority were opposed to seces-
sion as matters then stood, a laree maioritv were
also opposed to coercion. Lincoln's inausrural address
was a great blow to the Union men of Virsrinia, and
when it became evident that he did not intend to
evacuate Fort Sumter the secession forces gained
strength rapidly. Still, as late as April 4 a resolu-
tion to submit an ordinance of secession to the
people was voted down in fH« rwnvp-nHrm bv 80 to
45. On April 15 President Lincoln issued a call for
volunteers and called on the governor of each state
112 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
for its quota. Virginia was thus forced to choose
between joining the Confederacy and assisting in
its coercion. There was little doubt as to the out-
come. On the 17th the convention passed the ordi-
nance of secession by a vote of 88 to 55, subject to
ratification by the people at the polls. As soon as
the vote was announced nine delegates changed their
votes from negative to affirmative and six new votes
were recorded, so that the final vote stood 103 to
46. The scene is described as both solemn and
affecting. One delegate, while speaking against
the ordinance, broke down in incoherent sobs; an-
other, who voted for it, wept like a child. The senti-
ment of the people had run ahead of their leaders.
A. H. H. Stuart, who had strenuously opposed se-
cession, now issued a letter urging the people to
stand together, and John B. Baldwin, when asked
by a Northern friend "What will the Union men
of Virginia do now?" replied : "There are no Union
men left in Virginia." On April 20 Eobert E. Lee,
refusing the chief command in the United States
army, resigned his commission and offered his serv-
ices to his state. Governor Letcher, who had been
a strong Union man, at once took steps for the de-
fense of the state and formed a provisional alliance
with the Confederacy. The ordinance of secession
was ratified by the people May 23 by a vote of 96,750
to 32,134, the opposition coming almost exclusively
from the western counties, which soon after took
steps to separate from the state. Reluctantly and
in sorrow, but calm and strong in the consciousness
of right, Virginia severed the ties that bound her to
the Union she had done more than any other state
to form, and devoted her soil to the carnage of war.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Ballagh: History of Slavery in Virginia (1902);
Chandler: Representation in Virginia in Johns Hopkins University
Studies (1896), History of Suffrage in Virginia in Johns Hopkins Z7w>.
VIRGINIA IN THE CONFEDEEACY. 113
versify Studies (1901); Force: American Archives (5th series); Graham:
Life of General Daniel Morgan (1856); Goolrich: Life of General Hugh
Mercer (1906); Heitman: Historical Register of the Officers of the Con-
tinental Army (1893); Henry: Life of Patrick Henry (1891); Muhlenberg:
Life of Major-General Peter Muhlenberg (1849); Paullin: The Navy of the
American Revolution (1906); Rhodes: History of the United States (Vol.
III., Chaps. XIV. and XV.); Tower: The Marquis de LaFayette in the
American Revolution (1895);Tyler: Letters and Times of the Tylers (1885);
Weedon: Valley Forge Orderly Book of General George Weedon (1902);
Wise: Seven Decades of the Union (1881); The Virginia Navy of the Revo-
lution in Southern Literary Messenger (1857, January, February, March,
and April); Writings of Washington, Jefferson and Madison; Virginia
Debates of 1788 in Elliot's Debates (Vol. III.); The Virginia Report and
Debates 1798-1799 (1850); Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State
Convention of 1829-30 (1830); Journal, Acts, and Proceedings of the Vir-
ginia Convention of 1850-51 (1851); Journals of the House of Delegates of
the Commonwealth of Virginia.
JOHN HOLLADAY LATANfc,
Professor of History, Washington and Lee University.
CHAPTER VI.
VIRGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865.
Virginia's Unwillingness to Leave the Union.
Virginia was attached to the Union more strongly
than any other state. None of them had done so
much to create and enrich it. Her sons had taken
the leading part in securing its independence, and
were chiefly instrumental in framing the constitu-
tional compact, which was designed to secure to each
and all of the states the blessings of liberty and peace,
without the sacrifice of rights. When objections were
made by other states, in the formative period, that
Virginia's vast territorial area would give her undue
preponderance in the new government, with a free,
self-abnegating hand, she conveyed to the United
Vol. 1-*.
114 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
States her territory northwest of the Ohio River * ' for
the common benefit of the Union." The Louisiana
purchase made by President Jefferson, added to the
national domain an area larger than the original
states. The armies which acquired the larger part of
Mexico, and expanded our possessions on the Pacific
Ocean into imperial proportions, were commanded by
Virginia generals. Indeed, the stars in the blue field
of the national flag are a proof to those who know
their story and significance of the Old Dominion's
devotion and sacrifices for the Union. And not less
earnest, though unavailing, were Virginia's efforts
to preserve the Union than those she had success-
fully made to secure its formation and prosperity.
Never did her people rise so high above all selfish
considerations, and stand upon a sublimer moral
plane, than when they took up arms for their con-
victions of right and duty, in the then impending
conflict. And it will ever be a proud recollection
of Virginians that every effort short of abject hu-
miliation and abandonment of their time-honored
and sacred principles, was made by her representa-
tive bodies to avert a war which cost ten thousand
millions of money (five times the value of all the
slaves), and nearly 1,000,000 men who perished by
the sword or by disease.
On Jan. 1, 1860, John Letcher, an ardent Union
man, succeeded Henry A. Wise as governor of Vir-
ginia. In his inaugural message to the General
Assembly, he strongly urged the calling of a state
convention to consider and provide a remedy for the
alarming state of political affairs, if the Union were
to be preserved, * ' to which end everything should be
done consistent with honor, patriotism and duty."
Disintegrating events, in rapid succession, signal-
ized the year 1860. There were four presidential
tickets in the field. Two of them represented wings
VIRGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY. 115
or factions of the Democratic party, to wit: (1)
Douglas, of Illinois, and Johnson, of Georgia; (2)
Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Lane, of Oregon.
Another ticket was Lincoln, of Illinois, and Hamlin,
of Maine, sectional candidates, upon an anti-slavery
platform. The fourth was Bell, of Tennessee, and
Everett, of Massachusetts, upon the broad platform ;
"The Union, the Constitution and the Enforcement
of the Laws." Virginia cast her electoral vote for
Bell and Everett. Lincoln received a majority of
the electoral college, but fell far short of a majority
of the popular vote, having received only 1,857,610
as against 2,804,560 cast for the other candidates.
This election of sectional candidates by an exclu-
sively sectional vote caused intense excitement, espe-
cially in the extreme Southern states, whose people
regarded it as the precursor of a war against their
reserved rights and domestic institutions.
President Buchanan was torn by conflicting opin-
ions. He argued against the right of secession, but
expressed doubt as to the right of the government
to coerce a state by military force. The situation
thus became more complicated and strained by the
vacillation of the administration, which seemed like
a ship adrift in a tempestuous sea. Seven Southern
states had seceded and their senators and repre-
sentatives had withdrawn from Congress. They
took possession as far as possible of such of the
forts and arsenals of the United States as were
within their borders, and demanded those which
were still held by the government.
In the midst of these exciting events, Governor
Letcher, on Jan. 7, 1861, convened the General As-
sembly of the state in extra session. Among its first
acts was a call for a state convention, the people
when electing delegates thereto, to vote also on the
question as to whether any ordinance changing the
116 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
relations of Virginia to the other states of the Union
should be submitted to a popular vote for approval
or rejection. It also invited the other states of the
Union to meet Virginia in a peace conference at
Washington, to devise, if possible, a plan of pacifica-
tion, naming as her own representatives ex-Presi-
dent John Tyler, William C. Rives, John W. Brock-
enbrough, George W. Summers and James A. Sed-
don, from different parts of the state, and all men of
national distinction. It also appointed Mr. Tyler a
commissioner to the President of the United States,
and Judge John Robertson a commissioner to the
states that had seceded to urge them to refrain from
acts likely to cause a collision of arms, pending
Virginia's efforts to secure peace. The peace con-
ference met in Washington and the venerable ex-
President Tyler was made president of it.
When the result of its anxious deliberations was
transmitted to Congress, with a favorable message
from President Buchanan, Senator Crittenden ap-
pealed for a vote, either for his own plan, or that of
the peace congress, and Senator Hunter declared
that Virginia would deeply deplore the failure of
her patriotic mediation.
Though the peace conference really represented a
majority of the people of the country, and a still
greater preponderance of its wealth, its intelligence
and patriotism, the radical element of the North
had control of Congress, and rejected all proposi-
tions of compromise.
The Virginia convention, the embodiment of her
sovereignty, met on Feb. 13, 1861. Its members
were chosen from its ablest and most distinguished
citizens without regard to party predilections. Its
composition proved that the people of that state did
not regard Mr. Lincoln's election as a sufficient cause
for secession, for at least two-thirds of its members
VIEGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY. 117
were elected as "Union men," and believing that
there was still at the North a strong sentiment op-
posed to the coercion of the seceded states, the con-
vention, "like a strong man struggling with the
storms of fate, ' ' tried every expedient of negotiation
in the hope of an adjustment which would restore the
Union.
"Better for the South to fight for its rights within
the Union than out of it," was a very general senti-
ment. Notwithstanding the failure of the peace con-
ference, the convention, soon after Mr. Lincoln's
inauguration, sent William Ballard Preston, Alexan-
der H. H. Stuart and George "W. Randolph as a
committee to wait upon him and advise a pacific
policy.
Virginia Secedes.
In the convention a report was presented recogniz-
ing the right of a state to secede, but asking for a
convention of representatives from the eight South-
ern states still remaining in the Union, to be held
at Frankfort, Ky. "The peculiar relation" of these
border states "to the other states" made it proper
in the judgment of the convention that they ' ' should
consult together and concert such measures for final
action as the honor, the interests and the safety of
the people thereof may demand." While the re-
ports and amendments were being discussed the com-
mittee which had waited upon President Lincoln
returned to Richmond and reported the result of
their mission, whereupon the convention went into
secret session to consider it. While thus deliberat-
ing, Mr. Lincoln, on April 15, issued a proclamation
calling for 75,000 militia, apportioned among the
states, to suppress combinations against the laws of
the United States in the states of South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana
and Texas. It was stated that the first service as-
118 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
signed to the forces called out, would probably be to
repossess the "forts, places and property which
had been seized from the Union. ' ' The quota called
for from Virginia was three regiments, embracing
2,340 men, to rendezvous at Staunton, Wheeling and
Gordonsville. Governor Letcher made prompt reply
in these memorable words : "I have only to say that
the militia will not be furnished to the powers at
Washington for any such use or purpose as they
have in view. Your object is to subjugate the South-
ern states, and a requisition made upon me for such
an object — an object, in my judgment, not within the
purview of the constitution or the act of 1795 — will
not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugu-
rate civil war, and having done so, we will meet it in
a spirit as determined as the administration has
exhibited towards the South."
Lincoln's proclamation blasted the last hope of a
peaceful settlement, and precipitated the war. It
also determined the action of the convention. The
Hon. John Goode, the only survivor of this distin-
guished body, in his Recollections of a Lifetime,
gives the following account of its action in view of
the President's declaration of war.
"The middle-men, so-called, who had held on to the Union as the
ship-wrecked mariner holds to the last plank when the midnight slorm
and tempest are gathering around him, were swept away by the over-
whelming tide of popular excitement. They realized that the Union
had already been dissolved by the withdrawal of the seven seceding
states, and that the proclamation of President Lincoln had reduced Vir-
ginia to a most distressing alternative. She must fight on one side or
the other. She must unite with the North in the work of subjugation,
or she must stand as the defender of her Southern sisters. She knew full
well that if she attempted to secede she would have to take upon herself
the principal burden of the great conflict; that every foot of her soil
would be pressed by the red, fiery hoof of war, and that every field would
Boon become a battlefield. But she did not hesitate. She resolved that
every consideration of duty and of honor required her to unite her for-
tunes with those of the seceding states. On April 16, William Ballard
Preston submitted 'An ordinance to repeal the ratification of the consti-
tution to the United States of America by the state of Virginia and to
VIRGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY. 119
resume all the rights and powers granted under said constitution.' Mr.
Robert E. Scott, of Fauquier, submitted a substitute providing for a
vote ca the fourth Thursday of May, to ascertain the preference of the
people between immediate secession and a consultation with the eight
slave-holding states still remaining in the Union before taking final ac-
tion. After an earnest and solemn debate, during which strong men
were seen to shed tears, the convention on April 17 rejected the proposed
substitute and adopted, by a vote of 88 to 55, the ordinance offered by
Mr. Preston.
" The ordinance was submitted to the people, and on the fourth Thurs-
day of May it was ratified by a large majority, the vote being 125,950
for ratification, and 20,373 against it. It is proper to say that the vote
in opposition was cast principally in the northeastern counties, whose
members had voted against the ordinance in the convention, and which
subsequently formed the new state of West Virginia."
Virginia's Army.
During the interval between the adoption of the
ordinance of secession and its ratification by the
people, the convention made provision for the crea-
tion of an army. Its action was kept secret for
two days, in order to give the volunteer companies
of the Valley time to capture the army and arsenal
at Harper's Ferry, and for a sufficient force to as-
semble at Norfolk for the capture of the Gosport
navy yard, but the Federal garrisons, learning of the
movements, set fire to the buildings at both places
and scuttled and burned the ships not in commis-
sion at the navy yard, and retired upon the approach
of the troops. The governor was empowered to call
into the service of the state "as many volunteers as
might be necessary to repel invasion, and to invite all
efficient and worthy Virginians in the army and navy
of the United States to retire therefrom and to en-
ter the service of Virginia, assigning to them such
rank as would not reverse the relative rank held by
them in the United States service, and would at least
be equivalent thereto."
Col. Robert E. Lee was appointed commander-in-
chief, with the rank of major-general, to take charge
of the organization and operations of the military and
120 THB HISTORY OF VIBGOTA.
naval forces of the state. Col. E. S. Garnett, then
holding a commission of adjutant-general of state
forces, was General Lee's right-hand man in or-
ganizing and marshalling the troops that were to
constitute the army of Virginia. The response to
the governor's call for volunteers was prompt, en-
thusiastic and general, except in the extreme north-
western section. The " Provisional Army for the
State of Virginia" was organized. The ''Navy of
Virginia" was established, to consist of two thou-
sand seamen and mariners, and provision was also
made for the organization of staff departments for
the military forces of the state. Thus it will be seen
that the organization of the army of Virginia was
complete before the state formally joined the South-
ern Confederacy, and before its troops were merged
by formal transfer with the provisional army of the
Confederate States.
General Lee took up arms as a Virginian, and his
people wish the world to regard him as their repre-
sentative, not only in his reluctance to sever the ties
which had bound them to the Union, but also in their
determination to resist to the utermost the hostile
invasion of their soil.
Adjutant-General Eichardson reported to Gover-
nor Letcher, on April 17, 1861, the very day the
state adopted its ordinance of secession, that the
volunteer force of the state, rank and file, of all
arms, amounted to only 18,300, of whom 6,150 were
unarmed.
The expansion of this small nucleus into a grand
array of sixty-four regiments and forty battalions
of infantry, twenty regiments and forty battalions
of cavalry, and 125 batteries of artillery, besides
the engineers, the staff, the navy and marines, the
militia of two classes, the local defense troops and
reserves, it will be conceded was an "outburst of
VIRGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY. 121
ability and force" exceeding that of the Revolution-
ary era of our history.
Until the rosters, now being compiled by the war
department, are published, the number of men fur-
nished by Virginia to the Confederacy cannot be
given with certainty, but from the best data avail-
able at present, it is estimated that the total will be
about 175,000, including all classes. On April 24,
the convention appointed commissioners to formu-
late a treaty with Vice-President Stephens for pro-
visional cooperation with the Confederate states,
and on the next day ratified the agreement and
adopted its provisional constitution.
Events now followed in quick succession. The
seat of government of the new republic was trans-
ferred from Montgomery to Richmond, the Confed-
erate Senate and House of Representatives were
housed in the old capitol along with the Senate and
House of Delegates of Virginia.
Virginia's Contribution to the Confederate Armies.
Considering the meagreness of the military re-
sources at the time, there has never been a more
striking exhibition of governmental energy in mar-
shalling and organizing troops than was shown by
the Virginia authorities, and by General Lee, as
commander-in-chief, during the two months spent in
getting Virginia's army ready for the field.
It was a complete organzation when it was merged
into the provisional army of the Confederate states.
The Southern states sent their troops to Virginia as
fast as they were organized, and in the north a vast
army was being collected for the defense of Wash-
ington and the invasion of Virginia.
The war was now on in earnest, and Virginia, by
reason of her border position, became the main
battleground — the "Flanders of the South."
122 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
It is beyond the scope of this article to describe
the great campaigns and battles which attracted the
eyes of the world to Virginia during their progress
and which invest the localities where they were
tactically executed with lasting interest to historians
and military students. And not to these alone—
for if, despite the lapse of ages, patriotism will al-
ways gain force upon the plain of Marathon, "and
piety grow warmer among the ruins of Ionia, ' ' surely
undying glory will cling round the Virginia fields,
whereon her sons and their brothers of the South
for four years confronted their gigantic foe, and
won victory after victory against tremendous odds,
until their country's resources were exhausted, and
victory was no longer possible to human valor. No
wonder that an English paper, in reviewing the long
and desperate struggle, enthusiastically said : ' ' The
countrymen of Lee and Jackson have made them-
selves forever famous."
The "Battlefields Map," on which the battles,
combats and actions which took place within the
limits of the state are located with red stamps,
shows an aggregate of 1,404, and presents, at a
single glance, a theatre of conflict more crowded with
great martial exploits, and more profusely dyed with
patriot blood than any similar area of the earth's
surface whereon great armies have contended.
The best history of Virginia in the Confederacy is
to be gathered from the biographies of her great
commanders, but it would be obviously unjust to her
civil authorities, constituted as they were chiefly
from eminent citizens over military age, to obscure
the fact that they measured up nobly to the emer-
gencies which confronted them.
The list of generals appointed from Virginia is as
follows: The Generals — Eobert E. Lee, Joseph E.
Johnston, Samuel Cooper (adjutant and inspector
123
general) ; Lieutenant - Generals — Jackson, Hill,
Ewell, Early, Pemberton; Major-Generals — Heath,
Johnson, James L. Kemper, Fitzhugh Lee, G. W. C.
Lee, W. H. F. Lee, Lomax, Magruder, Mahone,
Maury, Pickett, Kodes, Kosser, Smith, Stevenson,
Stuart, Taliaf erro ; Brigadier-Generals — Anderson,
Armstead, Ashby, Barton, Beale, Chambliss, Chil-
ton, Cocke, Colston, Corse, Bearing, Echols, Floyd,
Garland, E. B. Garnett, E. S. Garnett, Harris, Hun-
ton, Imboden, W. L. Jackson, Jenkins, J. M. Jones,
J. E. Jones, E. G. Lee, Lilley, Long, McCausland,
Moore, Munford, Page, Paxton, Payne, Pegram,
Pendleton, Pryor, Eandolph, Eeynolds, Eobertson,
Euggles, Slaughter, Starke, Stevens, Terrill, W.
Terry, W. E. Terry, J. A. Walker, H. H. Walker,
E. L. Walker, Weisiger, Wharton, Wickham, Wise.
The Virginians in the old navy came home prompt-
ly upon the call. They were a splendid galaxy, and
wanted only the opportunity to achieve greater suc-
cess and distinction than was possible under the
existing conditions. But the naval power of the
North was a far more effective factor in the over-
throw of the Confederacy than were its land forces.
This was because of its overwhelming preponder-
ance as compared with the Confederate naval power.
Many instances may be cited when the armies of the
North, after defeat in the field, sought safety under
the guns of their fleets. This was McClellan's refuge
at Harrison's Landing, after the seven days' battles
around Eichmond. It severed the Confederacy, and
made of no avail the large body of troops and much
needed food supplies in the Trans-Mississippi coun-
try. When Grant 's ' t On to Eichmond ' ' was arrested
by the disaster to his army at second Cold Harbor,
the navy was invoked to aid in the transfer of his
base to the south side of the James. It is mar-
vellous, in view of this immense superiority in naval
124 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
power and armament, that the Confederate navy
made so brilliant a record. The explanation is to
be found in the genius and audacity of its splendid
personnel. The great sea fight in Hampton Roads,
in which the home-made ironclad Virginia (Merri-
mac), with her wooden consorts, the Raleigh, the
Henry, the Jefferson and Teaser, sank the Cumber-
land and Congress, and drove the Monitor to the
shelter of shallow water, revolutionized naval war-
fare the world over, and made a glorious chapter in
the annals of the sea, worthy of the days of Nelson
and John Paul Jones.
The war governors of Virginia were the Hon. John
Letcher and Gen. William Smith, ripe statesmen
and noble patriots, the latter having won laurels in
the field before being called, for the second time, to
the chair of state. President Davis and the Confed-
erate government had no more earnest and loyal
supporters, and never had the state more devoted
and efficient .executives. Adopting Grattan 's phrase
in regard to Irish freedom to Virginia in the Con-
federacy, it may be truly said that Letcher ''sat at
its cradle" and Smith "followed its hearse."
There is a part of the history of this war period
which no true American can recall without a blush
of shame. It relates to the wanton cruelties and out-
rages upon unoffending citizens, notably in the Shen-
andoah Valley, and the brutal disregard of the us-
ages of civilized warfare and the dictates of human-
ity by some of the officers of highest rank in the
Union army. Monuments may be erected to them,
but their infamy cannot escape the avenging pen
of history. "Since the fall of Robespierre," said
the Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, "nothing has occurred
to cast so much disrepute upon Republican institu-
tions. ' '
The defense of Richmond was not so important
JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.
TIBGINIA IN THE CONFEDERACY. 125
because it was the capital of the state and of the
Confederacy, as from the fact that its foundries,
rolling mills, manufacturing establishments and rail-
road connections were, practically, the only source
for the supply of the war and railway material es-
sential to the maintenance of the armies in the field.
The loss of Richmond, at any period of the war,
would probably have been fatal to the Confederacy.
The campaigns of the army of Northern Virginia,
including Jackson's and Early 's campaigns in the
Valley, which caused consternation in Washington,
were planned primarily for the defense of Rich-
mond, and this must be borne in mind in studying
them. The Federal government from the beginning
realized the importance of capturing Richmond, and
the Federal army, sent out in 1861, which was de-
feated at Manassas by Beauregard and others, was
moving towards Richmond. In 1862, the famous
campaigns around Richmond directed by M^Clellan,
which came to defeat at the hands of Joseph E. John-
ston and Robert E. Lee, were for the same purpose.
This was followed by Burnside's attempt and his
defeat by Lee at Fredericksburg, and Hooker's at-
tempt and his defeat by Lee at Chancellorsville in
May, 1863. The effort to capture Richmond was
renewed in the spring of 1864 by General Grant, and
was never abandoned until the Confederacy fell.
When Richmond was evacuated April 2, 1865, the
fall of the Confederacy was at hand. It was a great
heroic struggle that had been made to hold the capi-
tal of the Confederacy, and it took four years for
the Federal armies to conquer it.
Conclusion.
The population of Virginia by the census of 1860
was 1,579,318. As a result of the war and dismem-
berment of the state it was 1,225,163 in 1870.
126
No sketch of the Confederacy is complete which
fails to mention the work of the Virginia women
and their Southern sisters. The influence they
wielded was second to none other in its effect upon
the fortunes of the Confederacy. But for the en-
thusiasm and encouragement so lavishly supplied
from this inspiring source, the labors of statesmen
and the plans of generals might have gone for
nought.
• "Eras," says Froude, "like individuals, differ
from one another in the species of virtue which
they encourage. In one age we find the virtues of the
warrior, in the next of the saint." In the era of
which we have written, Virginia had the honor of
giving to the world a representative Hero, in whom
the highest virtues of warrior and Christian were
happily blended — a model for the uplifting of the
human race and the exaltation of the moral stand-
ards of the world.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Anderson, Archer: "Robert Edward Lee" (an Ad-
dress delivered at the unveiling of the equestrian monument in Rich-
mond); Bell, J. W.: Memoirs of Gov. William Smith; Bruce, P. A.:
Robert E, Lee (American Crisis Biographies); Dabney, R. L.: Defence of
Virginia and of the South; Davis, Jefferson: Rise and Fall of the Con-
federate Government; Goode, John: Recollections of a Lifetime; Gordon,
John B.: Reminiscences of the Civil War; Henderson, G. F. R.: Stonewall
Jackson and the American Civil War, Hotchkiss, Jed.: Confederate Mil-
itary History (Vol. III., Virginia); Lee, Robert E.: Recollections and Let-
ters of General R. E. Lee; Lee, Fitzhugh: General R. E. Lee (Great Com-
mander Series); Long, A. L.: Memoirs of General Lee; McCabe, W. Gor-
don: "Siege of Petersburg" (an Address before the Association of the
Army of Northern Virginia); McGuire, Christian: The Confederate Cause
and Conduct in the War between the States; Taylor, Richard: Destruction
and Reconstruction; Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Annies; Southern Historical Society Publications.
EGBERT W. HUNTER,
Secretary of Virginia Military Records, Richmond.
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 127
CHAPTER VII.
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION, 1865-1909.
Reconstruction and Readmission into the Union.
From 1861 to 1865 two rival state governments
claimed the allegiance of the people of Virginia. The
regular state government with its seat at Richmond
supported the Confederacy. The so-called "Re-
stored Government of Virginia", with its seat at
Wheeling and later at Alexandria, consented to the
erection of the northwest counties of Virginia into
the state of West Virginia and supported the Fed-
eral government.
After the evacuation of Richmond by the Con-
federate forces and the flight of President Davis and
Governor Smith, martial law was declared and re-
mained in force until May, 1865, when Gov. F. H.
Pierpont, of the "Restored Government," moved
from Alexandria to Richmond under instructions of
President Johnson and undertook to govern the state
by the aid of the Federal military authorities. This
recognition of the Pierpont government gave Vir-
ginia a status different from that of most of the
secession states. The state had a government in a
measure representative of the people until it was
destroyed by the congressional reconstruction acts
of 1867. A legislature composed of three senators
and nine representatives met in Richmond in June,
1865, enacted several needed laws, and provided for
the election of a legislature really representative of
the white people of the state.
It was felt that Virginia was now virtually re-
stored to the Union. Speaker Downey, of the House
of Delegates, said: "Virginia is now safe. What-
128 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
ever they may do to other states, they can not force
a provisional government upon her. Whatever they
may do to other states, thank God, they can not sad-
dle negro suffrage upon us. ' '
The election was held in October, 1865, and only
about 40,000 votes were cast. Of the eight men
elected to Congress, not one was a Republican. The
radical vote in the Alexandria district was 1,732, the
largest in the state. Party contests took place in
only a few counties. The people, stunned and dazed
by the results of the war, were apathetic and mani-
fested little interest in politics. Distinctions be-
tween Whigs and Democrats had been largely oblit-
erated by the war. No new party organization had
been created except the Republican party, which was
insignificant in numbers and influence. Governor
Pierpont labored to re-establish civil government
and to restore the state to her former status in the
Union. The appointments made by the governor
were very generally commended. The press began
to assume an independent tone, for which several
papers were, by the military authorities, ordered to
suspend publication. The Federal military authori-
ties continued to exercise the privilege of declaring
elections null and void and to show in numerous
ways that they regarded the Pierpont government as
a mere provisional makeshift.
When the legislature met it elected two United
States Senators. Virginia now had a full state gov-
ernment and had elected Representatives and Sen-
ators in Congress. The slaves were free; no army
hostile to the United States was in the field. The
citizens accepted in good faith the results of the war
and sought restoration to the Union. According to
the Lincoln-Johnson plan, Virginia had done all
that was necessary on her part. The acceptance of
her Congressional Representatives at Washington
ARMS OF VIRGINIA.
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 129
would render her restoration complete. Congress
refused to seat the Representatives from Virginia.
The presidential plan of reconstruction was con-
temptuously rejected, and Congress undertook the
work of ' ' reconstructing the rebel states. ' '
Early in December, 1865, the legislature convened
in Richmond, repealed the disfranchising clause of
the Alexandria Constitution, as it had been author-
ized to do by the popular vote in October, enacted
vagrant and contract laws, wiped out of the statute
books all laws relating to slaves and slavery, placed
negroes on about the same footing as whites as re-
gards civil rights, but did not grant them the privi-
lege of voting and holding office.
The vagrant act in particular was much criticised
by the radicals and a few of the military command-
ers who insisted that the ultimate effect of the act
was virtually to re-enslave the f reedmen and to hold
them in a condition worse than chattel slavery. Gen-
eral Terry ordered that no officer, civil or military,
should enforce this act. These laws were much mild-
er than in some other Southern states and in some
of the New England states. There was no effort or
intention in Virginia to re-enslave the negroes
through vagrant and contract laws. Although they
were economically and socially justifiable, owing to
the state of public opinion in the North, it was not
wise to enact them. Moreover, it would have been
prudent to concede to the negroes a few rights and
privileges that were withheld.
The legislature, despite the advice of the govern-
or, rejected the Fourteenth Amendment by a vote of
27 to 0 in the Senate, and 74 to 1 in the House. The
refusal to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, the
enactment of the so-called " black codes" of the
South, the doctrine of equality in the North, the
desire to punish and humiliate the South led, in
Vd 1—9.
130 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
March, 1867, to the passage of the Congressional
reconstruction acts by which the Pierpont govern-
ment was practically destroyed and the state made
"Military District Number One." Gen. John M.
Schofield was made commander of this district with
power "to abolish, control, modify or supersede"
the state government. The negroes were enfran-
chised. The most influential and intelligent whites
were disenfranchised. Stevens 's "conquered prov-
ince" theory had been sanctioned by Congress. Vir-
ginia was in reality no longer a state but was merely
a district. For more than two and a half years it
remained a mere military satrapy.
The Reconstruction Acts gave the ballot to the
negroes and provided for a convention to amend the
constitution. The radicals had hesitated to enfran-
chise the freedmen, as it was feared that the tradi-
tional control of the negroes by the whites would
enable them to control the votes of their former
slaves. The relation between whites and blacks was
quite cordial for about one year after the close of
the war. The whites felt little or no hostility to-
wards the negroes on account of their changed con-
dition. Most of the negroes still respected and trust-
ed their old masters.
Radical teachers from the North, demagogues, and
carpetbaggers, soon estranged the negroes and ar-
rayed them against the whites. The Freedman's
Bureau and the Union League were the organized
agencies through which this alienation was accom-
plished. The Bureau was established in Virginia in
1865, and rendered some good service in protecting
and feeding the blacks who were, in almost every
sense, unprepared for immediate emancipation. Its
officials witnessed and approved labor contracts be-
tween whites and blacks, assisted the negroes in se-
curing justice in the courts, supplied many of them
VIEGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 131
with the means of making a crop, and established
schools for the freedmen.
The officials were vested with great and ill-defined
powers which were frequently abused. They often
ignored the civil courts, assumed to administer jus-
tice, bullied the whites, ostentatiously exercised their
authority and wantonly humiliated the leading citi-
zens. They generally gave a ready ear to the
negroes' stories of outrages, and encouraged them
to prefer charges against the whites. Their pres-
ence encouraged the blacks in idleness and insolence
and destroyed the friendly, confidential relations
formerly existing between whites and blacks.
The Union League was a secret political society
which undertook to instruct the negroes in their du-
ties as citizens and to pledge them to act and vote
with the Republican party. The League accom-
plished little in enlightening the late slaves but suc-
ceeded in alienating almost all negroes from their
old masters and brought them under the influence
of the radical Republican leaders.
The radicals and negroes had, in the summer of
1867, refused to "co-operate" with the representa-
tive white citizens in restoring political and social
order. The election of delegates to the constitutional
convention was held in October, 1867. About 94,000
negroes voted. Of this number only about 600 ne-
groes voted with the conservative white element. One
hundred and five delegates were elected, thirty-three
conservatives and seventy-two radicals. The radical
majority included five foreign born, twenty-five ne-
groes, twenty-eight Northerners, and fourteen Vir-
ginians. Never before in the history of the state had
negroes sat in a law-making body. The former po-
litical leaders were absent. The state had been
revolutionized.
The convention was turbulent and garrulous. The
132 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
negro members favored mixed schools for the races,
heavy taxes on land, disfranchising and "test oath"
clauses, and other radical measures; but the con-
vention would not consent to mixed schools.
The new constitution was very unpopular and was
not submitted to the people for ratification until July
6, 1869. The disfranchising and "test oath" clauses
were submitted to a separate vote and rejected. The
constitution was adopted. The nominee of the radi-
cals and negroes, H. H. Wells, who had been made
provisional governor of Virginia by General Scho-
field, commander of "District Number One," was
defeated by Gilbert C. Walker, the nominee of the
conservatives and liberal Republicans. The legisla-
ture was conservative by a large majority. The aim
of the reconstructionists had failed; Virginia was
not to have a radical and negro regime such as had
plundered and disgraced several Southern states.
Virginia was fully restored to the Union in Janu-
ary, 1870, by the admission of her representatives to
seats in Congress. No law-making body had existed
in Virginia for almost three years. A provisional
governor, in all respects subservient to the military,
had exercised a shadowy authority. Nearly five
years had elapsed since the close of the war; nine
years since her withdrawal from the Union. In
that time old Virginia and the old Nation had passed
away. In 1870 she became a new state in a new
Nation.
Since 1870 the political history of Virginia has
been uneventful. No guerrilla warfare in Virginia
had followed the surrender. She probably suffered
less from political misrule of the carpetbaggers and
negroes than any other Southern state.
The constitution, ratified in 1869, had never been
popular. Several amendments had rendered it less
objectionable ; yet many felt that it was burdensome
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 133
and did not meet the needs of the times. In 1901
a new constitution was formed and proclaimed with-
out submission for popular approval. Many impor-
tant changes were made. The time-honored county
court was abolished. A corporation commission with
very extensive powers was created. An educational
qualification and the payment of a small poll tax
were prescribed for voters. The suffrage provisions
were ostensibly aimed at ignorant voters regardless
of color. The actual result is the disfranchisement
of a few whites and most of the negroes.
The State Debt.
About 1820 Virginia entered upon a policy of in-
ternal improvements. She was a large shareholder
in several railroads, canals, turnpikes and other en-
terprises. She had also guaranteed bonds for indus-
trial companies and municipalities. To pay for her
shares in the railroad and canal companies she had
issued bonds. The liabilities contracted in this way
amounted to nearly $40,000,000 in 1860. The state
as a partner or surety for the payment of bonds
had developed her resources, but in the end she lost
heavily from her shares in these improvements, as
she abandoned, surrendered or released many of her
claims without any remuneration.
At the close of the war most of these bonds were
owned or held in the North or in Europe. Virginia
had lost one-third of her territory, one-fifth of her
taxable values, and more than 440,000 of her popu-
lation by the erection of her northwest counties into
the state of West Virginia in 1863. Her commerce
and shipping were completely destroyed. Her trans-
portation system was badly crippled. Many manu-
facturing establishments had closed. A large part
of the state had been devastated by contending
armies. Her financial system was ruined, her bank-
134 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
ing capital of $11,000,000 had vanished, slaves worth
$100,000,000 in 1860 had been set free, and the in-
terest on the public debt from 1861 was unpaid.
In this wasted and depressed condition of the
state, repudiation of the debt was suggested, but
this did not appeal to the Virginians' sense of honor.
The last legislature of the old regime met in Decem-
ber, 1865, and voted unanimously to pay the debt
with the accrued interest. It was considered that
one- third of this debt was West Virginia's fair
share. She had obligated herself in her " ordinance"
to assume an equitable share of Virginia's debt. In
February, 1866, the legislature made provisions to
pay 4 per cent, interest on the entire debt, leaving
West Virginia to pay 2 per cent. As West Virginia
took no steps to meet her share of the interest nor
to pay any of the debt, Virginia, in 1871, refunded
the debt for two-thirds of its face at 6 per cent.
In 1870, Governor Walker, in his message, had esti-
mated the total debt at about $46,000,000.
The funding bill of 1871 was very unsatisfactory
to a large number, who considered excessive Gover-
nor Walker's estimate, both of the debt justly due
and the resources of the state. This feeling brought
into existence the readjuster party under the leader-
ship of General Mahone. It was composed of ne-
groes, most of the Eepublicans, and many white
Democrats. Its object was to "readjust" the debt.
This party gained control of the legislature and, in
1881, elected William E. Cameron governor. After
a few years many of the white men returned to the
regular Democratic party, but many remained with
the readjuster party, which for several years dis-
claimed any sympathy with the Eepublican party.
In 1881 General Mahone, as a United States senator,
identified himself with the Eepublicans. A large
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 135
number of white men, especially in the Southwest,
followed him.
Since 1886 the Democrats have controlled every
branch of the state government. For more than
twenty years the debt question was the chief issue
in Virginia politics and absorbed almost exclusively
the attention of the legislature. The debt was finally
adjusted and bonded in 1892. This controversy is a
very unsatisfactory chapter in Virginia history. In
the bondholders' interest Virginia brought suit to
compel West Virginia to meet her share of the debt.
The United States Supreme Court, in 1908, ap-
pointed a special master to examine the claims, and
though still undecided, the rulings indicate that
[West Virginia will be required to pay her portion.
Political Conditions.
The reconstruction acts in the spring of 1867 en-
franchised the negroes and disfranchised many
whites. The carpetbaggers flocked to Virginia and
ingratiated themselves into the favor and confidence
of the negroes. The number of carpetbaggers in
Virginia was never large, but their influence was out
of all proportion to their number for several years
succeeding 1867.
Virginia had no state government from 1867 to
1870, but was governed through the military. The
army officers usually strove to be just and moderate.
A state government controlled by the carpetbaggers,
scalawags, and radical leaders of the negroes would
have been more burdensome and odious than mili-
tary government. Fortunately Virginia was held as
a military district until theoretical differences and
factional quarrels had weakened the radicals and the
conservatives had an organization that enabled them
in 1869 to purge the constitution of the proposed
"disfranchising" and "test oath" clauses, and to
136 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
elect a governor and legislature in a large measure
representative of the intelligence and property of
the state.
The negroes of Virginia were superior to those of
any other Southern state, yet they were not pre-
pared for the ballot. They had been told that the
land of the secessionists would be divided amongst
them. To hasten this division of the land and to
make sure of other rights and privileges, they eager-
ly entered politics.
For several years their unvarying practice was
to find out what measures and candidates the con-
servative whites favored and then vote solidly
against them. This made it impossible for the in-
telligent men of the state to cooperate with them.
This refusal of the blacks to divide on political ques-
tions forced the whites to disregard national issues
and stand as a unit for decent local government,
which could be attained only through white su-
premacy.
In no country have English-speaking white people
tolerated negro supremacy and it was not to be
expected that Virginians would allow their civiliza-
tion to be imperiled by allowing an ignorant negro
minority, led by unscrupulous white demagogues, to
plunder and betray the state. In the Valley and
Southwest the negroes were only about 15 per cent,
of the population. White supremacy was assured
in these sections. East of the Blue Eidge more than
50 per cent, of the population was colored. In the
South Side there were almost 220,000 negroes in
1865. In many counties the blacks constituted two-
thirds of the population. In the parts of the state
where they were most numerous they were most ig-
norant and unfit to vote. The alien and renegade
leaders of the negroes committed gross frauds in
elections. This condition of affairs explains, if it
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 137
does not justify, the use by the whites of the "tissue
ballot" and other forms of fraud in elections. Great
ingenuity and resourcefulness were manifested in
circumventing the negro voters.
Probably the ballot has done the blacks some good,
but it has also hurt them in many ways. They were
debauched by their leaders and brought into antag-
onism to the whites. In the late 70 's and 80 's they
exercised a considerable influence in the "readjuster
party." The negro has been gradually losing influ-
ence as a political factor in Virginia and is now
practically eliminated by the new constitution.
Virginia, as well as all other Southern states, has
suffered from the subordination of all other issues
to white supremacy, yet it has seemed to her that,
in justice to her highest interest, she could not do
otherwise. In the Southwest where the negroes are
only a small part of the population the people have
shown a disposition to ignore the race question
and to divide on other issues. The elimination of
the ignorant negro voter by the new constitution
will probably bring about the same result in other
sections. Before the war Virginians divided on
national issues; since 1867 the race question has
claimed the larger share of their attention.
Universal Education.
The establishment of an efficient system of public
education in Virginia was one of the most important
results of the upheaval attending the war.
Prior to 1860 there was no real public free school
system. The state made an annual appropriation
of $45,000 for the education of the poor white chil-
dren and empowered the counties to establish free
schools. The law was not compulsory, and free
schools did not become general. In 1850 a capita-
tion tax was levied for the support of schools. In
138 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
1850 there were, in all schools of the state, public
and private, only about 52,000 children. In 1860
there were 67,000, of whom 31,000 were enrolled as
paupers. There were no negroes in school. The
conditions under which poor white children, in most
places, could receive the benefit of the state's appro-
priation for schools, were destructive of self-respect.
In the minds of most of the people a public school
was a pauper school. Consequently it exerted little
influence.
The white children of the middle and upper classes
were educated in the "old field" schools. The teach-
ers were often men of fine scholarship and gave
sound instruction in English, mathematics, the
classics, and history. There the sons of the leading
families were prepared for the classical academies.
Thence some went to the university ; a large number,
to their life's work. The "old field" schools and
classical academies were reopened in 1865. They
were inadequate and un suited to the novel condi-
tions existing after the war. Schools of these types
are still to be found maintaining the best traditions
of the past, yet their influence has declined, both
absolutely and relatively.
It was universally felt at the close of the war that
a complete system of state education should be estab-
lished and popularized. The aristocratic framework
of society had been destroyed. The state had been
democratized. Social, economic and political life
had been revolutionized. More than one-half million
ignorant negroes had been injected into the citizen-
ship. As long as they were slaves their masters had
cared for their manual and moral training. As
freedmen they could no longer receive this industrial
and ethical discipline as formerly. They had been
declared freemen and citizens and could justly claim
from the state an education that would fit them to
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 139
meet the responsibilities of freedom and to discharge
the duties of citizenship which had been thrust upon
them. The state, in self-defense, had to provide for
their education.
The public free schools in existence before 1860
had been distasteful to the indigent whites. The
aristocratic character of society in a large part of
Virginia had not been favorable to free public schools
in any form. It was, therefore, necessary, not only
to establish a free system of education, but to over-
come the prejudice against it. The constitution of
1870 provided for a system of public free schools to
be administered impartially between the white and
black races. This was to be supported by state and
local taxes, and the income received from the Liter-
ary Fund. In 1870 the legislature passed an act
creating a complete free school system for the entire
Btate. Equal educational privileges were given
white and black children in separate schools. The
greater part of the taxes are paid by the whites;
nevertheless the state school funds are distributed
on a per capita basis and not according to the amount
paid by each race. The state has undertaken in
good faith to educate negroes. They have from the
beginning manifested great interest in education.
In some respects they have been disappointed.
"Book learning" has not done for them all that they
had hoped. Probably the kind of education they
have received in both public and private schools
is not the kind that best fits them for their station
and work in life.
In 1870 there were only 59,000 children in school.
Ten thousand of these were negroes in schools estab-
lished by Northern societies and the Freedman's
Bureau. The act of 1870 creating a complete free
school system went into effect immediately. During
the scholastic year of 1870-71, the number of children
140 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
in schools rose to 158,000. This was an increase of
99,000 over the number in 1870 and more than twice
as many as had ever before been in schools, public
and private, in a single year.
For several years many white people stood aloof,
but prejudice gradually wore away. The public
schools have constantly grown in efficiency and popu-
lar favor. Practically all people of all classes now
patronize them. Probably in nothing else is the
contrast between antebellum and postbellum Vir-
ginia more clearly seen than in the changed estima-
tion of free public education for all the people of all
classes and races.
The institutions of higher learning and profes-
sional work before the war deservedly ranked
amongst the first in the nation. These have been
strengthened in their endowment and equipment.
Their courses of study have been enriched and popu-
larized. A very significant fact in the educational
life of a state is the establishment of schools offering
instruction in agriculture, mechanics, industry,
teaching and commerce. Agricultural, mechanical,
and normal schools have been established for the
training of both races. The Hampton Normal and
Agricultural Institute for negroes was opened in
1868. This school annually enrolls more than 1,000
students. It offers instruction in agriculture and the
trades. Many of its graduates become teachers.
The Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute at
Petersburg annually trains the heads and hands of
more than five hundred negroes. The Virginia Poly-
technic Institute at Blacksburg, for whites, opened
its door in 1872. It has continually grown in favor
and usefulness. The white female teachers receive
training in the Farmville Female Normal estab-
lished in 1883. Female normal and industrial
schools are now being established at Fredericksburg
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 141
and Harrisonburg. William and Mary College was
opened as a normal school for white male teachers
in 1888. Many other institutions offer agricultural,
industrial, commercial and normal instruction.
New Industries and Wealth of State.
At the close of the war Virginia was more com-
pletely exhausted, economically, than any other
southern state. She had been the chief theatre of
the war from 1860 to 1865. More than five hundred
battles and skirmishes had been fought on her fields.
The valley had been completely devastated. Other
parts of the state had suffered almost as much.
Owing to the disordered and uncertain condition of
society, industries revived slowly. Probably the
state was poorer in 1870 than in 1865. At the close
of the war the people returned to agriculture and
stock-raising, which are still the fundamental occupa-
tions in Virginia. Great industries have developed,
but their development has not been attended by a
neglect of agriculture as has been the case in New
England. Agriculture has grown each year since
about 1870.
In 1907 the Jamestown Exposition, commemorat-
ing the three hundredth anniversary of the settle-
ment of the state was held on Hampton Eoads oppo-
site Old Point, about ten miles from Norfolk. The
variety and quality of the exhibits revealed the pro-
gress made by Virginia in agriculture, mining and
manufacturing. The industrial side of the Southern
seaboard states was also well displayed. The Expo-
sition had the greatest display of American and
foreign warships ever held in American waters. All
of the thirteen original states were represented. A
hall of history filled with relics, portraits and rare
MSS. told, in concrete, the history of the develop-
ment of the United States.
142 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
Market gardening in the tide- water region sprang
into importance early after the war. In 1870 $1,048,-
000 worth of vegetables were shipped from Norfolk.
In 1860 the total value of all market gardens in the
state was about $500,000. Peanuts became popular
in the North after the war. Millions of bushels of
this profitable crop are now grown. Extensive or-
chards have been planted in the Piedmont and South-
west. Fruit growing is now a profitable business in
many parts of the state. The quality of live stock
has been improved. Some of the finest cattle and
sheep farms in the United States are now in Vir-
ginia. The export cattle of the Valley and Southwest
are unsurpassed.
Virginia is excelled by no state of equal size in
the abundance and variety of her natural resources.
Coal, iron, lead, zinc, building stones, cement mate-
rial, and clays abound. She is unequaled in the va-
riety of her mineral waters. A large part of her
surface is covered with fine forests. The streams of
all parts of the state except the tide-water afford
abundant water power. The treasures of the Chesa-
peake Bay and the tide-water estuaries are inesti-
mable. The soil and climate leave little to be de-
sired. All the products of the temperate zone flour-
ish within her borders.
During the last forty years Virginia has neglected
her canals, most of which have fallen into disuse.
She has always encouraged railroad building. With-
in the last twenty-five years railroads have pene-
trated all parts of the state. A remarkable develop-
ment of manufacturing and mining has resulted. The
quickening influence of improved transportation fa-
cilities has been felt in every section.
Before the war Richmond was a manufacturing
and commercial centre. In 1870 she had fallen in
the value of her products to about one-half that of
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 143
1860. Her commerce, domestic and foreign, was al-
most ruined. The new Richmond now has ship-
yards, iron works, locomotive works, the largest
cedar works in the world, the largest publishing
house in the South, tobacco factories, and a great
variety of manufacturing industries which employ a
large part of her people.
The shipyard at Newport News is one of the larg-
est in the world. Seventeen railways now have their
terminals in Norfolk. Their piers are amongst the
largest on the coast. Twenty-six steamship lines
connect the city with home and foreign ports. Nor-
folk is the largest coaling station in the world. Many
other cities have developed great industries. Dan-
ville has cotton mills, and is the largest market in
the world for bright, loose tobacco. Eoanpke has
machine shops; Lynchburg, tobacco factories and
pipe works. Every city in the state has large and
profitable manufacturing establishments.
The state has many rich coal deposits. The South-
west coalfield, including Tazewell, Russell, Dicken-
son, Buchanan, Wise, Scott and Lee counties, is by
far the largest and most productive. The coal-bear-
ing area of that section comprises nearly 2,000
square miles, of which probably 80 per cent, is now
productive. The two principal fields thus far de-
veloped are the Pocahontas and the Big Stone Gap.
The construction of the New River branch of the
Norfolk and Western Railroad through southwest
Virginia in 1882, opened up the Pocahontas coal dis-
trict. The extension of the same road through the
Clinch Valley gave an outlet to the mines of Taze-
well, Russell, Dickenson and Wise counties. Four
railroad systems now penetrate this field. Most of
the coal counties will soon have ample railroad facil-
ities. The Pocahontas is the best steam coal known.
It is used on the ocean steamers of the principal na-
144 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
tions. It produces an excellent coke. Virginia ranks
fourth in coke production. The coal interests are
rapidly developing. In 1881 only 50,000 tons were
mined in the state; in 1906, 4,275,815 tons. Almost
all this comes from the mines in the Southwest.
Abundant ores, cheap coal, and ample transporta-
tion facilities have given the iron industry a phe-
nomenal development in recent years. The output
of pig-iron is yearly increasing. Many rolling mills
have been established within the last few years.
Stoves, cast-iron piping, car wheels, farming tools,
machinery and general railway supplies are pro-
duced. Lumbering is one of the leading industries
in many parts of the state. The new railroads have
made accessible large tracts of practically virgin
timber lands. Large quantities of forest products
are shipped to the North or exported to Europe. Fur-
niture factories and other wood- working establish-
ments are found in all parts of the state, and are
rapidly increasing in the capital invested and the
value of the output.
Much of the crude negro labor has drifted away
from the farm and has been absorbed in coal and
iron mining and grading railroads. Virginia has
made an earnest effort since 1865 to induce Euro-
pean immigrants to come to the state. In this she
has been only partially successful. Very few un-
skilled foreigners have come to Virginia. The few
that have come have been of the upper class, or
skilled artisans.
Contrast of Old and New Economic and Social Conditions.
An economic and social system passed away with
slavery. The old forms of industry and social life
could not be restored in a large part of the state.
East of the Blue Eidge slavery had entered so deeply
into the warp and woof of life that immediate eman-
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 145
cipation shattered social and economic institutions.
For nearly two hundred and fifty years the people
in the oldest and most populous sections had been
accustomed to slave labor with all its attendant cir-
cumstances and consequences. The strangeness of
the situation at the close of the war bewildered both
whites and blacks. The whites knew little of the
dignity and possibilities of free common labor. The
blacks had less appreciation of the responsibilities
and duties of freemen. Under these conditions in-
dustry and trade revived slowly. A new economic
and social life slowly emerged from the chaos. Both
races in time adjusted themselves to new conditions.
A fairly efficient system of hired labor was devel-
oped. Many of the negroes became small farmers
and renters. The peculiar grace and form of old
Virginia's social life passed away.
In the Valley and the Southwest slavery had ex-
erted comparatively little influence, economically and
socially. Negroes, bond and free, were only about
15 per cent, of the population. The employers of
labor were more accustomed to free labor and its
worth than were the planters east of the Blue Ridge.
Society and industry were not based on slavery as
in some parts of the South ; therefore little social or
economic disturbance resulted in these sections from
the destruction of slavery.
The Valley and Southwest had each been plun-
dered and wasted during the war, but the old frame-
work of society remained virtually intact. The social
upheaval had not so radically unsettled industry and
social life as in the other divisions of the state. Not-
withstanding the waste and loss of war the people
soon adjusted themselves to the changed conditions.
The adjustment was slow and painful in the other
sections.
Vol. 1—10.
146 THE HISTOEY OF VIRGINIA.
The old Virginia plantations were little industrial
communities in which the division of labor system
was adopted. On each large plantation there were
blacksmiths, tanners, harness and shoe makers, car-
penters, bricklayers, masons, spinners, weavers and
tailors. In consequence of this there was little in-
centive to establish shops or factories to supply the
planters with such goods as their own artisans could
produce. There were few white artisans working
for wages. Shops or factories, producing goods for
sale, were rare in the planting sections.
The destruction of the old plantation life scattered
the plantation artisans. The household industries
decayed both on the plantation and the small farm.
To take their place shops or factories sprang up and
a large number of artisans began to work for wages.
The growth of manufacturing is one of the most
striking facts in Virginia's history in the last twen-
ty-five years. Very few people, white or black, in
Virginia now use furniture, farming tools, harness,
iron goods, clothes, or shoes made by their own house-
holds.
In the sections where blacks were once the chief
artisans, whites have taken their place. Few young-
negroes now become workmen. Probably there are
now fewer black handicraftsmen than in 1860.
The antebellum aristocracy dwelt in the country.
Land and birth were the foundations of social emi-
nence. The rural gentry was, in a large measure,
unable to adjust itself to the changes brought about
by the war. The plantation life was broken up. In
many cases the plantation itself came into the pos-
session of the former overseer or tenant. The rural
gentry moved to the towns and cities and took up
professions or went into business. The old baronial
life is at present almost unknown in the country dis-
tricts where it once flourished. A part of the refine-
VIRGINIA IN THE NEW NATION. 147
merit of the old days survives in the towns. West
of the Blue Ridge the social framework was less se-
riously shattered, and the life of all classes re-
mained about what it had been before.
Slavery is unfavorable to small holdings of land,
intensive cultivation, and diversification of crops;
and favorable to large holdings of land, extensive
cultivation, and a single crop like tobacco or cotton.
The plantation system with its corps of slaves ab-
sorbed the land and rendered it difficult for a man
with small capital to become a landholder. The de-
struction of slavery crippled the plantation system.
Many of the plantations were divided and sold to
former tenants or overseers. In this way the num-
ber of landowners was increased. Intensive culti-
vation and diversification of crops have resulted
from the decay of the plantation system and the di-
vision of the land into small farms.
In some sections the war set the poor whites free.
They lost little or nothing by the war and gained in
many ways. Their importance economically, socially
and politically was greatly increased.
The plantation was a social settlement for the up-
lift of the negroes. Their health was carefully
guarded. They suffered little from tuberculosis,
typhoid, and venereal diseases. There was no drunk-
enness. Lunacy was almost unknown. They were
given manual and moral training. Their masters and
white ministers gave them careful religious instruc-
tion. Many of them attended the white churches.
Negro meetings, noisy and turbulent, were held by
preachers of their own race. There was virtually no
race hatred. The blacks were considered a race, in
every respect, inferior to the whites.
Tuberculosis, typhoid, and venereal diseases are
making terrible inroads upon the freedmen. Drunk-
enness and lunacy are common. Few young negroes
148 THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
are becoming artisans. They now have separate
church organizations and fail to receive the sound
moral and spiritual instruction they formerly re-
ceived from the whites. There is less cordiality be-
tween the races now than there was fifty years ago.
Yet the negroes have made some progress. In 1900
they owned nearly one million acres of land in Vir-
ginia. Illiteracy is being reduced. The leading
schools for negroes are giving more attention to in-
dustrial training than formerly. They are giving
less attention to politics and are striving to become
economically independent. The colored ministers of
the Gospel are improving both in character and
preparation for their work.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: — A vary, Myrta L.: Dixie after the War; Boyd, C. R.:
Resources of Southwest Virginia; Bruce, P. A. : The Rise of the New South,
and The Plantation Negro as a Freeman; Dunning, W. A.: The Civil War
and Reconstruction; Eckenrode, H. J. : The Political History of Virginia
during the Reconstruction; Fleming, W. L. : Documents Relating to Recon-
struction; Herbert, H. H.: Why the Solid South; Hotchkiss, Jed: Sum-
mary of Virginia (1876); McConnell, J. P.: Negroes and Their Treatment
in Virginia (1865-67); Page, T. N.: The Old Dominion; Ruffin, F. G.:
The Negro as a Political Factor; Stuart, A. H. H.: The Committee of Nine;
Watson, T. L.: Mineral Resources of Virginia; Whitehead, Thomas: Vir-
ginia Handbook (1893).
JOHN PRESTON MCCONNELL,
Professor of History and Political Science, Emory and Henry
Cottege.
THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND
CHAPTER I.
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND, 1608-1776.
Geography of Maryland.
'ALFWAY up the Atlantic coast of the
United States lies the mouth of the Ches-
apeake Bay, almost as much a river as
bay, and from it, on either side, branch off
tidal estuaries, almost as much bays as
rivers, which give navigable access to the country
to a considerable distance. The coastal plain,
through which these rivers take their course, is level
and productive of cereals and vegetables, while the
waters of bay and river teem with fish, crabs, and
oysters. West of this plain lies the rolling country
which the geologists call the Piedmont Plateau, be-
cause it lies at the foot of the Appalachian Moun-
tains. This Piedmont region is a broken, hilly
country, crossed by the Potomac River and by the
Patapsco, which runs with rapid current down
through the land. West of the Catoctin Mountain we
find the Appalachian Mountain Region, filled with
mineral wealth, and subdivided into three parts,
with fertile valleys between them. The three parts
are the Blue Ridge, the Appalachian mountains
proper in Alleghany county, and the Alleghany
chain in Garrett county. Some of the streams in the
last county are a part of the Mississippi Valley sys-
tem, but by far the greater part of the state lies on
the Atlantic side of the watershed.
149
150 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
Prior to the attainment of independence by Mary-
land, the Appalachian region had only begun to be
settled and we shall find our chief interest to lie in
the tidewater counties of the Chesapeake. At pres-
ent the state has an area of 12,210 square miles, of
which 9,860 are land, the greater part of this land
lying on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay,
upon which portion of the state over five-sixths of its
inhabitants live ; but originally the area of Maryland
was considerably greater than it is at present. When
Charles I., king of England and husband of Hen-
rietta Maria, from whom Terra Mariae, or Maryland,
took its name, gave to Cecil Calvert, Second Lord
Baltimore in the Peerage of Ireland, a patent, or
charter, for this new province of his realm, much
more ample bounds were conferred upon the Pro-
prietary of the Palatinate than either he or his suc-
cessors ever reduced to their possession. The limits
of the domain began at Watkins' Point, on the east-
ern shore of the Chesapeake, and ran thence due
east to the Atlantic ocean. North of this line should
be Maryland's territory, south of it should remain
part of Virginia, from which Maryland was carved.
The boundary of Baltimore's province then ran
along the Delaware Bay to the fortieth degree of
north latitude, and westward along that parallel to
the meridian of longitude which passed through the
first fountain of the Potomac River. Descending
that meridian to the river, the line runs along the
farther or south side of the river to a place called
Cinquack, near the mouth of the Potomac, whence a
straight line to Watkins' Point completed the pro-
vincial limits.
Lord Baltimore's Grant.
Into this princely heritage, George Calvert, the
first Lord Baltimore, had looked, after he had been
discouraged by his unsuccessful effort to found the
LORD BALTIMORE.
THE PROVINCE OP MARYLAND. 151
colony of Avalon on the bleak and forbidding shores
of Newfoundland. He had found the unoccupied
shores of the Chesapeake so attractive that he asked
the king that they be granted him and, receiving the
royal favor, would himself have been the first Lord
Proprietary had he not died shortly before the royal
charter was ready to pass the seals. Spaniards had
probably entered the Bay a century and more before
the settlement of Maryland, but the first satisfactory
account of its shores and map of the country are
those prepared by Captain John Smith, who explored
the waters of the Chesapeake in 1608, the year after
the settlement of Jamestown. He found here and
there a small village of Indians of the Algonquin
stock, who hunted in the forests and cultivated maize,
tobacco and potatoes on little clearings along the
river banks. In their bark houses, good stores of
furs were kept, which the Indians willingly bartered
for manufactured wares offered by the English. In
general, it may be said that the Indians of Maryland
received fair treatment from the English, and this
was especially so of the Piscataways and the Nanti-
cokes, the chief Algonquin tribes on the two shores of
the Bay. The difficulties and wars which occurred
were chiefly with the stalwart and fierce Susquehan-
nocks who lived in the northern part of the province,
on the banks of the river which bears their name.
These Indians were of the Iroquois stock, and, after
they were subjugated and incorporated with the Five
Nations, they induced the Senecas to come down in
raids against the frontier settlements and against
the peaceable Patuxents and Piscataways. Gradual-
ly the Indian inhabitants of the province disap-
peared, and but few were left after the migration to
the north of the Nanticokes about the year 1750.
After Smith's expeditions, other ones followed, and
the fur trade from the north to Virginia became a
152 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
well-established enterprise. The Indians also sold
their surplus stock of maize to the Virginians. The
timber of the land was early found useful for pipe
staves and other purposes. Foremost among the
traders on the Chesapeake was William Claiborne,
Baltimore's life-long enemy, who struggled against
the effectiveness of the Maryland charter for over
forty years after it was granted. After Claiborne
had been in Virginia for eight years or so, engaged
in trading with the Indians, he associated himself
with a firm of London merchants, and later, in May,
1631, he obtained from the Secretary of State for
Scotland a commission, authorizing him and his as-
sociates to trade in all parts of New England and
Nova Scotia wherein no trading monopoly had been
granted. Sailing up the Chesapeake with this com-
mission, Claiborne planted the Isle of Kent on the
eastern shore, placing there, on Aug. 17, 1631, a
trading factory with about twenty or thirty men.
From Chisquack, in the Northern Neck of Virginia,
and Kent Island, a delegate sat in the Virginia
House of Burgesses, and Claiborne was a member of
the Virginia Council. It is not surprising, therefore,
that the Virginians opposed the Maryland charter,
which gave Baltimore, a Roman Catholic, two-thirds
of their fine bay and cut them off from the profitable
Indian trade to the north, which they were carry-
ing on.
Navigation was slow and uncertain in the Seven-
teenth century, when it took from a month to three
months for a sailing vessel to cross the Atlantic, and
it was some time after Baltimore had received the
patent for his province (on June 20, 1632), that news
of this event reached America. Not until Nov. 22,
1633, did the Proprietary's first expedition set forth
under the command of his young brother, Leonard,
to settle the new province. The fact that Maryland
THE PROVINCE OF MAEYLAND.. 153
bore from the first the dignified title of province has
always been a source of pride to its inhabitants.
The charter was modelled on that of Avalon, granted
to the first Lord Baltimore some years before, and
gave Cecil Calvert a country hitherto uncultivated
in the parts of America partly occupied by savages.
Over that country, which he was destined never to
behold, he should rule with as extensive privileges as
the Bishop of Durham held within the limits of his
see, and for the province, which he held in free and
common socage, Baltimore paid yearly two Indian
arrows. He was given power to make laws "with
the advice, assent, and approbation of the freemen,
or of their delegates." At the first, he tried to use
this power in its highest form, by submitting laws
to a mass-meeting of freemen coming together in
person, or by proxy, and by rejecting those in the en-
actment of which the freemen had taken the initiative
but gradually the freemen grew too numerous, too
widely scattered and too powerful for this arrange-
ment to continue. So, after about the year 1650, a
delegated body of freemen and the Governor's Coun-
cil, as bicameral legislature, took the place of the
primary assembly, while even as early as 1638 the
Proprietary gave up the claim of the right to initiate
legislation. All Englishmen were permitted by the
charter to emigrate to Maryland, and after their ar-
rival there, both they and their descendants had the
right to enjoy all the privileges of Englishmen.
Religious Toleration.
The Virginians tried to prevent Baltimore from
taking possession of the country granted him, and
the expense of the early expeditions nearly impover-
ished the Proprietary, but neither then, nor in later
years, when deprived of his province by force, did
Cecil Calvert deviate from his persistent effort to
154 THE HISTOHY OF MARYLAND.
secure for his posterity so valuable a possession. He
had to remain in England to the end of his life, so
as to ward off one threatened danger after another,
and his policy, as shown by his letters, was that of a
calm, shrewd, unenthusiastic, fair-minded, far-see-
ing man. He was a faithful member of the Catholic
Church, which his father had joined, and he wished
to provide an asylum for his coreligionists in his
Palatinate, but he was so wise that he foresaw that
a grant of any especial privileges to Catholics, or
any establishment of that church in the province,
would lead to a speedy forfeiture of the patent. He
clearly wished the establishment of no other church.
So from the first embarking in the enterprise of the
settlement of Maryland, he gave the world the ex-
ample of a ruler who separated church from state,
and directed his colonists to show toleration to all
Christians, allowing freedom of worship in any
Christian form. That these colonists might have
religious counsel and leadership, he sent two Jesuit
priests with the first expedition, to one of whom,
Father Andrew White, a man of marked devotion to
his work, we owe our knowledge of the voyage of
these first adventurers. The Jesuit order continued
in Maryland during the whole of the provincial pe-
riod as the chief religious agency of the Catholic
Church, and their conscientious zeal and fidelity
make the Maryland mission's history one of the fin-
est in the records of the order. Their chief service
was in rearing a number of native Jesuit priests,
who were largely responsible for the American char-
acter of their church in the United States.
Leonard Calvert, the first Lieutenant-General and
Governor of Maryland, was only twenty-eight years
old when he set sail for the province. He was a sin-
cere, straightforward man, of some ability ; but with
the fatal failing of his family of being unable to read
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 155
men and to choose the proper agents to carry out
his purposes. With him, as commissioners, came
Jerome Hawley, who soon left Maryland for Vir-
ginia, and Thomas Cornwallis, who was to be the
military leader of the new colony, while among a
number of gentlemen in the expedition was George
Calvert, another younger brother of Baltimore, who,
like many others, was unable to stand the seasoning
process of acclimatization and soon died. Most of
the gentlemen were Roman Catholics; but many of
the yeomen and servants were Protestants, and it is
probable that from the beginning the majority of
the settlers in Maryland paid no religious allegiance
to the Pope.
Settlement of Maryland.
The expedition sailed in two vessels, the Ark and
the Dove, names of good omen to those who were to
settle a new world, and took the usual southern
course through the West Indies, which made the
voyage so long that they did not arrive in Virginia
until Feb. 24, 1633. There the governor was friendly,
but the settlers were so hostile that they soon after-
wards revolted, seized him and sent him to England,
largely because of his friendliness to Calvert. The
tiresome voyage was over and the settlers saw the
"most delightful water between two sweet lands."
From the enthusiastic reports sent him, Baltimore
caused to be prepared in England in 1634 and 1635,
two pamphlets, in the nature of prospectuses to in-
vite settlers, which Relations are the earliest printed
accounts of the province.
Leonard Calvert remembered his brother's wise
injunction to have as little as possible to do with the
Virginians during the first year, and soon sailed up
the bay and entered the Potomac Eiver. Landing
on St. Clement's, now called Blackiston's Island, on
"Our Blessed Lady's Day in Lent," March 25, 1634,
156 THE HISTOEY OF MARYLAND.
the new year's day of the calendar then used, he
"took solemn possession of the country for our
Saviour and for our sovereign Lord, the King of
England." Calvert then pacified the fears of the
aborigines and bought from them, through the ad-
vice of Captain Fleet, an old Indian trader, the In-
dian town of Yaocomico, which was renamed St.
Mary's. A Dutch settlement on the Delaware had
been destroyed by Indians, and Claiborne's factory
on Kent Island seems to have been the only other
one within the province at this time. Calvert had
instructions to use Claiborne courteously and permit
him to proceed in his plantation, if he would acknowl-
edge that he owed fidelity to Baltimore; but this
acknowledgment was sturdily refused, while Clai-
borne's difficulties increased through differences
with his London partners. Thus petty warfare
existed between the settlers of Kent Island and those
of St. Mary's for three years, and led to a sort of
naval battle on the Pocomoke in 1635. Finally,
Claiborne went to England in 1637, leaving the island
in charge of Capt. George Evelin. The latter was
friendly to Baltimore and, unsuccessfully, endeav-
ored to induce the settlers on the island to accept
Baltimore as their ruler. Finally, in February,
1638. Governor Calvert led an expedition in person
against Kent Island and overcame the opposition
there without much difficulty.
Government of the Province.
After the settlers had been in Maryland nearly a
year, Calvert called an assembly of the people, which
met in February, 1635, but its proceedings are lost
and its acts were vetoed by the Proprietary, so that
the second assembly, in January, 1638, is the first
one of which we have definite information. None
of the bills introduced therein were placed upon the
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 157
statute book, except one for the attainder of Clai-
borne, who shortly thereafter failed in England, in
an attempt to secure restitution of Kent Island.
The Assembly also acted as a court of law and tried
and condemned to death for piracy Thomas Smith,
one of Claiborne's followers. Towards the close of
1638, Leonard Calvert received a letter from his
brother, yielding his claim to the legislative initi-
ative and authorizing the governor to assent to such
laws as he * ' shall think fit and necessary and as shall
be approved by the major part of the freemen, or
their deputies." As a result, a representative as-
sembly of one house was held in February, 1639,
which adopted a comprehensive temporary act to
" endure to the end of the next General Assembly,
or for three years, if there be no Assembly within
that time." This policy of temporary statute mak-
ing was followed throughout the whole provincial
period and, although it involved much expenditure
of time and caused a bulky statute book, it ensured
fairly frequent sessions of the Assembly and, in such
matters as the payment of officers whose remunera-
tion was in the shape of fees, it also ensured a read-
justment of the rates from time to time.
By New Year's Day, Old Style, 1639, the province
had been governed for five years by Leonard Calvert.
He had settled St. Mary's and had seen the settlers
spreading out into various hundreds, while some
men had established manors under grants from the
Lord Proprietary. Indentured white servants were
cultivating most of the land which the Proprietary's
Conditions of Plantations had granted to the settlers
on payment of an annual quit rent, but negro slaves
had been introduced, and the colonists, ceasing to be
dependent upon the Indians for maize, which was
beginning to be raised in considerable quantity by
the English, were also ceasing to be dependent upon
158 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
the fur trade, and were taking up the cultivation of
tobacco, which became the great staple product of
the province and the medium of exchange in all
transactions between man and man. The tobacco
period lasted until Maryland became a state, but the
cereal products, wheat and corn, were gradually
thrusting tobacco from its predominance during the
last years of provincial history. Calvert had also
subdued Kent Island and established amicable rela-
tions with the Indians and the Virginians, and Clai-
borne's pretensions to any part of the province had
been disallowed. Though the beginnings of Mary-
land were complete, the troubles of the Proprietary's
officers were far from ended, and a period is now
approached in which there were troubles with the
Jesuits, who vainly claimed from Baltimore that
same liberty of being governed by canon law only,
usual in other countries with Roman Catholic lords,
and to be freed from taxes, which claims led Balti-
more to send out secular priests for a time and to
stand firmly for the supremacy of the civil power in
the state.
Leonard Calvert went to England in 1642, leaving
Giles Brent in his room, and came back two years
later with a royal commission empowering him to
seize ships of the London merchants who adhered to
the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War.
Although he seems not to have used the com-
mission, it gave the opposition an excuse for ac-
tion, and turbulent times were felt in Maryland.
Claiborne came back and tried to recover Kent
Island. Richard Ingle, a pronounced parliamenta-
rian, who had previously visited the province several
times, and had been accused of making treasonable
speeches, came to Virginia with his ship in Febru-
ary, 1645, seized a Dutch merchantman in the Ches-
apeake, and with the two vessels terrorized the pro-
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 159
vince so that Calvert fled to Virginia. During this
"plundering year" Ingle ranged about the province,
ungratefully robbed Cornwallis, seized the property
of the Jesuits and carried them to England when
he returned thither. Calvert was not restored in
the control of the province until the autumn of 1646,
and Kent Island did not return to its allegiance to
the Proprietary until April, 1647. Shortly after-
wards, on June 9, 1647, Governor Calvert died, mak-
ing Mrs. Margaret Brent, a woman of strong mind,
his executrix, with the injunction, "take all and pay
all." He named Thomas Greene as governor, but
the Proprietary a year later substituted William
Stone, a Protestant, who brought into Maryland, as
immigrants, a considerable number of Puritans from
Virginia, in which province they had failed to find
religious freedom. With the commission for Stone,
the Proprietary sent a brief code of sixteen laws,
which he desired the General Assembly to enact for
the province. There was opposition to some of these
laws, but the most famous of them, the "Act con-
cerning religion," was amended and then passed in
April, 1649. In later years, Charles, third Lord Bal-
timore, stated the purpose and content of this fa-
mous statute to be that the province might "have a
general toleration settled there by a law, by which
all of all sorts, who professed Christianity in gen-
eral, might be at liberty to worship God in such man-
ner as was most agreeable to their respective judg-
ments and consciences, without being subject to any
penalties whatsoever for their doing so, provided the
civil peace were preserved. And, that for the secur-
ing the civil peace and preventing all heats and
feuds, which were, generally, observed to happen
amongst such as differ in opinions, upon occasion of
reproachful nicknames and reflecting upon each
other's opinions, it might, by the same law, be made
160 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
penal to give any offense in that kind." The prac-
tice of the province was even more liberal than the
statute, for Jews dwelt there without serious mo-
lestation. The Puritans made their settlement about
the banks of the Severn River near where Annapolis
now stands, and their coming caused the erection of
a third county for them, under the name of Anne
Arundel, the wife of the Proprietary. In the same
year the coming of the Brooke family led to the es-
tablishment of a fourth county on the Patuxent,
which, with a change of name and of boundaries, be-
came Calvert county in 1654.
Maryland, 1654-1676.
After the establishment of the Commonwealth in
England, five Parliamentary Commissioners were
appointed to reduce Virginia from her allegiance to
the crown, and their commission, by craft or acci-
dent, was extended to "all the plantations within
Chesapeake Bay." Two of these commissioners
were Claiborne and Bennett, the head of the Puritan
party in Virginia ; the other three were Englishmen.
Only one of the latter, however, arrived in America,
and he, with the two Virginians, came to Maryland
and seized the government in 1652. So great had
been Baltimore's hatred for Claiborne that he had
exempted him and Ingle from the general pardoning
power conferred on Stone in his gubernatorial com-
mission. It is not surprising, therefore, that the
commissioners insisted, in a highhanded and illegal
manner, that writs should henceforth run in the
name of the keepers of the liberty of England, al-
though the charter provided that writs should run
in the name of the Lord Proprietary. Stone refused
to obey these orders and was removed from office,
but yielded three months later and was restored.
For two years this modus vivendi continued. Then
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 161
Stone again ordered the writs to run in the Pro-
prietary's name, and the Puritans of Providence,
as they called their settlement on the Severn, rose in
revolt and compelled Stone to resign. Rebuked by
Baltimore for yielding so easily, Stone gathered a
force of men and a battle between the two parties
took place in March, 1655, in which the Proprietary's
party was routed and Stone taken prisoner. From
July, 1654, to 1657, the provincial government was
carried on by a body of commissioners, appointed
by. Bennett and Claiborne, acting under that com-
mission to which reference has been made. These
commissioners served as executive, council, provin-
cial court and Upper House of Assembly. In 1656,
the English authorities confirmed Baltimore 's rights
to his province, and after some delay and negotiation
with the Puritan leaders, his authority was restored
on March 23, 1657, with a general amnesty and a
confirmation of the toleration act which the Puri-
tans had repealed. So complete was the pacification
that some of the Puritan commissioners sat in the
General Assembly of 1659. The restored Propri-
etary government was under the direction of Capt.
Josias Fendall, an energetic man, who proceeded to
organize the militia and thus came into conflict with
the Quakers, who were becoming an important ele-
ment in the province, and whose religious principles
would not allow them to bear arms. Under the
preaching of George Fox and other itinerant evan-
gelists, aided by permanent ministers of the Society
of Friends, a number of their meetings were estab-
lished in Maryland, and their influence has always
been a noteworthy one. Fendall had been governor
for two years only when he proved himself unfaith-
ful to the Proprietary, and, surrendering his com-
mission as governor, accepted a new one from the
Assembly, which claimed the right to make laws
Vol. 1-1 (
162 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
•without Baltimore's consent. When news of these
measures reached England, Baltimore dismissed
Fendall and appointed his half brother, Philip Cal-
vert, as governor, sending with him an amnesty. As
soon as Calvert arrived in Maryland, the plot of
Fendall collapsed, and fines, with perpetual disfran-
chisement for a few men, were the only penalties
which the lenient governor inflicted. In 1661, the
Proprietor substituted his only son, Charles Calvert,
who should succeed him as Lord Baltimore, in place
of his brother, Philip, who was solaced with the
Chancellorship of Maryland. Shortly thereafter,
Leonard Calvert 's son, William, was made provin-
cial secretary, and a period of family government
began which lasted for nearly thirty years, as there
were frequently other relatives of Baltimore in the
council.
Meanwhile the Swedes had founded a colony on
the Delaware in 1638, and the Dutch had reduced
this New Sweden to New Netherland in 1655. Mary-
land's representative had been sent to notify the
Dutch that they were within her limits, and must
either acknowledge her jurisdiction or leave the
province. Stuyvesant sent two envoys on this matter
to St. Mary's, so that his side of the controversy
might be strongly presented. One of these was Au-
gustine Herman, who was so attracted by the prov-
ince that he removed into it and took up a manor in
its northeastern part, which he called Bohemia from
his native land, and for which he paid by executing
the first well surveyed map of Maryland. Other
Dutch and Swedish settlers came across into the
lands of the Chesapeake and trade sprang up be-
tween the two bays. This trade with the Dutch was
lucrative and was illicit under the English navigation
laws. Its profitable character seems to have been
partly the cause why the provincial authorities hesi-
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 163
tated to take decided action to reduce the Dutch until
it was too late, and the Delaware settlements had
fallen before the English fleet in 1664. Seizing them
by right of conquest, the King granted them to his
brother, the Duke of York, as part of his province
of New York, and for nearly twenty years there was
considerable friction between the two provinces
through Calvert's sending his officers, from time to
time, to summon the Delawareans to admit his over-
lordship and through his granting lands in that
region. Cecil Calvert died in 1675. During the lat-
ter years of his life matters were relatively quiet
in Maryland, although we read of Indian difficulties
and of occasional differences between governor and
Assembly. The boundary between Maryland and
Virginia on the eastern shore was run, with some
loss to our province through imperfect surveying.
The tobacco trade flourished and settlements spread
along the shores of the Bay so that Baltimore and
Cecil counties were erected near the head of the
Chesapeake, and Talbot, Somerset and Dorchester
counties on the eastern shore.
The Proprietary rule of Charles Lord Baltimore
was fully as disturbed as his father's had been. The
Indian troubles caused a joint expedition by Mary-
land and Virginia forces against the Susquehan-
nocks in 1675. Before the Indian fort, in shameful
violation of a safe conduct, the Maryland commander
weakly yielded to the Virginians ' clamor and five of
the chiefs were wickedly put to death. He was im-
peached by the Maryland Assembly, but escaped
punishment through disagreement of the Houses.
After a month's siege, the Indians fled from the fort.
Some of them went southward and began that course
of rapine in Virginia which led to Bacon's rebellion;
while others, fleeing northward, joined themselves to
the tribes of their Iroquois kindred and brought
164 THE HISTOEY OF MARYLAND.
Senecas and Onondagas repeatedly into Maryland
in hostile incursions against the white settlers and
the friendly tribes, toward whom their hatred was
even greater.
The rebellion of 1676 in Virginia had a lesser
counterpart in Maryland, which was easily quelled;
but, four years later, a more serious disturbance
arose, headed by Fendall and one John Coode, a
renegade Anglican clergyman. This led to the ban-
ishment of Fendall, but the discontent, though re-
pressed at the time, was destined to grow, and the
"Popish plot" in England, with the fear which the
people there had for the overthrow of their religion,
found reflection in Maryland in the suspicion felt
by many towards a Eoman Catholic Proprietary.
Relations With Penn.
A worse danger yet for the province arose in 1681,
when William Penn, the true evil genius of Mary-
land, obtained a patent from the King for a large
tract of land, bounded on the south by a "circle
drawn at twelve miles distance from New Castle,
northward and westward to the beginning of the for-
tieth degree of north latitude, and thence by a
straight line westward." To this grant he added a
further one, from the Duke of York, of Newcastle
with a territory of twelve miles around it, and the
lands bounding on the Delaware southward to Cape
Henlopen. Penn began, at once, to colonize his prov-
ince and territories, which, respectively, took the
names of Pennsylvania and Delaware, and endeav-
ored to gain over the frontier inhabitants of Mary-
land. His great object was to obtain access to the
waters of the upper Chesapeake. Baltimore strug-
gled on the other hand to preserve his province in-
tact, and so wished, at once, to fix the fortieth paral-
lel. The two Proprietors met several times, but
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 165
Penn would not make direct observations of latitude,
although he suggested that measurements be made
from the Capes of the Chesapeake, by which means
he thought Baltimore would gain from Virginia as
much as he would lose to the north.
While Penn delayed a decision of the fortieth par-
allel and placed his city of Philadelphia just south
of it, to obtain the advantage of possession and to
manifest his brotherly love for the rightful owner
of the land by wresting his territory from him, he
pressed hard for a determination of his claim to
Delaware. The death of Charles II. aided him in
this, since it placed Penn's patron on the throne as
James II., and it is not surprising that the Privy
Council, on Nov. 7, 1685, reported that the peninsula
should be divided between the claimants by a merid-
ian line running north from the latitude of Cape
Henlopen. This decision was based on a mistaken
and highly technical application of the clause in the
Maryland charter, by which Baltimore was granted
territory "hitherto uncultivated." These words
were, in any case, words of description and not of
limitation. At the time the charter was granted, the
only Europeans within the province were such fur
traders as Claiborne, whose claims had been disal-
lowed. The alleged Dutch settlers had been re-
garded as "lawless interlopers, and, as such, they
were forcibly reduced by the English," yet, "when
it was a question of robbing Baltimore to gratify a
royal favorite, they, the Dutch, were settlers and
their occupation valid."
Internal Disturbances.
James II. went further and talked of having the
charter of Maryland forfeited and the Proprietary's
position was weakened by the unfortunate killing of
an obnoxious revenue officer by a hot-headed Irish
166 THE HISTOKY OF MARYLAND.
relative of Baltimore, who was a member of the
Council. Before Baltimore had gone to England in
1684 to look after his affairs, leaving the Council in
charge. Four years later he sent out a conceited,
wordy, unpractical lawyer, who had high notions of
prerogative and was a strong partisan of King
James. There were Indian troubles and rumors of
strange alliances between the Eoman Catholics in
Maryland and in Canada. The messenger sent by
Baltimore to order the proclamation of William and
Mary died, and the Council refused to proclaim the
new sovereign without orders from the Proprietary.
In July, 1689, Nehemiah Blakiston, collector of royal
customs and an old enemy of Baltimore, with Coode,
and other Protestants rose in revolt. Not all of the
Protestant settlers were with them, but the agitators
were in such earnest and Baltimore's supporters
were so lukewarm that, within a month, the Prot-
estant Association was supreme and the Propri-
etary government was overthrown. The new rulers
asked the crown to administer Maryland as a royal
province, and, their request being granted, the first
royal governor came over in 1692. The charter was
not forfeited, however, nor was the title to the land
or his other private rights taken from Baltimore.
Annapolis and the Church Establishment.
The royal governors brought a greater regularity
and formality into the proceedings of the govern-
ment. We find the development of a highly trained
and able body of lawyers, who gave the Maryland
bar its first renown. Under Francis Nicholson, the
capital was transferred from St. Mary's City to a
site further north on the Severn Eiver, where the
new town of Annapolis was founded and named in
honor of the Queen, who, with her husband, is also
commemorated in the counties of Queen Anne's and
THE PBOVINCE OF MAEYLAND. 167
Prince George's, the latter the first inland county on
the western shore. Nicholson's administration is
also remarkable for the establishment of the Church
of England and the levy for its support of tobacco
from every taxable person, which condition contin-
ued until Maryland ceased to be a province. About
the same time the beginning of the educational sys-
tem was made by the establishment of King Will-
iam's School at Annapolis in 1696. The Bishop of
London had control of ecclesiastical matters in the
colonies, and he appointed, as his commissary in
Maryland, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Bray, the founder
of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowl-
edge and the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel. Dr. Bray came to Maryland in 1700 for
a few months only, but his influence upon the prov-
ince was important. Feeling that good men must
be procured for the Anglican Church's ministry in
Maryland, and finding that such men were deterred
from coming hither because of a lack of books, he
conceived the idea of a system of parochial libraries
for the use of the clergy. When he attempted to
establish these, he felt that more was needed and
that there should be a Provincial Lending Library
at the capital for the use of the clergy and gentry.
The project was accomplished and the first library
system in America was established, while the Anna-
politan library of nearly 1,100 volumes was the first
free public circulating library in the country, and was
a remarkably complete one for the time. The early
part of the Eighteenth century saw the establish-
ment of Presbyterianism in the province through the
efforts of Francis Makemie in the lower part of the
eastern shore.
Annapolis was the first town of any importance
in the province, and after it was founded, St. Mary's
City disappeared. The possibility of reaching
nearly every planter's wharf by the shipping, which
carried away his tobacco or wheat, rendered towns
less necessary, so that the frequent attempts to es-
tablish them were nearly always fruitless during the
provincial period, and Annapolis itself, although
boasting of a remarkably cultured and attractive
society, and possessing some fine town houses of the
wealthy planters, had but little trade. The inden-
tured white servants had been the main labor supply
in the Seventeenth century; in the Eighteenth cen-
tury we find the negro slaves appearing in large
numbers, especially after the Treaty of Utrecht
placed an important part of the African slave trade
in English hands.
The Proprietors from 1715 to 1776.
The repressive laws of the province under royal
government refused liberty to the Roman Catholics.
The death of Charles, Lord Baltimore, in 1715, caused
the proprietaryship to descend upon his son, Bene-
dict Leonard Calvert. He had become a Protestant,
so there was no longer left the pretext that it would
be unsafe to permit the government to be carried on
under Roman Catholic influences, and it was restored
to the Calverts. Benedict Leonard Calvert died two
months after his father and was succeeded by his
son, Charles, the Fifth Lord Baltimore, who was still
a minor. The new Lord was a skillful yachtsman, a
dissolute, unlovely man. He was a friend and ad-
mirer of Frederick, the Prince of Wales, after whom
he named his only son Frederick, the last and worst
of the Calverts, who was Proprietary from 1751 to
1771. Frederick, Lord Baltimore, was a rake, who
never visited his province, though he was fond of
traveling through Europe, and who left the province
to Henry Harford, his illegitimate son. The title of
Lord Baltimore died with Frederick, that of Lord
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND.. 169
Proprietary was wrested from Harford by the
American Revolution. After that war Harford, who
had just attained manhood, visited the state for the
first time, in the vain endeavor to obtain some reim-
bursement for his losses of revenues and of land, all
of which had been confiscated to the state.
While the province was under royal rule, the Pro-
prietary had an agent in Maryland to attend to his
private affairs and watch that the governor and
Assembly did not encroach upon his lands and reve-
nues. To fill that post he sent over from Europe
Charles Carroll, an Irish Roman Catholic, the
founder of an important family. On the other hand,
the Assembly was represented in England by its
agent appointed to watch after provincial interests
there. At the time of the Proprietary 's restoration,
the governor of Maryland was Capt. John Hart, a
man of infirm health, a hot-blooded, capable, Prot-
estant Irishman, who was continued in office by the
guardian of the young Proprietary. Theoretically,
the second Charles Lord Baltimore had the same
rights as the first ; practically, the twenty- five years
of royal rule had made a vast difference. An un-
known youth was at the head of affairs, and, hence-
forth, the Proprietary seems to have been regarded
as an absentee landlord. The people seemed to have
cared but little for the change and the Proprietaries
made little use of their power, except as a means of
appointing relatives and friends to office. Hart's
administration saw the preparation of a compre-
hensive code by a committee of the Assembly, whose
chairman was Andrew Hamilton. Shortly after-
wards Hamilton removed to Philadelphia, and was
the first American lawyer to gain continental repu-
tation. From Philadelphia he went to New York to
defend John Peter Zenger, whom he had known long
before, when both were neighbors in Chestertown on
170 THE HISTOKY OF MARYLAND.
the eastern shore. The Protestants knew that the
Calverts were of their faith, and soon found no
ground for apprehension that they might lean too
much towards the adherents of their ancestors' re-
ligion. The Catholics hoped, at first, that they might
regain a part, at least, of their old influence and
position, but were soon rudely disillusioned and
were even disfranchised as a result of a violent con-
tention between Carroll and Hart, who was backed
by the Assembly. Some little suspicion of Jacobit-
ism made the Catholics still more unpopular, and
the repressive laws against them were continued
throughout the provincial period.
Charles Calvert, a relative of the Proprietary, be-
came governor in 1720, and his seven years of ad-
ministration saw two noteworthy events. In 1723
the General Assembly passed a law for the establish-
ment of a free school in each county. This system of
academies was the only provision made for educa-
tion by the province during the provincial period,
but the benevolence of the friends of Rev. Thomas
Bacon enabled him to establish a "charity working
school" in Talbot county in 1750, in which manual
training and the education of negroes were note-
worthy features. Private schools and private tutors
also gave education to the gentry, whose sons were
frequently sent to Europe for the completion of their
training.
The second notable occurrence of Charles Calvert 's
administration was a controversy, which lasted for
several years, between the legislature and the Pro-
prietary, as to whether the English laws extended to
Maryland. The provincials won in the struggle, and
their bold resolutions were long remembered: "that
this province hath always hitherto had the common
law and such general statutes of England, as are not
restrained by words of local limitation, and such
THE PEOVINCE OF MAKYLAKD.. 171
acts of Assembly as were made in the province to
suit its particular constitution, as the rule and stand-
ard of its government and judicature." Those who
maintain the contrary " intend to infringe our Eng-
lish liberties and to frustrate the intent of the crown
in the original grant of this province."
Benedict Leonard Calvert, younger brother of
Lord Baltimore, came out to Maryland as governor
in 1727, and died of consumption on his way home
in 1731. He is a pathetic figure, for the promise of
his high-minded, lovable, scholarly nature had not
time for fulfilment. He had studied in Oxford and
traveled in Italy, and, in his time, Ebenezer Cook,
who styled himself "laureate of Maryland," pub-
lished in Annapolis the first poem printed in Mary-
land, the second part of that satire on Maryland
manners, of which the first part, called the Sot weed
Factor, had appeared in England twenty years be-
fore. The first printing press in Maryland had been
set up about 1690, the first extant imprint dates from
1700, but the first newspaper was published at An-
napolis in 1728, in which year, also, Governor Cal-
vert received the dedication of a little book prepared
by R. Lewis, a master of King William's School, who
had edited Holdsworth's Musclpula, and made a
metrical translation of it.
Calvert 's administration was also the period when
the two events occurred which caused Maryland to
cease to be entirely a Southern colony, and to begin
that career which made her a border state. In 1729
Baltimore Town was laid out on the Patapsco and,
about this time, the first German settlers came from
Pennsylvania into the fertile valleys of Western
Maryland. Thus the province founded its great com-
mercial city and gained a band of sturdy, God-fear-
ing, hard-working men, whose ties were with the
Pernsylvanians rather than with the Virginians.
172 THE HISTOKY OF MARYLAND.
The opening of the back country gave Maryland an
opportunity to seek western trade, and started that
struggle between Baltimore and Philadelphia to ob-
tain that trade, which led Braddock, influenced by
the settlers in Maryland and Virginia, to make his
road through Maryland, and Forbes, influenced by
the settlers in Pennsylvania, in his more successful
expedition against Fort Du Quesne, to make his road
through the latter colony. The Germans in Maryland
were not slaveholders, had few servants, and culti-
vated little tobacco, but devoted their chief attention
to cereals. They also began small manufactures
and thus diversified the industry of the palatinate.
In 1732 Charles, Lord Baltimore, came to the prov-
ince in an attempt to settle the boundary dispute on
the north with Penn's sons, who were joint propri-
etors there. By some unexplained means, in this
year Baltimore had yielded to them all that they had
demanded, and presented them several millions of
acres of land to which they had no right. Although
the Pennsylvanians had settled Philadelphia and
Chester south of the fortieth parallel, they had no
settlements as far west as the Susquehanna, beyond
which river Marylanders were already building
cabins near the north boundary. But Baltimore
agreed to run a line fifteen miles south of Phila-
delphia, due west, so far as the provinces were coter-
minous. "When he found his mistake, he applied to
the English courts and refused to run the boundary,
about which a petty warfare was carried on by the
settlers. The case dragged on until 1760, when it
was finally settled by an acceptance of the line of
1732, and three years later Charles Mason and Jere-
miah Dixon, two excellent English surveyors, were
sent out and spent four years in marking the bound-
ary between the Penn's possessions and those of
Baltimore.
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 173
Maryland, 1765 to 1776.
During the years of the Eighteenth century, the
province grew in population and in culture. Wor-
cester county on the eastern shore was established
in 1742, and Frederick on the western in 1748. Dr.
Richard Brooke, physician and politician, sent the
results of his scientific observations to the English
magazines, and the Annapolis Gazette, established
in 1752, published graceful and correct poems writ-
ten by the colonial gentlemen. Horatio Sharpe came
over as governor in 1753, and continued in that office
until relieved in 1768 by the Proprietary's brother-
in-law, Capt. Eobert Eden, the last provincial gov-
ernor. A wise and popular man, Sharpe had a diffi-
cult position during the French and Indian War, in
which Maryland played no very creditable part, ow-
ing to a niggardly Proprietary and a narrow-minded,
unpatriotic General Assembly.
Like the other colonies, Maryland repudiated the
Stamp Act, and forced the stamp distributor to flee
the province and to resign his office. The General
Assembly passed bold resolves, standing for a re-
fusal of taxation without representation and claim-
ing that the provincial legislature had the "sole
right to lay taxes or impositions on the inhabitants
of this province, or their property and effects. ' ' The
day came on which the act was to go into operation,
and there were no stamps in the province. How
should business be transacted if unstamped paper
was illegal? The Frederick county court took the
sensible course and declared that its business should
be carried on without stamps, and the other courts
of the province followed.
Maryland was represented in the Continental
Stamp Act Congress, and took part in the non-im-
portation agreement and in the correspondence with
the other colonies, so as to present a united front
174 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
against British action. Yet she was conservative,
and, in Sharpe and Eden, she had two governors of
rare popularity. Eden had not only the British
revenue acts to cause him difficulty, but also two
local troubles. A strong party in the province de-
clared that the act, which provided for the support
of the clergy, had not been properly passed and was
void, while the struggle over officers' fees was one
which involved great excitement. Most officers were
paid by fees, and the acts fixing these fees had been
made temporary, so that the amounts might be read-
justed at each passage. The chief offices were held
by the Councillors, who naturally wished large fees,
and when the act expired in 1770, dissensions be-
tween the two houses of the Assembly had caused all
attempts to pass a new law to fail. What should be
done? Eden issued a proclamation forbidding any
officer to take a greater fee than allowed by the old
law. This, of course, virtually authorized him to
take fees at the old rate, and so fixed the fees. Had
the governor a right to do this f A fierce controversy
in the newspaper followed between Daniel Dulany,
who defended the governor, and Charles Carroll, of
Carrollton, who attacked him. While the majority
of the people undoubtedly sided with Carroll, the
governor held the whip hand, and fees were collected
at the old rate till independence came. In Eden's
administration, two new counties, Caroline and Har-
ford, were established. In 1774, Eden went to Eng-
land for a few months and, while he was away, in
June, there met at Annapolis * ' a general congress of
deputies from all the counties" to consider measures
of opposition to England. This body was the first of a
series of conventions which chose delegates to Con-
tinental Congress and Committees of Safety, to act
as executives during the periods between conven-
tions; which sent troops to fight the British at the
CHARLES CARROLL.
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 175
north and directed the choice of Committees of Ob-
servation in the counties to care for local matters;
and which by the Association, a document offered
in 1775 for subscription to the freemen of the prov-
ince, approved of the measures adopted by the Con-
tinental Congress in opposition to Great Britain, and
united the people "in maintenance of good order and
the public peace." Though Eden's influence could
not prevent acts of lawlessness from time to time,
his tact and good-fellowship with the provincial lead-
ers and the conservatism which showed itself gen-
erally in the province kept the "ostensible form of
government" intact until the middle of 1776, and
led the Provincial Convention, on May 17th, to deny
that it was necessary to suppress the royal govern-
ment and, on May 21st, to express the hope for a
"reunion with Great Britain on constitutional prin-
ciples." Eden saw, however, that "they will not
long be able to stem the torrent which, in several
provinces, runs strongly toward independence," and
declined to accept the convention's proposition that
he remain as governor, and promise to take "no
active hostile part, nor to correspond with the Brit-
ish government." Accordingly, he embarked on a
British man-of-war on June 23d and sailed for Eng-
land, where, in August, for his skillful administra-
tion of the affairs of the province, he was created
Baronet of Maryland, an honor still worn by his
descendant.
Matthew Tilghman, William Paca and the two
Carrolls were urging independence, Baltimore Town
and Frederick county were wild for it, Samuel Chase,
like a flame of fire, had preached it throughout Mary-
land, and on June 21st, the convention voted to allow
its deputies in the Continental Congress to unite with
those of the other colonies in declaring independ-
ence and forming a confederation. On July 3d the
176 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
convention adopted her own declaration of independ-
ence, and thereafter began the task of preparing a
permanent constitution for the new state, which
showed herself behind no other one of the thirteen in
her zeal and fidelity to the common cause. The his-
tory of the province is the history of those begin-
nings which caused the state's later career to be a
successful one, and which explain the direction which
the later history has taken.
BIBLIOGRAPHY — Allen, Ethan: The Garrison Church (1898); Alsop,
George: Character of the Province of Maryland (Md. His. S. F. Pubs.);
Baldwin, Jane: Maryland Calendar of Wills (1901-07); Bowen, L. P.:
Days of Makemie (1885) ; Bowie, W. W. : Bouries and their Kindred (1899) ;
Brantly, W. T. : The English in Maryland (In Winsor's Narrative and
Critical History of America, Vol. 4); Brackett, J. R. : The Negro in Mary-
land (Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies); Black, J. Wm.: Maryland's Atti-
tude in the Struggle for Canada (Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, 10th Se-
ries); Bozman, John L.: History of Maryland to 1658 (2 v. 1837); Browne,
Wm. Hand: Maryland, the History of a Palatinate (Am. Commonwealths)
1884; George and Cecilius Calvert (Makers of America) 1890; Ed. Calvert
Papers Nos. 1 and 2 (Md. His. S. F. Pubs.); Ed. Maryland Archives (Md.
His. Soc.); Ed. Maryland Historical Magazine, 1906-1908; Dennis, Al-
fred P.: Lord Baltimore's Struggle with the Jesuits (1900); Davip, G. L. L.:
The Day Star of American Freedom (1855); Doyle, J. A.: The English
in America, Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas (1882); Griffith, T. W.:
Early History of Maryland (1821); Annals of Baltimore (1824); Gambrall,
T. C. : Studies in the Colonial History of Maryland (1893); Church Life in
Colonial Maryland (1885); Hall, C. C.: Great Seal of Maryland (Md. His.
S. F. Pubs.); Ed. Calvert Papers No. 3, Hanson, Geo. A. : Old Kent (1876) ;
Hawks, F. L.: Rise and Progress of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
Maryland (1839); Hughes, Rev. Thomas: History of the Society of Jesus
in North America, attacks Lord Baltimore and supports the Jesuits (vol.
1 text and vol. 1 documents 1907); Ingle, Edward: Parish Institutions of
Maryland (Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, 1st Series); Capt. Richard
Ingle (Md. His. S. F. Pubs.); James, B. B.: The Labadist Colony; John-
son, B. T. : Foundation of Maryland (Md. His. S. F. Pubs.) ; Johnson, J. H. :
Old Maryland Manors (Johns Hop. His. Studies, 1st series); Johnston,
George: History of Cecil County (1881); Kilty, John: Landholder's As-
sistant (1808); Latane", J. H.: Early Relations of Maryland and Virginia
(Johns Hop. His. Studies, 13th series); Lowdermilk, W. H.: History of
Cumberland (1878); Morris, Rev. J. G.: Lords Baltimore (Md. His. S. F.
Pubs.); McCormac, E. L: White Servitude in Maryland (Johns Hop. His.
Studies, 22d series); McMahon, J. V. L.: History of Maryland (ChieBy
Constitutional to 1776) (1831); McSherry, James: History of Maryland to
1848-49 (continued by B. B. James to 1900); Mallery, C. P.: Ancient
Families of B«hemia Manor (1858); Mereness, N. D. : Maryland ax a Pro-
THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. 177
prietary Province (1901); Mayer, B.: Logan and Cresap; Neill, E. D.:
Founders of Maryland (1876); Terra Mariae (1887): Petrie, .George:
Church and Stale in Maryland (Johns Hop. His. Studies, 10th series);
Russell, Rev. W. W.: Land of the Sanctuary (Gives Roman Catholic
view); Riley, E. S.: Legislative History of Maryland (1906); The Ancient
City (Annapolis) (1889); Ed. Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of Re-
moval of the Capital of Maryland (1894); Ridgeley, D.: Annals of An-
napolis (1841); Streeter, S. F.: First Commander of Kent Island (Md.
Hist. S. F. Pubs.); Papers Relating to the Early History of Maryland
(Md. His. S. F. Pubs.); Stockbridge, H., Sr.: Archives of Maryland (Md.
His. S. F. Pubs.); Steiner, Bernard C.: Maryland during the English Civil
Wars, Pts. 1 and 2 (Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies); Western Maryland in
the Revolution (1902); Restoration of the Proprietary (1899); Maryland's
First Courts (1901); The First Lord Baltimore (1905); Protestant Revolu-
tion of 1689 in Maryland (Am. His. Asso. Reports, 1897); History of Edu-
cation in Maryland; Beginnings of Maryland and Descriptions of Mary-
land (Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, 21st and 22d Series); Ed. Early
Maryland Poetry (Md. His. S. F. Pubs.); Ed. Life and Works of Rev.
Thomas Bray; Citizenship and Suffrage in Maryland (1895); Life of
Robert Eden (JohnsHopkins Univ. Studies); Sparks, F. E.: Causes of the
Maryland Revolution; Schultz, E. S.: First Settlement of the Germans in
Maryland (1894); Scharf, J. T.: History of Maryland to 1880 (3 Vols.
1879) ; Chronicles of Baltimore (187 4) ; History of Western Maryland (1882) ;
Baltimore City and County (1881); Sioussat, St. G. L.: Economics and
Politics in Maryland (Johns Hopkins His. Studies, 21st series); Silver,
J. A.: Provisional Government of Maryland (Johns Hopkins Univ.
Studies, 13th series); Thomas, J. T.: Chronicles of Colonial Maryland
(1900) (especially good for St. Mary's County); White, Rev. A.: Nar-
rative of the Voyage to Maryland (Md. His. S. F. Pubs.); Wilhelm, L. W.:
Sir George Calvert (Md. His. S. F. Pubs.); Maryland Local Institutions
(Johns Hop. His. Studies, 2d series). Proceedings of the General Assem-
bly 1637-1710 (9 vols.); Proceedings of the Council 1636-1752 (9 Vols.);
Judicial and Testamentary Business of the Provincial Court 1637-1657
(2 Vols.); Correspondence of Gov. Sharpe, 1753-71 (3 Vols.); Journal and
Correspondence of the Council of Safety, 1735-1776 (2 Vols.); The Reports
of the Maryland State Weather Service and of the Geological Survey
(especially those articles by Edward B. Mathews on the Cartography of
the State in Vol. I, and on the County boundaries in Vol. 6, and by St.
G. L. Sioussat on the Highways in Vol. 2 and the various county vol-
umes.
BERNARD C. STEINER,
Librarian The Enoch Pratt Free Library; Associate in History,
Johns Hopkins University.
Tol. 1-1*.
178 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAPTER II.
MAEYLAND FEOM 1776 TO 1868.
Steps to the Revolution.
In the first colonial period of Maryland's history,
the absence of towns, the comparative isolation and
the almost boundless personal freedom of the plant-
ers checked the growth of political consciousness
among the people. What political questions arose
they left to be handled by their delegates at the cap-
ital, not troubling themselves much about them be-
yond a feeling that whatever seemed to run counter
to the views of the Governor and Council was to be
approved on general principles. But in the second
period, and especially after the restoration of the
Proprietary government, there was a great change.
This was the time of a continued struggle for popular
liberty ; and the people understood that it was some-
thing more than a wrangle between the two Houses.
The Palatinate government of Maryland was pe-
culiar. The Proprietary was invested with royal
powers, yet the people were liegemen of the King of
England. The charter, after carefully denning the
rights and privileges that it conferred, in an appar-
ent superabundance of liberality, added a clause de-
claring that the colonists should enjoy all the rights,
liberties and franchises of the people of England. A
double standard was thus set up : a measure clearly
within the scope of the charter might be combated
on the ground that it infringed British liberties.
As the province prospered and the planters in-
creased in wealth, they reached out toward higher
standards of living. For one thing, they began to
send their sons to England, there to acquire a higher
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 179
and broader culture than could be had at home. As
the impression prevailed that, next to the owning
of land, the law was the only calling for a gentleman,
and as, moreover, Marylanders were notably liti-
gious, nearly all these youths studied the law. But
the legal conditions of Maryland being peculiar, it
was not enough for them to cram their notebooks
with judges' decisions under statutes that had no
validity in the province ; they had to study constitu-
tional law, the foundations of English liberty and
the relations of government to the people. Thus
there arose a body of constitutional lawyers, some of
great intelligence and ability, whose views and argu-
ments, disseminated by the press, were eagerly read
by the people, who thus acquired a political educa-
tion.
At the opening of a series of events which was to
draw Maryland into the current of world-politics,
and make her an active force in a movement which
was destined to change the map of the world and
profoundly affect the destinies of a large part of the
human race, it was fortunate that she numbered
among her leaders men of unsurpassed wisdom, in-
telligence and patriotism, not to be turned from the
course that they believed right by fear of conse-
quences or by popular clamor. While there were
many hot-heads ready to precipitate revolution, con-
servative feeling was still strong in the province.
For generations Marylanders had been taught that
the British constitutional monarchy was the perfec-
tion of human government. Under Proprietary rule
it was to England that the people looked, as to a
wise and beneficent parent, for the redress of their
real or supposed grievances. Even the late harsh
measures of that government, while they irritated,
had not alienated them: they ascribed them to a
malignant ministry who had misled a good and well-
180 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
meaning king. The last two governors had been able
and just men; and Governor Eden had especially
endeared himself by his sincere good will and ami-
able disposition; so that the leading men, while op-
posing measures which he felt it his duty to take,
still held him in affectionate regard. Eden, nat-
urally, could not look with unfriendly eyes upon men
with whom he was on such cordial terms, and who
carefully avoided language that could wound him;
and thus he cherished a natural illusion that the
hostile feeling was confined to a few hot-heads and
demagogues, and that the men of standing and intel-
ligence were firmly loyal. These views he impressed
upon the British ministry ; and even when hostilities
had broken out, he advised that, if possible, nothing
should be done in Maryland to exasperate the peo-
ple and weaken the influence of the better sort. Thus,
in the early part of the war, Maryland was treated
as a loyal province, and even the malignant Dun-
more 's hands were tied. Prizes taken by British
vessels in the Bay were released, and the captain of
a cruiser sent a polite note to the governor asking for
fresh provisions and permission to capture a New
England vessel in the Severn, and was much aston-
ished when given to understand by the Council of
Safety that it was not to be thought of.
Maryland an Independent State.
Maryland, therefore, entered into the War of In-
dependence, urged by no spirit of vengeance and
smarting under no sense of personal wrong, but be-
cause she was convinced that the liberties of the
American people were at stake, and that in no other
way could they be maintained.
The convention had been constituted to see to the
enforcement of the non-importation agreement, and
to guard against invasions of the people's liberties.
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 181
Its powers gradually widened, and in 1775 it took
the government into its own hands. It sent delegates
to the Continental Congress, but forbade them to
concur in a declaration of independence until it was
plain that no other course was possible. On June 28,
1776, this restriction was removed. On July 3 the
convention issued The Declaration of Independence
of the Freemen of Maryland, setting forth in simple,
manly words, with no pompous verbiage, the wrongs
of which they complained, and renouncing allegiance
to the King of Great Britain. On August 2 the
Maryland delegates to the Congress, Chase, Paca,
Stone and Carroll, signed the engrossed copy of the
Declaration adopted by Congress.
The convention had always recognized its merely
provisional character ; and now, the Proprietary gov-
ernment having been swept away and Maryland hav-
ing arisen a free, sovereign and independent state,
it proceeded to put the capstone to its labors by
framing a Bill of Eights and a constitution for sub-
mission to the people. The elections were held in
November and December, 1776, and the state govern-
ment met in the following March, with Thomas John-
son as governor. The convention having wound up
its business, dissolved itself by simple adjournment,
thus terminating the existence of one of the most
remarkable political bodies in history. It was dis-
tinctly revolutionary in its origin; its powers were
undefined and practically unlimited; yet all its pro-
ceedings were characterized by wisdom, conserva-
tism and moderation. Neither successes nor mis-
haps, neither the passionate appeals of the loyalists
nor the blind clamor of the multitude ever moved it
from its path.
The state constitution provided for a governor
and an Assembly of two chambers, all elective, and
an appointed judiciary. The members of the Lower
182 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
House, four from each of the nineteen counties and
two from each of the two cities, Annapolis and Balti-
more, were to be elected directly by the people. The
fifteen senators were to be chosen by an electoral
college, and the governor by joint ballot of the two
Houses. The Senate was restricted to legislative
duties, and provision was made for a Council, chosen
by joint ballot, to act as advisers to the governor.
Under the colonial government the governor and
council were the Upper House, but now the executive
and legislative departments were entirely distinct.
This constitution still shows traces of distrust in
the judgment of the people, and the old idea that
popular wishes had better pass through aristocratic
minds before being realized in action. But the aris-
tocracy was not that of birth or wealth, but of intel-
lectual leadership.
At the very outbreak of the war, Maryland entered
into it with zeal, furnished men, officers and supplies
to the Continental army, and strained every nerve
to meet the constant demands of Congress. But
though represented in Congress, she acted in the war
as an ally only. She steadily refused to enter the
Confederation, not for private reasons, but in the
interest of all the states. Her attitude in this im-
portant matter requires some explanation.
Maryland's Part in Forming the United States.
When Virginia declared her independence and
formed her state constitution, she claimed as right-
fully hers all the land included in the charter of 1609,
namely, a tract extending two hundred miles north
and two hundred south of Point Comfort, and from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. Even conceding, as she
did, that this claim was modified by the treaty of
Paris, which made the Mississippi the western
boundary of the British possessions, Virginia's ter-
MARYLAND OFFICERS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY.
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 183
ritory would be several times as extensive as that of
all the other states put together. But she expressed
her willingness to "cede" to the states of Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Delaware and North Carolina the
lands covered by their respective charters. But as
the charter of 1609 had been revoked by due process
of law in 1624, and no claim made under it for a hun-
dred and fifty years, this extraordinary claim might
very well have waited for settlement until the issue
of the war was decided, but for a matter which made
it of immediate importance.
To induce soldiers to enlist, Congress had offered
bounties in land — a hundred acres to each private
and larger grants to officers. But where were these
lands to be procured? The United States had no
lands held in common. Before the Confederation
had been formed, Maryland had proposed to Con-
gress that the vast unsettled western territory should
be held as the common property of all the states, but
this proposition was rejected. Now Virginia, if her
claim were allowed, had an inexhaustible stock of the
most desirable land in America to draw upon, while
other states had little or none. Hence she could
draw to herself men willing to enlist, and other set-
tlers, by liberal grants of land at no cost to her treas-
ury, while the less fortunate states must buy from
her lands which, if won at all, would be won by the
blood and treasure of all. By selling these vast un-
settled, unmapped and unexplored lands at the most
moderate price, Virginia would have an unlimited
source of revenue and could dispense with taxation,
and thus attracting all immigrants would grow to a
giant state, greater than all the others combined — a
central orb to which the others would be insignificant
satellites. Both justice and the public welfare pro-
tested against such a claim, and Maryland steadily
refused to enter the Confederation until the matter
184 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
was placed on an equitable basis. Her arguments
carried weight: New York and Connecticut — which
both had "back lands" — approved the cession of the
land to Congress, and at last Virginia yielded, but
with certain restrictions. The Maryland idea that
these Western lands should be a public domain,
eventually to be organized into sovereign and inde-
pendent states, finally prevailed; this momentous
question was settled on a basis of equity, and on
March 1, 1781, Maryland entered the Confederation
as the thirteenth state.
Maryland's Part in Revolutionary War.
Though down to this time she had been but an ally,
no state had shown more zeal in the prosecution of
the war. Though no considerable battles were fought
on Maryland's soil, the Maryland Line, as her troops
in the Continental service were called, were con-
spicuous in both the Northern and Southern cam-
paigns. To recount their deeds would be to write
the history of the war, and but a few actions can be
mentioned.
At the battle of Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776, the
American forces were defeated and scattered by the
overwhelming force of the enemy, who had turned
their flank and was closing in around them. Their
capture was certain unless the British could be held
in check while the remains of the American force
could escape through the marshes ; and for this des-
perate service General Stirling chose the Maryland
regiment, then commanded by Major Gist. Though
the enemy outnumbered them five to one, this de-
voted band charged them again and again until they
had lost two hundred and fifty-nine out of about four
hundred that went into action, when, no retreat be-
ing possible, they surrendered, having saved the
American army.
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 185
In the disastrous affair at Camden, South Caro-
lina, on Aug. 16, 1780, Gist 's brigade bore the brunt
of the battle. At the Cowpens, on Jan. 11, 1781, the
British force under Tarleton had forced back, after
a stubborn resistance, the first line of the Americans,
who retired upon the second line, composed of Mary-
landers under Col. John Eager Howard, with some
Virginia militia and Georgia riflemen. This line
stood like a rock and even pressed back the enemy,
when Tarleton ordered up his reserve, extending
his line so as to threaten Howard's right flank, which
was also threatened by a body of cavalry. Howard
ordered his right company to change front to meet
this flank attack ; but the men, misunderstanding the
order, moved slowly off to the rear. General Mor-
gan, thinking that they were retreating, rushed up
to Howard, who called his attention to the steady de-
liberation of the movement. The British, confident
that the day was theirs, were rushing on with tri-
umphant shouts, when Howard suddenly halted his
men, faced them about, and they delivered a deadly
fire of musketry in the very faces of their pursuers,
who, taken by surprise, halted and recoiled, when
Howard's men charged them with the bayonet and
they broke and fled. The Marylanders then turned
to the right where the combat was still raging, and
delivered one fierce charge upon which the enemy
surrendered. At the battles of Guilford Courthouse,
March 15, 1781, and at Eutaw Springs, September 8,
the Maryland Line played a distinguished part. In
the latter engagement the British, though technically
victorious, in that they held the field, were really de-
feated, for they were compelled to retreat in haste
to Charleston, destroying their stores and abandon-
ing their wounded. In this battle Colonel Howard
received a wound which disabled him for the rest of
the war.
186 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
Maryland's Condition at Close of Revolutionary War.
The Treaty of Paris, June 20, 1783, formally ended
the war, which had been virtually ended by the sur-
render of Cornwallis on Oct. 19, 1781; and in No-
vember, Congress, by invitation of the Maryland
legislature, met in Annapolis, and there, on Decem-
ber 23, in the Senate chamber of the State House,
Washington resigned his commission.
Although Maryland had been spared the devasta-
tions of hostile armies, yet the war had been a sore
burden upon her. She had strained every nerve to
furnish not only men, but supplies to the Continental
army, and at the end of the war found herself loaded
down with debt, while in addition she had to shoulder
her part of the debt of the United States, then tot-
tering on the verge of bankruptcy. The usual pal-
liative, the issuance of bills of credit, had had the
inevitable result : the paper money had lost nearly all
purchasing power. But apart from direct taxation,
the state had two assets : the bank stock held in Eng-
land and the confiscated lands.
The former was a large fund accumulated in
colonial times and invested in Bank of England
stock, which was held by trustees. As this fund had
been deposited in time of peace and bore no relation
to any hostile measures, it was thought that, since
peace had returned, the state would have no difficulty
in recovering it. But the trustees, acting under legal
advice, refused to honor drafts upon it, and for the
time being it was sequestered, though part of it was
eventually paid.
Then there were the confiscated lands. In 1780 a
law was passed confiscating the landed property of
loyalists who refused to take the oath of allegiance
to the state, including, of course, the ungranted lands
of Henry Harford, the last Proprietary. But the
state did not assume the position of the Proprietary
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1888. 187
or the Crown as sovereign landlord; it abolished all
quit-rents, and the original freeholds became allodial.
The Tories gave much trouble throughout the war,
and several conspiracies were sharply put down.
But there were also among them men who were no
conspirators, but some of the best inhabitants of the
state. Looking at the matter now calmly, we can see
that the Loyalists may have been as patriotic, in the
sense of wishing well to the country, as their op-
ponents. They believed that the British constitu-
tional monarchy was the best government upon
earth, and they thought it little less than madness to
sever the ancient ties and embark on the unknown
sea of democracy because an arrogant ministry and
a purblind Parliament had passed a distasteful
measure. They could not conceive but that the disci-
plined force of Great Britain must be victorious over
raw colonials; and the miseries of war seemed to
them too heavy a price to pay for an abstract princi-
ple and a more than doubtful issue. But speculative
views had to yield to the logic of circumstances ; and
the Loyalists had to choose between swearing alle-
giance to the state or leaving it and forfeiting their
lands.
But Maryland's richest assets were her soil, her
climate, her waters and her energetic inhabitants.
With peace, prosperity began to grow. Immigrants
flocked to her lands, especially the rich lands of the
Piedmont region. Commerce, which had been ham-
pered by the Acts of Navigation, and manufactures,
which had been repressed by British jealousy, now
made rapid strides. Better facilities of transporta-
tion became necessary, and roads and canals were
planned and in part constructed. Shipbuilding
throve with commerce, for the European war follow-
ing the French Kevolution produced a demand for
American goods, and these were now carried in
188 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
American vessels. The Baltimore "clippers," ves-
sels built on the lines of the swift Bay craft, became
familiar in every port in Europe, and maintained
their reputation for three-quarters of a century.
James Rumsey.
The idea which was finally to supersede them and
to revolutionize the navigation of the world had its
birth in a Maryland brain. James Rumsey, born
about 1742 in Cecil county, who had shown much
fertility of invention in engineering and mechanics,
conceived the notion of propelling vessels by steam
power. His first idea, which may have been sug-
gested by the curious locomotion of the squids and
cattle-fishes, was to drive his boat by a jet of
water drawn in at the bow by a steam pump and
forcibly ejected at the stern. With a boat of this
kind he made a public experimental test on the Po-
tomac in 1786, which was considered successful, the
boat having been driven against the current at the
rate of five miles an hour. There being no suitable
machine shops in Maryland, Bumsey went to Eng-
land to improve his device, on which he was still en-
gaged when he died by apoplexy in 1792. As his
plans have not been preserved, we cannot say
whether he adhered to or departed from his original
principle.
Maryland's Fart in the Formation of the United States
Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation, which worked mod-
erately well while all interests had to be subordi-
nated to the exigencies of war, proved unsatisfactory
in times of peace, and steps were taken to amend
Into the history of the Constitution of 1787,
the struggle of opposing interests of which it
was the outcome, it is not necessary to enter. But
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 189
it is not amiss to recall the fact that Luther Martin,
the able attorney-general, withdrew from the con-
vention, and with almost prophetic vision laid before
the legislature the dangers lurking in the provisions
of the compact. He pointed out that the Federal
government, impatient of its restraints, would tend
to enlarge its own powers by construction until the
creature became the master of its creators; that a
power given for the purpose of providing a Federal
revenue would be extended to a control of all com-
merce and traffic ; that the newly invented crime of
"treason against the United States" might be
stretched to include anyone whom the Federal gov-
ernment was pleased to consider an enemy, and
might make men traitors to their own states ; that the
inequality of representation would destroy the equal-
ity of the states, and that in practice the smaller
states would be overridden by the larger — predic-
tions which have since been fulfilled to the letter.
Nor was Martin the only member gifted with pre-
vision; Patrick Henry, Pinckney, Mason, William-
son and Grayson all foresaw the inevitable results,
and uttered unavailing warnings. The Tenth
amendment, which it was fondly hoped would check
Federal aggrandisement, has proved about as effi-
cacious as a line drawn on the sand to stop the ad-
vancing tide, or a notice of "No admittance" to a
burglar.
But the constitution was probably the best com-
promise that could have been accepted; and after
all, the best constitutions have value only so long as
men recognize the sanctity of solemnly plighted
faith. Maryland, not without misgivings, ratified it
on April 28, 1788.
In 1791 Maryland and Virginia ceded to the United
States, for a permanent seat of government, a dis-
trict ten miles square, lying on both sides of the
100 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
Potomac. The public buildings were all to be erected
on the Maryland side. In 1846 the part to the south
of the Potomac was retroceded to Virginia.
Maryland's Part in the War of 1812.
The war of the Revolution had left bitter feelings
on both sides of the Atlantic, and several things
combined to exasperate animosity. England was at
war with France, the friend of America, and Amer-
ican privateers, sailing under letters of marque is-
sued by French consuls, had wrought havoc with
British commerce ; American ships, as neutrals, car-
ried on the trade of both belligerents, and it was
peculiarly galling to England to see the products of
her colonies carried thus to hostile ports. The Brit-
ish government ordered the capture of ships so em-
ployed, and Congress retaliated by restricting trade
with Great Britain. The counter- stroke to this was
the Order in Council, declaring the whole coast of
Europe in a state of blockade, to which Napoleon
replied by his Milan decree, confiscating all neutral
vessels that carried British goods, had touched at
British ports, or even been searched by British
cruisers ; so that, between the hammer and the anvil,
American commerce was crushed out of existence.
Still more irritating was the alleged right of
search. England was desperately in want of seamen
for her navy, and claimed the right to overhaul
American ships on the high seas and take from them
British deserters. The captains, of course, recog-
nized a deserter in any able-bodied man, clapped
him in irons and carried him off despite all protests
and proofs. A storm of indignation arose. One
case was peculiarly flagrant: three deserters from
a British ship lying off Annapolis had enlisted on
board the American frigate Chesapeake, Commodore
Barren. Their return was demanded, but the men
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 191
proved that they were American citizens who had
been forcibly impressed, and the demand was re-
fused. When the Chesapeake sailed she was brought
to off the Capes by the British frigate Leopard,
whose commander not only demanded the men, but
also claimed the right to search for other deserters,
and on Barren's refusal, opened fire, killing and
wounding twenty-nine men. The Chesapeake was
entirely unprepared for action, and Barren sur-
rendered. This attack on a ship of the navy, in time
of peace, filled the cup of exasperation to overflow-
ing, and war was declared on June 18, 1812.
The incidents of that war, except so far as they
concerned Maryland, need not be detailed here.
At the beginning of the Eevolution, Maryland, as
has been shown, was treated with great leniency, but
now she was marked out for special vengeance.
Most of the swift privateers that had preyed on
British commerce had sailed from the Chesapeake,
and Baltimore in particular, was regarded as a nest
of pirates to be destroyed without mercy.
Maryland was quite aware of this, and began or-
ganizing her militia and getting ready for defense.
As it was the constitutional duty of Congress to as-
sist in repelling invasions, she imagined that she
might rely on Federal aid if her own force was insuf-
ficient. In 1813 this was to be tested. Admiral
Cockburn with a British fleet sailed up the Bay,
ravaging both shores ; and as there was little doubt
that Baltimore was the objective point, the Federal
government was appealed to for aid. It turned a
deaf ear ; New York and Virginia had more votes in
Congress, and to them aid was sent, while Maryland
was left to shift for herself. Luther Martin had
proved a true prophet in this instance, and others
were to come.
Baltimore, however, undismayed, set about her
192 THE HISTOKY OF MARYLAND.
preparations for defense, while Cockburn was plun-
dering farms and villages, not always with impunity.
The Navy department at last roused itself to the ex-
tent of placing a small flotilla of gunboats for coast
defense under the command of Capt. Joshua Barney,
an old soldier of the Revolution. These boats could
take refuge in shallow waters; so Cockburn fitted
out a fleet of barges which encountered Barney in
Battle Creek, Calvert county, but were driven off
with loss. But while the admiral was burning farm-
houses and carrying off pigs and chickens, he was
waiting for a reinforcement of Wellington's Penin-
sula veterans, who arrived in August, 1814, under
the command of General Boss. The plan now was to
strike a blow at Washington and then attend to
Baltimore.
As the enemy's troops could now be brought by
way of the Potomac and Patuxent within easy strik-
ing distance of the capital, the Federal government
awoke from its comatose condition long enough to
entrust the defense to General Winder, of Baltimore,
a capable officer, and this done, relapsed into leth-
argy, ignoring all Winder's appeals for calling
out the militia and strengthening the strategic
points.
Cockburn sent his transports up the Patuxent, and
Barney, whose flotilla was in that river, disembarked
his men, burned his boats and marched to Bladens-
burg, within six miles of Washington, where a force
of Maryland and Virginia militia had prepared to
make a stand, to whom he brought the aid of his men
and a small battery of two guns. Here, on August
24, Boss made his attack. The defense at first was
spirited, Barney's battery in particular rendering
admirable service, but the steady onset of the British
veterans proved irresistible, and the Americans
broke and fled. Barney's battery held its own until
MAEYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 193
its gallant commander was struck down by a musket-
ball. He was taken prisoner by the British, but im-
mediately paroled by General Ross. Winder, with
what men he could rally, set out for Baltimore, and
Boss entered Washington and burned the capitol and
public buildings.
Baltimore knew that now her time had come, and
began to make ready, the defense being entrusted to
Generals Smith, Winder and Strieker. All citizens
turned out to construct a line of earthworks to the
east of the city, while to resist the attack by water
they strengthened Fort McHenry at the mouth of
the channel with several small batteries, and sank
vessels in the channel itself. On Sunday, Sept. 11,
1814, about nine thousand British troops under Boss
disembarked at North Point, about fourteen miles
southeast of Baltimore, and took up their line of
march the next morning. General Strieker led out a
force along the Philadelphia road to reconnoitre, and
on news of the enemy 's approach formed a line of
battle across the road. A small scouting party, in-
cluding a few riflemen, was sent ahead, who suddenly
encountered the British advance and a sharp skirm-
ish followed. Boss, thinking from the firing that the
Americans might be in greater force than he had
supposed, rode to the front to see the situation, and
was mortally wounded by a shot from the woods
which lined the road. Colonel Brooke, the second in
command, resumed the march, and Strieker fell
back to a position near the city. This was the battle
of North Point, in itself an insignificant skirmish,
but important in that it replaced the able and daring
Boss by the cautious and somewhat pedantic Brooke.
On the next morning Brooke examined the de-
fenses of the city, and finding them stronger than
he had expected, determined to postpone the attack
until he had tfie co-operation of the fleet, which was
Vol. 1—13.
194 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
to bombard the city from the south while he stormed
the earthworks on the east.
But a hitch occurred in these arrangements. On
Tuesday morning fifteen vessels, including five bomb-
ketches, arrived within about two miles of Fort
McHenry and opened a bombardment to which the
Fort made no reply, as its guns could not carry that
distance ; but all attempts to pass or to take it in the
rear were repelled by a destructive fire. All that
Tuesday night Baltimoreans listened to the bursting-
shells, yet still more afraid of a cessation of firing1
which would announce the surrender of the fort and
the doom of the city. But Wednesday's sun saw the
flag still flying ; and in a few minutes the fleet drew
off and the naval attack was abandoned. Brooke,
on learning of the failure of the fleet, withdrew his
land force, and Baltimore had seen for the first and
"ast time the face of a foreign enemy.
Just before the bombardment, Francis Scott Key,
i young lawyer of Frederick, had gone with a flag
of truce on board Admiral Cochrane's ship in the
endeavor to procure the release of a captured friend.
He was received with courtesy, but detained on
board his own vessel until the attack was over, and
there all night he watched the bombardment. When
morning showed the flag still flying and the baffled
fleet drawing off, his joy found expression in a song
— "The Star-spangled Banner."
The war now dwindled to attacks on property;
plundering raids on the one side and the ceaseless
activity of privateers on the other, until ended by
the Treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814.
Growth of Industries, 1815-1880.
Peace being restored, a great expansion of indus-
try began. Commerce and manufactures flourished,
and population grew. The mineral riches of the
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 195
state, especially coal and iron, began to be utilized.
Baltimore, the centre of industry, rapidly increased,
and was now the third city of the United States.
Tobacco, so long the staple product of Maryland,
•was far outstripped by corn and the cereals, and
Baltimore became the first flour market of the world.
Marylanders were keenly alive to the importance of
the growing west, and were determined to strain
every nerve to make Baltimore the Atlantic outlet
of the western trade, and a canal was planned to
connect the Chesapeake and the Ohio. But what es-
pecially impressed the popular imagination was the
opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway
in England. Such a road from Baltimore to the
Ohio was planned, the stock eagerly subscribed, and
the first stone was laid, with imposing ceremonies,
on July 4, 1828, by the venerable Charles Carroll,
then over ninety years of age and the last surviving
signer of the Declaration of Independence. The
cars were at first drawn by horses, but in 1830 steam
locomotives of a very primitive pattern were intro-
duced.
The natural advantages of Baltimore as a com-
mercial and manufacturing centre were early recog-
nized. Placed in a mild climate, at the junction of
the Piedmont plateau and the Coastal plain, near the
head of the Chesapeake Bay, where the estuary of
the Patapsco forms a safe and capacious harbor
where vessels of all sizes can load and discharge in
the city itself, she occupies an almost ideal site for
a great commercial city. The great Bay, two hun-
dred miles in length and indented with rivers and
estuaries, furnishes alone, from the products of land
and water, an extensive trade. The natural routes
of trade from the west and southwest converge to
her. The men of 1824 were awake to these ad-
vantages.
196 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
Throughout the War of Independence Maryland's
confidence in Washington had been unbounded and
her devotion ardent, and the men of this time deter-
mined to perpetuate — not his glory, but their devo-
tion to his memory in some worthy memorial. A
majestic monument of white marble was determined
on. A beautiful site in Baltimore was given by Col.
John Eager Howard, and the monument, crowned by
a colossal statue of Washington in the act of sur-
rendering his commission, was completed in 1830.
Slavery in Maryland.
Some of the energies that had been engaged in the
Kevolutionary War, when deprived, by its close, of
an external field of activity, found employment in
the domestic field of politics. The undying issue of
freedom against restraint is always with us, and as
there was no longer a Proprietary government or a
British ministry to oppose, one-half the people set
itself in opposition to the other. This divergence
showed itself in the making of the Federal constitu-
tion, where the party which desired a strong central-
ized Federal government was opposed to the party
which desired the utmost freedom compatible with
order. There were also more concrete antagonisms
— the Northern states were largely commercial and
manufacturing, and the Southern states agricultural.
Well in the background, as yet, lay the question of
slavery. This existed in all the states, but at the
North the number of slaves was insignificant, while
all the industries of the South rested upon slave
labor. The disparity of interests came out in the
apportionment of Federal representation on the
basis of population, the North contending that the
slave was property and not to be counted as a person,
while the South maintained that he was a person and
a producer. It ended in a compromise, illogical, as
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 197
compromises usually are — the slave population was
to be reckoned at only three-fifths of its actual
numbers.
The importation of negro slaves into Maryland
began at a very early period. They were found very
useful as farm laborers, but they were not brought
in in any considerable numbers until after the treaty
of Utrecht in 1713, which put the African slave trade
into English hands. As the very lucrative trade
with Africa depended upon a market for the slaves,
they were forced upon the southern colonies. These
began to look with apprehension on the influx of
negroes, whose number in Maryland had risen to
50,000 by 1761; but all efforts to restrict their im-
portation were frustrated by England. Their nat-
ural increase, also, was more rapid than that of the
whites, and there would have been grounds for the
gravest alarm but for their peaceful and inoffensive
disposition. Crimes of violence were unknown
among them, and as for their ineradicable propensity
to pilfering, that was accepted as a part of their
nature.
Political Parties.
So slavery in itself was not at that time a political
question. But the great fundamental issue which,
in the Thirteenth century, assembled men at Eunny-
mede, in the Seventeenth signed the Petition of
Right, and in the Eighteenth the Declaration of In-
dependence, still remained alive. It presented itself
in various concrete forms such as the Tariff, Internal
Improvements, the Bank of the United States; but
whatever form it assumed, it was always funda-
mentally the same, the increase of the powers of
government at the expense of the liberties of the
people. In this country, owing to our complex form
of a union of free states, each state being the people
as an organized political unit, and the people of the
198 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
United States as such having no political existence,
it took the shape of an issue between the Federal
government and the states.
These two antagonistic principles were embodied
in two parties: the Federalists (afterwards Whigs)
and the Democrats. They were great and legitimate
parties, each favoring a policy which professed to
be for the good of all, and not for that of a part.
Consequently there were many Whigs at the South
and Democrats at the North, and there was no sec-
tional cleavage, though there was, and always had
been, a consciousness of opposing interests.
In Maryland the parties were pretty equally bal-
anced, and elections often turned on the personal
popularity of the candidates. From 1788 to 1801,
Federalist governors were elected; from 1801 to
1811, Democratic; from 1811 to 1818, Federalist, and
from 1818 to 1833, Democratic. These alternations,
however, cannot be taken as exactly recording
changes of public sentiment, as these governors were
elected by the Assembly.
State Convention, 1837.
In 1837 the state constitution was reformed; the
State Council, a relic of Proprietary rule, abolished,
and provision made for electing the governor and
state senators by popular vote.
Work of George Peabody.
The whole country had entered ardently upon a
period of commercial expansion, and perhaps no
state more recklessly than Maryland. Railroads and
canals on a gigantic scale were planned, and the credit
of the state pledged for vast sums, largely loans
effected in Europe, the mere interest on which was a
staggering load to carry. The collapse of the Bank
of the United States, showing the pernicious nature
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 199
of a scheme which placed the credit and prosperity
of the whole country in the hands of a few men, came
as a terrible blow to Maryland. Universal bank-
ruptcy seemed imminent. Maryland struggled for
five years under her burden of debt, and in 1842
found herself unable to pay the interest due her
creditors. Then it was that George Peabody, a
wealthy banker of London, but once a citizen of
Maryland, rendered the state a service which entitles
his memory to lasting gratitude. By the influence
of his high character, even more than his wealth, he
succeeded in restoring confidence in the good faith
of the state. Governor Pratt impressed upon the
people the duty of maintaining the public credit at
all costs, and prevailed on the legislature to impose,
and the citizens to submit to, a heavy rate of taxa-
tion. With this and with rigid economy, arrears of
interest were paid off and regular payments re-
sumed. For his great services which saved the honor
of the state, Mr. Peabody refused to accept any
compensation.
Slavery a Political Issue.
In politics apparently new issues kept arising, but
it was as in a kaleidoscope where the same pieces
are arranged in new figures. As the powers dele-
gated to the Federal government were strictly de-
fined and limited by the constitution, those who
desired to enlarge them relied upon " implied pow-
ers" and a "liberal construction." If the giant could
not be let loose at once, his chain might be gradually
slackened and weakened. The Democrats main-
tained that the only safety lay in a strict construc-
tion. This war might have been waged at the ballot-
box for many years had not a question arisen which
properly had nothing to do with Federal politics, but
which was adroitly used to convert friends into foes
and dissentience into hate.
200 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
The abstract question whether negro slavery is in
itself right or wrong need not occupy us here. Who-
ever knows the negro race knows that if they co-
exist in considerable numbers with the whites, they
must be held under firm control, or the ruin of both
will result. During the colonial period, and for more
than half a century of the republic, nobody doubted
this. In 1776 slavery existed in all the thirteen
states. But while the consenus was universal as
to the status of negroes born in servitude, there were
differences of opinion as to the importation of
slaves. This Maryland, in colonial times, had vainly
tried to check, as has been shown.
Whether the negroes were worse or better off as
slaves to white Christians than they had been as
slaves to black savages is a matter of no consequence ;
it was certainly a pernicious system that was pour-
ing into the country an inferior and unassimilable
race, naturally incapable of progress. This was so
apparent that all the states abolished the slave trade
in 1808. But there remained another cause of anxi-
ety; under slavery the blacks multiplied so rapidly
as to give rise to grave apprehensions. In Mary-
land, from 36,000 in 1748 they rose to nearly 50.000
in 1761. In 1790 they were 34 per cent, of the popu-
lation," and 38 per cent, in 1810. This was the high-
water mark, after which the ratio steadily declined,
and now (1908) it is only 19 per cent.
As there were many slaves at the South and few
or none at the North, this marked a distinction be-
tween the sections, but it bore no relation to the an-
tagonistic interests. It mattered nothing to the
North with what kind of labor the cotton was grown
that fed her mills and paid for her products, any
more than it mattered to the South whether the fish-
ermen of Nantucket or the shoemakers of Lynn were
white or black.
MARYLAND FKOM 1776 TO 1868. 201
But another question came in: the Whig, or old
Federalist party, could not hope to fix itself immov-
ably in power unless it could unite the whole North
against the South. The slavery question seemed to
offer them the means of doing this.
As early as 1789 there had been a society formed,
having as its object the gradual emancipation of the
slaves; but as this would only change their status
without lessening their numbers, it met with but
little favor. A more rational idea was that of col-
onization in Africa, and a colony for manumitted
slaves was founded by Marylanders in 1821. Great
hopes were entertained of this colony, but it was
found that few were willing to go and fewer still to
stay; and those who did stay, removed from the re-
straints and influence of white society, retrograded
toward their natural level.
A number of persons who advocated the abolition
of slavery by law, let the consequences be what they
might, attempted to form a political party in 1839,
and in speeches and through the press uttered fiery
denunciations of a state of things of which they had
no knowledge, and depicted horrors which existed
only in imagination. But they soon found out that
a political party cannot be founded on disinterested
philanthropy, nor could they persuade the Northern
people that they had anything to gain by ruining
their best customer. Naturally, the party that
wanted an issue and the issue that wanted a party
were drawn together by irresistible attraction. The
party whose aim was to secure perpetual supremacy
for the North saw what use could be made of this
question by assuming high moral grounds and ap-
pealing to men's passions. The former Federalists,
now Whigs, assimilated the Abolitionists and became
the Republican party. But still the South could not
believe that these violent threats and denunciations
202 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
reflected any general sentiment of the Northern
people.
The attempt of John Brown in 1859, at Harper's
Ferry, to arouse and arm the negroes against the
whites was like a flash of lightning in the night, re-
vealing the whole situation. For Brown was not a
half-crazed fanatic, nor was his plan merely to liber-
ate a handful of negroes. He and his supporters be-
lieved that the blacks throughout the whole South
could be roused to revolt if they had a daring leader,
and that it only needed to strike a blow to start an-
other massacre of Santo Domingo. And when the
press, the pulpit and the rostrum at the North rang
with praises for the attempt and lamentations over
its failure, it was natural to conclude that its success
would have been hailed with general joy.
The position of Maryland at this time was very
painful. Her people were devoted to the constitu-
tion and the Union. She was a part of the South,
but had many close ties with the North. There was
hardly an advocate of secession within her borders,
and even later, when it was seen that the secession
of some of the states was inevitable, none but the un^
thinking desired that Maryland should secede. It
was clear that as the Federal navy could control the
Chesapeake and its waterways, and the whole north-
ern border lay open to the Federal army, the seces-
sion of the state would be followed by her immediate
subjugation — a heavy blow to the Confederacy at
the very opening of hostilities.
Maryland in the War of Secession.
Men's minds being thus agitated, the fall of Fort
Sumter on April 14, 1861, and the President's call
for troops, created intense excitement. On the 19th
a body of troops from Pennsylvania and Massachu-
setts, on their way to Washington, were received by
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 203
an angry crowd who placed obstructions on the track
and would not allow the cars to pass, which were
then run back to the President Street station. The
Mayor and Marshal of Police were well aware of
the danger, and had nearly the whole police force of
the city on the ground. The commanding officer of
the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, despite the warn-
ings of the Mayor and Marshal, determined to march
his men through the city to Camden station, where
cars were awaiting them. The police formed an es-
cort and the Mayor marched at the head of the col-
umn along a street lined with spectators, most of
whom had been attracted by mere curiosity, to whom
he earnestly appealed to refrain from hostile demon-
strations. Excitement grew; the crowd was un-
armed, but stones were thrown, striking some of the
soldiers. The order was given to fire and several
citizens fell. The soldiers, as they advanced, kept up
an irregular fire, even shooting up and down cross-
streets at persons who had nothing to do with the
affray. This roused the people to fury. Numbers
came running at the sound of the firing, and the
troops would have fared badly had not the escort of
police confronted the crowd with drawn revolvers.
In this way the column reached Camden station,
where they took refuge in the cars. A few miles
beyond Baltimore they fired at and killed a citizen
who was fishing in the Patapsco, and had not even
heard of the outbreak. In this unhappy affair twelve
citizens and four soldiers were killed.
The Northern press breathed fire and slaughter,
and demanded that Baltimore be laid in ashes. Of
course this was mere idle vaporing, but as consider-
able bodies of troops were known to be on the way,
and as another attempt to pass would surely have
resulted in a more violent outbreak, since the citi-
zens, almost to a man, were arming, the Governor
204 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
and Mayor gave their sanction to the destruction of
the bridges to the north and east of the city, thus
checking the advance of forces until the authorities
at Washington could be appealed to. A deputation
of leading citizens called upon the President and
explained the situation, and orders were issued that
the troops for Washington should avoid Baltimore
and go by water to Annapolis. Federal forces, soon
after this, occupied the city and constructed fortifi-
cations at commanding points.
In view of the crisis a special session of the legis-
lature was called to meet in Frederick, Annapolis
being under military occupation. At the election in
Baltimore politics, in the ordinary sense, were cast
aside, and the wisest and most conservative citizens
elected with unanimity. A rumor having found cre-
dence that this legislature intended to pass an ordi-
nance of secession, they hastened to declare that
they had no such intention, nor did they possess the
power to pass such an ordinance. But they passed
vigorous resolutions against the conduct of the war
and the treatment of the state as if it were a con-
quered province.
It would seem that the Federal authorities cher-
ished some peculiar malevolence against Maryland,
although she had not seceded nor offered any resist-
ance. Baltimore was put under the control of a
Provost- Marshal, and all the machinery of govern-
ment superseded by military force. Arbitrary ar-
rests occurred every day, and citizens were dragged
from their homes and sent to Northern prisons, not
only without trial, but without ever being informed
of the charges against them. Spies and informers
were everywhere watching to pick up something that
could be carried to the Provost-Marshal. Mayor
Brown and Marshal Kane, who had saved the lives
of the soldiers on the 19th of April, were sent to Fort
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 205
Warren. The legislature which had declared against
secession was surrounded by troops, and several of
its members arrested and sent to a military prison.
A citizen was seized at his house by a party of sol-
diers and imprisoned in Fort McHenry. His friends
applied to Chief Justice Taney of the Supreme Court
of the United States for a writ of habeas corpus,
which was granted, but the commanding officer re-
fused to obey it, saying that he had been ' ' authorized
by the President ' ' to suspend the writ. Judge Taney
then issued a very able opinion showing that the
President had no such power; but, of course, the
constitution was now regarded as a dead letter by
those who had solemnly sworn to maintain it.
All these things aroused hot indignation at the
time; now they are rather matter for sober reflec-
tion. It is better to see ugly truths than to be blind,
and the events of this time taught a lesson which
should never be forgotten, and scattered illusions
which can never return.
Exasperated by such deeds, thousands of Mary-
landers crossed the Potomac and joined the Confed-
erate army. This was easy at first, but later it was
extremely difficult, and many who would have gone
were either deterred from starting or abandoned the
attempt. But even to the last, secret communica-
tions were kept open and letters and messages
forwarded.
The number of Marylanders in the Confederate
army is not exactly known, as they were under vari-
ous commands, but some estimate them at about
20,000 men all told. A large number also joined the
Federal forces, either voluntarily or forced by the
conscription ; and so far as courage and conduct are
concerned, the state has no cause to be ashamed of
any, whether they wore the blue or the gray.
The only battles of any moment fought on the soil
206 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
of Maryland were those of South Mountain and An-
tietam, when General Lee entered Pennsylvania in
1862.
The former occurred on September 14 at two
passes in the Blue Eidge, about eight miles northeast
of Harper's Ferry, which was strongly fortified and
held by about 12,000 Northern troops. This it was
Lee's plan to capture, and Jackson was hurrying to
attack it. The Federal general, McClellan, was has-
tening to its relief, and the battle was fought to hold
him in check. The Confederates, though greatly out-
numbered, held McClellan until nightfall, and Har-
per's Ferry surrendered the next day.
The battle of Antietam was fought on the 16th and
17th of the same month, and takes its name from a
small stream which divided the armies of McClellan,
with about 90,000 men, and Lee, with about 40,000.
The engagement lasted two days and was one of the
fiercest of the war. At the end Lee withdrew in
good order to the south of the Potomac, and McClel-
lan's losses had been so heavy that he was unable to
follow.
Political Conditions During the War.
We return now to the political conditions.
A pretense of free institutions had been left to the
state, and elections were held under due precautions
to secure the choice of candidates acceptable to the
party in power. Citizens of doubtful "loyalty" had
their votes rejected, or were even arrested, and sol-
diers were stationed at the polls to intimidate voters,
many of whom, knowing the uselessness of the at-
tempt, remained at home. To make assurance surer,
a test-oath, a device unheard of in the state and
adopted from the old iniquitous British laws, was
offered to voters.
The legislature of 1864, elected by such means,
devised a plan to fix their party immovably in power
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868. 207
by framing a new constitution. They did not, how-
ever, write one and declare it adopted, but somewhat
pedantically went through the form of submitting to
the people the question of calling a constitutional
convention. The voter, unless of known "loyalty,"
was required to answer a string of questions so
framed as to catch any but a thorough-going parti-
san. It was not sympathy with the Southern cause
that they feared — Southern sympathizers never
thought of voting — what they feared was the con-
servative men of their own party, of whom there
were many, who, while entirely faithful to the cause
of the North, disapproved these outrageous methods.
To catch these the judges were empowered to refuse
the ballot of any voter whom they thought suspicious.
Constitution of 1864.
The convention met at Annapolis on April 27, 1864.
In the constitution they drew up, beside tests which
disfranchised all but these partisans, there were two
remarkable articles, the fifth and twenty-fourth, one
intelligible and one unintelligible. The fifth article
declared that every citizen owed "paramount alle-
giance to the Constitution and Government of the
United States.'* Here was a phrase to stagger the
strongest understanding. "Paramount" belongs to
a sovereign, "allegiance" to a subject. How could
there be two allegiances, one paramount to the
other? Allegiance is due to a person, natural or
moral. Now what was the "government" that
claimed allegiance? Surely not the administration,
a body of public servants elected by the people of
the states. The creator could not owe allegiance to
its own creature. Then where was to be found the
liege lord and paramount sovereign of the United
States? Who had ascended the vacant throne of
George III. ? Of course the framers of this precious
208 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
phrase had no idea what they meant by it, beyond a
muddled notion that it would rivet still firmer the
fetters they were forging for their fellow-citizens.
But the twenty-fourth article was a very chryso-
lite for clearness. It provided that "hereafter in
this state shall be neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except for crime * * * and all per-
sons held to service or labor as slaves are hereby
declared free."
The value of the slaves in Maryland at this time
was estimated at $35,000,000. Many of these be-
longed to adherents of the party in power, who were
thus called on to suffer for their faith. But, on
broader grounds, what would be the result of turning
loose eighty-seven thousand negroes to shift for
themselves was a question of the most serious kind.
The framers of this constitution knew that it would
have to be forced through, so they provided a new
set of qualifications for those who were to vote on it,
thus making it operative before it had been adopted.
Yet, despite all their contrivances for suppressing
the will of the people, there was a majority of two
thousand in the state against it. Then they tried
their last resort: they took the soldiers* vote outside
the state, and thus pulled it through by a very small
majority. Under this constitution, tainted at every
step of its generation and adoption by fraud, perjury
and violence, the people of Maryland remained for
three years.
Maryland at the Close of the War.
The cessation of the war found Maryland still in
the state of a conquered province. Of 95,000 voters
about 60,000 were disfranchised, and of the re-
mainder about 15,000 were opposed to the radical
faction, so that the state was ruled by little more
than one-fifth of its voters. But the exigencies of
MARYLAND FROM 1776 TO 1868 200
war now no longer existing to confuse ideas of jus-
tice and right, a "conservative" wing arose in the
Republican party who refused to indorse the extreme
measures of the radicals. The latter, seeing that
power was slipping from them, made frantic efforts
to retain it, even to the extent of imploring the Fed-
eral authorities to restore military law, but their
pathetic appeals were unheeded. They had, per-
haps, somewhat discredited themselves with the au-
thorities at Washington by declaring against negro
suffrage, though they now withdrew their objections.
The Conservative Union men very faithfully col-
laborated with the Democrats in restoring the reign
of justice and impartial law. The officers of regis-
tration, seeing that the tide was turning, no longer
attempted to apply the act in its severity, but lis-
tened only to specific charges supported by adequate
proof. A legislature was now elected which fairly
represented the people, and one of its first actions
was to pass an act authorizing an election to decide
on the calling of a constitutional convention. The
election was held in April, 1867, and delegates to the
convention were elected by a large majority.
In May, 1867, the convention assembled at An-
napolis, and drew up a Declaration of Rights and a
Constitution which were submitted to the people and
adopted by an overwhelming majority. The Declara-
tion of Rights declared "That the provisions of the
Constitutions of the United States and of this state
apply as well in time of war as of peace; and any
departure from or violation thereof under the plea
of necessity or any other plea is subversive of good
government and tends to anarchy and despotism."
Maryland had never ratified the Fourteenth
amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
but as that had already become the law of the land,
the word "white" was omitted from the qualifica-
T»l. 1—14.
210 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
tions for suffrage. Persons elected to office were re-
quired to swear to support the Constitution of the
United States and "bear true allegiance to the State
of Maryland. ' ' The sweeping character of the revo-
lution is shown by the fact that in the legislature of
1868, for the first time in the history of the state,
there was but a single party, every member of both
houses being a Democrat. Thus Maryland, after six
years of bondage, became once more a free state.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — American State Papers (Washington, 1832-61); Ar-
chives of Maryland (Vols. XL, XII , XVI , XXI.) (Baltimore, 1882);
Brown, George W.: Baltimore and the 19 April, 1863 (Baltimore, 1887);
Elliott, J. : Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution (Phila-
delphia, 1861); Hening, W .: Statutes of Virginia (Richmond, 1808-20);
Ingersoll, C. J.: History of the War of 1812 (Philadelphia, 1852); Mary-
land Gazette and other contemporary journals; Niles' Register (1816-49);
Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland (Baltimore,
1816-49); Scharf, J. T.: History of Maryland (Baltimore, 1879).
WILLIAM HAND BROWNE,
Professor of English Literature, Johns Hopkins University;
author of Maryland, The History of a Palatinate, etc.,
editor of the Archives of Maryland and the Maryland
Historical Magazine.
CHAPTER HI.
HISTORY OF MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909.
Political Condition at Close of War.
The state of Maryland is essentially conservative,
although the conservatism is not of that hide-bound
type which resists all improvement. The large
number of first things which are attributed to the
state show the progressiveness which characterizes
the people, yet this progressiveness carries with it
no feverish search for novelties; a careful testing,
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 211
either by the Marylanders or by other peoples, is
demanded before new measures are adopted. Thus
it was thoroughly characteristic of the state that the
worst taunt which could be flung at a political party
was the term radical, and that the Democratic party
dominated Maryland for many years, while it placed
at the head of its tickets its name with the adjective,
conservative, but lost the state on national issues to
the Republican party, when it had lost the right to
the use of this adjective.
In 1865 the state of Maryland found itself emerg-
ing from the great war of the past four years which
was just closing. During that combat she had taken
the side of the Union, though her sons had fought
bravely in the armies on both sides of the struggle.
She had suffered comparatively little devastation
from the campaigns of the war, although the Con-
federate armies had thrice crossed her frontiers on
important movements and two noteworthy battles
had been fought within her borders. In 1864 a con-
stitutional convention had prepared fundamental
laws for the state, which Augustus "VV. Bradford,
the governor, had just declared to have been adopted
by popular vote. This constitution was redolent of
loyalty to the Union, prescribed severe test oaths as
to loyalty to be taken by individuals before they
could exercise political rights, gave Baltimore in-
creased representation in the legislature, abolished
slavery and provided for the establishment of a
state system of public schools.
The election of November, 1864, had resulted in
the choice of Thomas Swann as governor and of
Dr. C. C. Cox as lieutenant-governor, both of Balti-
more City. Both men were candidates on the Union
ticket and were opposed by Democrats, who sup-
ported the national platform on which McClellan
sought the presidency. In national politics the state
212 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
was represented in the Senate by Beverdy Johnson,
an astute and genial lawyer, who was one of the
leaders of the Federal bar, and by Thomas Holliday
Hicks, who had been governor at the outbreak of the
war. At Governor Hicks 's death in 1865, his place
was filled by the election of J. A. J. Creswell, of
Cecil county, who was later appointed postmaster-
general by President Grant, and who served as one
of the United States counsel in the Alabama claims
before the Geneva tribunal. Johnson, the other
senator, was eminently serviceable to the country as
a conservative, endeavoring to harmonize the di-
verse interests during the early reconstruction pe-
riod, and was remarkably influential, owing to his
knowledge of constitutional law and his personal
popularity with the members regardless of their
party affiliation. He retired from the Senate in
1868 to become Minister to Great Britain. He was
cordially received there, and after a year's service
returned to the practice of law in Baltimore, closing
a long life of public service with a sudden death in
1876. From the House of Representatives, the elo-
quent and able Henry Winter Davis was just about
to retire and to finish a brilliant career by an un-
timely death in December, 1865. Congress paid
him the unprecedented tribute of having him pub-
licly eulogized, though he was not a member at the
time of his death. Among the representatives
elected from the state to the Thirty-ninth Congress
the most noteworthy were: Francis Thomas, an er-
ratic but forceful man, a former governor of the
state, who represented the Western Maryland dis-
trict and the extreme Union men, and the gallant
soldier, Gen. Charles E. Phelps, just returning from
command of a Maryland regiment in the Union
army. After a brief career in Congress General
Phelps followed President Johnson into the Demo-
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 213
cratic party, and returning to the practice of law
won high reputation as a judge of the Baltimore
courts for nearly thirty years, while the literary
labors of his leisure hours made him widely known
as a Shakespearean scholar. Montgomery Blair,
who had served in Lincoln's cabinet, was now re-
siding in the state and threw himself into the con-
servative movement.
There had been no Republican party in Maryland
during the war, but the dominant party had been the
Union one, composed of Old Line Whigs, Know-
Nothings and Democrats, banded together because
of the predominance of one issue — the preservation
of the Union. They had stayed together until the
close of the war, but now a wide cleavage came
among them, and in the days of the reconstruction
of the Southern states those Union men, who were
not willing to follow the course of the majority in
Congress, aligned themselves with the Democratic
party in the state, while the remnant of the Union
party reorganized itself as the Republican party.
The division may be seen clearly in the course of the
two men chosen to executive office in 1864, for Gov-
ernor Swann became a Democrat, while Lieutenant-
Governor Cox became a Republican. The result of
the readjustment of voters was that the vast major-
ity of citizens became Democrats for the time, and
the ranks of the Republicans, though much increased
by the negro voters, who were added to the electorate
by the Fifteenth amendment to the Federal consti-
tution in 1870, were so much in the minority that,
from 1866 to 1895, Maryland suffered the disad-
vantages of being a one-party state.
In 1865, while the unconditional Union men con-
trolled the state, Maryland had its first law for the
registration of voters. Disloyal persons were rig-
idly to be excluded from the lists, and the registrars
214 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
were given power to refuse to permit suspected per-
sons to register, even though they took the oath of
allegiance. The courts upheld the constitutionality
of the act, but it produced a widespread dissatis-
faction and only a comparatively small number of
voters registered. Governor Swann at first sup-
ported the law, but just before the November elec-
tion of 1866 he changed his position, removed the
police commissioners of Baltimore City, who had
been extremely zealous in rigorously enforcing the
law, and appointed others more conservative. These
latter were thrown into jail on a warrant, but were
released on writ of habeas corpus shortly after the
election. In spite of their arrest and the limited
electorate, Baltimore City cast a majority for the
Democratic ticket, and the majority for that party's
legislative nominees throughout the state was very
considerable. This legislature, convening in Janu-
ary, 1867, repealed the registration law, and enacted
one requiring merely an oath of future loyalty, while
it also provided for a vote in April on the question
of holding a new constitutional convention. During
the session Governor Swann was elected to the
United States Senate, a law requiring one senator
to come from the Eastern Shore being repealed for
that purpose. Fearing, however, that Dr. Cox, as
governor, would follow a different policy, Governor
Swann changed his mind at the last minute and de-
clined the honor. The legislature thereupon elected
as senator Philip Francis Thomas, an Eastern
Shoreman, who had been in Buchanan's cabinet in
1860. In spite of Beverdy Johnson's efforts, the
Senate, in February, 1868, refused to receive
Thomas on the ground of a doubt as to his past
loyalty, and the legislature then elected George
Vickers, of Kent county, as senator. Governor
Swann sat in the House of Eepresentatives as a
REVERDY JOHNSON.
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 215
Democrat from 1869 to 1879. When Johnson re-
tired from the Senate in 1868, the governor ap-
pointed, at his request, William Pinkney Whyte to
succeed him. Whyte was a man of wonderful physi-
cal force and energy, who entered politics about
1850 and closed his long and distinguished career in
1908, while again a member of the national Senate.
Constitution of 1867.
A large majority of the electorate favored the con-
stitutional convention, and it assembled at Annapo-
lis on May 8, 1867. Its sessions lasted until August
17, and its acts were ratified by a two-thirds major-
ity of the voters at the election held on September
18. The constitution went into effect on October 15,
and is still in force, but slightly amended. It pro-
vides that the question of a constitutional conven-
tion be submitted to the people every twenty years;
but, both in 1887 and in 1907, the people voted
against holding such a convention, fearing the un-
certain result of its deliberations.
In some ways the constitution of 1867 was a reac-
tionary one from that of 1864. It abolished the
office of lieutenant-governor and changed the oath
of allegiance to the state, so as to omit all mention
of the United States; but it preserved many of the
important features of the previous constitution. A
governor to serve for four years was provided and a
legislature of two houses : the upper house or Senate,
a continuous body elected for four years, to consist
of one member from each county, or legislative dis-
trict of Baltimore City (of which there were then
three, now increased to four), and a lower house or
House of Delegates, elected for two years, composed
of from two to six members from each county, ac-
cording to population, as ascertained by state or
Federal census. Each legislative district in the city
216 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
is represented by the same number of delegates as
the largest county. Although Baltimore City has
nearly half the population and pays considerably
over half the taxes of the state, it is seen that her
representation is not proportionate to her import-
ance, and a seeming jealousy between the city and
the counties makes it doubly difficult, at times, for
the former to obtain her desires. The legislature
holds biennial sessions limited to ninety days. The
state is divided for judicial purposes into eight cir-
cuits, each of which elects one member of the Court
of Appeals. Baltimore City constitutes one circuit,
with ten judges, in addition to the member of the
Court of Appeals who does not sit in the courts be-
low. Each of the other seven circuits contains from
two to four counties and elects two judges, who are
associated in holding court with the member of the
Court of Appeals from the circuit, who sits also as
chief judge of the circuit courts. The high reputa-
tion of the Maryland judiciary has been still fur-
ther enhanced by the work of such chief judges of
the state Court of Appeals as E. J. Bowie, E. H.
Alvey, J. M. Eobinson, James McSherry and A.
Hunter Boyd.
By the constitution, Wicomico county was estab-
lished on the Eastern Shore with Salisbury as its
county seat. In 1872 the extreme western portion
of the state was erected into Garrett county, with
Oakland as its county seat, and the number of
twenty-three counties thus attained has not since
been changed.
The Eepublican party in Maryland struggled to
check the march of events, but the Maryland courts
decided against their contentions and Congress re-
fused to listen to their complaints. The first elec-
tion under the new constitution was held in Balti-
more on Oct. 23, 1867, and resulted in the election of
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 217
the Democratic candidate by a vote of 18,420 to
4,896. Two weeks later the state chose as governor
Oden Bowie, the Democratic nominee, by a vote of
63,694 to 22,050, and associated with him an unani-
mously Democratic legislature.
Noteworthy Events, 1868-1008.
In July, 1868, a noteworthy flood occurred on the
Patapsco Eiver and in Baltimore. In autumn of
that year the electoral vote of the state for president
was cast for Seymour, the Democratic candidate,
and in 1869 another unanimously Democratic legis-
lature was chosen. In 1870 the Republicans carried
several counties by small majorities in the congres-
sional election, but elected no congressmen. A year
later, largely through the efforts of Dr. Lewis H.
Steiner, they carried Frederick county, and under
his fearless and persistent leadership for twelve
years in the legislature the party became an im-
portant factor in the state. At the election of 1871,
William Pinkney Whyte was elected governor by a
majority of 15,000, and the Democratic party con-
tinued under his leadership for several years. In
1874 he was chosen United States senator and, ac-
cepting the position, was succeeded by James Black
Groome, of Cecil county, for the remainder of the
gubernatorial term. The legislature of 1872 had, as
Speaker of its House of Delegates, Arthur P. Gor-
man, of Howard county, a man of remarkable astute-
ness and shrewdness. During the years which fol-
lowed, as president of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal, which was controlled by the state in virtue
of large investments therein, he built up a remark-
able following in the Democratic party, and in 1880
he was chosen by the legislature to succeed Governor
Whyte in the United States Senate. From that time
to his death in 1906, the control of the Democratic
218 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
organization in Maryland was in the hands of Sen-
ator Gorman and his friends, and, except for four
years from 1899 to 1903, he was continuously in the
Senate.
In July, 1872, the National Democratic Convention
met in Baltimore and nominated Horace Greeley
for the presidency. In November the state chose
electors favorable to him by a majority of less than
a thousand, so distasteful was his nomination to the
conservative wing of the Democrats, while two of
the Eepublican candidates for Congress were
elected.
In July, 1873, a destructive fire raged in Balti-
more. In the same year the Baltimore & Potomac
Eailroad was opened and gave a second route from
the North to Washington, and the city was traversed
by a tunnel which permitted trains to run through
it from east to west. In the endeavor to gain south-
ern trade, Baltimore made an investment of a mil-
lion dollars in the Valley Eailroad of Virginia, from
which she has had but little return. Some ten years
later the Pennsylvania Eailroad bought the line
from Baltimore to Philadelphia, and the Baltimore
& Ohio followed this purchase by building a parallel
line to obtain an outlet for its trade.
The one-party state is apt to be one into which
abuses creep, and such was claimed to be the con-
dition in Maryland. Objecting to the control of
Governor Whyte and his associates, a number of
Eeform Democrats broke away from their party in
1875, refused to accept the nomination of John Lee
Carroll, of Howard county, for governor, and, fusing
with the Eepublicans, nominated a reform ticket,
headed by J. Morrison Harris and containing the
name of S. Teackle Wallis, a leader of the Baltimore
bar, as candidate for attorney-general. A reform
ticket was also nominated for the mayoralty election
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 219
in Baltimore and was defeated by a small majority.
In the gubernatorial election Harris carried the
counties, but a large majority returned for the
Democratic ticket in Baltimore City was sufficient
to elect Carroll. Great frauds were proved, but the
face of the returns was accepted as the basis of
choice and Carroll was inaugurated. Now began an
age-long conflict, which has no parallel in American
history. Organizing an association, under the name
of the Baltimore Reform League, Wallis and his
associates waged a never-ending struggle with the
state and City Democratic organizations. Gradu-
ally, a large number of independent voters came to
hold the balance of power in Baltimore. No inde-
pendent ticket was nominated and fusion occurred
very seldom, but, from time to time, Eepublican
candidates received the support of the Reform
League, and that support, frequently, has led to an
election. This, in turn, led the Democratic party to
nominate men of higher character, and has much
improved political conditions.
In 1876 the state swung far over into the Demo-
cratic column, electing six Democratic congressmen
and casting a majority of nearly 20,000 for the
Tilden electors. The Centennial Exposition in that
year aroused much interest in the state. July, 1877,
saw the most terrible strike of laboring men which
Maryland has known. A reduction in the wages of
the employees of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Company led to rioting and such disturbances that
the National Guard were called out and the assist-
ance of Federal troops was asked.
The efforts of the reform element led to the nomi-
nation by the Democratic party of William T. Ham-
ilton, of Washington county, for the governorship
in 1879, and he was elected by the large majority of
22,000. During his administration a number of im-
220 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
portant measures were adopted by the legislature,
although that body failed to follow many of Gov-
ernor Hamilton's recommendations looking towards
good government. In 1880 the state's electors voted
for Hancock, the Democratic nominee for president.
In 1882 the reform element had its first victory in
Baltimore City, electing "new judges" by coalition
with the Eepublicans over the old judges renomi-
nated by the regular Democrats.
In Baltimore a new city hall had been erected and
dedicated in 1875. Some ten years later a Federal
building was constructed, and after another decade
a splendid municipal courthouse was placed on the
square still further to the west. The courthouse
was opened in 1900, and, like the city hall, it was
built within the original appropriation. A new
custom house, somewhat to the south of the city hall,
was completed in 1907, and thus the city has a rather
unusually excellent civic centre. In October, 1880,
the Baltimoreans celebrated, with elaborate festivi-
ties, the sesqui-centennial of the city's foundation.
At the conclusion of Governor Hamilton's admin-
istration, he was succeeded by Robert M. McLane, of
Baltimore. In 1884 Maryland's persistence in vo-
ting for Democratic candidates for the presidency
was rewarded by the election of Cleveland. He ap-
pointed Governor McLane United States Minister
to France, and the remainder of the gubernatorial
term was filled by Henry Lloyd, of Dorchester
county. Maryland's congressional delegation dur-
ing this decade numbered such eloquent and able
men as J. V. L. Findlay, Isidor Bayner and Henry
Stockbridge.
In 1887 the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which had
been thought a remarkably prosperous corporation,
ceased to pay dividends, and many citizens who
were stockholders suffered severe losses. In 1896
MARYLAND FKCBl 1865 TO 1909. 221
the road went into the hands of receivers : John K.
Cowen and Oscar G. Murray. Cowen was an able
lawyer and a man of great power, and by the dar-
ing issue of receivers' certificates and extensive re-
construction of the road he was able, after little more
than three years, to return it to its stockholders un-
der the original charter. He became the first presi-
dent of the reorganized road, and during his direc-
tion of its affairs a tunnel was dug under the city
so that there might be direct connection be-
tween the lines on the east and west sides of Balti-
more.
In 1885 the first electric railway in the United
States was opened in Baltimore. It did not prove a
success, however, and was soon abandoned. A cable
road was opened in 1889 and a trolley line in 1892,
and the various lines were thereafter speedily elec-
trified, so that within a decade all street car trans-
portation in Baltimore was by electricity.
The financial interests of the state suffered a
shock in 1890, when the defalcation of the state
treasurer became known. He had been universally
trusted and yet had managed to misappropriate
considerably over $100,000 of the state 's funds. The
loss to his bondsmen was heavy and the incident
gave an especial incentive to the founding of bond-
ing companies in Baltimore.
The "belt" of suburban territory to the north and
west of Baltimore was annexed to the city in 1888.
The spring of the next year saw disastrous floods in
western Maryland, which so damaged the Chesa-
peake & Ohio Canal that it was never afterwards
successfully operated, although it was not sold to
the Western Maryland Railroad until over fifteen
years later.
The Democratic candidate for governor, Elihu E.
Jackson, of Wicomico county, was elected in 1887,
222 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
and in the next year the state's electoral vote was
again cast for Cleveland.
There had long been complaint of intimidation
and fraud at elections, especially in Baltimore City,
and to prevent the recurrence of such acts an Aus-
tralian Ballot Law was adopted in 1890. It resulted
in much bettered conditions, but being only a partial
measure needed considerable improvement.
Frank Brown, of Carroll county, was elected gov-
ernor on the Democratic ticket in 1891, and in 1892
the electoral vote was cast for Cleveland for the
third time. Governor Brown was obliged to call out
the militia on account of a strike of coal miners in
Frostburg in 1894. The congressional elections, in
the fall of that year, showed for the first time a pop-
ular Republican majority in the state. This fact
gave the party new courage, and in 1895 it nomi-
nated one of its best men, Lloyd Lowndes, of Alle-
gany county. The Reform League and many
Democrats, such as Governor Whyte, who had be-
come dissatisfied with conditions in their party and
in the state, supported Lowndes, and especial ef-
forts were exerted to prevent fraud or intimidation
at the polls in Baltimore. The election resulted in
the choice of Lowndes as governor by a majority of
18,000. The legislature was Republican on joint
ballot, and chose George L. Wellington, of Allegany
county, as United States senator, disregarding the
Eastern Shore law and recognizing Western Mary-
land, the strongest Republican portion of the state.
The most important measures of the session were
the passage of an excellent ballot law prepared by
the Reform League (which did away with all in-
timidation and riot at the polls), and the establish-
ment of the State Geological Survey, whose achieve-
ments have been very extensive and of a remark-
ably high character.
MARYLAND FROM 18G5 TO 1909. 223
The nomination of William J. Bryan for the presi-
dency by the Democratic party in 1896 was not
favorably received in Maryland, where the senti-
ment in favor of a gold standard was very strong.
The Prohibitionists nominated Joshua Levering, of
Baltimore City, for president, but his vote was small,
and the Republican ticket, headed by McKinley, car-
ried the state by 32,000 plurality, while every Re-
publican nominee for Congress was elected. Presi-
dent McKinley called to his cabinet, as postmaster-
general, James A. Gary, who is a prominent manu-
facturer of Baltimore and who had long been promi-
nent in state politics. In 1897 a legislature was
chosen with Republican majorities in both houses,
the only time such an event has occurred, and at the
Session of 1898, Hon. Louis E. McComas, a jurist of
experience, was chosen United States senator, while
a new and greatly improved city charter was
adopted for Baltimore, coordinating the various de-
partments and vesting large powers over appropria-
tions in a board of estimates.
The same year saw the outbreak of the Spanish-
American war. The patriotism of the state mani-
fested itself in the enlistment of two regiments of
volunteer soldiers and a battalion of naval militia;
but the short duration of the struggle prevented
them from engaging in active campaigning. Two
of the popular heroes of the war in the regular
forces, however, Admiral W. S. Schley and Gen.
H. G. Otis, were born in or near Frederick City.
The new charter of Baltimore City went into ef-
fect in 1899 with the Democratic party in power,
and the same party won the gubernatorial election
in the autumn, owing, in large part, to party dis-
sensions, Governor Lowndes being defeated for re-
election, by John Walter Smith, of Worcester county.
Four years after Governor Smith's retirement from
224 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
the governorship he was elected to the United States
Senate.
In 1900 the state cast its electoral vote for McKin-
ley for the second time by nearly 14,000 majority.
In 1901 Governor Smith called an extra session of
the legislature to amend the ballot law and to pro-
vide for a state census, since certain frauds, which
were afterwards corrected, had been found in the
Federal census of 1900. The election law adopted
at this session abolished the party columns and em-
blems from the ballot and marked the beginning of
a continuous policy on the part of the Democratic
party organization for the suppression of the negro
vote. The election of 1901 turned upon the question
of approving, or condemning, this election law and
certain so-called trick ballots in some of the counties,
and resulted in the choice of a Democratic legisla-
ture, but in the election of a Republican Clerk of
the Court of Appeals and a Democratic comptroller
by very small majorities. In recent years the state
has shown a tendency to cast its vote for Republican
candidates on national issues and for Democratic
ones on state issues; thus, in 1902, the Republicans
carried Maryland on the Congressional vote; but
in 1903 Edwin Warfield, of Howard county, was se-
lected as governor by a majority of 12,000 over
Stevenson A. Williams, of Harford county, a strong
candidate named by the Republicans.
The period since Governor Smith's election has
been one of remarkable construction of public build-
ings at Annapolis. The United States government
has erected a new Federal building there and has re-
constructed the Naval Academy at the cost of sev-
eral millions of dollars. A building for the Court of
Appeals and the State Library was erected near the
State House, and a very large annex was added to
the State House itself in Governor Warfield 's ad-
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 225
ministration, while the interior of that fine colonial
structure was remodeled so to restore its original
appearance as far as possible.
An important event was the great fire of Feb. 7,
1904, in Baltimore, which burnt over about 160 acres
of ground and destroyed nearly $100,000,000 worth
of property. Fortunately, the public officials acted
with promptness and decision, and so effectively
that no lives were lost and there was no robbery.
Fortunately also, the legislature was in session and
passed a number of remedial measures, establishing
a Burnt District Commission to deal with the diffi-
cult problems arising from the fire. The city had
recently sold its controlling interest in the Western
Maryland Railroad and still had in its treasury the
sum received from that sale. This money was used
for widening streets and for other improvements,
and the spirit of progress urged the city on to the
construction of an adequate sewerage system, the
development of the public parks and the building of
modern municipal wharves to take the place of those
which had burned.
In the autumn of 1906 a month's canvass of the
city produced subscriptions sufficient to enable the
Young Men's Christian Association to erect a new
building at a cost of over six hundred thousand
dollars.
The legislature of 1904 proposed to the voters a
constitutional amendment relating to the suffrage.
This amendment is usually known by the name of
John P. Poe, Esq., a leading lawyer who framed it,
included a so-called " grandfather's clause," and
gave considerable discretionary power to the officers
of registration. It was opposed by Governor War-
field, the Democratic attorney-general, and many
other prominent members of that party, as well as
by the united body of Republicans, and was defeated
Vol. 1—15
226 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
in the election of 1905 by a majority of 34,000, al-
though a legislature with a Democratic majority
was then elected. The legislature of 1904 elected
Isidor Bayner as United States senator, and also
passed a law known as the Shoemaker Law, de-
signed to promote good roads by lending state aid
to their improvement. This movement towards im-
proved roads received a great impetus in 1908, when
the legislature voted to issue bonds to the amount
of $5,000,000 for that purpose. At the presidential
election of 1904, the vote of the state was very close
and, by small pluralities, seven Democratic electors
and one Eepublican elector were chosen. Shortly
after President Roosevelt's inauguration he called
to his cabinet, as secretary of the navy-, and later as
attorney-general, Charles J. Bonaparte, of Baltimore
City, who had long been prominent in reform move-
ments.
The most important measures of the legislature
of 1906 were the passage of the so-called Haman
Law for oyster culture in the waters of the state, and
the sale of the state's holdings in the stock of the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, by which sale the state's
debt was virtually extinguished. A general local
option law was introduced, but failed of passage.
In 1907 the Republicans nominated George R.
Gaither, of Baltimore City, for governor, and he
was defeated by Austin L. Crothers, the Democratic
candidate of Cecil county, by about 7,000 majority.
In 1908, the electoral vote of Maryland was again
divided, two Republicans and six Democrats being
chosen.
Industrial Growth.
Maryland began her career as an agricultural
state and her chief city gained her first prominence
as a commercial emporium. Agriculture and com-
merce are still the chief occupations of the citizens
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 227
of the state, but mining for coal in the Alleghany
mountains, quarrying for building stone throughout
western and northern Maryland, and manufacturing
of various sorts now diversify the industry of the
people. Tobacco is still raised in southern Mary-
land, grains of various sorts are produced success-
fully, especially in Frederick, Washington, Carroll
and Queen Anne's counties. The neighborhood of
large cities has greatly increased the trucking in-
dustry in the light soils of the Chesapeake Bay
counties and dairy farming in western and northern
Maryland. Sufficient areas of woodland still stand
so as to make lumbering profitable, and the cultiva-
tion of fruit trees furnishes an important occupa-
tion. The Bay affords supply of fish, crabs, clams
and oysters. The time of many men is occupied not
only by the growth, but also by the canning and
preservation of fruit and oysters. Baltimore is the
chief manufacturing centre of the state and has
many establishments engaged in the manufacture
of copper and iron, in the weaving of cotton duck,
in the making of fertilizers and in the sewing of
ready-made clothing, while the ship-building in-
dustry at Sparrow's Point on the Patapsco is of
considerable importance.
As the Bay afforded means of transportation to
ocean-going sailing vessels and to the smaller bug-
eye or canoe, from the time of the first settlement,
so it and its estuaries have now provided routes
for many steamboat lines which have made access
easy for passengers and freight from various parts
of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia to Baltimore.
Two railway lines cross the Eastern Shore, connect-
ing with steamboat lines for Baltimore, and, along
the centre of that shore runs the railroad from Cape
Charles to Philadelphia, a line which is fed by
branches touching all the important towns, and
228 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
which accentuates the age-long struggle for trade
between the emporium on the Chesapeake and that
on the Delaware. Across the state, from east to
west, runs the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Bail-
road, the oldest such corporation in America, con-
necting the state with the south and west. Paral-
lel with it, from Delaware to the District of Co-
lumbia, is the course of the lines of its former great
rival, the Pennsylvania Eailroad. The same road
controls the Northern Central Eailroad, which gives
access from Baltimore, through Harrisburg, to the
West and to the Great Lakes. Trolley lines now
connect Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, and
a short railroad runs from Baltimore through Har-
ford county into Pennsylvania, while Frederick has
connection with York, and Hagerstown has connec-
tion with the Shenandoah Valley and with the Cum-
berland Valley. The most important other road is
the Western Maryland. This railroad connected
Baltimore and Hagerstown for many years, and re-
cent extensions have led it through Cumberland into
West Virginia. The limestone turnpikes of west-
ern Maryland have long been famous, and the recent
good roads movement, elsewhere referred to, makes
the outlook most hopeful for improved transporta-
tion throughout the state.
Progress in Education, Etc.
During the period, which is now under dis-
cussion, must be assigned Maryland's most con-
spicuous progress in education. Joseph M. Cushing,
of Baltimore City, secured the insertion of a
clause in the constitution of 1864, providing for the
establishment of a state system of education, and he
also secured the appointment of Kev. Libertus van
Bokkelen as the first state superintendent. A State
Normal School was opened in 1866 and county super-
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 229
intendents speedily were at work, organizing the
work of instruction throughout Maryland. Henry
Barnard's year's service at St. John's College as
president, before he was appointed the first national
superintendent of education, was too short a time
for him to leave much mark, but the long and efficient
career of the genial Irishman, M. A. Newell, as
principal of the State Normal School, was important
for the state. The constitution of 1867 continued
the state system, and, after a generation of begin-
nings, the years in which Gushing was president of
the State Board of Education from 1896 to 1903
were characterized by decided advance. A second
normal school at Frostburg, a normal department at
Washington College in Chestertown, the systemati-
zation and strengthening of teachers' institutes, the
rise of high schools, the distribution of free school
books to pupils, the separation of the superin-
tendency of education from the principalship of the
Normal School, and the appointment to the former
office of the tactful man, M. Bates Stephens — these
are some of the educational achievements of that
period. The larger part of the direct tax of the
state is levied for schools, and is supplemented by
large contributions from counties and city. The
system of education in Baltimore City is about forty
years older than the state system, is independent of
state control and has been greatly improved, in the
last few years, under an able, unpartisan school
board.
In 1870 the state made its first appropriation for
the education of negroes, and in 1908 it established
a colored normal school, taking over as its nucleus
an institution founded by Gushing and his asso-
ciates immediately upon the emancipation of the
slaves and long in receipt of a subsidy from the
state. This policy of subsidizing private educational
230 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
and beneficent institutions is so characteristic of
Maryland that it is worthy of mention. The build-
ing of the Maryland School for the Blind at Balti-
more was dedicated in 1868, and other and special
features of the state's educational system have been
founded since 1865 : such as the excellent school for
the deaf at Frederick in 1867, the school for colored
deaf and blind at Baltimore in 1872, and the work
for adult blind in 1908. In 1902 the Maryland State
Library Commission began its useful work of aiding
municipal libraries and distributing traveling libra-
ries. This period is also filled with new educational
enterprises under private management. The Mc-
Donough School for the training of poor boys, and
Rock Hill College, a Roman Catholic institution at
Ellicott City, were opened in 1865. In 1866 the Pea-
body Institute, the gift of George Peabody to Balti-
more City, where its founder once resided, began
its important career as a great reference library, a
seat of public lectures, a hall of art and a conserva-
tory of music. In 1867 the Jesuits opened their
theological seminary at Woodstock and the Redemp-
torists theirs at Ilchester, while the Methodists be-
gan a training school for colored men in Baltimore,
which later developed into Morgan College. In 1868
the Methodist Protestant Church opened its suc-
cessful Western Maryland College at Westminster,
beside which college the church placed its theological
seminary in 1882.
The greatest stimulus to education came, however,
from the foundations established by Johns Hopkins,
a Baltimore banker, whose estate of about seven
million dollars, after his death in December, 1873,
was equally divided between the university and hos-
pital which bear his name. The university was the
first to open its doors, inaugurating as its first presi-
dent, that renowned educator, Daniel C. Gilman, in
MAEYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 231
1876. He remained at its head for twenty-five years
and was succeeded by the noted chemist, Ira Kem-
sen, who had been a professor at the university from
its opening. President Oilman's policy was to es-
tablish an institution which should lay its chief em-
phasis upon systematic graduate instruction leading
to the degree of doctor of philosophy. He insti-
tuted a system of fellowships for the encouragement
of original research and caused the physical sciences
to take a more prominent place than they were
wont to do in other American universities. The pro-
fessors were carefully selected and arrangements
were early made for the establishment of a uni-
versity press, through which the results of the re-
search of professors and students might be made
public. It was found necessary to have an under-
graduate department, but, as no dormitories were
provided for it, its students have been chiefly those
residing in Baltimore or its vicinity. The under-
graduate institution was arranged in a three-years'
curriculum, with the courses combined into several
groups, following in general the method which
President Gilman had used while he was director of
the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale. The reputa-
tion of the university spread with a perfectly aston-
ishing rapidity. There was a widespread demand
in the United States for carefully arranged gradu-
ate courses, and the Johns Hopkins both met and
stimulated it. The Johns Hopkins Hospital was
opened in 1889 and arrangements were at once made
to add a medical school to the university. After
careful thought and the selection of eminent men
to fill the several chairs, the school was opened in
1893, and from the very first took a front rank
among the medical schools of the world. Its stand-
ards have been very high and it was the first
medical school in America to demand of every one
232 THE HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
entering its walls a bachelor's degree from some
college.
Professional education has flourished greatly in
Baltimore since the close of the war. The Univer-
sity of Maryland had conducted a medical school
since 1807 and continues to preserve its high posi-
tion. In 1882 it established a dental school, and
in 1904 it annexed the Maryland College of Phar-
macy, while the faculty of law, reorganized in 1869,
has conducted a highly successful practical school,
at which the instructors have been the leaders of the
bench and bar of the city. Just before celebrating
its centennial in 1907, the university added St.
John's College at Annapolis, founded in 1784, as its
department of arts and sciences. Among the inde-
pendent medical schools which have flourished in
Baltimore during our period have been the College
of Physicians and Surgeons, founded in 1872, and
the Baltimore Medical College, founded in 1882,
while the Baltimore University School of Law,
founded in 1890, and the Baltimore Law School,
founded in 1900, have trained with care a consider-
able number of legal practitioners. The establish-
ment of state examining boards in law and medicine
has done a great deal to elevate the standard of these
professions. Although many educational institu-
tions must be omitted, reference is necessary to the
great success of the Maryland Institute Schools of
Art and Design, under the presidency of Joseph M.
Cushing and the directorship of Otto Fuchs. Al-
though its building was destroyed by fire in 1904,
and its two great supporters died about the same
time, it found other able leaders and friends, and
now, reestablished in two fine new edifices and sub-
sidized by both city and state, it is able to do a more
efficient work than ever before.
In 1882 Enoch Pratt, a wealthy merchant and
MARYLAND FROM 1865 TO 1909. 233
financier of Baltimore, offered to give the city about
eleven hundred thousand dollars for the establish-
ment of a public circulating library. He intended
that the whole city be served by the library, which
should comprise a system consisting of a central
building and branches in different localities, and
asked that the institution bear his name and that the
city support it with an annuity of $50,000. The city
accepted the gift, the buildings were erected, Dr.
Lewis H. Steiner was called from Frederick to or-
ganize the library, and it was opened in January,
1886. In the twenty years which followed, it clearly
demonstrated its extensive usefulness and justified
the generosity of its founder.
Latest of all the important educational institu-
tions of Baltimore came the Woman's College,
founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1884,
and opened four years later. During the most of
its existence it has been under the able presidency
of Eev. Dr. J. F. Goucher, whose generous donations
to it have been very considerable, and it has attained
a widespread reputation as giving a well-balanced
and thorough culture to women.
Jacob Tome, a wealthy citizen of Port Deposit, in
1889 endowed the secondary school which bears the
name of Tome Institute and is situated at his resi-
dence. Owing to the fact that Mr. Tome left it sev-
eral million dollars, the institute has been able to
maintain, with great success, a boarding school for
boys and day schools for both sexes. About 1890,
the Reformed Church in the United States took pos-
session of the old buildings of the Female Seminary
at Frederick and established therein a school of high
order for girls. We have devoted thus much space
to educational matters because in no other way has
the progress of Maryland been more marked during
the past forty years.
234 THE HISTOKY OF MARYLAND.
In the line of charities and correction, great prog-
ress has also been made. At the very beginning of
our period was held the great Southern Belief Fair
for the aid of the former slaveholding states, and
the whole period has been marked not only by bene-
ficent acts, but by systematic development of orga-
nized charity. In Baltimore City the Charity Or-
ganization Society and the Association for the Im-
provement of the Condition of the Poor, after a pe-
riod of effective separate work, have united them-
selves for greater effectiveness in the Federated
Charities. A house of correction for short-term
prisoners was opened at Jessups in 1877, and a long
and wise wardenship of the penitentiary has re-
sulted in that institution returning a revenue to the
state, while the moral character of the convicts has
been much benefited by the treatment received
while incarcerated and by the efforts of the Prison-
ers Aid Society. The character of the county jails
still leaves much to be desired, however, and, to
Maryland's disgrace, she still postpones providing
for all her insane and feebleminded in state institu-
tions, though excellent care is given to those who can
be received in the institutions already established.
Training of the feebleminded was begun in 1889, and
an excellent institution is maintained at Owings
Mills, but is not able to accommodate all who need
its care. A State Board of Aid and Charities was
established in 1900, but has not yet attained to the
desired stage of efficiency.
Religion.
In religious matters, the development has been
steady. The Roman Catholic Church, under the
statesmanlike direction of Archbishops Spaulding
and Bayly and Cardinal Gibbons, and the Lutheran
churches have handled admirably the problems of
MARYLAND FBOM 1865 TO 1909. 235
assimilating immigrants. The Methodist churches
have been active and retain their numerical pre-
dominance among Protestant denominations, while
the work of the Baptists and Presbyterians, and of
the Protestant Episcopalians forcefully led by
Bishop Paret, has been noteworthy among the forces
that make for righteousness. A large Hebrew im-
migration from the east of Europe has diversified
considerably the population of Baltimore City.
In general, the history of Maryland since 1865 has
been one filled with achievement and with such a
spirit as to make one hopeful as to the future and
confident in the determination of the people to make
the state embrace its opportunities and advance to
a high position among American commonwealths.
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Johnson (1908), History of Education in Maryland (1894), and Institu-
tions and Civil Government in Maryland (1899); Whealton. L. N.: Vir-
ginia Boundary of Maryland (1906); Williams, T. J. C.: Washington
County (2 vols., 1906).
BERNARD C. STEINER,
Librarian, The Enoch Pratt Free Library; Associate in History
Johns Hopkint University.
THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
CHAPTER I.
KENTUCKY A PAET OF VIRGINIA, 1606—1792.
Finding of Kentucky.
' HE early explorers of this continent gave
the name of Virginia to all that vast re-
gion lying along the Atlantic coast and
of undefined boundary on the west, which,
in the era of territorial acquisition in the
New World, was claimed by England.
On April 10, 1606, the first English charter for
the establishment of colonies in North America was
signed by King James I. This grant provided for
the founding of two colonies, but for the purposes
of this article one only, the " Southern," need be
mentioned. It was to be planted anywhere between
34 and 41 degrees of N. latitude, and to extend fifty
miles north and fifty south of the spot first chosen
for settlement, and fifty miles inland.
In 1609 this charter was amended and the bound-
aries of the colony enlarged. They were to extend
200 miles north and 200 miles south of Old Point
Comfort, at the mouth of the James Eiver, and "up
into the land from sea to sea. ' '
Col. Reuben T. Durret in his address delivered
June 1, 1892, at the celebration of the centenary of
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 237
Kentucky, furnished an exhaustive and interesting
account of the explorations beyond the mountains.
"Two explorers," he said, "of different nationalities, but in pursuance
of the same wild hope of a waterway across the continent to the Pacific,
discovered Kentucky almost at the same time. They were Capt.
Thomas Batts, a Virginian of whom nothing but this discovery is known,
and Robert Cavalier de La Salle, whose explorations in America made
him known in both hemispheres ... In 1671, Gen. Abraham Wood,
by the authority of Governor Berkeley, sent Capt. Thomas Batts with a
party of explorers to the west of the Appalachian Mountains in search of
a river leading to China. The journal of their route is rendered obscure
by meagre description and the changes of the country and the names
since it was written, but it is possible that they went to the Roanoke,
and, ascending to its head waters, crossed over to the sources of the
Kanawha, which they descended to its falls. Whether they wandered
southward to the Big Sandy and crossed over into Kentucky we cannot
determine from their journal; but whether they did so or not, they were
in that part of Virginia of which Kentucky was a part, and then: dis-
coveries would open the way to the one as well as to the other.
"Less doubtfully connected with the discovery of Kentucky is the
name and fame of La Salle, one of the greatest explorers of the Seven-
teenth century. ... At the age of twenty-three he came to America
to devote his great enthusiasm and indomitable energy to the solution
of the problem of a great transcontinental river running towards China.
... In 1669 some Seneca Indians hastened his plans by telling him
that there was a river that rose in their country and wound its way
southward and westward to the distant sea. This was evidently ex-
tending the Alleghany, the Ohio, and the Mississippi into one great river,
and it so fired the imagination of La Salle that he at once began prepara-
tions to explore it. He entered the Alleghany by a tributary near its
source, and followed it and the Ohio through the wild forests on their
banks until he reached the falls where Louisville now stands. In making
this long journey he was the discoverer of Kentucky from the Big Sandy
to the rapids of the Ohio."
Almost another century elapsed after the dis-
coveries of Batts and La Salle before authentic in-
formation about this territory was obtained. In
July, 1749, the Virginia Council authorized the
Loyal Company to enter and survey 800,000 acres
of the public lands of Virginia, upon which families
should be settled. These lands were to be located
north of the line dividing Virginia and North Caro-
lina, and to extend westward. Dr. Thomas Walker
was selected by the Company to locate these lands.
238 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
With a party of five men he began his journey
into the wilderness on March 16, 1750. Having
crossed the valleys of the Clinch and Powell rivers,
as they were afterwards called, he came to that
branch of the Appalachian range which he named,
and which is now called, the Cumberland Mountains.
He bestowed the same appellation on the river
flowing along its northwestern slope. Skirting the
mountains to find an opening, he entered what is
now Kentucky through Cumberland Gap.
Ascending the Cumberland River to a point near
the site of the present town of Barbourville, Walker
erected on the northwest side of the river a log-
house twelve by eight feet in dimensions, which he
hoped would be the headquarters of a future settle-
ment. Clearing a small plot of ground around this
cabin, he planted corn and peach stones. This little
cabin was finished April 15, 1750, and "was," says
Colonel Durrett, "the first house built in Kentucky
by white men."
The Ohio Company had also been authorized to
locate 500,000 acres on both sides of the Ohio River
and settle families thereon. Christopher Gist was
appointed its agent to select these lands. He en-
tered the designated territory at a point opposite
the mouth of the Scioto on March 13, 1751, ascended
the Licking River, crossed to the headwaters of the
Kentucky and came out by way of Cumberland Gap.
The time, however, was unpropitious for such
enterprises and neither company was a financial
success. The Loyal Company surveyed 201,554
acres of its grant, and was allowed title to 45,390
acres. The Ohio Company located 200,000 acres
on the Licking River, but the scheme to settle fam-
ilies on these lands failed utterly. The French and
Indian War, the King's proclamation, issued in
1763, forbidding settlement on lands beyond the
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 239
sources of rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean,
and finally the Revolutionary War effectually inter-
fered with it.
But the time was coming when a very different
character of exploration was to be inaugurated.
The day of curious or scientific exploration, or that
attempted in the interest of chartered companies,
intent on "gainful" investment, was past. Men
like Walker and Gist were to be succeeded by men
like Boone and Kenton. Henceforth the wilderness
was to be penetrated, as it was finally to be con-
quered, by the hardy and adventurous "pioneer."
White men, almost as restless and tameless in
temper as the Indian himself, were about to enter
the forests of this much-coveted region. This class
of explorers meant really to settle ; to clear away a
part of the dense woodland and make themselves
abodes; and they sought fertile lands and pleasant
waters, so that plenty and comfort might dwell
with them in their future homes. But they were
hunters rather than husbandmen; they expected to
live rather by the chase than by the cultivation of
the soil. An abundance of game was the chief de-
sideratum, and their first duty the defense of them-
selves and families against the savage. Originally
their habitations and the "stations" — the small
collections of cabins established for mutual protec-
tion— were widely separated. But immigration
poured in with a rapidity which, under the circum-
stances, was marvelous ; so that in less than a quar-
ter of a century after actual settlement began the
population was sufficiently numerous to form an-
other commonwealth to be admitted into the Union.
The inevitable conflict between France and Eng-
land for supremacy upon this continent was at hand
— the struggle that was to determine which should
rule it and the character of its future institutions.
240 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
England was looking inland from the frontiers
of her colonies along the Atlantic coast, and claim-
ing an immense realm, comparatively little of which
had been explored. The people of those colonies
felt in full vigor the spirit which had impelled their
fathers to seek fortune and empire beyond the seas.
The ancestral instinct of emigration had been
strengthened and stimulated by generations of life
in the New World.
The Crown and the councils might strive to con-
fine its manifestations within certain limits, but
royal proclamations were of slight avail against an
impulse as general as it was natural. Not even a
king's edict could hold back the host of dauntless
"Knights-errant of the "Woods," whom neither
danger nor distance, toil nor any hardship could
appal.
While French settlement in North America was
begun even earlier than the English, the French
evinced neither such aptitude for the work of col-
onization, nor the same energy and persistency in
its prosecution as did their rivals. In 1542, soon
after Cartier had sailed along the mainland of Can-
ada and into the estuary of the St. Lawrence,
Koberval established the first French settlement.
Quebec was not founded until 1608. Immigration to
these colonies was slow, and when, in 1754, the final
grapple between the rival powers came, the total
number of white inhabitants in the French posses-
sions in America was less than 100,000, while the
English colonies numbered more than 1,000,000.
Nevertheless France entertained the hope of com-
plete dominion upon the continent, and at an early
date prepared to secure military control of it.
In 1673 Marquette and Joliet descended the
Mississippi River to the mouth of the Arkansas.
The geographical information furnished by Mar-
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 241
quette's expedition turned La Salle from his chimer-
ical qnest for the river flowing to China to one
worthier of his genius and enthusiasm. He con-
ceived the idea of establishing French rule and
directing French immigration throughout the vast
territory lying along the Mississippi and its tribu-
tary waters. In 1678 he was commissioned to com-
plete the explorations begun by Marquette. He fol-
lowed the great stream to its mouth and reached the
Gulf of Mexico in the spring of 1682.
The almost boundless domain stretching the en-
tire length of the Mississippi and extending to the
mouth of the St. Lawrence was now christened New
France, and France made ready to maintain her
claim to that part of it which would certainly be
disputed.
A chain of French forts and military posts was
established at points of immediate strategic value,
but apparently future commercial possibilities were
considered in their selection. Important cities —
Toledo, Detroit, Fort Wayne, Vincennes, Natchez-
have been built on the sites so chosen.
The surveys made by the Ohio Company, and
which were deemed an intrusion into French terri-
tory, probably precipitated hostilities. Eegular
troops were employed on both sides in this war, but
the larger number of the combatants were the In-
dian allies of the French and the British colonial
militia. The war terminated in 1760 with the fall
of Quebec and Montreal, and France was compelled
to surrender all the disputed territory and both the
Canadas.
Settlement of Kentucky.
The people of Virginia and North Carolina now
looked with greater longing on the rich, unoccupied
lands along their western borders, and those who
came "came to stay." But a grave and imminent
Vol. 1 18.
242 THE HISTOKY OF KENTUCKY.
danger now menaced the immigrant. The peace
concluded between the two great powers did not
bind and had no meaning for the white pioneers
who desired, and the red warriors who claimed, and,
in rude fashion, possessed this region.
The Delawares, Mingoes, Wyandottes and Shaw-
nees, who dwelt north of the Ohio, and the Indians
inhabiting the country farther to the south, the
most numerous and powerful of whom were the
Cherokees, all jealously guarded this territory as a
valuable hunting ground and fiercely resented the
presence of the whites.
In 1767 Michael Stoner and James Harrod, the
latter one of the most striking figures of the pioneer
period, entered Kentucky, and in the same year
John Findlay with two or three companions hunted
over much of the northern part of it. Upon his
return Findlay gave so glowing an account of the
wonderful fertility of the country that he enlisted
in the ranks of its explorers the man destined to be
the most famous and useful of them all.
Daniel Boone came of good strong English stock.
His grandfather emigrated in 1717 with his wife
and eleven children to Pennsylvania. In 1748, when
Daniel was yet a youth, his father, Squire Boone,
removed to North Carolina and located at Holman 's
Ford on the Yadkin River. From his earliest boy-
hood Boone evinced the roving and adventurous
disposition and the love of the wild wood which
characterized him throughout his life. He married
Eebecca Bryan about 1755, but even after he became
a husband and father the life of the hunter and the
pleasures and the perils of the wilderness irre-
sistibly attracted him.
He had already grown dissatisfied with the in-
crease of population and diminution of game in his
settlement on the Yadkin, and Findlay 's description
DANIEL BOONE.
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 243
of the magnificent and untenanted region whence
he had just come determined Boone upon the career
which has indissolubly connected his name with that
of Kentucky and with the history of the great West.
The popular idea of Boone is largely a mistaken
one. The romance with which the life and memory
of the old backwoodsman is surrounded makes it
difficult to correctly observe or justly estimate him.
Some who admire but know little about him believe
that he was the first explorer of Kentucky. Others
with better excuse, yet unjustly, think he was a mere
hunter, a kindly, well-meaning vagrant. He was, in
fact, a man of strong character, unusual sagacity
and clearly defined purpose. His judgment in all
matters within his knowledge was singularly accu-
rate, and he perfectly realized that he was assisting
to found a commonwealth.
He had in greater degree than any of his com-
peers the qualities necessary to cope with the situa-
tion. Kenton, more recklessly daring, was nearly
his equal in woodcraft and knowledge of Indian
character and customs. Harrod and Logan were
as courageous and resolute, and as prompt to aid the
distressed, or risk life in behalf of an imperilled
comrade ; but all contemporary evidence compels us
to believe that Boone was first among them.
On May 6, 1769, Boone, Findlay and four others
began their journey to the ''land of promise/' as
they had come to regard it. Traveling by the neces-
sarily circuitous route through the mountains, a
month elapsed before they reached Cumberland
Gap, and on June 7 Boone gazed for the first time
on Kentucky.
He remained for nearly two years, traversing and
becoming acquainted with the greater part of cen-
tral Kentucky. He was made prisoner by the In-
dians during this period, an experience repeated
244 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
more than once afterwards ; but with his companion
in captivity, John Stewart, escaped after a week's
detention. His brother, Squire Boone, sought and
found him in the depths of the forest, and these two
only, of the entire party, passed safely through the
multitude of perils which encompassed it. Boone
returned to North Carolina in March, 1771, but
firmly resolved to make his future home in Ken-
tucky.
In 1773 surveys were made in Kentucky by
Thomas Bullitt, Hancock Taylor and the McAfees,
and in 1774 by Floyd, Douglas and Hite. In 1773
Bullitt surveyed the land on which the city of Louis-
ville now stands. In 1774 James Harrod built a
number of cabins for his party of men, which was
the beginning of the present town of Harrodsburg,
and in April, 1775, Boone came with twenty men and
built the fort on the Kentucky Eiver at Boonesbor-
ough, where Henderson joined him with thirty
others. No white woman or child had ever been in
Kentucky until Boone 's family arrived in the fol-
lowing September, and shortly afterwards came the
families of Hugh McGary, Thomas Denton and
Eichard Hogan.
No writer has given a more graphic description
of the early pioneer life than this one by Durrett:
"The first inhabitants of Kentucky, on account of the hostility of the
Indians, lived in what were called forts. These structures were simply
rows of the conventional log cabins of the day, built on four sides of a
square or parallelogram, which remained as a court or open space be-
tween them. It served as a playground, a muster-field, a corral for
domestic animals, and a store-house for implements. The cabins which
formed the fort's walls were dwellings for the people, and contained the
rudest conveniences of life. The bedstead consisted of forks driven in
the dirt floor, through the prongs of which poles extended to cracks in
the walls, over which buffalo skins were spread for a mattress and bear
skins for covering. The dining-table was a broad puncheon, hewn smooth
with an adze, and set on legs made of sticks inserted in auger holes. The
chairs were three-legged stools, and the ta'. le f i ; -aiture consisted of wood-
en plates, trays, noggins, bowls and trenchers, usually turned out of the
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 245
buckeye. The fireplace occupied nearly one whole side of the house;
the window was a hole covered with paper saturated with bear's grease;
and the door, an opening over which hung a buffalo skin. Near the
door hung the long-barrelled flint-lock rifle on buck's horns pinned to the
wall, and from which it was never absent except when in use. In these
confined cabins whole families occupied a single room. Here the
women hackled the wild nettle, carded the buffalo wool, spun the thread,
wove the cloth, and made the clothes. The men wore buckskin hunting
shirts, trousers, and moccasins; and the women linsey gowns in winter
and linen in summer. Such a life had its pains, but it also had its
pleasures. Of evenings and rainy days, the fiddle was heard, and the
merry old Virginia reel danced by both young and old. A marriage,
that sometimes united a boy of sixteen to a girl of fourteen, was an occa-
sion of great merriment. When an itinerant preacher came and favored
them with a sermon two or three hours long, it was also a great occasion.
A young man might have difficulty in making his sweetheart understand
all he wished to say in a small room filled by the members of her family,
but, when essential, it was easy to remove the discussion to the open
space. The shooting match, foot-race, wrestling, jumping, boxing, and
sometimes fighting afforded amusement out of doors, and blindfold,
hide and seek, quiltings, knittings, and candy pullings often made the
little cabins merry. The corn-field and vegetable garden were cultivated
within rifle range of the fort, and sentinels stood guard while the work
went on."
In 1775 immigration began to flow in, and al-
though it was occasionally arrested, even for brief
periods turned back, the country was settled with
remarkable rapidity. Yet the conditions might have
altogether deterred a people of less nerve. "Lord
Dunmore's War" had maddened the Indians north
of the Ohio to implacable fury. Although the Dela-
wares, Shawnees and Wyandottes were completely
defeated at Point Pleasant, the whites had also suf-
fered severely. The subsequent ruthless devas-
tation of the Indian villages in the Scioto Valley
made real peace between the two races impos-
sible.
At this time a remarkable episode in the history
of Kentucky occurred — something which might be
classed with the colossal enterprises of to-day.
Bichard Henderson and eight other citizens of
North Carolina organized the Transylvania Com-
pany, and without pretense of authority — indeed,
246 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
in violation of the known policy and express com-
mand of both royal and colonial authority — pur-
chased from the Southern Indians a great part of
the most fertile territory of Kentucky.
On March 17, 1775, those gentlemen met a number
of the Cherokee chiefs at Wataga, in North Caro-
lina, and took from them a deed to a tract of land
which began at the mouth of the Kentucky Kiver,
running with that stream to its source, thence fol-
lowing the crest of the mountains to the source of
the Cumberland, thence down that river to the Ohio,
and thence up the Ohio to the beginning. In this
tract were nearly 20,000,000 acres.
The consideration, expressed, for this immense
concession was £10,000 sterling. In reality, the In-
dians received ten or twelve wagon-loads of cheap
goods and trinkets and a supply of "fire water."
The audacity of this transaction may be con-
ceived when it is remembered that the colonies
claimed these lands under the royal grants, and
Virginia had already passed acts forbidding the
purchase of lands from the Indians by private in-
dividuals. Lord Dunmore issued his proclamation
denouncing all concerned in it as disorderly persons
who should be deprived of their pretended purchase
and punished if they persisted in asserting title.
Governor Martin, of North Carolina, made similar
proclamation.
Nevertheless the scheme was at first popular
with the settlers, and seemed for a short time des-
tined to succeed. Henderson, on the part of the
proprietors of the colony, opened a land office at
Boonesborough, and in a few months issued war-
rants for 560,000 acres. He proposed to establish
an independent government, and with that end in
view called a convention which met at Boonesbor-
ough on May 23.
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 247
Kentucky a County in Virginia.
The population of the four stations of Boones-
borough, Harrodsburg, Boiling Springs and St.
Asaphs (Logan's Fort) was then perhaps 200.
These stations sent delegates to the convention,
which assumed legislative functions and during its
session of five days passed a number of bills. Hen-
derson appointed both civil and military officials.
All of these proceedings were, of course, annulled
by the General Assembly of Virginia; but as an
equitable compensation for the expense incurred
and their efforts to promote immigration Virginia
and South Carolina each granted Henderson and
his colleagues 200,000 acres of their public lands.
The number and population of the stations rap-
idly increased, and in 1776 the demand for their
organization into a separate county became general
and pressing. The inconvenience of having to seek
distant tribunals for an administration of law, and
the necessity of a county court, justices of the peace
and a sheriff were urged by the settlers and recog-
nized by Virginia. Until this date all of the pub-
lic and unoccupied lands of Virginia — an immense
area — were included in the county of Fincastle.
The legislature passed an act Dec. 31, 1776, divid-
ing Fincastle into three counties, one of which was
called Kentucky. This county comprised the same
territory which subsequently became the state of
Kentucky. It elected burgesses to the General As-
sembly of Virginia in April, 1777, and the first
court held in it was at Harrodsburg in September
of that year.
In May, 1780, Kentucky county was subdivided
into the three counties of Jefferson, Lincoln and
Fayette. In 1784 Nelson county was formed out of
part of Jefferson. In 1785 Mercer and Madison
counties were formed out of parts of Lincoln, and
248 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Bourbon out of part of Fayette. In 1788 Bourbon
was divided and Mason county made of the part
subtracted, and in the same year Woodford county
was formed of territory again taken from Fayette.
These nine counties constituted the commonwealth
of Kentucky when she was admitted into the Union
in 1792.
Indian hostility to the Kentucky immigrant, al-
ways dangerous, was displayed more frequently and
actively toward the close of the year 1776. The
Indian hated the actual settler as his immediate dis-
possessor, the man whom he saw in possession of
the land he claimed. Moreover, a power once used
to protect the settler was now turned against him.
When the American colonies renounced and defied
the royal authority, English influence, instead of
being exerted to restrain, was employed to incite
the red savage to ferocious warfare. Armed and
encouraged by the British commanders, the war-
riors of the tribes north of the Ohio repeatedly en-
tered Kentucky and attacked the settlements.
These demonstrations were so continuous and
numerous during the years 1777 and 1778 that the
settlers, harassed to the limit of endurance and
almost reduced to despair, seemed about to give up
the struggle and quit the field. The abandonment
of every widely separated cabin was compelled; no
man dared to live outside of the protection of the
stockade. The daughters of Boone and Galloway
were made prisoners within sight of Boonesbor-
ough. Every station was constantly menaced and
at some time assaulted. The important ones were
more than once regularly besieged by forces, which,
compared numerically with the garrisons, might
be termed formidable. Boonesborough was twice
so beleaguered, at one time for thirteen days in
September, 1778, by Duquesne with eleven French-
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIEGINIA. 249
men and 400 Indians under Blackfish. Boats plying
on Salt River and other streams were captured and
their crews massacred, and tradition teems with
stories of bloody combats and deadly duels fought
in the shades of the forest.
Kentucky's Part in the Revolutionary War.
That the Kentucky settlers should have been able
to maintain their ground in such straits seems al-
most incredible. It was due first to their own cour-
age and indomitable purpose, but must be also
largely attributed to the energy, sagacity and genius
of George Eogers Clark. Clark was born in Albe-
marle county, Virginia, and was not quite twenty-
three years old when he came to Kentucky in 1775.
His occupation was that of land surveyor, but he
had already evinced military aptitude, having
served with credit as captain of a company in the
Dunmore War. He remained but a brief time on
his first visit, but must have made a favorable im-
pression, for soon after his return in 1776 he and
Gabriel Jones were delegated by a general meeting
held at Harrodsburg to represent to the Virginia
authorities the condition of affairs in Kentucky and
ask effective aid.
Clark's chief characteristics were a remarkably
shrewd, sound judgment, daring enterprise and a
faculty of prompt decision, with that magnetism
which wins affection and commands obedience. He
had in marked degree the physical traits as essen-
tial to leadership among the rude, fighting back-
woodsmen he was to command as any mental or
moral superiority. He was more than six feet in
height and very strong, agile and enduring.
Clark was unquestionably the first to realize the
only policy that promised safety. He saw that these
isolated communities so few in number, scanty in
250 THE HISTOEY OF KENTUCKY.
population and distant from support must st»c-
cumb if the attacks of the Indians were systemat-
ically continued. He discerned more clearly than
anyone else that behind the Indian was an influence
which controlled his wild nature and could give
methodical direction to his hostility. In only one
way could the ultimate and certain destruction of
the settlement be averted. That was to strike the
beast in his lair ; teach him that he, too, was vulner-
able, and above all eliminate the influence which
was inciting his incursions. In this way Indian ag-
gression might be minimized and rendered less
dangerous, and the settlements obtain some respite
until they were strong enough to protect them-
selves.
A plan based on this idea was submitted by Clark
to the Virginia officials and was unanimously ap-
proved, receiving the hearty endorsement of Patrick
Henry and Thomas Jefferson. Every encourage-
ment and some material aid — all that could be af-
forded— was given. Virginia authorized the expe-
dition suggested by Clark against the British posts
in the northwest, especially in Illinois county, and
furnished 500 pounds of powder and a small sum of
money to purchase supplies. Clark was given the
commission of manor and empowered to recruit
troops for the expedition.
On May 27, 1778, he assembled the men enlisted,
numbering about 150, at the falls of the Ohio. This
force was composed of four companies commanded
by captains Joseph Bowman, Leonard Helm, Wil-
liam Harrod and James Montgomery. Simon Ken-
ton accompanied the expedition as hunter and scout.
On June 24 Clark, placing his men on boats, de-
scended the Ohio to a point on the Illinois shore
nearly opposite the mouth of the Tennessee Eiver.
Thence he marched about 100 miles through prairie
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 251
and forest uninhabited to Kaskaskia. He surprised
and took that village and the fort near by on the
night of July 4. Two days later Captain Bowman,
sent with a small detachment to Cahokia, took that
place. Vincennes surrendered August 1. Three of
the principal English strongholds, hotbeds of In-
dian hostility, had fallen. Clark, however, was un-
able to adequately garrison these places, and rely-
ing on the friendship of the French inhabitants
only one man besides Captain Helm was left at Vin-
cennes. That place was retaken in December by
Governor Hamilton, the British commandant of
Detroit. Late in the following month a Colonel
Vigo, of St. Louis, who was a friend of the Amer-
ican cause, brought Clark the news. He also in-
formed him that Hamilton had only eighty men but
expected to be strongly reinforced in the spring,
when he intended to march into Kentucky with over-
whelming forces. Clark had every reason to credit
this intelligence, and at once proceeded to act upon
it. His small command was widely dispersed, and
it was necessary to collect some supplies.
It is difficult in this day of easy, rapid communi-
cation and quick transportation to understand the
difficulties which delayed such movements then.
But on February 7, only nine days after he had been
informed of its capture, Clark was on his way to
recapture Vincennes. Hamilton believed himself
secure. It was the midwinter season. The floods
of the many streams had converted the region about
Vincennes, and over which any enemy must march,
into one alternately of quagmires and ice fields.
But he was matched against no common antagonist.
Clark mounted upon a large flat boat two four-
pounders, manned it with a company of forty-five
men and sent it up the Wabash to the mouth of the
White Eiver to prevent any aid coming to Hamilton
252 THE HISTOEY OF KENTUCKY.
from that direction. Two companies of gallant
French allies, raised at Cahokia and Kaskaskia and
added to his Kentuckians, made the force under his
own command 170 men.
That march to Vincennes had no parallel, even in
those days of hardship, for extreme privation and
suffering cheerfully undergone. For days the men
waded shoulder deep through the icy waters, and
rested at night on any little hillock which rose above
the miry or frozen surface. They carried no ra-
tions, game was scarce, and it was difficult to light
fires with which to cook the scanty food procured.
The iron fortitude and endurance of leader and
men were tested to the utmost. Clark appeared
before Vincennes on February 24 and immediately
began the siege. Hamilton sought to parley, but his
overtures were sternly rejected and he surrendered
on the 25th.
There can be no doubt that the result of these
operations was to perfectly verify Clark's anticipa-
tion. The first effect was to inspire the settlers with
fresh hope and courage, and to furnish a new stim-
ulus to immigration. There was, also, during the
remainder of the year and until the summer of 1780
a marked diminution in the frequency of the Indian
raids, while the number of the settlers was increas-
ing. They came not only by the "wilderness road"
through Cumberland Gap, but down the Ohio. Col-
lins states that "no less than three hundred large
family boats, filled with immigrants, arrived at the
Falls of the Ohio" in the spring of 1780.
There is reason to believe that when hostilities
were actively renewed in 1780 the Indians were less
audacious than before Clark had delivered his blow.
He continued his offensive-defensive policy, and in
May, 1779, sent Bowman into Ohio to attack the
Indian towns.
KENTUCKY A PART OP VIRGINIA. 253
Nevertheless, in June, 1780, Colonel Byrd of the
English army with 600 Indians and Canadians came
down the Miami Valley and the Ohio Eiver and
entered Kentucky by the Licking. He captured
Ruddle's and Martin's stations, and retreated with-
out further demonstration. The following month
Clark with the men under command of Logan and
Linn made a sharp retaliatory campaign into Ohio,
destroying the most important villages of the Miami
and Scioto valleys.
The settlers suffered severely in 1782, but had
grown too strong to feel serious apprehension.
This was the year of "Estill's Defeat," when
twenty-five Wyandotte braves beat an equal num-
ber of whites in fair battle. In August of that year
nearly 600 Indians, led by the renegade Simon
Girty, besieged Bryan's station for three days. On
this occasion occurred that heroic incident of the
women going outside of the fort for water sorely
needed, although they knew the Indians were in
ambuscade near the spring whence it must be ob-
tained. The garrison repulsed their assailants and
they retreated, pursued by 182 men hastily col-
lected from the nearer stations ; but turning on their
pursuers at the Blue Licks, August 19, the Indians
defeated them with heavy loss. Boone's son was
killed in this battle.
Clark had been appointed brigadier-general to
command all of the Kentucky militia. Prompt and
indefatigable he instantly began preparations for a
campaign which should avenge the latest disaster,
and teach his red foes a lesson they would remem-
ber. Collecting more than 1,000 men under Floyd,
Logan and other excellent subordinates, he again
invaded Ohio. The damage inflicted by this expe-
dition and the withdrawal of English aid and en-
couragement following the negotiations for peace
254 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
between the colonies and Great Britain, about the
same date, put a stop to Indian incursions into Ken-
tucky in large numbers ; but depredations and mur-
ders by small parties continued for some years
longer. It is estimated that more than 3,000 of the
settlers were victims of this savage warfare in the
first decade of Kentucky history.
In 1783 Kentucky was constituted one judicial
district, and John Floyd, Samuel McDowell and
George Muter were appointed judges. The first ses-
sion of this court was held at Harrodsburg in March
of that year.
Steps to Statehood.
John Filson, the first historian of Kentucky, esti-
mated that in 1784 the population was 30,000. At
any rate it was large enough to justify an applica-
tion to Virginia for an independent state govern-
ment.
Eeasons similar to those which had urged the
settlers to ask that a separate county be created now
induced them to desire that Kentucky should be-
come a separate commonwealth. One such reason
had become more potent. The peace with Great
Britain had not caused a cessation of Indian hostil-
ity, and the Kentuckians lacked the official machin-
ery necessary to furnish means for their proper
defense.
In the fall of 1784 Col. Benjamin Logan received
information which induced him to believe that the
southern tribes of the Tennessee valley were pre-
paring for an invasion of Kentucky. It occurred
to him, as to every other experienced Indian fighter,
that the most effectual method of preventing such
an incursion was to anticipate it by an expedition
directed against the Indians themselves.
He therefore invited a number of the most public-
spirited citizens to meet him at Danville, that they
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 255
might consult and adopt measures necessary to such
an undertaking. But it immediately became appar-
ent that no one in Kentucky had authority to order
such an expedition, to call the militia into active
service, or in any way to inaugurate offensive meas-
ures. There was no authority even to provide am-
munition and supplies for the use of the militia.
Realizing their impotent condition and the dan-
gers liable to result from it, those who attended
this meeting called by Logan recommended that a
convention should be held which might devise some
remedy. It was to consist of one delegate from each
military district — or militia company — and was
called to meet at Danville Dec. 27, 1784. This was
the first step in the tedious and protracted process
by which Kentucky finally became separated from
Virginia and an independent state.
It does not appear that the free navigation of the
Mississippi and the right of others than citizens of
Spain to deposit produce at New Orleans for ex-
portation, matters which were subsequently of ab-
sorbing interest to Kentuckians, were considered at
this date. The importance of such concessions were
doubtless realized even then, and the failure of the
general government to obtain them afterwards cre-
ated intense dissatisfaction. The subject was pub-
licly discussed at Danville as early as 1787, and in
the same year Guardoqui, the Spanish minister to
the United States, let it be understood that he had
authority to grant to the people of Kentucky the
navigation of the Mississippi and all privileges of
exportation, if they would declare their severance
from and independence of the government of the
United States. But there is no evidence that this
question influenced the effort for statehood in 1784.
The convention of Dec. 27, 1784, resolved "that
many inconveniences under which they labored
256 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
might be remedied by the legislature of Virginia,
but that the great and substantial evils to which they
were subjected were beyond the power and control of
the government, namely, from their remote and de-
tached situation, and could never be remedied until
the district had a government of its own. ' ' It recom-
mended that delegates should be elected to another
convention to be held May 3, 1785.
Accordingly, a second convention met at Dan-
ville on that date and resolved: " First — That a
petition be presented to the Legislative Assembly,
praying that this district be established into a state
separate from Virginia ; second — That another con-
vention of representatives be elected to meet at
Danville on the second Monday in August, to take
further under consideration the state of the district ;
third — That this convention recommend that the
election of deputies for the proposed assembly be
on the principles of equal representation on the
basis of population."
This latter proposition was significant in view of
the fact that representation in the House of Bur-
gesses of Virginia had always been apportioned
more on the basis of territory than of population.
The necessity for this third convention is not ap-
parent, but it met at the appointed date (Aug. 14,
1785), and the committee of the whole on the state of
the district offered a very pertinent report and reso-
lutions, and an address to the legislature of Virginia,
embodying the views of the convention, all of which
were adopted.
An address was also issued "To the Inhabitants
of the District of Kentucky," calling their atten-
tion to the danger of Indian invasion. It called a
fourth convention to meet in September, 1786, to
complete the work of separation and frame a con-
stitution for the new state. This was done in pur-
KENTUCKY A PART OF VIRGINIA. 257
suance of the action of the Virginia legislature,
approving the petition for separation and indicating
the date when the terms upon which it would be
granted should be considered by the people of the
district. The act providing for the separation
passed in January, 1786, made it contingent on
certain conditions relating to boundary, the pro-
portion of the public debt to be assumed by Ken-
tucky, that private interests in land derived from
Virginia should be determined by existing laws, and
that the navigation of the Ohio should be free to
the citizens of the United States.
But the legislature, influenced by a memorial ad-
dressed to it by certain members of this fourth con-
vention, repealed this act before it had completed
a quorum, and its subsequent acceptance was con-
sequently nugatory. All that had been done was
but so much time and labor wasted, and a fifth con-
vention was called to do the work again. But it is
scarcely necessary to recite in detail the history of
this effort for separate state government, the re-
iterated and long profitless procedure and vexatious
delay for eight expectant years.
Five other conventions, ten in all, were held be-
fore the work was consumated. The Constitution
of the United States was adopted Sept. 17, 1787,
although not ratified until June 26, 1788. After re-
ceiving this news and in anticipation of ratification,
the petition for separation addressed to Virginia
by each subsequent convention making application
was accompanied by one to Congress asking admis-
sion into the Union. Virginia always assenting: to
separation, nevertheless attached conditions which
the people of the district were not willing to accept.
Congress for a time objected and interposed de-
lays. The Hon. John Brown, of Danville, who had
been chosen to represent the district of Kentucky as
258 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
one of Virginia's representatives in Congress, thus
explained the animus and action of that body in
a letter to Judge Muter, dated June 10, 1788: "The
Eastern States would not, nor do I think they ever
will, assent to the admission of the District into the
Union, as an independent state, unless Vermont or
the province of Maine is brought forward at the
same time. The change which has taken place in
the general government is made the ostensible ob-
jection to the measure, but the jealousy of the grow-
ing importance of the Western Country, and an un-
willingness to add a vote to the Southern interest,
are the real causes of opposition."
Finally Virginia, Dec. 18, 1789, passed an act au-
thorizing the separation on terms with which the
people of the district were satisfied. A convention
met July 26, 1790, accepted the conditions of the
last act, fixed June 1, 1792, as the day on which
Kentucky should become a separate and independ-
ent state, and called a convention for April 2, 1792,
to frame a constitution for the new commonwealth.
Congress passed an act Feb. 4, 1791, admitting Ken-
tucky into the Union, to take effect June 1, 1792.
The tenth convention, composed of five delegates
from each of the nine counties of the district, as-
sembled on the date appointed and made and
adopted a constitution, thus ending the long travail.
The first governor, Isaac Shelby, was a soldier
who had served with distinction at King's Moun-
tain and Point Pleasant, a record which, with the
Indian troubles still pressing and unsettled, of it-
self commended him to his people, but he was also
a man of sterling worth and character. The first
senators elected to Congress were John Brown and
John Edwards.
Collins and Smith, in their respective histories of
Kentucky, -estimate the population in 1790 to have
KENTUCKY FBOM 1792 TO 1865. 259
been 73,677, and Durrett estimates it to have been
100,000 in 1792. But in addition to this rapid
growth of population, the state was already devel-
oping an agricultural capacity which was a fair
augury of its future prosperity.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Allen, Wm. B.: History of Kentucky (1872); Brad-
ford, John: Notes on Kentucky (in the Kentucky Gazette, Lexington,
1826-29); Butler, Mann: History of the Commomvealth of Kentucky
(1834); Collins, Lewis: Historical Sketches of Kentucky (1847); Collins,
Richard: History of Kentucky (1874); Filson, John: The Discovery, Set-
tlement and Present State of Kentucky (1784); Marshall, Humphrey: His-
tory of Kentucky (1812, enlarged 1824); McAfee, Robert B.: The General
and Natural History of Kentucky (1804-1907); McClung, John A.:
SIcetcfies of Western Adventure (1832); Rafinesque, C. S.: Ancient History
or Annals of Kentucky (1824); Shaler, N. S.: Kentucky as a Pioneer State
(in American Commonwealths, 1885); Smith, Z. F.: History of Kentucky
(1886); The Filson Club Publications (commencing 1884), especially
Durrett, Reuben T. : Life and Times of John Filson, The Centenary of
Kentucky
BASIL W. DUKE,
Member Shiloh National Military Park Commission: author
The History of Morgan'* Cavalry.
CHAPTBB II.
KENTUCKY FEOM 1792 TO 1865.
Steps to Statehood.
The peculiar circumstances characterizing the
erection of Kentucky into one of the states of the
Federal Union render it necessary to give a brief
review of its settlement before entering upon its
history as a separate commonwealth.
The original thirteen colonies were organized
before anything definite was known of the territory
now embraced within its limits or of that extending
westward to the Pacific. It was the hunting ground
of various hostile tribes of Indians, and it was not
260 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
until Dr. Thomas Walker, in 1750, and Col. Chris-
topher Gist, in 1751, made their explorations that
there existed any definite knowledge of its topog-
raphy or other features which later proved so allur-
ing to the immigrant from the east. Even then,
it was not until 1769 that it was first visited by
Daniel Boone, and no permanent habitation was
erected until 1774 when James Harrod and a few
other Virginians made a settlement at what is now
Harrodsburg in the central portion of the state. A
year later the fort at Boonesborough, not far distant,
was built and became the nucleus of other similar
defensive stations, by means of which tenure of the
territory was maintained against the combined ef-
forts of the Indians and the British.
The settlement of Kentucky is invested with an
interest not merely from its local bearing and its
rapid growth from an uninhabited wilderness to a
new member of the Eepublic, but from its influence
in promoting the settlement of the west and in win-
ning to the Federal control the vast territorial area
now comprising the states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Wisconsin and that part of Minnesota
east of the Mississippi, through the genius of
George Rogers Clark, one of its early pioneers.
The achievement of this great leader who, with a
mere handful of backwoodsmen, while not yet thirty
years of age, wrested this territory from the British
in 1779, cannot be overestimated in its influence
upon the rapid settlement of the West and the
cause of American independence. Nor was the civic
growth of Kentucky less remarkable in its other-
wise rapid development. The first movement look-
ing to the establishment of local self-government
was the meeting of the House of Delegates or Rep-
resentatives of the Colony of Transylvania at
Boonesborough on May 23, 1775, composed of dele-
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 261
gates from the following settlements: Boonesbor-
ongh, Harrodsburg, Boiling Springs and St.
Asaphs, all comprised in a limited territorial area.
The list of delegates included the names of many
who afterwards bore a conspicuous part in the his-
tory of the state. The meeting was called by Rich-
ard Henderson, president of the Transylvania Com-
pany composed of North Carolinians, who had, on
March 17 previous, purchased from the Cherokee
Indians, by treaty held at Watauga, in East Ten-
nessee, that part of Kentucky south of the Ken-
tucky River. All the formalities of a parliament
were observed, including an opening address from
Colonel Henderson and a formal response from
Thomas Slaughter, the presiding officer. Various
acts were passed, such as establishing courts, regu-
lating the militia, to prevent profane swearing and
Sabbath breaking, and for preserving the game and
improving the breed of horses. But the session was
brief, as later proved the life of the government
sought to be organized. Virginia claimed priority
of title to the land by virtue of the treaty of Fort
Stanwix, New York, Nov. 5, 1768, by which the
Cherokees had sold to that colony all their lands in
Kentucky and declared the Henderson purchase
void. North Carolina also repudiated the claim,
but both commonwealths, in view of the service
rendered by the Henderson Company in promoting
the settlement of the west, donated to it a tract of
200,000 acres of land. That of Virginia was located
at the mouth of Green River, Kentucky, comprising
in part the present county of Henderson, while
North Carolina contributed an equal quantity of
rich lands in Powell's Valley at the base of the
Cumberland Mountains in East Tennessee.
The impetus given to the settlement of Kentucky
by the incoming of the Henderson Company was
262 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
in no measure checked by its dissolution, but with
the foothold gained by the establishment of the
nucleus of stations and forts, not far distant from
Boonesborough, was maintained by the bravery of
the pioneers who successfully resisted the efforts of
the Indians and their British allies to prevent their
occupation of the country. The story of the heroic
struggle of the pioneers of Kentucky during the
American Eevolution and for more than a decade
after its close is one of unparalleled courage and
fortitude, involving, as it did, not only the defense
of their immediate firesides but the conquest of the
northwest from the British and the protection of
the pioneers thereto from Indian and Canadian
aggression.
Virginia, assuming jurisdiction over the terri-
tory embraced in Kentucky was not slow in organ-
izing civil government therein. From the start it
was held as part of Fincastle county, but on Dec. 6,
1776, the legislature of Virginia established the
county of Kentucky, and in the following April
burgesses were chosen to represent it, the first
court being established at Harrodsburg in Sep-
tember of that year. On Nov. 1, 1780, the county
of Kentucky was divided into three counties, Jef-
ferson, Lincoln and Fayette, each with a colonel,
lieutenant-colonel and surveyor; and thence every
few years afterwards additional counties were or-
ganized, the civil government gradually supplanting
the more primitive methods. Meantime the tide of
immigration, chiefly from Virginia, was steadily
increasing, embracing many men of prominence in
their former homes and others who subsequently
achieved distinction in their new one. The roll
embraces too many of merit to admit of singling out
a few for illustration. Upon these brave pioneers
was imposed the task, not only of forming a civil
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 263
government, but of protecting the lives of their
families from the savage Indian tribes of the north-
west, stimulated in their desire to recover posses'
sion of their hunting grounds by the British who,
utilizing them as part of their military force in the
colonial war, added to their barbarities by a
bounty for the scalps of the settlers. It was not
until 1783 that the Indians were sufficiently sub-
dued to exempt the territory of Kentucky from
organized invasion, while, for more than a decade
later, small predatory bodies made life unsafe in
every part of the territory occupied. The close of
the Eevolutionary War brought but little relief to
the pioneers. The British, in violation of the treaty
of peace which secured independence of the colonies,
refused to give up the forts of the northwest terri-
tory until 1795, and it was not until the victory of
Wayne at Fallen Timbers, in 1794, followed by the
treaty of peace with the Northwest Indians at
Greenville, Ohio, Aug. 3, 1795, that Kentucky was
relieved of both defensive and aggressive meas-
ures against the savages for the sanctity of their
homes.
Notwithstanding these adverse conditions, an
early sentiment was manifested by the pioneers in
favor of the organization of the territory as an in-
dependent colony.
In 1784 the first convention looking to the estab-
lishment of a separate government was held at
Danville with ten successive ones, at intervals, un-
til its final admission as a state in 1792. Thus
it will be seen that within nine years after the erec-
tion of the fort at Boonesborough the pioneers of
Kentucky began an organized movement for the
erection of the territory into a separate government
and eight years later perfected its organization as
a state, and it was admitted as the fifteenth member
264 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
of the Federal Union with a census population of
73,677.
The Constitutional History of Kentucky.
The constitutional history of Kentucky from its
admission into the Union as a state until the War
of Secession, and to the present date, is easy of
comprehension, having been simply an evolution of
the conditions of its original organization as a state
to those which now prevail. The first constitution
which went into effect June 1, 1792, followed the
lines of governmental principles and policies of the
parent commonwealth. It required, however, but a
very brief period of experience to demonstrate that,
in many of its provisions, it fell short of putting into
practical operation the advanced principles of con-
stitutional liberty which had been won by the col-
onies by their successful struggle during the Revolu-
tion.
The act of the Virginia legislature which finally
led to the erection of Kentucky as a separate state
is what is known in Kentucky as the "Compact
with Virginia," entitled "An act concerning the
erection of the District of Kentucky into an inde-
pendent state, approved Dec. 18, 1789." This pro-
vided that in the month of May, 1790, on the re-
spective court days of the several counties, then
numbering nine, viz.: Jefferson, Nelson, Mercer,
Lincoln, Madison, Fayette, Woodford, Bourbon and
Mason, there should be elected from each county
five representatives to a convention to be held in
Danville July 26, 1790, "to consider and determine
whether it be expedient for and the will of the good
people of the said district that the same be erected
into an independent state," upon terms later pre-
scribed as to boundary, land grants and other de-
tails. The act further provided that if the conven-
tion should approve the erection of the district into
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 265
an independent state, on the terms prescribed, it
should fix a day after the 1st of November, 1791,
on which the authority of Virginia should cease and
the compact become mutually binding upon the
parties, and unalterable by either without the con-
sent of the other. This was coupled with a proviso
that prior to the 1st of November, 1791, the Gen-
eral Government of the United States should assent
to the erection of the said district into a separate
state, releasing Virginia from all obligations aris-
ing from the said district, as being a part thereof,
and agree that the proposed state should, immedi-
ately after the day fixed posterior to the 1st of
November, 1791, or at some convenient future day,
be admitted into the Federal Union.
This was the third act of Virginia consenting to
the separation of Kentucky, the first having been
in January, 1786, and the second in the following
October, but it met with no favorable response from
the Federative Congress. Finally that body having
previously provided for the admission of Vermont
as a state on March 4, 1792, passed an act on the
4th day of February, 1791, to admit Kentucky into
the Union on the first day of June, 1792.
The First Constitution.
In accordance with the provisions of this act the
first constitution of Kentucky was formed by a con-
vention which met for that purpose at Danville,
April 13, 1792, being the tenth convention which
had been held looking to its establishment as a sepa-
rate commonwealth since 1784. By its provisions
it was to become operative as provided by the fore-
going act of Congress, June 1, 1792. There were,
at that time, nine counties, as before enumerated,
the present number being 120. The salient features
of this organic law were: first, universal suffrage,
266 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
"all free male citizens of the age of twenty-one
years being entitled to vote who had resided in
the state two years, and hi the county in which they
offered to vote one year next before the election"—
the first instance in which the principle of unlimited
suffrage, now of quite universal recognition in
America, was put into practice. Members of the
House of Eepresentatives were elected by the direct
vote of the people, but the governor and senators
were chosen by electors equal to the number of rep-
resentatives chosen by the people.
The first General Assembly met at Lexington on
June 4, 1792, and on the 6th Isaac Shelby, who with
his father, Gen. Evan Shelby, a native of Wales,
had borne a prominent part in the Revolutionary
and Indian wars, having been previously elected
governor, delivered his first message orally, as was
the custom in England and America at that day.
The first act passed was one establishing an audi-
tor's office and the second one creating the county
of Washington from a portion of the county of
Nelson. Thirty-seven acts in all were passed at this
session, among them two for the establishment of
Shelby and Logan counties, the former being taken
from Jefferson and the latter from Lincoln. The
final act of the session was passed June 29, 1792.
The second, an adjourned session, was held at Lex-
ington Nov. 15, 1792, the last act of which, passed
Dec. 22, 1792, provided that the next session should
be held at Frankfort, which had been fixed by a
commission as the capital of the state on Nov. 1,
1793, at the house of Andrew Holmes. This was
known later as the Love house, a large double frame
dwelling which remained an object of historic inter-
est until 1870, when it was torn down to give place
to a modern residence. Since then Frankfort has
continued to be the capital, although for more than
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 267
half a century strenuous efforts were made, at in-
tervals, to remove the seat of government to Lex-
ington or Louisville. Latterly such efforts have
been discontinued, and a new capitol, costing about
$1,500,000, is nearing completion, insuring Frank-
fort's continuance as the seat of government in-
definitely. The present State House, soon to be
vacated, a classic stone edifice of the Parthenon
order of architecture, the sixth in which the legisla-
ture has held its meetings, was completed in 1829,
and in it has been held all the legislative meetings
since, except in the autumn of 1862 when a session
was adjourned to Louisville in consequence of the
invasion of Kentucky by a Confederate army under
General Bragg, which was, for a time, in possession
of the capital.
The Second Constitution.
It required but a brief period after the inaugura-
tion of the new government and the practical exer-
cise of its constitutional provisions to develop a
very general objection to some of them. While that
relating to unlimited suffrage, in the sphere pro-
vided, was in keeping with the spirit of individual
cooperation which has enabled the pioneers to win
their victory over the opposing savages and the
physical obstacles encountered in the planting of
civilization in a wilderness, the restriction of suf-
frage in the choice of the executive, the senate and
the judiciary, by electors instead of by the direct
vote of the people, developed an early opposition.
In addition to these features was a provision which
gave to the Supreme Court original and final juris-
diction in all land cases, which in its practical oper-
ation led to very general objection. It was not long,
therefore, before there was a strong sentiment in
favor of another constitutional convention to cor-
rect these objectionable features. Several attempts
268 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
were made towards attaining this end, but it was not
until 1798 that the requisite two-thirds majority of
both houses in the legislature was obtained provid-
ing for it, and on July 22, 1799, the second constitu-
tional convention met at Frankfort. The new con-
stitution was adopted August 17. Its provisions
remedied the principal objections to the first. The
governor and senators were made eligible by the
direct vote of the people. The jurisdiction of the
Court of Appeals was limited to cases of appeal
from inferior courts, and while judges of both were
still to be appointed by the governor, for reasonable
cause, not sufficient for impeachment, they were
made removable by him upon the address of two-
thirds of each House of the General Assembly. The
governor, upon whose reelection there was no re-
striction in the first constitution, was made ineli-
gible for the succeeding seven years after the time
of his election. The office of lieutenant-governor,
for which there was no provision in the first con-
vention, was created by the second, with the same
qualifications as the governor. The new constitu-
tion became operative June 1, 1800. James Gar-
rard, who had been elected governor in 1796, as suc-
cessor to Governor Shelby by a bare majority over
Benjamin Logan, was again elected in 1800, the only
instance of a governor of Kentucky having suc-
ceeded himself by consecutive elections. Governor
Shelby was again reflected governor in 1812, since
which time no governor has served two full terms.
The Third and Fourth Constitutions.
The third constitution of Kentucky was adopted
by a convention which met at Frankfort Oct. 1, 1849,
a half century after the adoption of the second one,
and it bears date June 11, 1850. The salient fea-
tures in which it differed from the previous one
KENTUCKY FROM 1790 TO 1865. 269
consisted, first, in making all officers, state and
county, including the judiciary, elective, and incor-
porating the system of common school education as
a constitutional, instead of legislative, subject, and
providing for the election of a superintendent of
public instruction, provisions, the necessity of
which had long been felt. In the matter of con-
tracting debts the legislature was limited to
$500,000, except "to repel invasion, suppress insur-
rection, or, if hostilities are threatened, to provide
for the public defense," coupled with a provision
that the General Assembly should have no power to
pass any act or resolution for the appropriation of
any money, or the creation of any debt exceeding the
sum of $100 unless the same, on its final passage,
should be voted for by a majority of all the members
elected to each branch of the General Assembly,
and requiring the yeas and nays to be entered upon
the journal. These were very salutary provisions,
prohibiting such large expenditures as had been
made in railroad construction, slack water naviga-
tion and the like. The granting of divorces, chang-
ing of names of individuals and permission for the
sale of estates of infants or persons under legal
disability were also taken from the legislature and
relegated to the courts of justice.
The fourth constitution was adopted in conven-
tion at Frankfort Sept. 28, 1891, after an interval
of forty-one years since the adoption of the preced-
ing one. Its salient feature is the recognition in
the organic law of the changes effected by the war
in regard to the negro and previously observed by
the legislature. In all his legal rights he is placed
on an equality with the white, with no restriction
as to suffrage, testimony or participation in the
benefits of the common school fund, except as to
the latter, separate schools are provided for the two
270 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
races. The most notable change occurs in the man-
ner of voting. Under previous constitutions the
viva voce system was the method prescribed for all
elections. The new constitution inaugurated the
Australian ballot. In some respects the change has
been salutary as protecting, by its secret feature,
the independence of the voter, but the system has
shown defects in its cumbersome machinery and has
not as fully eliminated the matter of suffrage from
fraudulent manipulation as was hoped. Another
feature of the new instrument is that while it re-
stricts the legislature in regard to many subjects
hitherto under its control, it has embodied in the
organic law a large mass not limited to principles
prescribing the bounds of legislation, but having
more the semblance of a fixed code of legislation
repealable or amendable only by another constitu-
tional convention.
The Eesolutions of '98.
The success of the second constitutional conven-
tion in meeting the political views of the people was
shown by the fact that a full half century elapsed
before there was a revision of the fundamental law
of the state. There was a concurrence in the adop-
tion of that instrument with the political revolution
in national politics by which the Federal party,
which had for three terms controlled the presidency
and dominated the political policies of the period,
suffered defeat in the election of Jefferson over
John Adams in 1800, and the Democratic party
began its long career under the leadership of the
author of the Declaration of Independence. In that
memorable contest Kentucky played a conspicuous
part in the adoption, by the legislature in November,
1798, of what are known as the Kentucky Eesolu-
tions of '98. They were introduced and strongly,
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 271
advocated by John Breckinridge, a Virginian who
had moved to Kentucky in 1793, and taken a high
position at the bar — the grandfather of Vice-Presi-
dent John C. Breckinridge, United States Senator,
1801-05, attorney-general in Mr. Jefferson's Cab-
inet, 1805-06. During the months of June and July
previous to the introduction of these resolutions
there had been passed by Congress the famous Alien
and Sedition acts, the first empowering the Presi-
dent to banish any foreigner who should speak
abusively of him or the Congress, and the second
prescribing, as a penalty, fine and imprisonment
upon any citizen who should speak severely against
either. It was under the latter law that Matthew
Lyon, then a member of Congress from Vermont
and later from Kentucky, was, in October, 1798,
expelled from Congress, fined $1,000 and sentenced
to jail for four months for having severely criti-
cized President Adams in a newspaper published
by him. This aroused the people to a sense of the
unconstitutionality of these acts, and Mr. Jefferson
took active measures in opposition to them. In the
autumn of that year a conference was held at Monti-
cello at which were present Mr. Jefferson, Mr.
Breckinridge, W. C. Nicholas, of Virginia, and, per-
haps, Mr. Madison. As a result, Mr. Jefferson was
requested to draw resolutions condemnatory of these
acts as unconstitutional, to be presented by Mr.
Breckinridge to the Kentucky legislature. This was
done, but Mr. Breckinridge, exercising a conceded
right, made sundry alterations, particularly in
eliminating the nullification feature from the origi-
nal and justly entitling him to the credit of author-
ship. That they were ably presented is evidenced
by the fact that they passed the House with but one
dissenting vote and the Senate unanimously.
Much misrepresentation and misconception of
272 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
these resolutions have existed in the general charge
and belief that they favored the doctrine of nullifica-
tion or implied a purpose of resistance to Federal
authority. A just view will ascribe to them but a
purpose to enter a solemn protest against the exer-
cise of the power sought to be conferred upon the
Federal executive, and the use of moral rather than
revolutionary means to effect a remedy. That this
was done is sufficiently attested by history. The
Federal party had administered the government for
twelve years under a loose construction of the con-
stitution during the last presidential term, and the
introduction of these resolutions proved to be the
basis of the organization of the Democratic party,
the election of Jefferson and all succeeding presi-
dents, except three, for sixty years.
The School System.
For some years prior to the formation of the
third constitution it had become evident that a revi-
sion of the existing one was necessary to meet the
growing wants of the increased population, and the
more progressive ideas in regard to the administra-
tion of public interests. There was, in that instru-
ment, no provision for a public school system and
many restrictions upon the power of the people in
various respects in which other states had demon-
strated the wisdom of better methods. While the
state had early enjoyed the foundation of univer-
sities, colleges and seminaries for higher education
by the various religious sects, or through individual
promotion, there was no adequate provision for the
education of the young beyond the primary or other
schools with a fee for tuition. The legislature had
at various times, from an early period, donated
lands for the benefit of seminaries and other educa-
tional institutions, and in 1838 had enacted a law
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 273
for the establishment of a general system of com-
mon schools in Kentucky, and Congress had two
years previously apportioned about $15,000,000 of
surplus money in the treasury to several states in
the form of a loan, of which Kentucky's share was
$1,433,757, the greater part of which became and
remains a part of the bonded assets of our public
system. But notwithstanding a commendable zeal
shown by those in charge of the public school sys-
tem in its crude condition, there was but little
progress made towards its efficient organization
until it became a part of the organic law by the ac-
tion of the convention which framed the third con-
stitution. In addition to a provision that a superin-
tendent of public instruction should be elected by
the people at the same time with the governor and
for the same term of years, the organization of the
school system, by constitutional provision, instead
of by mere legislative act subject to repeal or change
at each meeting of the General Assembly, gave an
impetus to the cause of education which prospered
notwithstanding the injurious effects of the War of
Secession and the great drawback to its efficiency
in the mountain region of the state from its sparse
population and inadequate roads. For a long time
the percentage of taxation for school purposes was
but two cents on the hundred dollars, but it has from
time to time been raised until it is now, by constitu-
tional provision, at the rate of twenty-two cents
with the power of additional taxation in cities or
other school districts which, by popular vote, may
so decide. There has been a steady advance in the
improvement of the system since the war, the negro
children sharing equally with the whites in the
nrivileges for education, the only distinction made
being that which provides separate schools for the
two races. There are state normal schools for each
Vol. 1—18.
274 THE HISTOEY OP KENTUCKY.
race, that for the negroes is located at Frankfort and
has been in successful operation for nearly a score
of years. The two schools for whites have but re-
cently been organized, the eastern at Richmond and
the western at Bowling Green, supplanting one
formerly attached to the State University at Lex-
ington. At the 1908 session of the legislature the
following appropriations were made for these in-
stitutions in addition to the existing provisions:
$200,000 for the State University; $150,000 each for
eastern and western Normal Schools, and $40,000
for the Colored Normal School. For the general
operation of the common school system provision
is made for primary, graded, high schools, normal
schools and universities. In the larger towns and
cities, gratifying evidence of its success is to be seen
in the excellence of the buildings, the esprit de corps
of the pupils and the steady advance in all the de-
partments of the system. In the rural districts
which, from the different conditions, cannot give
such visual demonstrations, there is a proportionate
advance in the line of educational improvement.
The legislature of 1908 enacted a law placing the
schools outside of cities in charge of a board of edu-
cation in each county which in other states has
proved very effective in promoting the interests of
education.
In addition to the provision made for the educa-
tion of children under the common school system,
Kentucky maintains state schools for the feeble-
minded, for the blind and for the deaf and dumb,
which have been long in successful operation.
Early Military History of Kentucky.
The military history of Kentucky dates from its
earliest settlement. In its primitive days every
man who bore a rifle or a hunting knife was a sol-
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 275
dier belonging to the army of pioneers, who felled
the trees or plowed the ground, with his weapon
ready at hand to repel the red-skinned adverse
claimant. He was an unpaid soldier and was, there-
fore, not enrolled, but it was such as he who ral-
lied to the call of Clark and Logan whenever the
peace of the stations was threatened or the punish-
ment of the Indian or his British ally was demanded
in the territory north of the Ohio. The full roll of
these men can never be found. They were too often
the victims of the scalping knife, the arrow or the
rifle, the gauntlet or the stake — the unknown heroes
who in every contest of civilization against barbar-
ism, or right against wrong, fill unmarked graves
and have only an anonymous fame.
Virginia, embarrassed with her own troubles in
resisting Indian or foreign aggression, was slow to
recognize the value of these defenders of her west-
ern possessions, who in winning homes for them-
selves were at the same time zealously guarding
against the encroachment of rival claimants as
well as the Indians. It was not until George Kogers
Clark, as first delegate from a convention of the
Harrodsburg convention of June 20, 1776, made his
appeal to the Virginia Convention at Williamsburg
for aid, with the epigrammatic plea that "a country
which was not worth defending was not worth
claiming," that he received an order for five hun-
dred pounds of powder upon the arsenal at Pitts-
burg and secured an act of Dec. 6, 1776, establishing
Kentucky as a county of Virginia. In due time,
after many hardships, the powder arrived safely at
Harrodsburg and was used by the first militia of
Kentucky under George Rogers Clark, then but
twenty-four, commissioned as major. From this
initiative dates the first military organization in
Kentucky, resulting not only in the successful de-
276 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
fense of the primitive forts, but in the conquest of
the British possessions between the Ohio and the
lakes which was in 1784 transferred, as a free dona-
tion, to the Federal government. Afterwards,
when to the defense of the settlements south of the
Ohio was added the arduous duty of repelling the
invasion of that territory by the Indians and their
British instigators, there were regiments under the
command of Clark, then general, of men like colo-
nels Ben Logan, John Todd and John Bowman,
whose muster rolls are preserved. They may be said
to have held against the British the western line of
defense in the Revolutionary War, which not only
secured the safety of the pioneers of Kentucky, but
contributed, most effectively, to the success of
Washington in the east, since, had Clark suffered
defeat, there would have been a repetition of the
calamity which followed the defeat of Braddock in
1775, when the colonial settlers were driven east-
ward beyond the Blue Ridge. Had similar disaster
occurred during the Revolution, averted only by the
skill and valor of George Rogers Clark and the Ken-
tucky pioneers, Washington would have been con-
fronted by a dangerous foe in his rear as well as his
front, and the problem of the struggle for inde-
pendence would most probably have had a different
solution.
But a better fortune rewarded the valor of the
army of western patriots whose labors were pro-
longed far beyond the Peace of Paris. Theirs was
not only the task to defend Kentucky from the per-
sistent aggressions of the Indians, encouraged by
their British allies, but to protect the settlers from
the east on the territory won by Clark at Kaskaskia
and Vincennes. Unlike the pioneers of Kentucky,
they were not of the material to cope with the sav-
age, having had no such experience. The first set-
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 277
tlements north of the Ohio were at Marietta and
Cincinnati in 1788. The movement was a commer-
cial one, involving a purchase from the Federal
government of two very large tracts of land of
about one million acres each, upon the Muskinghum
and between the Little Miami and the Scioto rivers.
The projector of the first was Bufus Putnam, of
Massachusetts, and of the other John Cleve Sym-
mes, of New Jersey. The settlers on the Marietta
tract were from Massachusetts, and those on the
other body of lands were chiefly from New Jersey
and Pennsylvania. They had had no experience
in frontier life or Indian warfare, and the chief
dependence for the safety of the homes of the new-
comers, as well as the security of Kentucky, from
Indian depredations, was upon the more experi-
enced pioneers of the latter. To meet this situation
new military commanders were sent from the regu-
lar army in the east, as generals Harmar and St.
Clair. who had made reputations in the Revolution-
ary War. But they, as well as the regulars whom
they brought with them, were unskilled in Indian
warfare, and several disastrous defeats followed.
In September, 1790, General Harmar marched from
Cincinnati to attack the Miami towns in the western
part of the territory with two large detachments
composed of both regulars and militia, which were
successively surprised and routed with great
slaughter. He was superseded in the following
March by General St. Clair, recently appointed gov-
ernor of the northwestern territory. During the
summer successful expeditions were made by Gen.
Charles Scott, of Kentucky, with troops of that ter-
ritory, against the Indians on the Wabash, and by
General Wilkinson, also with Kentucky troops.
But in November General St. Clair, with a mixed
army of regulars and militia, attacked the Indian
278 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
towns on the Maumee River near the scene of Har-
mar's disaster, meeting even greater defeat than
the latter, being surprised and overpowered with the
loss of nearly 1,000 men in killed and wounded. A
better condition ensued when General St. Clair was
superseded by Gen. Anthony Wayne, who had lately
been appointed by Washington General-in-chief of
the United States Army. He organized a body of
troops which he drilled and trained in Indian war-
fare, and built Fort Recovery near Greenville, Ohio,
and Fort Adams at the junction of the Maumee and
Auglaize rivers. He then held the Indians in check
and offered them peace if they would lay down their
arms, but they declined. Having in the preceding
month been joined by Gen. Charles Scott, after-
wards governor of Kentucky, with 1,000 Kentucky
volunteers, he attacked them Aug. 20, 1794, at Fallen
Timbers, about eleven miles southeast of Toledo,
Ohio, and defeated them so signally that it proved
the last of the long series of conflicts between the
whites and the Indians until the War of 1812, the
final treaty of peace having been signed at Green-
ville Aug. 3, 1795.
The War of 1812.
As in the Revolutionary War and the decade or
more subsequent thereto in which Kentucky bore
the brunt of the conflict west of the Alleghanies, so
in the second conflict with Great Britain her people,
from their geographical position as a frontier
western state between the northern lakes and the
Gulf, were called upon for an equally active partici-
pation in the conflict. The relations between the
United States and France during the revolutionary
struggle naturally led to a sympathetic feeling with
that power in the Napoleonic War, and Great
Britain was not slow to resent such manifestation,
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 279
especially when assured of exceptional sympathy in
her behalf on the part of several of the New Eng-
land states. Denying the right of her citizens to
expatriate themselves, she claimed the right to
search our vessels for British seamen, taking them
in spite of their naturalization and not always dis-
criminating as to native Americans. She also
passed orders in Council requiring all neutral ves-
sels, in sailing from one foreign port to another, to
enter first a British port. In view of such tenden-
cies Mr. Jefferson, in 1807, recommended the pro-
tection of our harbors by the building of small gun-
boats for their defense. On the 22d of June follow-
ing occurred the outrage by which the British man-
of-war Leopard attacked the American Chesapeake
and, after its surrender, bore off a number of its
crew. Upon demand by Mr. Jefferson for satisfac-
tion and security from further outrage, England
made amends for the attack on the Chesapeake but
claimed the right of search and refused to rescind
the orders of Council. Congress approved Mr. Jef-
ferson's action and passed an act prohibiting the
departure of any American vessels from the ports
of the United States, known as the Embargo Act.
Irritation on these accounts continued with vain at-
tempt of the United States to effect a termination
of the wrongs. Finally, on June 7, 1812, President
Madison sent a message to Congress reviewing the
action of Great Britain in persisting in her claim of
the right of search and her evident determination,
by the orders in Council, to destroy American com-
merce, and presenting the question as to whether
the United States should longer continue in passive
submission or resent them as. deserved.
On June 18 Congress declared war against Eng-
land, and on the 19th President Madison issued his
proclamation making formal announcement of the
280 THE HISTOKY OF KENTUCKY.
same and appealing to the patriotism of the people
for their support of the government. The war
lasted two years and a half, the treaty of Ghent
terminating it, having been signed Dec. 14, 1814.
Kentucky had already experienced a foretaste of
the struggle which followed this declaration in the
loss of several of its prominent citizens in the battle
of Tippecanoe, fought on Nov. 7, 1811, between
William Henry Harrison, then governor of Indiana
and afterward President, in command of troops of
that state and Kentucky, and "The Prophet," a
brother of Tecumseh, the Indian chief who, in the
War of 1812, played a conspicuous part and was
killed at the battle of the Thames. The inception
of the hostility between the Indians and the whites
was a treaty by which the latter, representing the
territory of Indiana, had purchased certain lands
from Indians represented by Tecumseh and "The
Prophet." After having received the first pay-
ment they conceived the idea of forming a great
confederacy of Indians for wresting from the
whites the Northern territory, evidence not being
wanted to show that in this purpose they had en-
couragement from the British on the Northern
borders. Their settlement was in central Illinois
on the Wabash River, and having made evident
their hostile purpose. Governor Harrison began en-
ersretically to organize a force to attack them.
This culminated in the battle of Tippecanoe, the
name of the Indian settlement, under the immediate
command of General Harrison, in which the army
organized by him consisted chiefly of regulars, two
companies of Kentuckians from the vicinity of
Louisville and a number of volunteers assigned to
various duties. Among the latter who fell victims
in the action were Col. Joseph Hamilton Daviess
and Ool. Abraham Owen, both members of General
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 281
Harrison's staff. The former, who had married the
sister of Chief Justice Marshall, was United States
district-attorney, who prosecuted Aaron Burr in
Frankfort in 1806 for alleged treason, and the lat-
ter, who had distinguished himself in the Indian
wars of the preceding decade, was at the time of
death a member of the Kentucky senate. The vic-
tory of Harrison was complete and terminated the
issue with the Indians. In the presidential election
of 1840, when Harrison and Tyler constituted the
ticket, it figured prominently in the canvass, the
favorite party cry and motto being "Tippecanoe
and Tyler too."
The declaration of war by the proclamation of
President Madison was received in Kentucky with
enthusiastic response. Congress having authorized
the President to call out 100,000 of the militia, the
quota of Kentucky was fixed at 5,500. This call
was promptly met. Seven thousand volunteers
offered their services and the Kentucky troops were
organized with ten regiments, and in August four
regiments, with Gen. John Payne in command, ren-
dezvoused at Georgetown where they were elo-
quently addressed by Henry Clay. On the 19th
they marched for Cincinnati on their way to join
the army of Gen. Wm. Hull, a veteran of the Revo-
lution, who had been appointed governor of Michi-
gan by Jefferson. But on reaching Cincinnati they
heard of Hull's surrender at Detroit on the 16th
with 900 men. He was later tried by court-martial
for treason, cowardice and neglect of duty, and sen-
tenced to be shot, but was pardoned by the Presi-
dent in view of his service in the Revolution. Thus
was again demonstrated, as in the case of St. Clair,
the incapacity of the veterans of the east to cope
with the enemy in the west. General Harrison suc-
ceeding to the command, the campaign which fol-
282 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
lowed was not dissimilar to those recounted prior to
the peace of Greenville in 1795, the Indians rally-
ing to the support of the British, and the scenes of
Indian warfare of that period being reenacted on
the Wabash and the Miami. But General Harrison
with Zachary Taylor, of Kentucky, then a captain,
but soon promoted major and afterward President,
pursued a vigorous and successful campaign rein-
forced by additional levies from Kentucky. But
again was the west, and especially Kentucky, made
to suffer by the incompetence of the eastern officers
who, however, successful in the Revolutionary War,
proved incompetent to cope with the savage of the
west. Gen. James Winchester had, meantime, been
placed in command. He inaugurated a movement
for the recapture of Detroit early in January 1813,
which culminated in the defeat of his army at the
river Raisin Jan. 22, 1813, and the capture of himself
and the greater part of his army. But this did not
terminate the disaster. The prisoners, exposed to
the vigorous cold of the season, disarmed, and rely-
ing upon the good faith of their captors, were
turned over to the savage brutality of the Indians
and massacred by the score. Among them were
Col. John Allen, Capt. Nathaniel Hart and many
other prominent Kentuckians of that day, whose
bodies were not later identified and whose bones
were left to bleach upon the field. In the following
autumn, when the Kentucky troops were on their
way southward after their great victory at the
Thames, they recovered sixty-nine bodies and gave
them honorable interment. Subsequently, in 1818,
they were reinterred in the cemetery in Monroe,
Michigan, the site of the battle. In 1834 they were
brought to Kentucky and interred in the state lot
in the Frankfort cemetery. The battle of the
Thames, which occurred on Oct. 5, 1813, when Gov-
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 283
ernor Shelby reinforced General Harrison with
4,000 Kentuckians, closed the campaign in the
northwest. Following the naval victory of Commo-
dore Perry off Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, Sept. 10,
1813, in which the defeat of the British was as signal
as that of the militia on the Thames, the British
were left without the means of further resistance,
and hence the American troops, having no more
occasion for service, returned to their homes, save
only as to the garrisons at certain forts, and a suc-
cessful expedition under command of Maj. Peter
Dudley against the Pottowatamies in November,
1814.
Some adequate conception of the service rendered
by Kentuckians in this campaign may be found by
the after history of many of those who shared its
clangers. In addition to Shelby, who had but re-
cently been elected governor for the second time,
there were Richard M. Johnson, then a member of
Congress and afterward senator and vice-president,
Adair, Desha and Crittenden, governors, Walker
and Barry, senators, and the latter, with McAfee
and Charles A. Wickliffe, lieutenant-governors.*
Battle of New Orleans.
The next call upon Kentucky for troops was
when the British, under General Pakenham, moved
against New Orleans. In November three regi-
ments rendezvoused at Louisville in 1814, viz. : The
first under command of Lieutenant-Governor Sam-
uel Mitchussen, the second, Lieutenant- Colonel
Gabriel Slaughter, and the third Lieutenant-Colonel
Presley Gray. They had been summoned hastily
and, poorly armed and equipped for such a trip,
*For full account of the battle of the Thames and those who took part in it
see The Battle of The Thamet, by Bennett H. Young, Filson Publication, No.
18, Louisville, 1903.
284 THE HISTOKY OF KENTUCKY.
embarked in flat boats November 21. They were
crowded together on the boats without any shelter,
and the hardships and exposure endured at an in-
clement season produced much sickness. After
many delays and a short voyage they arrived at
New Orleans on January 3. A portion of the Ken-
tucky command, under Col. John Davis, was placed
on the west bank of the Mississippi River when a
flanking movement was threatened, and the re-
mainder in the centre of the main line of defense on
the east side under command of Gen. John Adair,
afterwards governor, near the Tennesseeans under
General Carroll. It was this portion of the latter
line which received the main attack of the British
who were approaching in close range, and repulsed
them by the rapid and accurate fire of the western
riflemen. The result is too well known to require
detail, the flower of the British army being defeated
with great slaughter, including the commanding
general, while the American loss was but thirteen
killed and thirty-nine wounded. The saddest part
of the tragedy was later disclosed when the intelli-
gence reached America that the treaty of Ghent,
terminating hostilities, had been signed on De-
cember 14 preceding. Some reflection was made
upon the conduct of the Kentucky troops posted on
the western bank of the river, resulting in a con-
troversy between General Adair and General Jack-
son, but a court of inquiry relieved the troops of
any censure and all bitterness of feeling was, in
time, removed. General Adair, who had been a
senator in Congress, was governor of Kentucky,
1820-24.
The Mexican War.
The Mexican War was the logical result of the
successful revolution of Texas, accomplished by the
defeat of Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 285
April 21, 1836. Her independence, subsequently
proclaimed, was acknowledged by the United States
Oct. 22, 1837, but not recognized by Mexico. On
the 1st of March, 1845, Congress, by joint resolu-
tion, declared in favor of the annexation of Texas,
and the same having been communicated to that
Republic by President Polk, it was ratified by the
people of Texas in convention. In view of threaten-
ing conditions on the western frontier of Texas in
January, 1846, General Taylor was ordered to take
position on the left bank of the Rio Grande, and
was soon confronted by General Ampudia with a
Mexican army on the opposite side of the river.
These movements culminated in the battles of Palo
Alto and Resaca de la Palma on May 8 and 9, 1846.
The war which ensued was prosecuted with vigor
first on the southwestern border of Mexico under Gen.
Zachary Taylor, afterward President, when among
the battles fought were Monterey and Buena Vista,
and later by the campaign of Gen. Winfield Scott
from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, culminating
in the capture of the latter Sept. 14, 1847. Peace
was confirmed by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo,
Feb. 2, 1848, by which Mexico ceded to the United
States New Mexico and California.
Under a call for 2,600 troops from Kentucky,
ready response was made by the Louisville Legion,
a volunteer organization, and on the 21st of May,
1846, four days after the governor's call, the com-
mand left on steamboats for the seat of war via
New Orleans. It was known as the First Regiment,
commanded by Col. Stephen Ormsby, and was fol-
lowed later by the Second Regiment with Wm. R.
McKee as colonel and Henry Clay, Jr., lieutenant-
colonel, and the Third Regiment, cavalry, with
Humphrey Marshall, colonel, and E. H. Field, lieu-
tenant-colonel. Of these troops the loss was many
286 THE HISTORY OP KENTUCKY.
at the battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 22, 1846, includ-
ing the death of Colonel Clay and Lieutenant-Colo-
nel McKee. In August, 1847, under another call,
two more regiments were accepted, while twelve
other companies which offered were rejected as the
quota was full. The regimental officers of one regi-
ment were Munlins V. Thompson, colonel, Thomas
L. Crittenden, lieutenant-colonel, and John C.
Breckinridge, major, and of the others, John S.
Williams, colonel, "William Preston, lieutenant-
colonel, and W. T. Ward, major. These commands
marched to the City of Mexico too late to partici-
pate in the battles preceding its capture. Their
service was, however, useful, as the city remained
in possession of the American army until after the
formal declaration of peace.
In looking back upon the Mexican War two
things attract our attention, one the low percentage
of loss in battle compared with that in the War of
Secession, there having been few engagements
which would have ranked above skirmishes in com-
parison with the battles the Federals and Confed-
erates fought, showing at once the improvement in
the death-dealing implements of war in the interval
and the more evenly matched contestants. The
other observation worthy of note is the fact that
the Mexican War proved a great school of educa-
tion for both the later contending armies. This was
notable not only in the regular army but also among
the volunteers. From Kentucky the Northern army
had Generals Thomas L. Crittenden, Lovell H.
Eousseau, Cassius M. Clay, William T. Ward,
Colonels W. E. Woodruff, C. D. Pennebaker and
others, while the South received Generals John C.
Breckinridge, William Preston, John S. Williams,
John H. Morgan, Humphrey Marshall, Eoger W.
Hanson and many others of less rank. The war was
JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE.
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 287
also a stepping stone to political preferment, having
furnished two Presidents. In Kentucky those who
had aspirations gratified them in the state legisla-
ture, one or both Houses of Congress and in foreign
courts. As a campaign of education it was, however,
less remarkable than for the territorial acquisition
which resulted from it. Its duration was but two
years, and yet there was added to our territory an
area as large as the original thirteen states at a
cost of less than that of one year's present admin-
istration of the government. It gave us control of
the Pacific coast with all the wealth of California,
and rounded out our boundary so as to leave nothing
further to be desired for peace with our continental
neighbors.
The War of Secession.
The presidential election of 1860 found Kentucky
divided in political sentiment, as between the lines
of the old Whig and Democratic parties, a split in
the latter between the Breckinridge and Douglas
factions giving the electoral vote of the state to
Bell and Everett by a plurality of over twelve thou-
sand votes. But the overwhelming Southern senti-
ment was evidenced by the fact that, out of nearly
150,000 votes, Mr. Lincoln received less than fifteen
hundred. As the discussion which followed the
election became more and more intense, pending the
inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, and the steps taken by
several of the Southern states for the establishment
of a separate government, Kentucky was not thrown
from her poise by the acts of the extremists on
either side. Her sympathies were with the South
and she was opposed to the use of force, but men of
all parties were strong in their devotion to a Con-
stitutional Union, from the great benefits derived
therefrom, as well as from the geographical posi-
tion of Kentucky as a border state. In a called ses-
288 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
sion of the legislature in January, 1861, to consider
the existing state of affairs, a proposition to call a
convention to determine the ultimate course to be
pursued as between the North and the South was
promptly voted down. On January 25 George W.
Ewing, of Logan county, offered two resolutions,
the first declaring that the General Assembly had
heard with profound regret of the resolutions of
the states of New York, Ohio, Maine and Massa-
chusetts, tendering to the President men and money
to be used in coercing the sovereign states of the
South into obedience to the Federal government;
second, declaring that when those states shall send
armed forces to the South for such purpose "the
people of Kentucky, uniting with their brethren of
the South will, as one man, resist such invasion to
the last extremity." The first resolution passed
unanimously and the second by a vote of eighty-
seven to six. The Bell and Everett party was
equally pronounced with the Democratic party in its
opposition to force. Governor Ma^offin, in re-
sponse to the call for troops by the Secretary of
War April 15, after the firing upon Fort Sumter,
replied: "I say emphatically that Kentucky will
furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of sub-
duing her sister states." If there was any consider-
able body of men in Kentucky who differed from
this declaration, it was not made known. The
Democratic party, of course, concurred with it. The
Bell and Everett and Douglas parties had fused,
and their committee, calling: itself the Democratic
Union Committee, composed of such men as George
D. Prentice, editor of the Louisville Journal, the
Whig organ, John H. Harney, editor of the Louis-
ville Democrat, the Douglas organ, and James
Speed, afterward attorney-general, on the 17th of
April, unanimously adopted the following among
KENTUCKY FKOM 1792 TO 1865. 289
other resolutions: "We approve the response of
the Executive of the Commonwealth," adding that
"if the enterprise announced in the proclamation
of the President shall at any time hereafter assume
the aspect of a war for the overrunning and subju-
gation of the seceding states, through the full asser-
tion therein of the national jurisdiction by a stand-
ing military force, we do not hesitate to say that
Kentucky should unsheath the sword in what will
then have become a common cause." Kentucky was
then a unit on this proposition, and had the so-
called Union element kept good faith the many woes
which her people endured during the four years'
war might have been greatly diminished, if not
wholly averted. But in time the position taken by
the anti-Democratic party, proved delusive, and the
Southern element having trusted too implicitly in
their good faith found themselves, in a few months,
abandoned by their late allies and the state under
the domination of the Federal army. On April 17,
the same day the Union committee adopted the
resolution cited, Mr. Crittenden, who had just fin-
ished a term in the Senate, made a speech in Lex-
ington in which he proclaimed the doctrine of an
armed neutrality, with the assertion that if Ken-
tucky would refrain from taking trnrt in the con-
troversy war might be averted. General Breckin-
ridge, his successor, personally expressed his con-
currence and committed himself and his party to
the policy. It was evident, even to the most bitter
Southern sympathizer, that if this condition should
be maintained it would give protection to nearly 700
miles of Southern border. It was not long, however,
before evidence of bad faith became manifest.
Lieutenant William Nelson, of the navy, a Ken-
tuekion, came to the state on a secret mission and
after conference with the leaders of the Union party
Vol. 1— 19.
290 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
was, as shown later by the official records, as early
as July 1, authorized by the President to recruit
five regiments of infantry and one of cavalry and
notified by him that 10,000 arms and accoutrements
would be sent for the men thus enlisted and the
Home Guards (see Rebellion Record, Vol. IV., pp.
251-52). In due time he established Camp Dick
Eobinson in Garrard county as a recruiting station,
and it was in full operation before the expiration of
the summer. Gen. George H. Thomas was assigned
to the command of that post Sept. 10, 1861. Pend-
ing these secret movements for recruiting and or-
ganizing Federal troops in Kentucky, the facts of
which were only made public after the war, in the
volume cited, assurances were being given by
the leading Union men that the neutrality of Ken-
tucky would be respected. President Lincoln hav-
ing, late in April, assured Mr. Crittenden that
while he hoped Kentucky would act with the govern-
ment, if she would not and could remain neutral, no
hostile step should tread her soil. Meantime, as
evidence of respect for the neutrality of the state,
those who wished to take sides with the South in
the pending war went beyond the Southern border
of Kentucky for organization, while men like Rous-
seau, intent on supporting the Federal authority in
its alleged purpose of protecting the public prop-
erty at Washington, entered upon the recruiting
service, but fixed their camps outside the state across
the Ohio. Lulled into confidence by the assurance
of good faith on the part of the government at
Washington and its adherents in Kentucky, the
Southern leaders awoke too late to a realization of
the fact that they had been circumvented and that
upon proper pretext they would be made to feel the
full weight of the Federal power. With the ap-
proach of autumn a play for advantage began be-
KENTUCKY FROM 1793 TO 1865. 291
tween the authorities at Washington and those at
Richmond upon the technicality as to who should
claim the first violation of neutrality, in which the
Southern men of Kentucky had no part. General
Grant, who occupied Cairo, threatened Columbus,
Ky., by a movement on the Missouri side of the Mis-
sissippi, and the Federal general, Smith, made
demonstrations threatening Paducah. General
Polk at Memphis, not apparently foreseeing the
consequences, moved north and occupied Columbus
September 3, followed on the 5th by the occupation
of Paducah, Ky., by General Grant. The legislature
elected in August was then in session with the Union
element largely in the majority, and on September
10 adopted resolutions to notify the Confederate
troops to withdraw from the state, declining at the
same time to take similar action as to the Federal
force at Paducah. Gen. Robert Anderson, who was
in command of Fort Sumter at the time of its cap-
ture, had, on August 15, been assigned to the com-
mand of the department of the Cumberland and es-
tablished his headquarters at Louisville shortly
after this date. Thus fortified and assured of pro-
tection, the Federal element in Kentucky threw off
all disguise and, at its instigation, ihe state became
at once the theatre of malignant persecution of
Southern sympathizers and of the most radical
measures for its subjugation to the Federal rule.
On the night of September 18 ex-Gov. Charles S.
Morehead and Col. R. T. Durrett, with no direct
charge against them except that of sympathy with
the South, were arrested at their homes in Louis-
ville and sent to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, as
the initial move for similar persecution of others of
the same class. Simultaneous with this act General
Rousseau 's command, which had been in camp in
Indiana opposite Louisville, crossed the river into
292 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Kentucky and marched through the streets with
loaded guns, without demonstration of welcome
from the citizens, and were thence moved south-
ward towards Bowling Green, which, on the same
day, was occupied by Gen. S. B. Buckner command-
ing a force consisting of 2,500 Tennesseeans and
1,500 Kentucky troops organized at Camp Boone,
just across the interstate line. On the next night
Colonel Bramlette moved from Camp Dick Robin-
son to Lexington for the arrest of John C. Breckin-
ridge, William Preston and other prominent Demo-
crats who, relying upon the good faith which had
been assured them of exemption from persecution,
had remained at home in pursuit of their several
avocations. Forewarned of their danger they left
the city, and together with others of similar promi-
nence made their way through the mountains of
eastern Kentucky to Virginia where, in time, they
took service in the Confederate army.
The foregoing narrative of the circumstances at-
tending the action of Kentucky at the inception of
the war, extended beyond otherwise reasonable lim-
its in a brief history such as this, is necessary to the
vindication of the patriotic Kentuckians who gave
their lives and fortunes to the cause of the South
in the four years' struggle for its liberties. Their
after deeds are recorded in the official annals of the
war, but there is not elsewhere to be found as full
and succinct an account of their action in the inter-
val treated, of the details of which the author can
truthfully say, Omnia quorum vidi, et pars fui. The
official records of the war on both sides attest the
valor and faithful service of the Kentuckians who,
giving up home and family for the defense of a
principle, left their bones to bleach on the battle-
fields or returned after the struggle to begin life
anew, wrecked in their estates, and with only the
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KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 293
sublime consolation that they had done their duty
as God gave them to see it. But there is not else-
where readily accessible an accurate account of the
perfidy and usurpation of power which preceded
and ultimately secured the Federal occupation and
control of Kentucky.
The first serious battle on Kentucky soil was at
Mill Spring in Pulaski county, ten miles north of
the Cumberland Kiver, Jan. 19, 1862, when Gen.
George B. Crittenden with his command of 5,000 in-
fantry and one battery of artillery advanced to at-
tack the Federal army under Gen. George H.
Thomas, of nearly equal numbers, two of the regi-
ments being Col. Speed Smith Fry's Fourth Ken-
tucky Infantry and Col. Frank Walford's regiment
of Kentucky cavalry. The opening of the battle
was favorable to the Confederates, but General Zol-
licoffer, second in command of the Confederate
force, having been killed by a pistol shot by Colonel
Fry, of the Federal army, and a heavy reinforce-
ment to the Federal force marching to the field un-
der the command of Col. John M. Harlan, General
Crittenden was compelled to fall back and recrossed
the Cumberland with his army, after having expe-
rienced comparatively small loss of life, but being
compelled to abandon ten pieces of artillery, all of
his horses and wagons and a large quantity of am-
munition and stores. This reverse shed quite a
gloom among the Southern element in the state.
In the meantime Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, a
Kentuckian, who was in command of the Military
Department of the Pacific at the inception of the
war, and had resigned in April, had ridden on horse-
back 1,500 miles to Texas. Having been appointed
to the command of the Confederate Department No.
2, including Kentucky, he had established his head-
quarters at Bowling Green with about 4,000 men
294 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
under Gen. S. B. Buckner, composed of Tennessee
troops, the Second Kentucky Eegiment and parts
of the Third and Fourth recruited at Camp Trous-
dale near Nashville. General Sherman had been
superseded by General Buell, and the Green Eiver
formed the line between the advance of the respect-
ive armies. It was merely a tentative line to cover
the operations of the two armies during organiza-
tion for activity in other fields. The active cam-
paign began on Feb. 6, 1863, with a Federal attack
upon Fort Henry on the Tennessee Eiver, resulting
in the capture of the post with Gen. Lloyd Tilghman,
of Kentucky, and eighty men, after a gallant de-
fense ; his main force of 3,000 men having fallen back
on Fort Donelson, eastwardly, on the Cumberland.
To the defense of this post General Johnston sent
General Pillow with 4,000 men on the 9th, and on
the 12th reinforced him with the commands of Gen-
erals Floyd and Buckner, 8,000 men. At the same
time recognizing the danger to which he would be
exposed at Bowling Green by the depletion of his
force and the necessity of covering Nashville, he fell
back upon the latter place at which he arrived on the
15th, the withdrawal being made without loss of
any material and in perfect order. The fall of Fort
Donelson on the 16th by its surrender to General
Grant after a strenuous defense by Gen. S. B.
Buckner, after Generals Floyd and Pillow, his se-
niors, had imposed that duty upon him by escaping
to Nashville, was a far-reaching disaster which
opened up to the recapture of the enemy not only
all of Kentucky but all of Tennessee west of the
Cumberland mountains. Among the troops surren-
dered were the Second and Eighth Kentucky, which,
with General Buckner, were retained as prisoners in
the North until exchanged in the following August.
Of the military operations which followed, it is
KENTUCKY FEOM 1792 TO 1865. 295
not within the scope of the history to enter into
detail. During the remainder of the war the Ken-
tuckians who had left their homes, most of them,
hastily and with little preparation, to vindicate a
principle dear to them, and who survived its terrors
of battle, disease and imprisonment as captors,
quite as deadly as the first, were separated from
their families for more than three years, except in
such brief opportunity as was afforded by the cav-
alry raids and the invasion of Kentucky by the army
of General Bragg in the autumn of 1862. A large
proportion did not live to enjoy this pleasure. A
true muster roll of Kentucky's contribution to the
war can never be made, even though every military
organization which they composed were officially
recorded, since under the conditions hedging them
about there were numbers who were in the service
of other states. The most reliable estimate is that
there were in the Confederate army 30,000, and in
the Federal 75,000, the latter including negroes.
Many thousand more Kentuckians served in the
ranks from other Southern states.
The following is a list showing the various com-
mands as organized, with the names of their first
commanders and dates of commission:
INFANTRY
First Regiment, Thomas H. Taylor, colonel, Oct. 14, 1861; Second
Regiment, James M. Hawes, colonel, July 17, 1861; Third Regiment,
Lloyd Tilghman, colonel, July 5, 1861; Fourth Regiment, Robert P.
Trabue, colonel, Sept. 23, 1861; Fifth Regiment, John S. Williams,
colonel, Nov. 19, 1861 ; Sixth Regiment, Joseph H. Lewis, colonel, Nov.
1, 1861; Seventh Regiment, Charles Wickliffe, colonel, Nov. 1, 1861;
Eighth Regiment, Henry C. Burnett, colonel, Oct. 3, 1861; Ninth Regi-
ment, Thos. H. Hunt, colonel, Oct. 3, 1861; Graves Battery, Rice E.
Graves, captain, Nov. 8, 1861; Lyon's and Cobb's Battery, H. B. Lyons,
captain, Sept. 1, 1861; Corbett's Battery, Henry D. Green, captain.
CAVALRY
First Regiment, Ben Hardin Helm; Second Regiment, John H. Mor-
gan, colonel, Oct. 2, 1861; Third Regiment (afterwards consolidated
with First), J. Russell Butler, colonel; Fourth Regiment, Henry L. Gilt-
ner, colonel, Oct. 6, 1862; Fifth Regiment, D. Howard Smith, colonel,
296 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Oct. 6, 1862; Sixth Regiment, J. Warren Grisgby, colonel, Sept, 25,
1862; Seventh Regiment, R. M. Gano, colonel, Sept. 25, 1861; Eighth
Regiment, Roy S. Cluke, colonel, Sept. 10, 1862; Ninth Regiment, W. C.
P. Breckinridge, colonel, Dec. 17, 1862; Tenth Regiment, Adam R.
Johnson, colonel, Aug. 13, 1862; May's Battalion Kentucky and Vir-
ginia Mounted Rifles, A. J. May, colonel; Eleventh Regiment, D. W.
Chenault, colonel, Sept. 10, 1862; Twelfth Regiment, W. W. Faulkner,
colonel, Sept. 15, 1863; Thirteenth Kentucky Regiment, Ben E. Caudill,
colonel, Nov., 1862; First Battalion, W. E. Simms, 1861; Second Bat-
talion, Clarence J. Prentice, 1862; First Battalion Mounted Rifles, Ben-
jamin F. Bradley, major, 1861; First Special Battalion, W. W. Ward,
colonel, Nov. 10, 1864; Third Battalion Mounted Rifles, Ezekiel F. Clay,
lieutenant-colonel, Nov. 7, 1862; Third Special Battalion Cavalry,
Joseph T. Tucker, colonel, Nov. 10, 1864; Independent Battalion Cav-
alry, Bart W. Jenkins, captain; Jessee's Battalion, George N. Jessee;
Independent Company (afterwards known as Woodward's Regiment),
Thomas G. Woodward, captain, Aug. 25, 1862; Independent Company,
James M. Bolin, captain, Nov. 21, 1862; King's Battalion, H. Clay King,
major; Independent Company, J. J. Murphey, captain; Moorhead'a
Partisan Rangers, J. C. Moorhead, colonel; Buckner's Guards, Culvin S.
Sanders; Company of Partisan Rangers, William J. Fields, captain, Aug.
1, 1862; Company of Partisan Rangers, Philip M. Victor.
There were other organizations composed in
whole or part of Kentuckians of which there is no
official record, as Byrne's Battery, which, although
first organized in Mississippi, was composed of and
officered by Kentuckians almost exclusively. In
the service Kentucky contributed to the Confederate
army a large number of able and distinguished offi-
cers, some of whom are accredited to other states,
but most of whom went directly from Kentucky.
The following is a list of them :
General Albert Sidney Johnston (Texas); Lieutenant-General Simon
Bolivar Buckner; Lieutenant-General John B. Hood (Texas); Lieu-
tenant-General Richard Taylor (Louisiana); Major-Generals : John C.
Breckinridge, George B. Crittenden, William Preston. Gustavus W.
Smith. Brigadier-Generals: John H. Morgan, Daniel W. Adams (Mis-
sissippi), Roger W. Hanson, Basil W. Duke, Abram Buford, George B.
Cosby, John S. Williams, James M. Hawes, Ben Hardin Helm, George
B. Hodge, Claiborne F. Jackson (Missouri), Joseph H. Lewis, Samuel B.
Maxey (Texas), Randall L. Gibson, (Louisiana), Thomas H. Taylor.
Provisional Government of Kentucky.
On Nov. 18, 1861, a Sovereignty Convention was
held in Eussellville, Kentucky, at which two hundred
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 297
members were present for the purpose of forming a
state government favorable to a union with the
Southern Confederacy. It remained in session
three days and adopted a constitution which pro-
vided for a provisional government vesting all ex-
ecutive and legislative powers in a council of ten,
the council to fill vacancies. The existing constitu-
tion and laws were declared to be in force except
when inconsistent with the acts of that convention
and of the legislative council. George W. Johnson,
of Scott county, was elected governor; Robert
McKee, of Louisville, secretary of state, and Or-
lando F. Payne, assistant secretary; Theodore L.
Burnett, of Spencer county, treasurer, who resigned
December 17, and J. B. Burnham, of Warren county,
was appointed in his place; Richard Hawes, of
Bourbon county, auditor, who resigned, and Joshua
Pillsbury was appointed in his place.
An ordinance of secession was adopted, and
Henry C. Burnett, William E. Simms and William
Preston were sent as commissioners to Richmond,
and on Dec. 10, 1862, the Confederate Congress ad-
mitted Kentucky as a member of the Confederate
states.
Upon the death of Gov. George W. Johnson, who
fell on the second day at Shiloh while fighting in the
ranks, the legislative council, which retained its or-
ganization during the war, elected Hon. Richard
Hawes his successor. While the state was occupied
by the Confederate army under General Bragg,
Governor Hawes was duly inaugurated and deliv-
ered an inaugural address in the capitol at Frank-
fort Oct. 4. 1862. But the evacuation of the place
occurring within a few hours precluded the exercise
of any of his official functions.
298 THE HISTOEY OF KENTUCKY.
The Return of Peace.
After the surrender of General Lee at Appomat-
tox and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at Greensboro,
N. C., the Kentuckians who received paroles were,
for a time, barred from returning to their homes
by an opinion rendered by James Speed, United
States attorney-general, himself a Kentuckian.
This was to the effect that Kentuckians, Missouri-
ans and Marylanders having left their homes to
make war on the Union were not entitled to the
privilege of the parole. This delayed their return to
Kentucky, but after an interval of several weeks
the decision was rescinded and gradually the weary
exiles returned to their homes, the welcome which
they received going far to repay them for the trials
through which they had gone and to nerve them for
a renewed struggle in the peaceful pursuit of a live-
lihood. They found the conditions much changed
from those attending the Federal occupation of the
state, the oppression inflicted upon the people by
the satraps like Burbridge, Palmer and Payne had
changed the whole current of political feeling.
Many who had been prominent at the inception of
the war in handing over the state to Federal con-
trol, had been sent to Northern prisons or through
the lines South, as was Lieut.-Gov. Richard T. Jacob,
an early Federal volunteer, near the close of the
war. Garrett Davis, who had succeeded Breckin-
ridge in the Senate as a reward for his services in
shackling the state, was as severe against the ad-
ministration at Washington as his predecessor had
been four years previously, and was as roundly de-
nounced as an arch-rebel. So that instead of com-
ing home to be disciplined, the Southern soldier was
received with open arms, and by none more cor-
dially than by the Union soldier. At the meeting of
the first legislature all disabilities were removed,
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 299
and at the second a number of ex-Confederates were
members; and within two years the Confederate
element was in control of the state, magnanimously
opposing any discrimination against those who wore
the blue, and maintaining ever since the most cor-
dial relations with them. Thus again reunited, the
people of Kentucky soon built up the waste places
and the state has prospered in every line of physical
and intellectual development. The thorough re-
union of the people of the state was well illustrated
during the war with Spain, when former Confeder-
ate officers and soldiers vied with the Federal ele-
ment in the promptness with which they rallied to
the standard of the country, and maintained its
honor on the field of battle.
Mountain Feuds.
One of the features of Kentucky life which has
excited much comment and given to the state an un-
enviable reputation has been the feuds which, al-
though confined to the mountain counties, have been
credited to the state at large and interpreted as
indicating an irreconcilable hostility between the
extreme classes, or, as otherwise expressed, between
the mountaineers and the aristocracy. This has not
only been greatly exaggerated as to the extent of the
area in which such disturbances have occurred, but
also as to the nature of the lawlessness with which
the state has been accredited. The population of
Kentucky is more homogeneous than that of any
other state in the Union. It is the largest aggrega-
tion of English-speaking people on the continent
and with less continental element than is to be found
in any other body of like numbers. The total popu-
lation of Kentucky by the census of 1890 was 1,858,-
635, divided as follows : Native-born, 1,799,279 ; for-
eign-born, 59,305 ; colored, 381,137. By that of 1900
300 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
it was 2,380,887, of whom 50,249 were of foreign
birth and 284,708 negroes, the remainder being 57
Chinese and 102 Indians. And this ratio of whites
and native-born citizens has been maintained from
its earliest statehood.
The state embraces an area of about 42,500 square
miles with every variety of topography and geology
above the arehaean. The length from east to west
is about 350 miles, and its greatest breadth is 175
miles. Its shape is somewhat that of a triangle,
with its apex on the Mississippi River at an alti-
tude of 275 feet above sea level, ascending eastward,
gradually at first, but more rapidly after reaching
the central portion until it attains an elevation at
the Cumberland range of 2,500 feet, with excep-
tional points in the extreme middle east of 4,000
feet. Its geology includes all the formations from
the lower silurian to the quarternary, the variation
in altitude giving a corresponding variety in climate
and production so that, while in the lowlands of its
western portion the production of cotton is prac-
tical and the cypress of the South grows in its
swamps, in the mountains of the east only the hardy
cereals are cultivated, and the forest growth in-
cludes the pine and hemlock of the more northern
climes. It will be readily seen, therefore, what a
wide range there exists within a boundary of such
diverse physical features for a corresponding dif-
ference in the mental, moral and physical qualities
of the residents of the mountains and the less ele-
vated portions of the state. It is not because they
are of a different race. They are practically of the
same, the foreign population being found chiefly in
the cities and the negroes confined to the central
and western agricultural portions of the state, there
being very few of either element in the mountains,
some of the counties having neither. Thus, the
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1885. 301
population of that region is almost exclusively com-
posed of native-born whites, chiefly descendants of
the original settlers from Virginia and North Caro-
lina, and homogeneous with the great body of the
native-born whites of other portions of the state.
The mountain section of Kentucky comprises about
one- fourth of the state, its boundaries being approx-
imately those of the eastern coal field. The greater
part of it is still thickly timbered and threaded with
many small streams, the head waters of the Big
Sandy, the Kentucky and the Cumberland and
Licking rivers, unnavigable except for rafting logs
after a heavy rainfall, unless with slack-water im-
provement. In the narrow valleys and coves the
soil is rich, and with good cultivation productive
wherever it is level enough for agriculture, but the
great drawback either to agricultural or other de-
velopment was, in early times, and has been until
a very recent period, from the inability to ship
products requiring land transportation on account
of the lack of railroad or other facilities. To un-
derstand the situation it must be borne in mind that
prior to the War of Secession there was not a mile
of railroad within this whole region, and while it
was the first portion to receive the footprint of the
pioneer it has been the last to feel the awakening
touch of modern development.
A thrifty class of immigrants from Virginia and
North Carolina, with a strong infusion of Scotch
blood, found their homes in these mountains during
the two decades following the Revolutionary War.
By the natural law of migration which leads those
who seek homes in a new country to select one hav-
ing features similar to that from which they mi-
grate, the ancestors of these movers had settled in
the highlands of the colonies even as they had lived
in those of their nativity. The same law, when in
302 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
their second migration they reached Cumberland
Gap, led them to select the mountainous portions of
Kentucky as their new home. Someone, in seeking
a cause for the difference between the people of
the mountains and the richer and more level area
has suggested that they were of the convict or in-
dentured servant class transported from England
and sold for a term of years. But this is untrue.
There was such an element in Virginia and some
other colonies, but in the tide of immigration to
Kentucky there was no such line of segregation. A
few of such may have come to that region, degener-
ates from the start, but the great body of mountain
settlers were as good as the average Kentucky im-
migrants, with many of wealth and education who
brought their slaves. Nor was the immigration to
the more favored portions of the state exclusively
of the first families of Virginia, as some of their
descendants would have us believe, but included
many of this convict and indentured class from
which grew, on the one hand, a thrifty crop of crim-
inals, overseers and negro traders, and on the other
that type which makes itself conspicuous, upon the
requisition of wealth, by aping the manners of the
well-bred and manufacturing pedigrees to which
they have no just title.
The mountain people have been much slandered,
and their feudal troubles being of the Scotch type
involved but little loss of life and less of property,
and in recent years, save, as to the Hargis feud in
Breathitt county, lately terminated by the death of
the leader, there has been comparatively little dis-
order. Notwithstanding these conditions, crime and
vice of the kind which fosters in certain strata of a
higher civilization did not prevail. Bobbery and
murder for gain were, as they are now, almost un-
known. The picture drawn by Macaulay, writing
KENTUCKY FROM 1792 TO 1865. 303
but little over a half century ago, of the conditions
in the north of England, is darker by far than the
worst conditions which have prevailed in any part
of Kentucky : * ' The seats of country gentry and the
larger farmhouses were fortified. Oxen were
penned at night beneath the overhanging battle-
ments of 'The Peel.' The inmates slept with arms
at their sides. Huge stones and boiling water were
in readiness to crush and scald the plunderers who
might venture to assail the little garrison. No
traveler ventures into that country without making
his will. The judges of the circuit with the whole
body of barristers, attorneys, clerks and serving
men rode from New Castle to Carlisle, armed and
escorted by a strong guard, under command of the
sheriff. It was necessary to carry provisions, for
the country was a wilderness which afforded no
supplies. Within the memory of some whom this
generation has seen, the sportsmen who wandered
in the pursuit of game to the sources of the Tyne
found the heaths among the Keeldar Castle peopled
by a race scarcely less savage than the Indians of
California, and heard, with surprise, the half -naked
women chanting a wild measure while the men, with
brandished dirks, danced a wild dance."
But as the region, of the conditions of which he
draws such a dark picture, has since become,
through its developed mines, one of the richest and
most enlightened in England, so the penetration of
the mountains of Kentucky by railroads within the
last two decades has relatively changed the condi-
tions in that much misunderstood portion of the
state. The development of its coal mines has made
Kentucky eighth in the production of that mineral,
the output of that fuel in the eastern coal-field being
nearly equal to that of the western, previously the
chief source of supply. Schools, colleges and uni-
304 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
versities are now spreading their light in regions
which so long felt the need of them. Iron furnaces
and other similar evidences of physical, as well as
social and mental, progress are now to be found in
this portion of the state.
During the year 1908 the state was disgraced by
the lawlessness of the night riders in the rich and
cultured tobacco-growing regions not unlike, in pur-
pose, the famous Barn Burner's organization of
New York, which, in the memory of those living,
exerted a strong political influence not limited to the
state.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Collins, R. H.: History of Kentucky (2 vols., 1874);
Duke, B. W.: History of Morgan's Cavalry; Durrett, R. T.: Kentucky
Resolutions of 1798-99 Southern Bivouac, 1899; Johnston, J. Stoddard:
Kentucky (Vol. IX. of Confederate Military History, Atlanta, 1899);
Memorial History of Louisville (2 vols., 1896); Smith, Z. F.: History of
Kentucky (1 vol., 1901).
J. STODDARD JOHNSTON,
Formerly Associate Editor Louisville Courier-Journal; author
of Confederate Hittory of Kentucky.
CHAPTER HI.
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION,
1865-1909.
Conditions at the Close of the War.
The state of Kentucky, being the frontier of
loyalty, was swept by Confederate and Union armies,
and throughout the war was subject to formidable
southern raids and the continued depredations of
guerrillas. The devastation had gone far and much
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 305
of the productive labor had been driven from the
state.
From the close of the period of neutrality, Ken-
tucky was unhesitatingly committed to the Union
cause. It is true there were many Confederate
homes within its borders and not a little sentiment
adverse to the Union, but the great current of Ken-
tucky life from the moment of this public declaration
never failed in the most unconditional Unionism.
Only a decade and a half preceding the close of
the war, the state had provided for the placing of a
block of Kentucky marble in the Washington Monu-
ment to bear the inscription, " Under the auspices
of Heaven and the precepts of Washington, Ken-
tucky will be the last state to give up the Union,"
and she meant it with all her heart.
Unreservedly committed to the Union, Kentucky
was nevertheless strongly pro-slavery in sentiment
and unswerving in her devotion to the idea of local
self-government. The closing years of the war were
marked by a number of grievances, the first of
which was the enlistment of negro troops. The
proud spirit of the Kentuckian resented this as an
implication that he could not do his part for the
nation without calling upon the negroes. In a
masterly manner Lincoln answered the objection
against the enlistment of negro troops, and though
he did not satisfy all minds, the matter was accepted
in a tolerant spirit.
There was another cause for dissatisfaction. The
negroes of loyal men were set free by the process
of enlistment, not only to furnish Kentucky's quota
of troops, but to fill the lists from other states. Such
deprivation of property was pretty hard to bear.
The third cause was found in the restrictions and
demands of the commanders in charge of the
National troops in the state.
Vol. 1—20
306 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
In the early years of the war the Confederacy
undertook to establish a provincial government
within the state, which beat a hasty retreat from
Frankfort within a few hours after the inauguration
of its officers. This action, however, was made a
basis for continued claims on Kentucky by the Con-
federate government. In the unsettled conditions
of a border state, plundering guerrillas and partisan
rangers found large opportunity to ply their nefa-
rious work without those restrictions which would
have existed wholly within Confederate or Union
lines.
Losses from the war may be briefly characterized
as those due to the destruction of life and property,
and the loss of the slaves. Since Kentucky was used
as the foraging ground of such Southern troops as
were free to make raids; as the licensed and ap-
proved territory of the guerrillas; as the scene of
several battles ; since the stock and grain were used
on the ground or carried off for supplies; since
houses and barns were burned, bridges destroyed,
roads torn up, there is no question that the devasta-
tion was both serious and expensive. It would take
years to make good the loss of even the slaves them-
selves. These were valued at $107,000,000 in 1860 ;
$54,000,000 in 1863, decreasing to $34,000,000 in 1864.
Besides, when the war had closed, many a soldier
from each of the armies returned to find his home
destroyed, his business gone, and his place in the
world all to be made again. Thousands of these
gathered the little of their property that could be
found, sold their land for what it would bring, and
sought new homes in the great west. Viewed from
the standpoint of the state welfare, this large emi-
gration of some of the choicest elements of popula-
tion was a serious loss.
Kentucky promptly and generously paid nearly
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 307
$1,000,000 for maintaining troops for local and state
defense. For supplies and expenses met in direct
aid of the Federal government, Kentucky expended
for the preservation of the Union during the war
$3,268,224. Of this sum there had been refunded
to the state by the close of 1865 the amount of
$1,109,230, leaving a balance in favor of the state
of $2,159,994. Deducting $713,965, the state's pro-
portion of the direct tax laid by Act of Congress in
1861, the total balance remaining due against the
United States was $1,553,353. From time to time
payments were made, but the war claim was a favor-
ite topic with the governors in their messages to
the legislature, and twelve years after the war
closed, Governor McCreary informs the legislature
that he is using every energy to collect from the
National government $397,587.27, the sum yet due.
The delay was in part caused by the cumbersome
machinery necessary for the consideration of the
claims, and in part by the need of thorough examina-
tion, in order that no unjust claim might be allowed.
Kentucky's financial conscience was never better
than in the war period. Her people, trained in the
long struggle with banks and with the many prob-
lems of local finance, had come at last to understand
the importance of prompt and willing payment for
themselves and for others.
Interpretation of the Constitution and Abolition of Slavery.
Through all the pioneer history the state had
stood strongly for local self-government. The reso-
lutions of 1798 were only an extreme statement of
that principle. Holding such views it was natural
that the people should chafe under the restrictions
of martial law, which was necessary in the closing
years of the war. The general government early-
recognized the peculiar spirit of the state and so far
308 THE HISTOBY OF KENTUCKY.
as possible sent as commanders Kentuekians who
understood the people. But the citizens were slow
to see that matters cannot be administered in war
as in peace, so they continued to struggle and chafe
against necessary military restrictions. This grew
worse in the last days of the war and for months
following there was continual wrangle and conten-
tion for larger civil rights.
To-day under an established system of govern-
ment and with mostly fixed conditions of labor, we
are likely to make too little allowance for the hard-
ships imposed by the unsettled conditions of the
war period; the breaking up of the old system of
labor and the necessity of making all things new.
The people recognized that slavery was dead, but
comforted their hearts with the belief that it was
a right granted them under the constitution, and
only to be put away by their own choice. Governor
Bramlette, strong for the Union and vigorous in his
administration, urged the adoption of the Thirteenth
Amendment by the legislature as the shortest and
most direct way of disposing of the subject. In the
refusal of the legislature one may find another proof
that Kentucky was still distinctly pro-slavery.
Slavery had existed in the border states in a milder
form than that found in the far South. In many
cases there was a wholesome affection between the
slave and the master, which the people had come
to regard as a desirable end.
To many of the earnest and energetic people of
the North this was a condition either not seen or not
understood, and filled with suspicion and distrust
of the South, they sought to establish a general
means of protecting the negro in his new freedom.
To this end the Freedman's Bureau was established
and extended to the state. The organization excited
great hostility in Kentucky. The governor urged
KENTUCKY IX THE XEW NATION. 309
the local authorities to resist promptly and in legal
form every act of the Bureau, declaring that the
institution was utterly unnecessary, and that the
whole population, being now free, had under the
laws security for life and property. Congress had
passed an act setting free the wives and children of
negro slaves who enlisted in the army from the day
of enlistment. Under this act the Bureau required
former masters to make full payment to these
negroes for the services of their wives and children
from the date of the enlistment of the husband and
father. This interpretation of the law was clearly
unconstitutional, as it deprived the citizens of loyal
states of property without remuneration. Suits
brought in the courts to recover on these grounds
failed of collection but did result in serious irrita-
tion, and intensified the strained relations already
in many cases existing between the former slaves
and their masters. Besides, such payment was often
an economic impossibility. Fields left untilled
throughout the war had grown up in weeds and
brambles ; houses and barns had been burned ; stock
driven away; and the whole territory swept by the
besom of destruction. There was no money with
which to pay. It was all the people could do to keep
body and soul together and to look out upon the
world without debt waiting till peace should come.
To secure relief from the demands of the military
officers and the exactions of the Bureau, petitions
and special messengers were sent to "Washington. The
more objectionable military officers were removed,
but the Freedman's Bureau was sustained in the
state until 1873.
Peace and Development.
A spirit of true fraternity characterized the feel-
ing in Kentucky, and after the announcement of
peace the legislature soon repealed the law of ex-
310 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
patriation which stood against all citizens of the
state who had cast their fortunes in with the Con-
federacy. Men came home by thousands and at
once set themselves to readjusting the old systems.
Neighbors and brothers from opposite sides in the
war took up the life in their communities. Brave
men always respect brave men, and the citizens of
Kentucky had found in their opponents in both
armies brave and true men. The foretime soldiers
adapted themselves to the new conditions and long
before the spirit of freedom and forgiveness was
ascendant in other parts of the South, the barriers
were down and men recently enemies became friends
in old Kentucky.
A new system of labor had to be established. The
colonel from the defeated army, who had never done
a day's work in his life, came home and began to
plow with his saddle horse and a mule. The young
lieutenant, who had been in the Northern army,
reared as a child of ease and comfort but now only
a little more prosperous than his Confederate neigh-
bor, guided the plow behind a team of carriage
horses. Some negroes were hired and some con-
tinued to live with former masters, all building new
homes or restoring the old.
The rich resources of the state were recognized at
the close of the war as never before. The legislature
was called upon to incorporate numerous companies
for mining, manufacturing, oil prospecting and
other industries. New homes were established and
there was real growth. Still it was soon apparent
that with the inflated prices at the close of the war,
men had over-rated the money which they could
command, and many a good enterprise undertaken
in hope was compelled to languish for years for
want of funds. Thus there arose in the state a
period of apathy.
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 311
The Period of Apathy.
With many things to be done and slender re-
sources for the doing of them, what wonder if the
citizens sometimes became discouraged and accepted
things as they were instead of as they should be.
Many of the owners of old plantations who were
involved in debt sold their holdings for a song and
went to other states to make new homes. Men from
the mountains and from other states came to estab-
lish themselves in the bluegrass region. Money was
in great demand and for a time the meaning of
"land poor" was experienced among the people as
never before in the history of the state.
But when all who could had returned, it was not
the old Kentucky. There was a new regime. Nothing
could call to their places again the leaders of Ken-
tucky life who slept in soldiers' graves; and many
a man who did return now found his place gone, and
the new condition was so hard to bear that he turned
his face toward other scenes. Bluegrass farms that
had teemed with life and abounded with the hospi-
tality which made the region famous were now sold
out in small parcels and a new order of rural life
began. But there were other causes of delay.
At the close of the war turbulent spirits from
both armies sought the border states, and Kentucky
suffered most. Guerrilla bands went on their raids
into every part of the commonwealth to steal, to
burn, or to kill, as whim or necessity seemed to
impel. At one time the pay train on the Louisville
and Nashville Eailroad was plundered by a gang of
robbers who made their escape with nearly $15,000.
An organized body of men operated in Marion, Boyd
and Mercer counties under the name of Regulators,
broke open jails, executed criminals, and went so
far as to publish their threats of punishment in the
newspapers. Their violence was directed not only
312 THE HISTOKY OF KENTUCKY.
against real offenders in the hands of the law, but
against all who provoked their resentment. They
even warned the governor of the state to issue no
more proclamations against them on pain of their
vengeance. With the approval of the United States
government, a plan was put in operation to enlist
10,000 troops to protect the state. A part of these
were enrolled, but the plan did not prove satisfac-
tory. The state was relieved from martial law and
came to depend upon the militia and the local police.
The courts were opened for the redress of griev-
ances, but disorder in one form or another was
prevalent until 1873.
In cases involving controversies between members
of their own race, the negroes had long been recog-
nized in the courts. But the unwholesome activity
of the Freedman's Bureau caused the legislature
to withhold legal sanction from the testimony of the
negro during the period of the Bureau's occupancy
of the state, and he was not generally admitted as
a witness. At once after the removal of the Bureau,
a law was passed bestowing upon him the full rights
and privileges of the courts.
Immediately following the war, the Regulators
mentioned in a previous paragraph began to appear
as guardians of the public welfare and promoters
of law and order. Great companies of freedmen
gathered in the vicinity of the towns without ade-
quate means of support, and petty thieving became
general. The negroes had very hazy ideas of the
rights of property, and long accustomed to regard
themselves as immediately identified with some par-
ticular plantation, found it easy to go to the cribs
and hen-roosts of their neighbors to help themselves.
To suppress the disorders thus arising, the Regu-
lators were organized. Later the Ku Klux arose
and doubtless did much to rid the country of objec-
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 313
tionable characters, but as with all organizations for
government and correction beyond the law, the man-
agement soon fell into the hands of men who used it
chiefly to gratify personal spite and to wreak long-
delayed vengeance. The arm of the law was para-
lyzed and the preservation of order fell into the
hands of ruffians who maintained a reign of terror
throughout the whole region. This was suffered
until public opinion arose to the point which swept
these organizations aside and again placed the
government in the hands of the civil authorities.
But in these dark hours the state had been gaining
strength and it was now ready for new and better
things.
A New Awakening.
The old system of labor was gone. One makeshift
and then another had been tried, but soon the leaders
of the state life began to plead for immigration, and
references to it found place in the messages of suc-
ceeding governors. According to the governor's
message to the legislature in 1876, Kentucky had
a population of only thirty-three people to the square
mile. Of the 291,297 immigrants that came to the
United States in that year, 34,000 went to Illinois,
30,000 to Pennsylvania, 10,000 to Ohio, 3,700 to
Indiana and but 800 to Kentucky. In 1880 the
Bureau of Immigration was established. The next
year was marked by the coming of a Swiss colony
to southeastern Kentucky, with headquarters at
Bernstadt, where a prosperous settlement was estab-
lished. In 1882 the secretary of the Department of
Immigration went to Europe and his visit resulted
in bringing a number of colonists to the state. But
interest in immigration proved to be of short dura-
tion, and even to-day but a proportionally small
number of foreigners are found in Kentucky, and
these chiefly in the cities and towns. But Ken-
314 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
tucky, always blessed with a fecund population, has
greatly increased in numbers and sent thousands
of sons and daughters to populate new states. By
the census of 1890 more than 400,000 were reported
as natives of Kentucky settled in nearby states.
The Negro To-day.
To-day many negroes are doing well. They have
bought land and have established homes where they
live in rude comfort and abundance, and not a few
of them in the midst of real culture. But by far the
larger number hold little property. The old days
of general manual labor for the negro have very
largely passed away. Thousands have crowded to
the cities, where under Kentucky's generous law
they are educated in their own schools, the money
being collected on the total taxable property and
distributed, not in accordance with the amount the
negro pays, but in proportion to the population. In
some of the cities there are lawyers, doctors and
other professional men who are making an excellent
record for themselves, but the masses of the people
still have a long road to travel in order to arrive at
the degree of excellence which their best friends
wish for them. In the old days there was at every
crossroads a blacksmith shop with negroes as work-
ers. To-day these shops are fewer and are manned
almost entirely by white workmen. In the old days
the stacking of the wheat and the more skilled parts
of the farm labor were done by negroes. The young
negro has not followed in his father's footsteps in
these attainments, and though he is an excellent
waiter and often a useful man in the town, he does
not aspire to efficiency in rural life. A musical cen-
sus taken by the colored school superintendent of
one of the cities resulted in the finding of about
$40,000 worth of musical instruments in the hands
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 315
of negroes, a sum that would have been sufficient to
start a prosperous negro bank.
The Mountain Region,
In the early eighties the wealth of the mountains
began to be recognized, and numerous companies
were organized, chiefly from beyond the borders of
the state, to exploit timber and minerals. Large
tracts of native forests were purchased by timber
companies and various syndicates bought the land
outright or purchased the mineral right to thousands
of acres underlaid by beds of coal. The railroads
began to thread their way up the river valleys and
into mountain coves, here and there piercing a ridge
by a tunnel, but mainly winding in and out through
the narrow valleys. The Louisville and Nashville
Railroad, with one great branch from Louisville to
Nashville, soon determined to make connections
from Cincinnati southward along the foothills of
the Cumberland and through the mountains to Knox-
ville, and so leading on to Atlanta. The Southern
Railroad, occupying an admirable location in the
southern part of the state, pressed into the con-
tested region adjacent to its lines, and many a secret
midnight survey to lay out a roadway was made by
the engineering corps of the two roads. There are
scarcely to be found in the history of railroad build-
ing more striking and dramatic incidents than those
participated in by the men who located the branch
lines tributary to these two systems.
Wherever a railroad has been opened, a new
period of prosperity soon declares itself. Little
towns spring up, and at the junctions boom towns
are sometimes started. Middlesboro, Kentucky,
benefited in this way, and was planned as the great
metropolis of the mountains. But its promoters
looked forward to larger things than they could
316 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
accomplish, and the boom burst. But gradually the
little city in the mountains gathered strength and
went on toward prosperity, and for the last decade
has been marked by a wholesome growth which
promises well for the future. Branch roads are now
running into many of the mountain coves. The
roads leading out from Louisville like so many fin-
gers of a great hand are spreading the trade to the
mountain region of the south and east and bringing
groaning loads of coal and timber back to exchange
for the manufactures and the food supplies of the
great Mississippi Valley. By its energy and enter-
prise, Louisville has won its right to be called the
gateway of the South. In 1872 a charter was grant-
ed the Queen and Crescent Railroad from Cincinnati
to Chattanooga, and Cincinnati's merchants had
good hope that they would capture the trade of the
South. The road does indeed contribute greatly to
the commercial development of the South and bene-
fited the business of Cincinnati, but the advantage
of the southern trade still lies with Louisville.
The timber products amounted in 1907 to $14,539,-
000. These figures represent the handlings of the
larger companies, but necessarily do not include
many small purchases and much of the timber de-
voted to domestic use. A large share of the state
has been cut over by lumber companies, but here
and there in regions still inaccessible by railroad or
by the larger streams is found the primeval forest.
Moral and Religious Growth.
Any record of Kentucky life which has failed to
take note of the churches must be sadly lacking.
The leading denomination is the Baptist. It was the
first on the ground in the settlement of the state and
has carried on a vigorous work to the present time.
The denomination has undergone many changes, and
KENTUCKY IX THE NEW NATION. 317
particularly in eastern Kentucky, is split up into
a number of different divisions, some of them very
primitive in their conceptions. The Baptists are
closely followed in numbers by the Methodists,
Disciples of Christ and Presbyterians, besides a
number of other leading denominations. The state
has throughout its history been marked by a strong
devotion to religious and moral ideas with much
emphasis upon church organization and sectarian
beliefs.
One of the first Bible Societies in the United
States was organized in Lexington in 1810. The
Society carried on an extensive work and distributed
many Bibles printed in Lexington.
The Y.M.C.A. was organized in a pioneer fashion
in the earlier days of Association work in the United
States. The many branches of the association grew
to such an extent that supervision through the volun-
teer service of members of the state and national
committee proved inadequate, so in 1889 provision
was made for a state secretary, and Mr. Henry E.
Rosevear for nineteen consecutive years filled the
office. From a body of fifteen organizations and a
membership of 1,276, the Kentucky work has grown
to number fifty- three organizations with a total
membership of 8,000 men. Kentucky has been a
leader in county and railroad work, besides giving
adequate attention to the work of the city associa-
tions and of the colleges. These were nineteen years
of hard work and much accomplishment. On the
retirement of Mr. Rosevear, Mr. Philo C. Dix, one
of the assistant state secretaries, was chosen as his
successor.
The Era of Progress.
Beginning with 1876, Kentucky has been repre-
«?ented at the great Fairs of the country. The ex-
hibit at the Centennial was mainly of the minerals
318 THE HISTOEY OF KENTUCKY.
and natural products of the state, and was provided
for by a fund of $30,000 raised chiefly by the leading
women of the commonwealth. Kentucky had a very
satisfactory exhibit at the Columbian Exposition in
1893, adding to the mineral and agricultural prod-
ucts an extensive showing of choice livestock. In
1904 the exhibit at St. Louis surpassed all previous
records, and did high credit to Kentucky's rank
among the agricultural states of the Union. Besides
the large mineral and agricultural supplies, the
extensive exhibit of grains and tobacco, Kentucky
had an unusually fine display of livestock.
In 1890 steps were taken toward the preparation
of a new constitution, which was finally adopted by
the people in September, 1891. It provided for a
distinct advance in the problems of government and
was particularly happy in making an end of lot-
teries, which had for a long time been a burden to
the state. Throughout its history, Kentucky has not
been particularly favorable to private corporations,
but with the organization necessary to develop the
mineral resources and with the trend toward city
life, there has grown up a new sense of the value of
this form of organization to the development of
wealth in the state, and a more favorable attitude
is already apparent.
As in other states, there are doubtless a number
of citizens not yet in the penitentiary who ought to
be there, but Kentucky has in that institution even
a larger proportion than in many states would be
so sentenced. Under the state law, a culprit may
be convicted of grand larceny for stealing a hog of
the value of four dollars, for stealing any kind of
a horse, jack or jeannette, and for taking money
amounting to twenty dollars or more. In many of
the states, persons convicted of these violations of
the law would never reach the penitentiary, but
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 319
would be sentenced to confinement in the county
jails.
"It is not to be denied that there is a great deal
of ordinary homicide in Kentucky. It is not a new
feature of the life of the state, or of the race to
which its people belong." Those who made the state
in the olden days were not gentle-natured, but
dowered with the vigor and the "brutal English
stuff" which "has given their kindred the control
of the world." It is true nevertheless that this
people have set a low value upon human life, a thing
always true when they live near to the soil, and some-
times true when other goods are placed relatively
high. But excusing it as we may and making all
due allowance for the baneful effects of the war and
the period of lawlessness which followed thereafter,
for the penalty of Kentucky's location as a border
state — yes, even justly attributing it partly to the
independence of the Kentuckian and his impatience
under unjust criticism, it still remains true that this
attitude of the public mind is a most serious blot
on the character of the people and responsible to
a greater degree than any other cause for the criti-
cism and censure which has been bestowed upon
Kentucky by her sister states. Already her more
thoughtful citizens are taking strong ground against
this feeling, and there is no reason why the old spirit
of independence, personal bravery and high sense
of honor may not be preserved to the Kentucky
character while there is a growing sense of the sa-
credness of human life and a material increase in
the safety of the people.
The feud is another painful feature of Kentucky
life which has done much to place an undeserved
stain upon the state as a whole. The civil power
had a long struggle after the war to establish its
ascendency. Judge Lilly wrote as follows : "In 1888
320 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
I failed to hold the regular fall terms of Letcher and
Knott Circuit Courts and in 1889 the regular fall
terms of the Perry and Knott Circuit Courts. The
counties of Knott and Perry are absolutely domi-
nated and terrorized by savage and lawless bands.
All respect for justice and the peaceful and orderly
administration of the law is not only set at defiance,
but the most high-handed outrages are perpetrated
in the presence of the Court and with the purpose
and object of terrorizing and intimidating the
officers of justice. At the peril of my life, frequently
narrowly escaping death, I have held the Circuit
Courts in these counties. Before the fall term for
1888 in these counties came on, I had knowledge of
feuds existing in both the counties of Knott and
Perry of the most deadly and malignant character.
Hostile bands in these two counties constantly
menaced each other. Deadly conflicts between the
opposing factions were of almost daily occurrence.
The Circuit Court drew together at the Court House
the factions from all sections of the county, and
collisions with unnecessary fatal and demoralizing
results were inevitable."
The feeble hold of the civil power in the seven
years following the war had doubtless much to do
in developing among the people the spirit of redress-
ing their own wrongs, but the feud is simply another
manifestation of that spirit which required every
man in the day of Queen Elizabeth to carry his side
arms and to right his personal wrongs and any
others with which he chose to concern himself. The
feud often arises in a most trivial way from some
grievance reflecting upon the honor, personal char-
acter or prowess of one of the leaders or of his
trusted lieutenants. The contests have rarely re-
sulted either in the condition of lawlessness or the
number of deaths which the newspapers have de-
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 321
lighted to attribute to them. Frequently in a feud
extending over several years and involving a large
share of the citizens of a county on one side or the
other, the deaths would number but a few men. It
is one of the remarkable characteristics of these
conflicts that the lives and property of strangers
who have been traveling through the country have
been uniformly respected, and even local citizens
who may be able to keep out of the difficulty have
been safe from the vengeance of both parties and
have suffered only when they came between two of
the contestants engaged in an encounter. Ken-
tucky's feuds have occurred for the most part in
the mountain region, and the leader on one side or
the other, established in his mountain fastness,
keeps about him his retainers whom he has sup-
ported and furnished with arms. Many of the
features both of the preparation and of the en-
counter remind one of the days of Cedric the Saxon.
The hate aroused by the feud is implacable, and the
feud usually continues until the adherents on one
side or the other are killed off or move to some
other state. One of the oldest and most serious of
these was that which occurred in Breathitt county,
giving to the shire the name of "Bloody Breathitt,"
and known as the Hargis-Marcum feud. The Hargis
clan was strong and well organized and its leader,
Judge James Hareris, was long an important factor
in the counsels of his party in the state. This feud
was marked by a number of assassinations, the last
being that of Dr. B. D. Cox, a prominent opponent
of Judge Hargis in state politics. The murder took
place in 1903. Three times was Judge Hargis tried
on the charge of complicity in the assassination of
his opponents, and in the case of Dr. Cox it was
decided that the trial could not be carried on impar-
tially in Breathitt county, hence proceedings were
Vol. l-Jl.
322 THE HISTOKY OF KENTUCKY.
moved to Sandy Hook, Eliot county, a hamlet in the
mountains inaccessible by telegraph, telephone or
railroad. At the trial, which was marked by many
sensational incidents, Judge Hargis was acquitted.
Some months later, while in his own store at Jack-
son, he was shot by the hand of his own son. The
general feeling of the state is against feuds, and
the progress of improvements and the ascendency
of the commercial spirit will doubtless put a termi-
nation to this survival of Elizabethan days.
The Goebel Trial.
In 1898 the legislature passed a bill, known as the
Goebel Law, which provided for the counting of the
votes by an election board and was looked upon as
a measure placing an unfair amount of power in the
hands of the Democrats. Kentucky is naturally
Democratic, but in the gubernatorial election of 1899
the Democrats were divided on the question of free
silver and greatly handicapped by factions which
existed in the party. The board of elections orga-
nized under the Goebel Law decided in favor of
Governor Taylor, the Eepublican candidate. William
S. Goebel, the Democratic candidate, gave notice
that he would contest the election. Public feeling
ran high. The matter was brought before the legis-
lature, and with discussion the civil order was
imperiled, and when the time came for the con-
sideration of the contest by the legislature the public
interest and attention were wrought to their highest
pitch. On Jan. 25, 1900, a train bearing between
five hundred and one thousand armed men from the
southern and eastern part of the state rolled into
Frankfort. This heavily armed company met in a
peaceful manner and petitioned the legislature that
the will of the people should be regarded in the
election contest then under consideration. There
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 323
was much bitterness, not a little boasting and some
threats. So matters continued while the subject was
under consideration until January 30, when William
Goebel was shot by the bullet of an assassin from
the State House. Great excitement prevailed and
the state at large was dumbfounded. Governor
Taylor placed a military guard around the capitol,
and adjourned the legislature to meet at London in
the mountains, declaring that a state of insurrection
existed. The Eepublicans went to London, and the
Democratic members of the legislature, shut out
from the capitol and the Opera House by the militia,
at once prepared a statement setting forth these
facts and declaring Goebel and Beckham elected as
governor and lieutenant-governor. This statement
was signed by nineteen senators and fifty-six repre-
sentatives. Mr. Goebel 's death was hourly expected,
but he was sworn in as governor. The Chief Justice
of the state held that the action of these men was
valid, and Mr. Beckham took the oath as lieutenant-
governor. Governor Goebel died on February 3 and
Mr. Beckham was then sworn in as governor. The
Republicans refused to give up the offices. Appli-
cations for injunctions were made by both sides, and
finally a committee of seven men prepared an agree-
ment by which, if the legislature should ratify their
action, the Eepublicans were to submit without fur-
ther prejudice, with immunity from charges of trea-
son, usurpation or any such offenses, and all parties
were to unite for a free and fair election law. This
agreement Governor Taylor refused to sign. The
injunction suits were then consolidated into one.
The Circuit Court decided that the legislature is,
under the constitution, the proper tribunal for the
settlement of such contests, and the decision was
affirmed by the State Court of Appeals. When
carried by the Republicans to the United States
324 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Supreme Court, that body decided that it had no
jurisdiction in the case. Until this time there had
been two acting governors, but when the decision
was made known, Governor Taylor directed that the
militia should be dismissed from the capitol and that
its commander should surrender his office to Gover-
nor Beckham's appointee. The legislature set aside
a fund of $100,000 for the apprehension and prosecu-
tion of the assassin of William Goebel. "Warrants
were issued for men suspected of complicity, and on
March 10 the Grand Jury returned indictments
against ten men for participation in the killing, and
indicted as accessories before the fact five others.
Among these were Governor Taylor, Charles Fin-
ley and Caleb Powers. Taylor and Finley escaped
to Indianapolis, where the governor of Indiana
refused to honor a requisition from the governor of
Kentucky on the ground that these men could not
have a fair trial in that state. The trial of Caleb
Powers was begun at Georgetown, July 9, 1900.
Several of the principal witnesses for the prosecu-
tion were among those who were accused as having
been in the plot to murder Mr. Goebel. Three times
Mr. Powers was found guilty with penalty fixed at
death or imprisonment for life, and each time a new
trial was granted by the Court of Appeals. At the
fourth trial the jury disagreed, and Caleb Powers,
along with James Howard, who had already been
sentenced to the penitentiary, was finally pardoned
by Governor Willson in June, 1908. It is not too
much to say that from the passage of the Goebel
Law in 1898, the chief issue in Kentucky politics
was either this law or its author, William Goebel.
Probably no man was ever loved more ardently or
hated more violently than he. Every question in
state politics was viewed in its relation to the Goebel
Law or to Goebel. After his death, the cause had
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 325
a martyr, and the Republicans, who were gaining
a strong foothold in the state, were submerged in
the hopeless and violent change of sentiment. It
was felt that some one should be punished for the
outrageous assassination of Governor Goebel. Politi-
cal hate and untoward circumstances pointed toward
Caleb Powers, and this man, also devotedly loved
or violently hated in accordance with the viewpoint
of the person concerned, though uncondemned, spent
eight years in the prime of life in a Kentucky prison.
Agricultural and Mineral Products.
Almost from the first of its history as a state,
Kentucky has stood first in one or more of the agri-
cultural staples. For 1900 the leading crops were
as follows : Corn, 3,300,000 acres, 93,060,000 bushels,
valued at $49,322,000; wheat, 734,000 acres, 8,808,-
000 bushels; oats, 192,000 acres, 3,379,000 bushels;
potatoes, 37,000 acres, 2,960,000 bushels; hay, 443,-
000 acres, 598,000 tons; tobacco, 270,000 acres,
240,278,000 pounds, valued at $24,529,000. Both the
production and value of tobacco were then twice as
great as that of North Carolina, the state ranking
second, and more than one- third of the total for the
entire country.
In 1907, the coal output of Kentucky was 9,653,647
tons, worth $10,425,000. In the year preceding, pig
iron was manufactured in the state to the value of
$2,077,000.
Few agencies for the development of the state
have been more fruitful in their good effects than
the State Development Convention, an annual meet-
ing of certain citizens of Kentucky for promoting
the general interests of the commonwealth. From
year to year this enterprising organization has
reported on the needs of the state, on the opportu-
nities of various regions, and the possible steps in
326 THE HISTOKY OF KENTUCKY.
financial, educational and intellectual progress. The
Kentuckian has looked too little beyond his own
borders for the lessons of prosperity and advance-
ment. But the leaders are alert, and a thousand
agencies are now at work to promote the progress
of the state. The homecoming week in 1907 was
warrant enough for the pride which the Kentuckian
feels in his state and people. Thousands who re-
turned from the centres of activity and industry in
other states were delighted with the progress of the
home state; and thousands who remained at home
were charmed with the achievements of the brothers
and cousins who were sustaining themselves in other
commonwealths.
In the eighties, turnpikes were laid out and built
in many parts of the state. These improvements
were made as a private enterprise, but the county
and state took a large amount of stock to promote
the building of these pikes. After a time the people
grew tired of paying toll, sometimes enforced for
travel over roads that were not kept in good repair.
Many of the counties voted to purchase the toll
roads, but the officers were slow and the people
impatient, and a series of outrages against toll-gates
and even against the gate keepers was now inaugu-
rated. Public opinion seemed to condone these out-
rages with the thought that the pikes could be
purchased at a less figure and that the local taxes
would thus be less. The governor records in his
message in 1896 that the state holdings in the local
turnpike companies had sunk from $400,000 to
$100,000 on account of the damages and dangers to
toll-gate keepers. The outrages continued until all
the roads were made public property.
The Few Social Consciousness.
In spite of some disorder, there appeared in the
early years of the Twentieth century many signs of
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 327
a new social consciousness. The State Historical
Society was organized and began to gather docu-
ments and material of great value. Many a garret
was ransacked for old journals and for guns, knives
and household utensils that had been used in the
pioneer days of the commonwealth. The Daughters
of the American Revolution aroused much interest
throughout the state. Family trees were studied,
and genealogical investigation became one of the
favorite pastimes of not a few of the leading ladies
of the state.
In 1896 a monument was erected at Bryan Station
Spring to the memory of the women of that place,
who, as the inscription records, "faced a savage
host in ambush and with heroic courage and sublime
self-sacrifice that will remain forever illustrious,
obtained from this spring the water that made pos-
sible the successful defense of that station."
As land became more valuable, small farms were
continually in demand, many a farmer tilling his
own land with the help of his sons and one or two
hired men. There was a steady increase in the
number of small farms from 1870 to 1880, and in
every decade since.
But on the larger farms, where stock-raising was
practised, a regular system of tenant farming was
soon inaugurated. Men of skill and determination
were needed to care for the stock and particularly
in training the fine horses for which Kentucky has
long been famous. The finest cattle of the state
have been cared for on these bluegrass farms. The
rural mail goes everywhere, and the farmer, who
formerly went to the county seat once a week, may
now sell his grain or stock and order supplies by
telephone from his own home.
The war upon the trust by various tobacco
growers* associations began in 1905, continuing
328 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
through 1907. The growers of southern Kentucky
were organized by the Planters' Protective Asso-
ciation. Other districts were organized by the
American Society of Equity, such combinations of
the farmers being expressly legalized by the Ken-
tucky legislature. The fight has been most important
in the Green River and Burley districts, where 80
per cent, of the tobacco product has been sold to the
American Tobacco Company. This organization has
been accused of unfair manipulation of the markets
and unjust discrimination against growers. Through
their associations the growers pooled and kept from
sale part of the crop of 1905, about 32 per cent, of
the crop of 1906, and about 70 per cent, of the 1907
crop, making in all about 200,000,000 pounds which
is held for fifteen cents a pound. The fight has
resulted in raising the price of tobacco to a marked
degree, but the whole question of the raising and
sale of this crop is now involved in a difficult and
uncertain controversy.
Parties of men made demonstrations against inde-
pendent tobacco growers who refused to join in
opposing the trust and keeping up the price of
tobacco. On Dec. 7, 1907, five hundred of the night
riders, masked and heavily armed, entered the
village of Hopkinsville and destroyed property
valued at $200,000. Many shots were fired, two men
injured and damage done to buildings, newspaper
offices and banks. An appeal for militia was refused
by Governor Beckham, who ordered a local company
of Kentucky troops to report to the sheriff for duty.
At once on taking his seat, Governor Willson began
action to stop the raids. Troops have been sent
from place to place, rewards offered for the dis-
turbers of the peace; but all these agencies have
only been partially successful. New conditions have
brought about new complications. The Italian
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 329
Government appealed to the Secretary of State on
account of the destruction of the property of Italian
citizens in Hopkinsville, valued at $15,000.
A wave of prohibition sentiment has swept over
the state, and now out of 425 towns, 370 are dry ; and
out of 119 counties, 94 have prohibition; and out
of a population of 2,320,000, 1,500,000 inhabitants
are under the local option law. This change may
be assigned to four causes: First, there has been
a growing sentiment in the state against the use of
liquor; second, the larger share of homicides have
been traced directly to the use of liquor and there
is a general feeling that life is much safer without
whiskey than with it; third, the negroes are more
orderly and industrious without liquor; and fourth,
the direct and active efforts of the Anti-Saloon
League have focused this sentiment and brought
much local support to temperance ideas and tem-
perance legislation.
Educational Conditions.
In her early history Kentucky emphasized the
education of leaders. Her sons were trained at
private schools and had large place in molding the
policies of the nation and in the development of the
rural life of the state. In those days the common-
school was regarded as only fit for the charity stu-
dent, and it was carried on for a few weeks or
months every year. Kentucky's system of education
has depended chiefly on state aid, and the children
in many quarters have suffered. But the leaders
in education for a decade have been agitating for
longer terms of school and better-trained teachers
and better equipment. Wonderful progress has
been made. The school buildings of the state are
rreatly improved. Two choice normal schools, that
for the eastern district located at Richmond, Ky.,
330 THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
and that for the western district located at Bowling
Green, are now offering the most up-to-date and
thorough training for the teachers of the state. The
legislature of 1908 voted $300,000 for buildings and
equipment, which joined with that granted to the
State University, makes the largest single appro-
priation ever made in Kentucky to education.
Under act of Congress in 1862, Kentucky was
entitled to 330,000 acres of land for an agricultural
and mechanical college. The gift was accepted in
1863, but was not available until two years later,
when the state legislature accepted the proposition
of President Bowman of Kentucky University, and
the agricultural and mechanical college became a
part of that institution. Thirteen years later it was
detached from Kentucky University and became an
independent institution at Lexington, with Profes-
sor J. K. Patterson as president. In 1880 the insti-
tution was granted full collegiate powers. Since
then it has developed in all departments, being par-
ticularly strong in agricultural and mechanical lines.
The institution has grown until now it has twenty-
four buildings and 250 acres of land, and a faculty
of fifty. In March, 1908, its standard was raised by
act of legislature from college to university rank
and $200,000 was voted by the legislature for new
buildings and equipment. Work below the fresh-
man class is to be discontinued, and departments of
law and of medicine will be added to the institution.
This youngest sister among the state universities
bids fair to work out her problems and to carry her
part among the vigorous educational institutions of
the nation.
Kentucky has long been noted for the large num-
ber of private academies and small colleges. These
have been growing and increasing in excellence from
year to year. There is a tendency toward the estab-
KENTUCKY IN THE NEW NATION. 331
lishment of the educational work on better and
stronger foundations. The leading denominations
are represented by educational institutions and
their supporters are busy in providing new build-
ings and modern equipment.
Chief among the institutions for the application
of knowledge to industrial life is the State Agricul-
tural Experiment Station, established at Lexington
in 1885. which has steadily broadened its scope until
now it is concerned with all the leading topics of
Kentucky agriculture and saves thousands of dollars
to the farmers of the commonwealth by giving ex-
pert advice in protection against insects, plant
diseases, epidemics among hogs, cattle and other
farm animals. It also tests fertilizers and other
manufactured articles used in rural life.
Conclusion.
So reads the record of the experiences of this
noble old state since the closing of the war. The
New Kentucky is an established fact. Mine owners
have gone into the depths of the earth and brought
out immense quantities of coal and iron. Men have
gone to the mountain tops and into the mountain
coves and brought out timber in abundance. Busy
trains rush here and there, north, south and west,
with these large products of the mills. But Ken-
tucky is still an agricultural state. The rural atti-
tude and the rural idea still obtain, but it is no
longer the isolated life and the restricted outlook of
the earlier days. Telephones are found everywhere.
Eural mail delivery exists in all parts of the state
where good roads are found. There is more work,
more progress, more machinery and more enthu-
siasm everywhere. Stores have sprung up at many
of the crossroads. The electric car runs from town
to town, binding the people together in new commer-
332 THE HISTOKY OF KENTUCKY.
cial and social bonds. A new agriculture has come
to stay, and signs of a new rural life are everywhere
apparent. Kentucky is slowly growing rich, but
best of all, this rare old state, with treasures of
heart and brain, with its old-time hospitality, with
its tendency for national politics, is also becoming
national in its interests and thought.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — There is no extended history covering this period;
for special topics and years consult Allen, J. L.: Blue-grass Region of
Kentucky and other Kent-ucky Articles (New York, 1900); Breckinridge,
W. C. P.: Address at the Centennial Celebration of Breckinridge County
(Frankfort, 1882) ; Collins, R. H. : History of Kentucky (Covington, 1874) ;
Connelly, E. M.: Story of Kentucky (Boston, 1890); Haney, W. H.: The
Mountain People of Kentucky (Cincinnati, 1906); Hughes, Schaefer and
Williams: That Kentucky Campaign (Cincinnati, 1900); Kinkead, E. S.:
History of Kentucky (1896); Lipscomb, A. B. (ed.): Commercial History
Southern States, Kentucky (Louisville, 1902); Ousley, C. C.: Kentucky
and the Jamestown Exposition (1907); Powers, Caleb: My Own Story
(1905); Perrin, Battle and Kniffin: History of Kentucky (Louisville and
Chicago, 1887); Shaler, N. S.: Kentucky (Boston and New York, 1884);
Smith, Z. F.: History of Kentucky (Louisville, 1890); Speed, Thomas:
Union Cause in Kentucky (New York and London, 1907); Biographical
Encyclopedia of Kentucky1 » Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Cen-
tury (Cincinnati, 1878); Century Magazine: The Kentuckian (Vol.
XXXVIL); Encyclopedia Americana, article Kentucky (Vol. IX.); Na-
tional Cyclopedia of American Biography, article Governors of Kentucky
(Vol. XIII.); Register of State Historical Society; History of Higher
Education in Kentucky (U. S. Bureau Education, 1899); United States
Geological Reports; American Journal of Sociology: Eastern Kentucky,
A Retarded Frontier (Vol. IV.) and Feuds of the Kentucky Mountains
(Vol. VII.); Geolofrical Journal: Anglo-Saxons of Kentucky (Vol. XVII.);
Harper's Weekly: The Kentucky Insurrection (Vol. XLIV.); International
Monthly: Social Condition in Kentucky (Vol. I.); McClure's: State of
Kentucky vs. Caleb Powers (Vol. XXII.).
GEORGE ALLEN HUBBELL,
Proftttor of Sociology and Economics, Kentucky University.
THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
CHAPTEB I.
WHILE THE TWO VIRGINIAS WERE ONE,
1750-1861.
Geography of West Virginia.
HE State of West Virginia has the most
irregular outline of all the American
states. It is situated between 30° 6' and
40°30' north latitude, and between 0°40'
and 5° 55' longitude west from Washing-
ton, or 77°40' and 82°55' from Greenwich. The area
is 24,715 square miles. This is almost twenty times
that of Rhode Island, twelve times that of Delaware,
five times that of Connecticut, three times that of
Massachusetts, and more than twice that of Mary-
land. The state embraces four distinct physical
regions or sections: (1) the Ohio Valley Region; (2)
the Cumberland Plateau; (3) the Allegheny High-
land, and (4) the Potomac Region. The boundaries
of each are well known to those who have given at-
tention to the topography of the state. There are
fifty-five counties, and with the exception of two —
Berkeley and Jefferson — on the upper Potomac, or
in the Lower Shenandoah Valley, and six others —
Morgan, Hampshire, Mineral, Hardy, Grant and
Pendleton — all lie in the Trans-Allegheny Region
and are drained by northwestward flowing rivers
into the Ohio. Here, amid these hills and mountains,
white men have made nearly two centuries of civil
and military history.
533
334 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Early Explorations.
All over the state are the evidences of the exist-
ence of a people now long gone. These consist of
mounds which dot the landscape, and implements,
weapons and ornaments scattered over the surface
or upturned by the plowshare. They are interesting
to the antiquarian, but have no place in history, for
neither in blood, manners, speech nor law, have
these people left a mark in all the land in which they
lived. The Indian occupation of this region is an
interesting topic. A band of Mohegans was on the
Kanawha Eiver in 1670; still later the Conoys or
Kanawhas, whose name has been given to this river,
were on its upper tributaries ; the Cherokees claimed
that portion of the state lying south of the Great
Kanawha; the Shawnees were living on the Upper
Potomac and along the South Branch of that river
in the first half of the Eighteenth century ; the Dela-
wares lingered in the valley of the Monongahela as
late as 1763, while bands of Mingoes, Wyandotts and
Miamis roamed over the whole extent of the state as
a common hunting ground.
"West Virginia was not included in the first grant
made by King James I., in 1606, to the Virginia
Company of London. It was, however, included in
its chartered limits in 1609, and thus the state be-
came a part of Virginia when the infant colony at
Jamestown had existed but two years. It became a
land of discovery and exploration. The first West
Virginia river known to white men is called New
Eiver; it was discovered in 1641-2 by Walter Aus-
tin, Eice Hoe, and their associates. In 1670 John
Lederer, a German explorer in the service of
Sir William Berkeley, in company with a Captain
Collett and nine Englishmen, left the York Eiver,
passed the source of the Eappahannock, and from
the crest of the Blue Eidge, near what is now
KANAWHA FALLS. WEST VIRGINIA.
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 335
Harper's Ferry, looked down upon the Lower Shen-
andoah Valley, beyond which they beheld in the
distance, standing like a towering wall, the Great
North Mountain and other summits, in what is now
Berkeley and Morgan counties, in West Virginia.
The same year Governor Berkeley issued to General
Abram Wood, a commission "for ye finding out of
ye ebbing and flowing of ye water on ye other side
of ye mountains." Under this authority he, the
next year, sent out a party of five persons under the
command of Captain Thomas Batts for this purpose.
They left the site of the present city of Petersburg,
on the Appomattox Eiver, journeyed westward to
the Blue Kidge, which mountain barrier they
crossed, and descended into what is now Monroe
county, West Virginia. Pressing onward they be-
held the high cliff walls of the canons of New Eiver,
and on the evening of Sept. 16, 1671, they reached
the falls of the Great Kanawha, where they "had a
sight of a curious river, like the Thames at Chelsea,
but had a fall that made a great noise." The next
day they took possession of the valley of this river
for the King in these words : ' * Long live Charles ye
2d, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland,
France, Ireland, Virginia and of all the Territories
thereto belonging. ' ' Then they set up a stick by the
water- side to ascertain the ebb and flow; marked
some trees, and discharged fire-arms, after which
they began the homeward march. Such was the
discovery of Kanawha Falls 237 years ago. Forty-
five years thereafter, Alexander Spottswood, lieuten-
ant-governor of Virginia, became interested in ex-
ploration to the westward of the Blue Eidge. Equip-
ping a party of thirty horsemen and heading it in
person, the cavalcade left Williamsburg and jour-
neyed onward through the Piedmont Eegion, passed
the "great divide," by way of Swift Gap, and de-
336 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
scended to a river now known by the name of Shen-
andoah, but to which the explorers gave that of
"Euphrates" — the first Christian name bestowed
upon a West Virginia river. Far away to the west-
ward they beheld the mountain peaks, around the
"Birth-Place of Rivers," in West Virginia. Such
was the origin of the "Knights of the Golden Horse-
Shoe," a title bestowed by Spottswood upon those
who accompanied him. *
Settlements Before 1754.
The first quarter of the Eighteenth century passed
away, and all this region remained a primeval
wilderness; but the time was near at hand when
white men should come to occupy the land. In 1725
John Van Meter, an Indian trader from the Hudson
Eiver, traversed the Lower Shenandoah, Upper Po-
tomac and South Branch Valleys, but the honor of
fixing the first permanent home of civilized men in
West Virginia was reserved to another. This was
Morgan Morgan, who, in 1726-7, reared his home on
the site of the present village of Bunker Hill, in what
is now Mill Creek magisterial district, in Berke-
ley county. He was a native of Wales who came
early in life to Pennsylvania, and thence to the
Shenandoah Valley. He was soon followed by some
German people from that colony whose ancestral
home was Mecklenburg in the Fatherland; they
crossed the Potomac at the "Old Pack-Horse Ford"
in 1727, and a mile above, on its southern bank,
among the masses of gray limestone everywhere vis-
ible, they laid the foundation of a village which they
called New Mecklenburg. This is now Shepherds-
town, the oldest town in West Virginia. Soon after
Richard Morgan obtained a grant for a tract of
land near Mecklenburg, where he made his home.
Among those who came about 1734 and found homes
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 337
along the Potomac River, in what are the present
counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, were Robert
Harper (at Harper's Ferry), William Stroop, Thom-
as and William Forester, Van Swearingen, James
Foreman, Edward Lucas, Jacob Hite, Jacob Lemon,
Richard Mercer, Edward Mercer, Jacob Van Meter,
Robert Stockton, Robert Buckles, John Taylor, Sam-
uel Taylor and John Wright. In 1735 the first set-
tlement %~as made in the valley of the South Branch
of the Potomac, in what is now Hampshire county,
by four families of the names of Cobun, Howard,
Walker and Rutledge. A year thereafter Isaac Van
Meter, Peter Casey, the Pancakes, Foremans and
others reared homes further up the South Branch,
some of them within what is now Hardy county.
A land grant which played an important part in
the early settlement of West Virginia was that
known as the "Lord Fairfax Patent." In 1681 —
forty-five years before a white man found a home in
West Virginia — King Charles II. issued letters pat-
ent to Ralph Hopton; Henry, Earl of St. Albans;
John, Lord Culpeper; John, Lord Berkeley; Sir
William Morton, Sir Dudley Wyatt and Thomas
Culpeper, their heirs and assigns forever for all the
lands situated between the rivers Rappahannock
and Potomac, and bounded by the courses of these
rivers. Years passed away; the proprietors died,
and the vast estate descended to the sixth Lord,
Thomas Fairfax, who had wedded Margaret, the
only child of Lord Culpeper. At the time of the
original grant nothing was thought of its extent west
of the Blue Ridge, but as the region drained by the
upper tributary streams of the Potomac became
known, it was seen that a large portion of it would
be included within the limits of this grant. Com-
missioners were therefore mynointed — three by the
King, and three by Lord Fairfax — to determine its
Vol. 1—22,
338 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
boundaries. There were delays, but on Oct. 17,
1746, the "Fairfax Stone" was erected at the source,
or first fountain, of the North Branch of the Poto-
mac; thence a line was afterward run to the source
of the Kappahannock, the present West Virginia
counties, within the grant being the whole of Jeffer-
son, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, Mineral, nine-
tenths of Hardy, three-fourths of Grant and one-
eighth of Tucker — an area of 2,540 square miles,
or 1,625,600 acres. In 1747 Lord Fairfax employed
the boy surveyor, George Washington, to lay off
portions of these lands to suit settlers then arriv-
ing, and in this, and the two ensuing years, nearly
300 tracts were surveyed. Thus it was that George
Washington, who led the American armies in the
Eevolution, and who was the first President of the
United States, surveyed the first farms in West
Virginia. Settlements were formed far up the
South Branch of the Potomac, even into what is now
Pendleton county, and daring frontiersmen sought
homes beyond the mountains to the westward. In
1753 David Tygart and Eobert Foyle settled on
what is since known as Tygart 's Valley Eiver, now
in Randolph county. The next year Thomas Eckarly
and two brothers reared a cabin on Dunkard's Bot-
tom on Cheat Eiver, now in Preston county, and three
years later Thomas Decker and others began a settle-
ment at the mouth of what has since been known as
Decker's Creek, on the Monongahela Eiver, where
Morgantown, in Monongalia county, now stands.
Another land grant played an important part in
the early settlement of West Virginia. It was for
100,000 acres in the Greenbrier Valley, made in
1749 to the "Greenbrier Land Company,'* which
consisted of twelve members, among whom were its
president, John Robinson, treasurer of the colony
of Virginia ; Thomas Nelson, for thirty years secre-
WEST VIKGINIA, 1750-1861.
tary of the Council of State, and John Lewis, the
founder of Staunton, and two of his sons. Pour
years were allowed for surveys and settlements.
Andrew Lewis, afterward General Andrew Lewis
of the Eevolution, was appointed surveyor for the
company; he hastened the work, and Col. John Stu-
art, the historian of the Greenbrier Valley, states
that prior to 1755 Lewis had surveyed settlement
rights aggregating more than 50,000 acres. Thus
civilized men found homes in the Greenbrier Valley.
The settlements in the wilds of Augusta county were
formed in 1738, and by an act of the House of Bur-
gesses in 1753, Hampshire county, embracing all
the settlements on the upper waters of the Potomac,
and the first unit of civil government in West Vir-
ginia, was created. In 1756 Captain Teague sent to
the Lords of Trade and Plantations, London, a * * List
of Tithables" on which was based a census of Vir-
ginia. Taking his estimate it appears that at this
time there were about 10,000 whites and 400 blacks
within the present limits of West Virginia.
If an irregular line be drawn from the Blue Ridge
through Harper's Ferry and Charles Town in Jef-
ferson county, Martinsburg in Berkeley county,
Berkeley Springs in Morgan county, Romney in
Hampshire county, Moorefield in Hardy county,
Petersburg in Grant county, Upper Tract and
Franklin in Pendleton county, Marlinton in Poca-
hontas county, thence down Greenbrier River
through Greenbrier county, and thence through
Monroe county to Peter's Mountain, it will pass
centrally through the region in which resided the
pioneer settlers of West Virginia at that time.
Wars with Indians.
From the time of the coming of the first settler to
the state to the year 1754, white men and Indians
340 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
had lived together in peace and harmony. But now
the old French and Indian War — the final struggle
between the French and English for territorial
supremacy in America — was at hand, and barbarian
warfare was to desolate the West Virginia settle-
ments. The colonial government of Virginia, at the
head of which was the lieutenant-governor, Robert
Dinwiddie, hastened preparations for defense. Col.
George Washington, with the First Virginia Regi-
ment, was sent to the West Virginia frontier. Forts
for defensive and offensive operations were speedily
erected. Fort Ashby stood on the east bank of Pat-
terson's Creek, in what is now Frankfort district,
Mineral county; Fort Waggener was on the South
Branch of the Potomac, three miles above the site of
Moorefield, in Hardy county; Fort Capon was at
Forks of Capon, now in Bloomery district, in Hamp-
shire county; Fort Cox stood on the lower point of
land at the confluence of the Little Cacapon and
Potomac rivers ; Fort Edwards was near the site of
Capon Bridge, now in Bloomery district, Hampshire
county; Fort Evans was two miles south of where
Martinsburg, in Arden district, Berkeley county,
now stands; Fort Ohio stood where the village of
Ridgeley, in Frankfort district, Mineral county, is
now situated; Fort Pearsall was on the site of the
present town of Romney, in Hampshire county;
Fort Peterson was on the South Branch of the Po-
tomac, in Milroy district, Grant county; Fort Pleas-
ant was erected on the Indian Old Fields, now in
Hardy county; Fort Riddle was in Lost River dis-
trict, Hardy county; Fort Sellers was at the mouth
of Patterson's Creek, now in Frankfort district,
Mineral county; Fort Upper Tract was in what is
now Mill Run district, Pendleton county, and Fort
Seybert stood on the bank of the South Fork of the
South Branch of the Potomac in the same county.
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 341
The French, with their savage allies, bore down
with resistless fury upon the West Virginia bor-
der, and around these primitive forts were enacted
many of the tragedies and dramas of the wilderness.
The Tygart and Foyle settlements on Tygart's Val-
ley Eiver, together with those of the Eckarlys on
Cheat River, and of the Deckers on the Mononga-
liela, were destroyed, and many persons killed on
Qreenbrier River. Fierce battles were waged in
the vicinity of Fort Edwards, Fort Riddle and Fort
Pleasant; bloody massacres occurred at Fort Up-
per Tract and Fort Seybert, and many a West Vir-
ginia family became victims of savage barbarity.
After seven years of war, hostilities were ended;
then came the conspiracy of Pontiac in 1763, and
with it the Muddy Creek massacre in the Greenbrier
Valley, in which the entire settlement was destroyed
by a band of Shawnee Indians.
Settlements 1760-1776.
Now for a time the Indian wars were ended, and
what is known as "the halcyon decade of the Eight-
eenth century" — 1763-1773 — was ushered in. Dar-
ing pioneers sought homes west of the mountains;
James Moss reared his cabin home at the Sweet
Springs, now in Monroe county, in 1760; Archibald
Clendenin and Felta Youcom, on Greenbrier River,
in 1761; in 1764 John and Samuel Pringle fixed
their homes at the mouth of Turkey creek on Buck-
hanon River, in what is now Upshur county; the
same year John Simpson, a trapper from the South
Branch of the Potomac, built a cabin at the mouth
of Elk creek on the West Fork of the Monongahela,
where Clarksburg, in Harrison county, now stands;
John McNeel found a home on the "Little Levels,"
now in Pocahontas county, as early as 1765 ; James
Booth came to Booth's creek, now in Marion county,
342 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
as early as 1765; Zackwell Morgan settled where
Morgantown, in Monongalia county, now stands, in
1766; the same year Jacob Prickett brought his
family to the mouth of Prickett 's creek, now in Mar-
ion county; Charles and James Kennison joined
John McNeel on the "Little Levels" of Pocahontas
county in 1768; Thomas and William Eenick and
Robert McClennahan settled at Falling Springs,
now in Greenbrier county, in 1769; on a bright
spring morning in May, 1770, Ebenezer Zane arrived
upon the site of the city of Wheeling, of which he
was the founder ; Thomas Williams, William McCoy,
William Hughart and John Jordan located the same
year at and near the site of Williamsburg, now in
Greenbrier county; Christian Peters came to what
is now Petersburg, in Monroe county, in 1771 ; Adam
Mann, Valentine Cook and Isaac Estill fixed their
habitations near him the same year. Jacob Wetzel
built his cabin on Wheeling creek, Ohio county, in
1771, and a year later Joseph Tomlinson found a
home on the Grave creek flats, where Moundsville,
in Marshall county, now stands ; James and Thomas
Parsons located at the Horse-Shoe Bend, on Cheat
River, now in Tucker county, in 1772; William Mc-
Clung and Andrew Donnally came to the vicinity
of the present town of Frankfort, in Greenbrier
county, in 1773, and Leonard Morris reared his
cabin on the site of old Brownstown, now Marmet, on
the Great Kanawha River, in 1774. Thus were the
homes of civilized men established over all the
region from the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio
River. Speedily were these joined by other home-
seekers in the wilderness, and so many came that in
1775 there were 30,000 people residing in what is
now West Virginia.
In these years of peace the English sought to
extinguish the Indian's title to West Virginia.
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 343
This was accomplished by the terms of the treaty
of Fort Stanwix — now Kome — New York, in 1768,
when the Six United Nations ceded to the King of
England practically all of West Virginia, except
what was known as the " Indiana Cession." This
was a region within West Virginia which the Six
Nations reserved in their cession to the King, and
granted to Capt. William Trent and other Indian
traders in consideration of merchandise taken from
them by the Indians on the Ohio in 1763. Its extent
is shown by the statement that it included of present
West Virginia counties within its bounds, one-half
of Wood, two-fifths of Wirt, one-third of Calhoun,
one-half of Gilmer, one-tenth of Braxton, one-sixth
of Eandolph, and all of Pleasants, Ritchie, Lewis,
Upshur, Barbour, Doddridge, Harrison, Taylor,
Monongalia, Wetzel and Tyler — a total area of
4,950 square miles, or 3,168,640 acres. The General
Assembly of Virginia repudiated the title and the
traders never came into possession of any part of
the cession.
The " Province of Vandalia" has the most inter-
esting history of any embryo state west of the Alle-
ghanies. As early as 1756 Governor Dinwiddie had
urged upon the English government the necessity
of founding a new province in the Ohio Valley.
Later the scheme was supported by a number of
statesmen, among them Lord Halifax. A petition
signed by eminent Virginians went over-sea in 1772,
praying for the establishment of a separate govern-
ment for a province to the westward, to be known
by the name of "Vandalia," the capital of which
was to be located at the mouth of the Great Kanawha
Eiver, now Point Pleasant in Mason county. With-
in the boundaries as then defined were included
forty of the present counties of West Virginia. The
charter had passed the seals, but the renewal of the
344 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Indian wars and the beginning of the Revolution
put an end to the scheme.
Another embryo state west of the Alleghanies was
that known as the "Province of Westsylvania, "
within the bounds of which lay nearly all of the
present state of West Virginia. The scheme was
inaugurated by Daniel Eogers and others in July,
1776. It had its origin in the condition of the people
who had settled in the Monongahela Valley, within
the region claimed by both Virginia and Pennsyl-
vania. Two plans were suggested; one was that
they should assemble and send delegates to a con-
vention at Fort Beckett, there to organize a govern-
ment, and thus become the "fourteenth link in the
American chain." A second was that they should
send petitions to the Continental Congress, praying
that body to declare the said country an independent
province to be hailed and known as "Westsylvania."
The War of Independence put an end to this scheme,
as it had to that of establishing the province of
Vandalia.
The "District of West Augusta" was one of the
historic and military divisions of West Virginia. It
is a name never to be forgotten as long as the his-
tory of the state is known. It embraced the whole
of northern West Virginia lying westward of Hamp-
shire county, and included two-thirds of the present
county of Randolph, one-half of Barbour, one-third
of Tucker, half of Taylor, one-third of Preston,
nearly the whole of Marion and Monongalia, one-
fourth of Harrison, one-half of Doddridge, two-
thirds of Tyler, and the whole of Wetzel, Marshall,
Ohio, Brooke and Hancock. Within it lived as heroic
and patriotic a people as ever dwelt upon the con-
fines of civilization. They withstood the storm of
savage warfare, and were ready for the service
of their country at the first drum-tap of the Revolu-
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 345
tion. The " District of West Augusta" was extin-
guished by an act of the General Assembly in 1776,
when the counties of Ohio, Monongalia and Yoho-
gania were formed therefrom. The latter was
largely cut off to Pennsylvania by the western ex-
tension of Mason and Dixon's Line, and the residue
was added to Ohio county.
More Indian Wars: Battle of Point Pleasant.
The ten years' truce was ended; Indian hostilities
were renewed, and the year 1774 brought with it
that series of military movements known as Lord
Dunmore's War. This resulted from the treachery
of both the whites and the Indians. On April
16 of that year, a large canoe filled with white
men was attacked by Indians near Wheeling, and
one of them in it killed. A party of about thirty
frontiersmen hastened to Baker's Station, which
was opposite the mouth of Yellow Creek, and in
what is now Grant district, Hancock county, where,
under circumstances of great perfidy, they killed ten
Indians, among whom were some of the relatives of
Logan, a distinguished chieftain of the Mingo
tribe. War was now inevitable, and the storm burst
with all its fury on the West Virginia frontier.
Bands of warriors laid waste the settlements, and
men and women fell victims to savage barbarity.
Messengers bore the tidings of bloodshed to Wil-
liamsburg, the colonial capital of Virginia. The
governor, John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore,
ordered Maj. Angus McDonald to collect the settlers
on the Upper Potomac and invade the Indian coun-
try. He obeyed the summons, and hastened to
Wheeling, where he erected Fort Fincastle (after-
ward Fort Henry) . In June, with 400 men — nearly
all West Virginia pioneers — he descended the Ohio
to the month of Captlna creeK and marched thence to
346 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
the interior of what is now the state of Ohio, where
he burned the Indian towns and laid waste the corn-
fields. This done, the army returned to Wheeling,
whence many of the men returned to their homes.
The war continued, and Lord Dunmore, having
ordered Gen. Andrew Lewis to collect an army of
1,500 men in the counties of Augusta, Botetourt and
adjacent territory, left the gubernatorial mansion,
and hastening over the Blue Eidge, fixed his head-
quarters at "Greenway Court," the home of Lord
Fairfax, which stood thirteen miles southeast of
Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley. Here he en-
gaged in mustering a force consisting of a like num-
ber to form the northern or right wing of the army
destined for the invasion of the Indian country ; that
under General Lewis was to constitute its southern
or left wing. General Lewis made Camp Union, now
Lewisburg, in Greenbrier county, the place of ren-
dezvous, and having assembled an army of 1,480
men, began the march of 160 miles through a track-
less wilderness to the Ohio River. This force con-
sisted of the Augusta regiment commanded by his
brother, Col. Charles Lewis, the Botetourt regiment
under Col. William Fleming, and a battalion from
the Watauga and Holston settlements, at the head of
which was Maj. William Christian. Both regi-
ments reached the mouth of the Great Kanawha
River on Oct. 6, 1774, where, on the 10th ensuing, they
waged the most desperate battle ever fought with
the Indians in the valley of the Ohio. The Indian
army, probably equal in numbers to that of the Vir-
ginians, was composed of the best warriors of the
Shawnee, Delaware, Mingo, Wyandotte and Cayuga
tribes, led by their respective chiefs, at whose head
was Cornstalk, sachem of the Shawnees and head
of the Western Confederacy. The battle, beginning
at day-dawn, continued until evening, when the Indi-
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 347
ans, beaten, retreated across the Ohio. The Vir-
ginians had seventy-five killed and 140 wounded.
Meantime Lord Dunmore with the northern wing of
the army had proceeded by way of Fort Pitt, and
descended the Ohio to the mouth of Hockhocking
Eiver. From there he proceeded through the wilder-
ness to the Pickaway Plains in the Valley of the
Scioto-noir. General Lewis having cared for the dead
and wounded, crossed the Ohio with 1,000 men and
marched for the same destination. Arriving there
the two divisions were united, and Lord Dunmore
made a treaty known as that of ' ' Camp Charlotte, ' '
by the terms of which the Indians were kept quiet
for three years. The Virginians returned to their
homes well pleased with the results of the war.
West Virginia in the Revolution.
West Virginia did her full part in the Revolution,
and may be regarded as the "fourteenth link in the
American chain" in the struggle for independence
and national life. This is attested by a vast mass
of documentary evidence still preserved. The units
of government then existing within what is now the
state were the "District of West Augusta" and the
counties of Hampshire, Berkeley, Monongalia, Ohio
and Greenbrier, the latter being formed in 1777.
When intelligence of the battle of Lexington reached
the frontiersmen of West Virginia, hundreds of
them hastened away to old Fort Pitt — then believed
to be within the confines of Virginia — where they
assembled in convention, and, having by resolution
pledged their lives to the cause of American liberty,
proceeded to elect John Harvie and John Neville to
represent them in the convention at Williamsburg
in May ensuing. In this body they were admitted
to seats "as the representatives of the people of
that part of Virginia which lies to the westward of
348 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
the Alleghany Mountains." The first company of
enlisted men from the south of the Potomac that
joined Washington at Boston was Capt. Hugh Ste-
venson's Berkeley County Riflemen. It left Morgan's
Spring, now in Jefferson county, July 17, 1775, "not
a man missing," and on arriving at the American
camp was introduced by its captain as being "from
the right bank of the Potomac." General Washing-
ton knew some of these men personally, and passing
along the line shook the hand of every man in it.
Capt. William Darke and Captain Beale each or-
ganized companies of Berkeley county men for the
Fourth Regiment on Continental establishment.
Capt. James Parsons with a company of Hampshire
county men hastened away to the field and served
in the Third Regiment; Capt. Jacob Westf all's
Riflemen, from that part of Monongalia now Ran-
dolph county, was attached to the Eighth Regiment,
and rendered faithful service; Capt. James Booth's
Company of Frontiersmen, from what is now Har-
rison and Marion counties, served in the western
military department. Greenbrier county with but
550 effective men had, at one time, 174 of them in
service, some in the Continental army and others
with General Clark in his western campaigns.
On Jan. 8, 1777, the Continental Congress ordered
the West Augusta Battalion to join Washington in
New Jersey. This was part of the Thirteenth Vir-
ginia, commanded by Col. William Crawford, then
stationed at Pittsburg, and known as the "West Au-
gusta Regiment" because its rank and file were com-
posed almost entirely of West Virginia pioneers,
whose homes were within the bounds of the old
historic "District of West Augusta," men as brave
as any that ever faced an enemy. Garrett Van
Meter, county-lieutenant of Hampshire county, kept
his commissary and quartermaster busy collecting
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 349
supplies in the valley of the South Branch of the
Potomac, and these were sent to the armies — some
by way of Pittsburg to General Clark for use in his
western campaigns. Edward Snickers went to and
fro over the Lower Shenandoah Valley — now Berke-
ley and Jefferson counties — collecting corn, wheat
and other supplies for the Continental army, and
Mabre Maden, of Berkeley, used his teams to haul
these to points where needed. John Evans, county-
lieutenant of Monongalia, gathered supplies up and
down the Monongahela River, and sent them to the
Thirteenth Regiment and other troops of the west-
ern military department at Pittsburg. In 1776
some of the British prisoners, taken by Captain
Barron on the sloop-of-war Oxford, were sent to
Berkeley county for safe keeping, and their wants
were supplied by the people of that vicinity; and in
1781 the Hesse Hanau Regiment (Hessians) pris-
oners, 300 strong, were sent to Berkeley Springs in
Berkeley (now Morgan) county, where they were
guarded and fed by West Virginians until the close
of the war. Verily West Virginia did her part in
the struggle for independence.
Each unit of government within her limits had its
own Committee of Safety, working harmoniously
with the State Committee of Virginia, and it may
be said that not one of them ever failed to respond
cheerfully and with a true patriotic spirit to every
requisition made upon each and every one of them,
be it for men for the Continental army, or for the
Virginia state line, for horses, provisions, clothing
or other supplies for the armies battling for na-
tional existence. West Virginians were on nearly
all the battlefields of that war, and there are more
graves of Revolutionary soldiers in West Virginia
than in any other American state, outside of the
thirteen original commonwealths.
350 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
In 1776 Virginia adopted a constitution which
continued to be the organic law of the commonwealth
until 1830 — a period of fifty-four years. It pro-
vided for a government having a division of powers
— legislative, executive and judicial — but in reality
almost all power, instead of being vested in the peo-
ple, was reserved to the legislative branch, called the
General Assembly. This body consisted of two
houses — a senate and a house of delegates. The
former, when organized, contained twenty-four
members, while the latter was composed of two mem-
bers from each county, chosen annually by the votes
of the freeholders. A governor and a Privy Council,
or Council of State, consisting of eight members
were elected annually by the General Assembly, the
latter to assist in the administration of the govern-
ment. Likewise, the judges of the court of appeals,
the general court, judges in chancery, judges in
admiralty, secretary and attorney-general of the
commonwealth were all elected by that body, but
commissioned by the governor, who was vested with
the appointing power of all county officials except
members of the General Assembly, who, as stated,
were elected by the people, whose right to vote was
determined by a property qualification. We shall
see how the provisions of this constitution produced
dissension in the western portion of the common-
wealth— now West Virginia.
Development After Revolution.
The Revolution terminated in 1783, but not so the
border wars. The Indian nations of the Ohio wilder-
ness had been the allies of the English since 1777, and
for twelve years after the treaty of Paris they con-
tinued to wage a fierce and relentless warfare upon
the frontier civilization. Throughout all these years
they carried death and destruction into the West
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 351
Virginia settlements, and spread desolation through-
out the valleys and along the tributary streams of
the Great Kanawha and Monongahela rivers, and on
the southern banks of the Ohio. Block-houses and
stockade forts — places of defensive and offensive
operations — were erected in many localities, and
the scenes that transpired about them and in the
cabin homes nearby in these years are without a
parallel in the annals of barbarian warfare. These
West Virginians were ever ready to yield up their
lives in defense of their homes, and when not en-
gaged in defending them were much of the time on
expeditions into the Indian country. Some were at
St. Glair's defeat, and others at Wayne's victory at
Fallen Timbers. This last forever ended the Indian
wars on the south side of the Ohio. Henceforth the
pioneers dwelt in their cabin homes without fear of
savage fury. It may be truthfully said that when
these border wars were ended, more men, women
and children had perished at the hands of the savage
foe — victims of the stake, rifle, tomahawk and scalp-
ing knife — in West Virginia, than had died from
similar causes in any other region of equal extent
in America.
Moorefield, the seat of justice of Hardy county, in
the South Branch Vallev, was the designated place
of rendezvous, and from here marched the West Vir-
ginians who served in the National army in its cam-
paign for the suppression of the whiskey insurrec-
tion in western Pennsylvania in 1794.
It had boen said of the West Virginia pioneers
that they belonged to a class of men who were
''farmers to-day, statesmen to-morrow and soldiers
always." This appears to have been true. When
the Virginia Federal convention convened at Eich-
mond June 2, 1788, to take into consideration the
proposed form of Federal government — the Na-
352 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
tional constitution — there sat in it sixteen members
for the eight West Virginia counties then checkered
on the map of Virginia. These counties, with their
representatives in that convention, were as follows :
Berkeley County — William Darke Harrison County — George Jackson
and Adam Stephen. and George Prunty.
Greenbrier County — George Clen- Monongalia County — John Evans
denin and John Stuart. and William McCleery.
Hampshire County — Andrew Wood- Ohio County — Archibald Woods
row and Ralph Humphreys. and Ebenezer Zane.
Hardy County — Isaac Van Meter Randolph County — Benjamin Wil-
and Abel Seymour. son and John Wilson.
Every one of these men were farmers at home;
every one had seen military service during the Kevo-
lution and Indian wars, and all were acting the part
of statesmen now. Who shall say to what extent!
On the final vote, fifteen of them voted to ratify the
Federal constitution, but one of them — John Evans,
of the county of Monongalia — voting against it. The
final vote stood 89 ayes and 79 noes. If the fifteen
West Virginia members had voted no, Virginia
would not have ratified the constitution, and who
can tell what effect such a result would have had
upon the formation of the Union?
In the year 1800 there was a busy population
which had grown from 55,875 in 1790, to 78,592 at
the close of the century. Homes of thrift and in-
dustry gave evidence of many years of settlement in
the eastern Pan-Handle and along the Upper Poto-
mac, while from the Alleghanies to the Ohio, cabin
homes dotted the landscape. Thirteen of the pres-
ent counties — Hampshire, Berkeley, Monongalia,
Ohio, Greenbrier, Harrison, Hardy, Kandolph, Pen-
dleton, Kanawha, Brooke, Wood and Monroe — then
had an existence; and Wheeling, West Liberty,
Wellsburg, Clarksburg, Parkersburg, Martinsburg,
Lewisbnrg, Eomney, Charles Town, Shepherdstown,
Point Pleasant and Charlestown, had become towns
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 353
of importance for that day. Another decade passed
away and brought the year 1810, at which time the
population had grown to 105,469. The first news-
paper published in West Virginia — The Potomac
Guardian and Berkeley Advertiser — had been
founded at Martinsburg in 1789, and now a half
dozen more had been established in other towns.
Randolph Academy at Clarksburg, the western rep-
resentative of William and Mary College, was
founded in 1787; this had been followed by other
academic schools at Shepherdstown, Charles Town,
West Union and Lewisburg, while a system of "Old
Field Schools" had grown up in rural districts un-
der the Virginia School Law of 1796.
Western Virginia in the War of 1812.
When the second war with England — that of 1812
— began, West Virginia was ready, as she had been
when the war of the Eevolution commenced. On
April 10, 1812, President Madison issued a call for
100,000 men, and five days later the secretary of
war informed Gov. James Barbour that, of this num-
ber, Virginia's quota was 12,000. Maj. Samuel Mc-
Guire, of Bomney, Hampshire county, was the first
West Virginian who tendered his services to the
governor. He said: "Whenever we are compelled
by the insolent and perfidious conduct of a foreign
government to relinquish the happy situation in
which our country has so long flourished, and resort
to war, it becomes the duty of every citizen to make
a solemn declaration of his determination to support
his government in the prosecution of such a war to
the utmost limits of his means." Capt. James
Faulkner's Artillery Company of Martinsburg,
Berkeley county, was the first West Virginia or-
ganization ordered into service, and the second was
a company of Light Infantry of the same county;
354 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
it belonged to the Sixty-seventh Eegiment of Militia,
of which Elisha Boyd was colonel. On May 21 Cap-
tain Buckmaster's company of Light Infantry was
ready to march from Jefferson county, and Capt.
Carver Willis was enrolling another at the same
place. In this month Capt. Nimrod Sanders, com-
manding a cavalry company, and Capt. James Laid-
ley at the head of a rifle company, both of Parkers-
burg, Wood county, informed Governor B arbour
that they were ready for service. In July, Capt.
Samuel McClure's cavalry company, eighty strong,
of Wheeling, was waiting orders to march. On
August 27 Capt. John Connell wrote General Biggs
that he only awaited his orders to march with the
Brooke county Volunteers. On the receipt of the
news of the surrender of Detroit by General Hull,
250 men of the Northern Pan-Handle assembled at
Wellsburg, Brooke county, and declared their readi-
ness to march to the northwest under the leadership
of Captain Connell. There were no provisions and
a deficiency in arms, but James Marshall, George
Getter, Robert Hartford, William Wattenbee and
Jacob De Camp, men of means, offered to furnish all
supplies and await payment from the National
government. Home-woven linen was purchased, and
Wellsburg women made it into tents and knapsacks.
But it was deemed best to consult the governor as to
this action, and await a later movement.
But West Virginia was to have a distinct part in
the second war with England. On Sept. 1, 1812, Mr.
Eustis, secretary of war, informed Governor Bar-
bour of the order of the President to him to call out
and equip, in addition to the state's quota of 12,000
troops, 1,500 more destined to cooperate with the
northwestern army, and to have these troops con-
venient for their march to the western frontier of
Ohio. Governor Barbour hastened to comply with
WEST VIEGINIA, 1750-1861. 355
this order. He determined to raise these troops west
of the Alleghanies, that is, in West Virginia, and
accordingly informed the military officers of that
region of this intention. Point Pleasant, at the
mouth of the Great Kanawha Eiver, in Mason
county, was fixed as the place of rendezvous, and the
troops ordered to proceed thither. Brig.-Gen. Joel
Leftwich, of Bedford county, Virginia, a veteran of
the Revolution, who had been wounded at Guilford,
was ordered over the mountains to take command
of the brigade collecting at Point Pleasant. He
reached his destination at 3.00 p. M., Sept. 26, 1812,
where he found 825 men, officers included; detach-
ments were arriving almost daily; none were there
from the counties of Hampshire, Hardy, Monon-
galia or Randolph, but he understood they were on
the march and were expected in five or six days.
On September 15, Capt. John Connell, of Brooke
county, who had been promoted to the rank of
colonel, and who had received orders to join General
Leftwich at Point Pleasant, issued orders to the
militia captains to assemble at "Wellsburg in that
county on the 22d ensuing. On the same day he
wrote Governor Barbour, saying: "The sons of the
northwest corner of the state will do their duty."
He said his staff was complete, and formed of gen-
tlemen fit and capable of performing service; that
he, with his troops, was going to Point Pleasant by
water, that being the cheapest and most expeditious
way of getting there; and that his quartermaster
was then employed in placing the baggage on the
boats. He also said that the men in the Light In-
fantry companies of Captains Wilcoxon and Congle-
ton and Captain McClaney's Troop of Light Horse
were greatly disappointed because they were left
behind. Colonel Connell, with the troops accompany-
ing him, arrived at Point Pleasant on the second day
356 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
of October, 1812. General Leftwich writing Gover-
nor Barbour ten days thereafter, said that there
were then 1,311 men, including officers, and that
only a few small detachments were yet to arrive ; that
the army was being organized and drilled, and that
it was a fine body of men, all in high spirits. He
had received a letter from the secretary of war or-
dering him to march as soon as possible to the
frontier (northwestern) of Ohio, there to report to
the commanding officer of the Northwestern army.
On the same day orders came from General Harri-
son dated "Piqua, Sept. 27, 1812, " informing him
that his destination was Wooster, in Wayne county
(Ohio), forty-five miles west of Canton, and his line
of march was by way of New Lisbon and Canton,
and that at Wooster the Virginians (West Virgin-
ians) would be joined by a brigade from western
Pennsylvania, when all would proceed to the Eapids
of the Maumee, there to form the right wing of the
Army of the Northwest. General Leftwich broke
camp at Point Pleasant, and with his troops as-
cended the Ohio, beyond Wellsburg, and then pro-
ceeded through Columbiana and Stark counties to
Wooster, and thence to the northwest. John Mai-
lory, commissary-general of General Leftwich's
brigade, writing Governor Barbour from Delaware,
Ohio, under date of Jan. 24, 1813, informed him
that in the past four days he had loaded at that
place 700 pack-horses, 60 wagons and 100 sleds
with flour and other quartermaster stores; that
he was then paying two dollars a bushel for
corn, and that the troops had a sufficient supply of
provisions and ammunition. He adds: "I am get-
ting tolerably fond of a soldier life if it were not for
leaving my family." Henceforth the history of
General Leftwich and his West Virginia brigade,
with that from western Pennsylvania, is part of that
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 357
of the Army of the Northwest, of which the two
formed the right wing.
Fight for Democratic Government.
The year 1816 is a most important date in the
history of West Virginia. The constitution adopted
in 1776 had been in force for forty years, and it had
been shown to contain many defects. The unequal
representation of the counties gave to it a sectional
character — all having the same representation — two
members — on the floors of the General Assembly,
and this, too, regardless of wealth or population.
The constitution had been framed by Burgesses rep-
resenting a population residing exclusively in the
Tide- Water Eegion, and consequently at that time
homogeneous in character and identical in interest.
Now this was changed, and with the increase of
population and the organization of counties west of
the Blue Kidge, the principle was reversed, and
what had been equal representation had become un-
equal representation; and while some of the west-
ern counties paid into the public treasury many
times the amount paid by some of the eastern coun-
ties, the representation of each was the same. As an
example of this, Hampshire county in the west, with
a population several times as great as Warwick in
the east, paid twelve times as much revenue to the
state, while both had the same representation in the
General Assembly.
Then, too, the limitation of the right of suffrage
to freeholders and the elective power vested in
the General Assembly, gave to the constitution an
aristocratic character. These requirements secured
to the east the balance of power and rendered the
west almost powerless in all matters of state legis-
lation. In an assembly having 204 members, the
former had 124 while the latter had but 80. The
358 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
i
result was that the east secured to itself nearly
everything in the character of internal improve-
ments. For forty years the state revenues had been
collected in West Virginia counties, and yet it ap-
peared that in 1816 but $6,500 had been paid out
of the public treasury for improvements west of
the Alleghanies, while $123,661.11 had been ex-
pended for this purpose east of the Blue Ridge ; and
that in addition thereto, in the same time, $794,700
of the public monies had been invested in the stocks
of the Bank of Virginia and the Farmers' Bank of
Virginia, both at Richmond.
The same year the General Assembly created a
board of public works consisting of thirteen mem-
bers, of which number eight were to reside east of
the Blue Ridge. A belief obtained that the past pol-
icy in regard to public improvements would be con-
tinued; there was great dissatisfaction among the
men who were felling the forests from the Al-
leghanies to the Ohio, and mutterings of discontent
were heard on every hand. It was evident that a
redress of the grievances complained of could never
be secured under the existing constitution, and from
1816 the question of a convention to revise that docu-
ment was agitated. Much opposition was devel-
oped, and it was only after repeated failures cover-
ing a period of twelve years that the General As-
sembly passed an act in 1828, providing for taking
the sense of the voters upon the call of such a con-
vention. Later in the year the proposition was car-
ried by a vote of 21,896 to 16,646. Of the majority,
by far the greater number of votes composing it
were cast in the western counties of the state, where
the greatest opposition to the existing constitution
had been manifested.
The convention assembled at Richmond, Oct. 5,
1829, and it was the most remarkable body of men
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 359
that had assembled in Virginia since that which
ratified the Federal constitution in 1788. It con-
sisted of ninety-six members, of whom eighteen
were from the territory now embraced in West Vir-
ginia. They were among the wisest and most dis-
creet men of the region they represented. In the
organization of the convention, no western man was
mentioned in connection with an official position.
From the beginning of the session the conflicting
interests of the two sections became more and more
apparent, and the representatives from each were
arranged in almost solid phalanx on opposite sides
of nearly every question. At length the work was
done, but none of the reforms sought had been se-
cured. The right of suffrage was still restricted to
a property qualification, and the west denied equal
representation. Thus all of the objectionable fea-
tures of the old constitution were engrafted into the
new. Upon the final vote upon its adoption by the
convention, every delegate from the west side of the
Alleghanies voted against it, with the single excep-
tion of Philip Doddridge, who was unable to attend,
being ill at his hotel. But it was in the popular vote
that the opposition of the two sections — the east and
the west — was most evident. The total vote cast
was 41,618, of which 26,055 were for ratification and
15,563 for rejection. Every county east of the Blue
Eidge with one exception, Warwick, gave a majority
for ratification, while every county then existing in
what is now West Virginia, with two exceptions,
Jefferson and Hampshire, voted largely for rejec-
tion. In them were cast 9,758 votes, of which 8,375
were for rejection.
Western Virginia From 1830 ta 1860.
In 1830 twenty-three of the present West Virginia
counties had an existence, and towns and villages
360 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
dotted the landscape here and there over all the
state. By the census of 1830 the population was
176,924, grown to this number from 136,768 ten years
before. Its character was that of a vigorous people.
In the towns were the country merchants dealing
in every line of merchandise ; they were men of char-
acter and business integrity. .When a wholesale
dealer in Baltimore was asked where he found his
most reliable and trusted retail merchants, he
promptly replied: "In Western Virginia." Here
were the homes of lawyers, physicians and minis-
ters, and in each class were men of brilliant intel-
lects. In the river valleys and on the rich uplands
dwelt by far the larger part of the population;
farmers who, in addition to producing wheat, corn,
buckwheat, potatoes and fruits for their own use,
generally had a surplus to sell to others; they also
raised good horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. Still an-
other class dwelt in the "hill country," where they
built their cabin homes and cleared a few acres of
land on which they produced grains and vegetables
sufficient for their own needs from year to year;
they had but few domestic animals, and for other
food they depended largely upon wild game and fish.
Periodically they visited the towns, there to barter
venison, skins, furs, maple-sugar and ginseng, for
clothing, coffee, medicines, ammunition and other
necessities, and then returned to their homes to fol-
low the same routine to the end of their lives. All
classes were far removed from the marts of trade,
and almost entirely isolated from society, yet they
carved out a society of their own and established a
code of morals as rigid as any known in older lands.
All were united in an effort to secure equal repre-
sentation, a fair system of equal taxation, a just
share of the public monies expended for internal im-
provements, and a suffrage law untrammeled by
WE8T VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 361
property qualifications. Not one of these had been
guaranteed to them by the provisions of the new
constitution, and so much were they opposed to it
that state division at once became a theme of earn-
est discussion. As the years passed away the peo-
ple assembled to give utterance to their grievances.
That of unequal representation in the General As-
sembly was among the most serious. This was set
forth in the action of a great convention assembled
at Charleston, in the Great Kanawha Valley, Aug.
9, 1841. The object was stated to be "for the pur-
pose of considering the inequalities of the repre-
sentation in the General Assembly, and the deep
interest of the western people in a reappointment
of the senators and delegates comprising the Gen-
eral Assembly." Many of the strongest men of
West Virginia were present. Judge Lewis Sum-
mers was made chairman and Alexander W. Quar-
rier secretary. The four physical regions, as the
commonwealth then existed, were regarded as polit-
ical divisions. These were known as (1) the Tide-
Water Region; (2) the Piedmont Region; (3) the
Valley Region, and (4) the Trans- Alleghany Region,
the latter including nearly all of West Virginia. A
"memorial" addressed to the General Assembly
set forth some remarkable facts. It was shown that
an equal apportionment of the 134 members of the
House of Delegates would give to each a constitu-
ency of 5,532 of white population, and 644 of quali-
fied voters. Instead of this, the following inequali-
ties were shown to exist: the thirty-one delegates
from the Trans- Alleghany Region each represented
a white population of 7,584 persons and 836 quali-
fied voters; twenty-five delegates from the Valley
Region each represented a white population of 5,472
persons and 644 qualified voters; forty-two dele-
gates from the Piedmont Region each represented
362 THE HIBTOBY OF WEST VIBGINIA.
a white population of 4,738 persons and 572 quali-
fied voters; thirty-six delegates from the Tide-
Water Eegion each represented a white population
of 4,737 persons and 558 qualified voters. In the
senate as then existing there were thirteen members
from western Virginia and nineteen from eastern
Virginia. Each western senator represented an
average population of 28,903 persons and 3,256
qualified voters, while each eastern senator repre-
sented a white population of 19,448 persons and
2,342 qualified voters.
Such was the unequal basis of representation in
Virginia at this time. Thus it was that the east
was enabled to secure large appropriations for in-
ternal improvements, while the west, as asserted by
its people, was unable to obtain its just proportion
of the public monies for this purpose. Many in-
stances of this were cited by them.
Once more it became evident to these people that
a redress of their grievances could never be obtained
under the existing constitution, and they demanded
a revision of that document. This was provided for
by an act of the General Assembly passed March 9,
1850, and a constitutional convention assembled at
Eichmond on October 14 ensuing. After months of
labor it finished its work, and under the provisions
of this constitution came a redress of many of the
grievances complained of by the people of the west.
The right of suffrage was extended, taxation ren-
dered more equitable, and the basis of representa-
tion so remodeled as to secure to this section greater
equality in the halls of legislation, and it now seemed
that harmony would henceforth exist between the
east and the west. But this was not to be.
Geographically, the east was separated from the
west by mountain ranges which, so far as trade and
commerce was concerned, proved an almost impass-
WEST VIRGINIA, 1750-1861. 363
able barrier. This was so great that no artificial
means of intercourse between the two sections had
been made beyond a turnpike road. All trade and
commercial relations of the west were with the other
states and not with eastern Virginia. Merchants
in western Virginia made their purchases in Balti-
more, Pittsburg and Cincinnati, and they knew no
more of the wholesale trade of Richmond than they
did of Boston. The two sections were entirely dis-
similar in their social relations. While the east was
largely interested in slaves, the west had compar-
atively few of them, and nearly all labor was per-
formed by freemen. The mode of taxation, as well
as that of representation in the legislature, had long
been the source of irritation and indeed of strife
and vexation between the two sections. For many
years the subject of internal improvements created
dissension, the people of the west asserting that
they paid state revenues largely in excess of what
they received in the expenditure of public funds in
their section. Because of these things, men residing
there who had grown old and gray had heard the
subject of state division discussed since they were
children. Years came and went, and brought John
Brown's insurrection at Harper's Ferry. The in-
telligence that went out from that place on the morn-
ing of Oct. 17, 1859, sent a thrill of terror through-
out Virginia, and astonished the whole nation. The
year 1860 found Virginia in a state of the greatest
commotion — a condition unexampled in history —
unless it be that of France in the early days of the
Revolution. Governor Letcher, influenced by the
pressure of the times, issued a proclamation con-
vening the General Assembly in extra session.
That body provided for a convention of the people
of Virginia. There were 152 members, of which
47 were from the west. Every student of history
364 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
knows what the action of that body was, and the
world knows the result. The war came; it fur-
nished the opportunity for the division of the com-
monwealth, and when the storm had passed away
there were two states where one had been before.
And now, Virginia — the Mother — and West Virginia
— the Daughter — reside upon the ancient estate.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Aler, F. Vernon: History of Martinsburg and Berkeley
County (Hagerstown, Md., 1888); Atkinson, George W. : History of Kana-
wha County (Charleston, 1876); Bickley, George W. L.: History of the
Settlement and Indian Wars of Tazewett County (Cincinnati, 1852);
Breckenridge, H. M. : Recollections of Persons and Places in the West in
1792 (Philadelphia, 1868); Bruce, Thomas: Heritage of Trans-Allegheny
Pioneers (Baltimore, 1894); Cranmer, Gibson Lamb: History of the Up-
per Ohio VaUey (Madison, Wis., 1890), History of Wheeling City and Ohio
County (Chicago, 1902); Cutright, W. B.: History of Upshur County
(1907); Doddridge, Joseph: Notes on the Early Settlement and Indian
Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia from 1763 to 1783, Inclusive (Wheel-
ing, 1824); DeHass, Wills: History of the Early Settlements and Indian
Wars in Northwestern Virginia (Wheeling, 1851); Dunnington, George
A.: History and Progress of the County of Marion (Fairmont, W. Va.,
1880); Ely, William: History of the Big Sandy Valley (Cattlattsburg, Ky.,
1887); Fernow, Berthold; The Ohio VaUey in Colonial Days (Albany,
N. Y., 1890); Garrison, Wendell Phillips: The Prelude to Harper's Ferry
(Andover, Mass., 1891); Gibbons, Alvaro F.: A Century of Progress; or, A
Historical Souvenir of Wood County (Morgantown, 1899); Hale, John P. :
Trans-AUeghany Pioneers (Cincinnati, 1887); Jacob, John G.: Brooke
County: Being a Record of Prominent Events in that County (Wellsburg,
W. Va., 1882); Kercheval, Samuel: History of the Shenandoah Valley
(Winchester, Va., 1833); Lewis, Virgil A.: History of West Virginia (Phil-
adelphia, 1889); Lewis, Hale and Hogg (joint authors): History of the
Great Kanawha Valley (Madison, Wis., 1891); Loudermilk, Will J.: His-
tory of Cumberland and Braddock's Expedition (Washington, 1878); Mar-
shall, O. S.: History of De Celeron's Expedition to the Ohio in 1749 (Al-
bany, 1887); Mayer, Brantz: Ta-gah-ju-te: or Logan the Indian and Cap-
tain Michael Cresap (1867); Maxwell, Hu.: History of Tucker County
(Kingwood, 1884), History of Hampshire County (Morgantown, 1897),
History of Randolph County (Morgantown, 1899); Moore, James: The
Captives of Abb's Valley (Philadelphia, 1840); Norris, J. E.: History of
the Lower Shenandoah Valley (Chicago, 1890); Newton, J. H.: History of
the Pan-Handle (Wheeling, 1879); Pritts, J.: Mirror of the Olden Time
Border Life (Chambersburg, Pa.); Panghorn, J. G.: History of the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad (Chicago, 1883); Peterkin, George W.: Records of
the Protestant Episcopal Church in West Virginia (Charleston, 1902);
Price, William T.: History of Pocahontas County (Marlinton, 1899); Rid-
path, James: Echoes from Harper's Ferry (Boston, 1860): Sparks, Jared:
The Writings of Washington, Vol. II. (Boston, 1846); Seabright, Thomas
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 365
B.: TheOldPike, A History of tfie National Road (Uniontown, Pa., 1894);
Stuart, John: Memoirs of the Indian Wars and Other Occurrences (Rich-
mond, 1832); Safford, William H.: The Blennerhassett Papers (Cincin-
nati, 1861); Thwaites, Reuben Gold, and Kellogg, Louise Phelps: Docu-
mentary History of Dunmore's War (Madison, 1905), (eds.) The Revolu-
tion on the Upper Ohio, 1775-1777 (Madison, 1908); Withers, Alexander
Scott: Chronicles of Border Warfare: or A History of the Settlement by the
Whites of Northwestern Virginia and the Indian Wars and Massacres in
that Section of the State (Clarksburg, 1831); Wiley, Samuel T.: History of
Preston County (Kingwood, W. Va., 1880), History of Monongalia
County (Kingwood, 1883); Waddell, Joseph A.: Annals of Augusta
County (Richmond, 1888); Calendar of Virginia State Papers (11 vols.,
Richmond, 1875 et seq.); The Washington-Crawford Letters Concerning
Western Lands (Cincinnati, 1877); Miller, James H.: History of Sum-
mers County (1908).
VIKGIL A. LEWIS,
Historian and Archivist of the State of West Virginia^
CHAPTER II.
WEST VIRGINIA— STEPS TO STATEHOOD,
1861-1863.
The Two Virginias Before Divorce.
An intelligent view of the events resulting in se-
vering in twain the original state cannot be obtained
without understanding the relations existing be-
tween the two Virginias prior to the war. It is a
general impression that the separation was caused
by questions growing out of the war. But the war
was not the cause but only the occasion for the sepa-
ration. The question of dividing the state of Vir-
ginia on the lines finally accomplished had been a
mooted question for fifty years prior to the war. It
had agitated the legislatures and conventions of the
state. It had been a subject of discussion in political
campaigns and in party organizations. It had so
366 THE HrSTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
embittered the population of the two territorial sec-
tions as to threaten the public peace.
The causes which developed this situation between
the two sections need only to be enumerated to ap-
pear conclusive. In the first place we have the
anomaly of a state exercising sovereignty over a
territory so geographically divided by a chain of
mountains as to effectually cut off communication
between its population of the one side and the other.
The ranges of the Alleghany Mountains erected
their lofty crests and stretched themselves from one
end to the other. They were impenetrable and im-
passable by any ordinary means of transportation.
The state government was administered from Rich-
mond, and its edicts carried around through the
District of Columbia and the state of Maryland to
the western territory under its jurisdiction. It was
facetiously said that when a sheriff from one of the
western counties had traveled to his state capital
to settle his accounts, he had just enough left of the
revenues collected to pay his expenses back home.
There was not only no communication between the
two peoples, but there was little or no acquaintance,
and absolutely no commercial relations. Western
Virginia belonged by nature, not to eastern Virginia,
but to the valley of the Mississippi. Its natural out-
lets to market were south and west, with Cincinnati
and Chicago, with Pittsburg on the north, and with
Baltimore on the east.
Nature had divided Virginia. When the bound-
aries between the states of the Union were being
fixed — as far back as 1781 — there was a controversy
in the Federal Congress as to the western boundary
of Virginia. It was then claimed that the Alleghany
Mountains should constitute her real boundary, as
it was her natural boundary. Pennsylvania, Dela-
ware, Maryland and, perhaps, other states, were in-
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 367
clined to confine Virginia to the Alleghany boundary.
Daniel Webster had, thirty years before the war,
with prophetic forecast, advised the South if it
withdrew from the Union that the separation would
leave Virginia dissevered, for the natural line of
division would leave western Virginia allied with
the states of the North rather than the South.
Moreover, the people of eastern and western Vir-
ginia were never homogeneous. They were as far
apart in tastes and temperament as by geographical
conditions. Their peoples were of a different an-
cestry, different habits, different tastes, different
manners and modejstof life.
The bringing together, therefore, under one state
government of twd peoples so diverse in their tastes
and character as tfce eastern and western Virginians
was like an attempt to fuse an aristocracy and a
democracy into one homogeneous whole. Naturally,
they did not mix. Geographically, they could not
mix.
The situation was aggravated by the existing
system of slavery. Slavery was a profitable insti-
tution east of the mountains; it was of but little
practical value west of the mountains. That section
of the state west of the Alleghanies was best adapted
to stock-raising, grazing, growth of the cereals, to
manufacturing, and such industries as could not
profitably employ slave labor. Its people cared very
little for the institution on economical grounds, and
were somewhat awry with it on moral considera-
tions. They would not have invited it as an original
proposition. They accepted it like many other
things that were thrust upon them by the East. In
the East it was interwoven with all their domestic
and political institutions, and was maintained with-
out any moral compunctions. It had shaped and
moulded their laws and public policy, as well as
368 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
their private interests and modes of life. The west-
ern section was bordered its entire length by free
soil, which made the escape of the slave easy. He
need but cross the Ohio Kiver, or step across the
invisible line into Pennsylvania, to find freedom
from his bonds.
Moreover, the preponderance of slave property in
the East gave rise to a very unsatisfactory basis of
representation between the East and West that was
a continual source of irritation and dissatisfaction.
The simple enumeration of the foregoing facts and
conditions establishes the statement with which we
introduced this subject, that the war was not the
cause but only furnished the opportunity for the
severance of West Virginia from the mother state.
The fruit was already ripe, and needed only that
the tree be shaken. There was no such unnatural
and incongruous alliance existing in the Union of
states as that which existed between the two Vir-
ginias. It is not strange that the two sections
parted. It is strange that they remained together
as long as they did.
Steps Leading to the "Parting sf the Ways."
The Virginia Secession Convention, so called,
which assembled at Eichmond on Feb. 13, 1861, was
in continuous session from that date until the first
of May, when it adjourned to meet again on June 12.
When the convention reassembled, eighty-one
delegates responded to the roll call. It was not a
"Secession Convention" when it first met in Feb-
ruary, but it was now. An ordinance of secession
had been already adopted on April 17 by a vote of
eighty-eight to fifty-five, before the recess of the
convention, and had been submitted to the people
for ratification and voted upon, but no official return
of the vote appears in the journal of the convention.
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 369
The business of the convention was now to put that
ordinance into effect.
There are but two or three of the names of the
delegates from western Virginia appearing among
those signed to that ordinance. Its passage had
been the signal for their withdrawal from the con-
vention, and in some instances of hasty flight to
more friendly and safe* environments west of the
mountains. After the convention had looked itself
over it proceeded to pass the following resolution :
"Resolved, that Wm. G. Brown, James Burley, John S. Burdette,
John S. Carlile, Marshall M. Dent; Ephraim B. Hall, Chester D. Hub-
bard, John J. Jackson, James C. McGrew, George Me. Porter, Chapman
J. Stewart, Campbell Tarr, and Waitman T. Willey, be, and are hereby
expelled from this convention, and that their seats as members of the
convention be, and are hereby declared vacant."
The delegates named in "the foregoing resolution
were those representing western Virginia, and who
had voted nay on the adoption of the ordinance on
its passage in April previous. It does not appear
from the resolution that they had been guilty of any
other offense that would deprive them of their seats,
or that they had voluntarily resigned, or were to be
allowed to resign — the language of the resolution
was that they "be expelled." And the resolution
was passed.
The fact was that after the passage of the ordi-
nance of secession the delegates named in that reso-
lution, from western Virginia, realized that their
influence and usefulness in that body were ended.
The bitterness, the malice, the suspicion, the vin-
dictiveness and the spirit of violence incident to the
outbreak of a civil war were rife among the popu-
lace of Richmond.
Under these conditions the western delegates de-
termined that it was the part of prudence for them
to get away from Richmond as speedily and quickly
as possible. But even this was a difficult and dan-
Vol. 1—24.
370 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
gerous undertaking. After procuring written pass-
ports from Governor Letcher, this little party of
"refugees," so to speak, made their journey to
Strasburg and thence down the valley by way of
"Winchester to Harper's Ferry, making many nar-
row escapes from the mobs collected at different
points along the way.
The arrival at their homes of the western dele-
gates was the occasion of general agitation of the
whole population of western Virginia. They were
quick to comprehend the desperate character of the
situation, but unable at once to unite on a common
course to meet it. As in all such crises, there was
at first great confusion and diversity of opinion in
the public mind. Public meetings of the people in
the various counties were the order of the hour.
The returned delegates were active in organizing
these meetings.
The first of these meetings was held at Morgan-
town, the home of Hon. W. T. Willey, who had ar-
rived fresh from the Eichmond convention, and his
constituents were eager to learn from him the real
situation and his views as to the most expedient
course to be taken by the people of western Vir-
ginia, who were not in accord with the action of the
Secession Convention. The temper of the citizens
of this locality expressed at this first meeting was
representative of the prevailing sentiment through-
out the western section. They entered a solemn
protest against the secession of Virginia ; denounced
such action as treason against the government of the
United States; declared their unalterable opposi-
tion to such a course; that they would not follow
Virginia, but would dissolve their civil and political
relations with the East, and commended the firmness
of western delegates in resisting secession from the
Union.
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 371
Similar meetings were held in a number of coun-
ties. They served to give character and direction
to the forming opinions and judgment of the masses
of the people. Notable among these meetings was
one held at Clarksburg on April 22, which was con-
vened at the instance of the delegate from that
county, Hon. John S. Carlile, and which gave the
first practical turn to the course of affairs. This
meeting adopted a series of resolutions denouncing
and repudiating the course of the Eichmond con-
vention, and recommended to the people of each of
the counties of western Virginia to appoint five dele-
gates 'to, meet in convention at Wheeling on May 13
following, "to consult and determine on such action
as the people of northwestern Virginia should take
in the present fearful emergency."
Out of this proposition came the convention at
Wheeling known as the "Mass-Meeting" or "Mass-
Convention," which took the initiative step toward
the dismemberment of Virginia and the erection of
a new state. Hither had come, in large numbers,
the representatives of the people of the western
counties to confer and determine upon a course of
action that involved momentous results. These
delegates, it is true, had no very well defined idea of
what they were there for. Their mission had not
been exactly defined or determined. It was an ir-
regular kind of proceeding. No statute law or con-
stitution authorized or gave jurisdiction to the con-
vention. No official authority could be found for the
calling of the convention or the appointment of dele-
gates. It was one of the steps in a revolution.
The convention was formally opened and orga-
nized; officers were elected, committees appointed,
and all the machinery of a parliamentary body was
soon in operation. The ideas and plans of the indi-
vidual delegates were soon disclosed by a torrent of
372 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
resolutions. But amidst conflicting views, one fact
was developed beyond doubt, and that was that if
there was any approach to unanimity on any course,
it was for a separation from the old commonwealth
and the formation of a new state out of the western
counties.
This was the only specific scheme that had been
agitated among the delegates. John S. Carlile was
the author and open advocate of this measure, and
he had done no little missionary work in its behalf.
The idea of severing relations with the old state
seemed best to satisfy the vindictive spirit of the
hour. It became the rallying cry of the convention.
Thus it soon came to be not so much a question of
what the convention desired to do, as how to do it.
Here was a purpose and a proposition to erect a
new state. It was a movement without precedent
in the history of the states. Other states had been
formed, but no state had been arbitrarily carved out
of the territory of another state.
Mr. Carlile came forward as the leader of the
scheme in the convention. His scheme for the
formation of a new state was purely revolutionary
in its entire conception. The next day after the con-
vention opened he introduced the following resolu-
tion which became the basis of the debate which
ensued :
"Resolved, that the committee on state and federal relations be in-
structed to report an ordinance declaring that the connection of the
counties of this state composing the tenth and eleventh congressional
districts, to which shall be added the county of Wayne, with the other
portion of this state is hereby dissolved, and that the people of said
counties are in the possession and exercise of all the rights of sovereignty
which belong and appertain to a free and independent state in the
United States and subject to the constitution thereof; and that said
committee be instructed to report a constitution and form of govern-
ment for the said state, to be called the state of New Virginia; and also
that they report a declaration of causes which have impelled the people
of said counties thus to dissolve their connection with the rest of the
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 373
state, together with an ordinance declaring that said constitution and
form of government shall take effect and be an act of this day when the
consent of the Congress of the United States and of the legislature of the
state of Virginia are obtained as provided for by Sec. 3, Article 4 of the
Constitution of the United States."
As already noted, the above proposition was es-
sentially and purely revolutionary in its character.
It ran counter to every principle and provision of
our system of government for the creation of a new
state. But to the large majority of the members of
this convention, matters of constitutional law and
government were new and unpalatable at this time.
Yet there were a few men among the delegates who
looked beyond the present and who knew that the
scheme of Mr. Carlile, carried to its ultimate end,
would only result in defeat and failure of their
cherished object.
In this exigency, Hon. W. T. "Willey As put for-
ward to stem the tide and undertake me bold and
seemingly hopeless task of getting the convention to
think. Mr. Willey was the opposite of Mr. Carlile
in character and temperament. He was less optim-
istic, more conservative, and as a lawyer he had a
clear view of the issues involved, as well as a
natiural bias for a legal and orderly proceeding. He
and Mr. Carlile were fresh from the Richmond con-
vention, where they had together wrestled manfully
to prevent the secession of Virginia, and while they
were now equally earnest in their desire to thwart
the secession movement in the East, they were to
become trhe chief opponents in a memorable debate.
Mr. Willey 's* appearance in the role of an oppo-
nent of the pending proposition was the signal for
an outburst of angry denunciation both from the
convention and the crowds in the lobby and in the
streets. THey called him a traitor and a secessionist.
Mr. Willey ihrew himself into the debate with all
his native eloquence and clearness of statement, and
374 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
finally gained the ear of the convention. He de-
clared that he would never lend himself to a revo-
lutionary or an insurrectionary means of accom-
plishing an object which he thought could be accom-
plished according to law. He pointed out with great
force the provisions of the Federal constitution gov-
erning the formation of a new state. He cited Sec.
3 of Art. 4, which declares :
"New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but
no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any
other state; nor any state formed by the junction of two or more states,
or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states
concerned, as well as of the Congress."
He called attention to the fact that Mr. Carlile's
plan proposed to call a new state into existence by a
simple edict of the convention. He argued that the
eonvention^iere assembled could not predicate any
authority for such a precipitate proceeding upon
the call of the people they represented; that the
delegates had not been appointed with that view, or
empowered to act with such extreme vigor ; that this
was but an informal meeting of the people, not
legally convened, and could not bind the people
either in law or reason, or by any known rule or
precedent; and above all, that the Federal govern-
ment would not recognize a state created thus, be-
cause it was not after the mode prescribed by the
Constitution of the United States. He said the pro-
ceeding, if carried out, would be "triple treason"—
treason against the state of Virginia, treason
against the United States, and treason against the
Confederate government if that should succeed in
maintaining itself. In other words, there was no
existing government that did not assume a legal
status, except the one proposed for the new state.
This debate continued three days with great earn-
estness, and the result was marvelous as an illus-
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 375
tration of how a body like that may be turned about
from a fixed and resolute purpose to accept and
adopt that which it had almost unanimously and
stubbornly opposed.
When the "Mass-Convention" had changed its
mind on the Carlile plan, it turned about to reach
the same object in another way. Hon. F. H. Pier-
point came forward with some resolutions which
were in the nature of a substitute for the Carlile
plan, providing for holding a convention on June 11
following, to which delegates should be regularly
chosen by all the loyal counties and which should
devise such measures as the welfare of the people
of the northwestern counties should demand. This
proposition left all questions open as to what that
subsequent convention should do. It was confidently
believed that any convention would favor a separa-
tion from the old state, but the particular plan for
accomplishing that object should be determined by
the convention itself.
This proposition met with the approval of the
convention, and it made a call upon all the western
counties disposed to cooperate to send delegates to
the convention appointed for June 11. The whole
matter was put in the hands of a well chosen exe-
cutive committee and amidst a blaze of enthusiasm,
and the singing of the "Star Spangled Banner,"
this remarkable and historic convention adjourned,
after having set in motion events which made the
first chapter in the history of a new state.
Reorganizing the Virginia Government.
The convention of June 11 assembled in accord-
ance with the call of the "Mass-Convention."
Thirty-five counties of the northwest were repre-
sented, and had sent an aggregate of seventy-seven
delegates.
376 THE HISTORY OF .WEST VIRGINIA.
The convention having organized, very much the
same problems that had confronted the previous
body immediately arose. Two schemes were pre-
sented, that of immediately forming a new state
out of the counties represented in the convention,
after the Carlile plan, and the other of reorganizing
the Virginia state government and assuming that
these counties represented in the convention were
the state.
There were two weighty reasons for preferring
the latter proposition. There were enough far-
sighted men in the convention to see that they could
not have a new state until they could get control of
the old state so as to give its consent, as the consti-
tution required, to forming a new state out of its
territory. Moreover, to assume that they were
Virginia was the quickest and easiest course to hav-
ing a state government whether it were a new or
an old state.
The majority of the convention soon shifted to
the support of the proposition for reorganizing the
Virginia government out of the loyal counties, va-
cating the offices, taking possession of the whole
machinery, and calling the organization the state of
Virginia. They could thus have a state already
made, already recognized, and quite sure of the rec-
ognition of the Federal government in preference to
that purporting to be the government of Virginia
at the city of Eichmond. The shrewd and far-
sighted men who had now come into control of affairs
realized that they had immediate need of a state
government ready made, and they had special need
of control of the Virginia government. It was the
state of Virginia that was to be dismembered, and
the consent of the state of Virginia was the first es-
sential step to the legality of this purpose. What
hope had they, indeed, of the consent of the Kich-
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 377
mond government to anything like that? But if
they, west of the mountains, were the state, it was
an easy proposition to have the consent of Virginia
even to dividing it in sunder. To this end the con-
vention adopted, with great unanimity, and pro-
mulgated an address or declaration of their motives
and purposes, and a statement of the grievances
which impelled them to this course. They framed
and passed, without a dissenting vote, an ordinance
which set forth in detail the scheme for reorganizing
the state of Virginia. The convention was to ap-
point a governor, lieutenant-governor and attorney-
general, to continue in office for six months; a test
oath was required of all other officers then serving
under the Virginia government, and on refusal of
the incumbent to take the oath, the governor was to
declare the office vacant and appoint a successor.
The legislature was shortly to assemble and provide
for a speedy general election to fill all the offices of
the government.
Under this scheme the convention elected Francis
H. Pierpont, governor; Daniel Polsley, lieutenant-
governor, and James S. Wheat, attorney-general.
The convention then formally declared all ordi-
nances, acts, orders, resolutions and other proceed-
ings of the Richmond convention illegal, inoperative,
null and void. With a view of taking up in earnest
the work of erecting a new state, the convention ad-
journed on June 20, to reconvene at the same place
on August 6 following.
The Eestored Government of Virginia in Operation.
In pursuance of the ordinance of the June conven-
tion, the first legislature under the reorganized gov-
ernment of Virginia met at Wheeling on July 1, 1861.
Governor Pierpont sent in an elaborate message,
among other things, informing the legislature that
378 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
he had communicated to the President of the United
States the purposes and acts of the convention and
people of the northwest counties in endeavoring to
preserve the state of Virginia to the Union, and had
received his assurance that they should have such
assistance from the Federal government as could
be given under the authority of the constitution.
On July 9 the two houses proceeded to complete
the organization of the government by filling the
offices that were vacant. They appointed various
state officers.
It appearing that K. M. T. Hunter and James M.
Mason, senators, representing Virginia in the United
States Senate, had vacated their seats and were
engaged in the effort to overthrow the Federal gov-
ernment, the legislature proceeded to supply their
places, and, accordingly, Waitman T. Willey and
John S. Carlile were elected United States senators
from the state of Virginia. These gentlemen pro-
ceeded to Washington, presented their credentials
from the Virginia government at Wheeling, and
were duly admitted by the United States Senate as
senators from Virginia.
This was the first formal recognition by the Na-
tional legislature of the validity of the restored
government.
On May 13, 1862, the legislature of the restored
government passed an act giving the formal con-
sent of Virginia to the erection of a new state out of
her territory.
This territory included forty-eight counties of
northwestern Virginia, and made provision for in-
cluding three more — Jefferson, Berkeley and Fred-
erick— when they should vote to come in. The first
two subsequently voted in favor of the proposition,
but the county of Frederick never voted on it.
These fifty counties having given their assent by
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 379
a formal vote to the formation of a new state, the
next step was to make a constitution for the new
state.
The delegates chosen for that purpose assembled
in convention at the city of Wheeling on Nov. 26,
1861. After organizing, it entered upon the work of
framing a constitution for the new state, and was
occupied with that work for about two and one-half
months. They made many radical changes in the
constitution of the old commonwealth.
The most exciting question which arose in the
convention was that relating to the position which
the new state would take toward negro slavery. The
question of slavery was not a dead or indifferent
issue even in western Virginia. There were included
in the population of the forty-eight counties repre-
sented in the convention, at that time, 12,771 slaves
in a population of 334,921 whites — a very small pro-
portion, it is true, but enough to make the property
value an item worth considering to those who owned
it. The convention determined that the constitution
should be silent on the question of slavery, and that
at the time the constitution should be submitted to
a vote of the people on its adoption, a kind of side
vote should be taken for emancipation and against
emancipation. When the vote was taken it was
6,052 for emancipation to 610 against, or ten to one
in favor of a free state. The vote on the adoption
of the constitution taken at the same time was
18,862 in favor to 514 against it.
The legislature of the reorganized government of
Virginia assembled on May 6 following, and gave its
formal assent to the formation and erection of the
state of West Virginia within the jurisdiction of the
state of Virginia, "according to the stipulations and
provisions of the constitution,'* which was laid be-
fore them by the government as having been adopted
380 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
by the people. The act of the legislature was
ordered to be transmitted to the senators and rep-
resentatives in Congress, together with a copy of the
constitution, with the request that they should en-
deavor to obtain the consent of Congress to the ad-
mission of West Virginia into the Union.
The New State Issue in Congress.
On May 29, 1862, Senator Waitman T. .Willey,
who, in connection with Senator John S. Carlile,
represented the state of Virginia under the restored
government in the United States Senate, presented
to the Senate the application for the formation of
a new state, the act of the legislature giving its as-
sent thereto, a copy of the constitution adopted by
that portion of Virginia which proposed to erect a
new state, and a certified copy of the returns of the
vote showing the adoption of that constitution, and
Mr. Willey accompanied the application with an
address in which he recited the conditions which
prompted the movement.
The application was referred to the Territorial
Committee, and this committee, after much diffi-
culty in agreeing upon the terms of a bill, reported on
June 23, Senate bill number 365, which contained the
usual specifications and some unusual conditions
upon which the consent of Congress would be
granted to the admission of the proposed new state.
The chief of these conditions related to the ques-
tion of slavery. It will be remembered that the
constitution adopted by the convention which framed
it was silent on the subject of slavery. The conven-
tion had voted down a proposition to insert a clause
for gradual emancipation, or submit it to a vote of
the people, although an informal vote was taken at
the same time. But there were 12,000 negro slaves
in the territory out of which the new state was to
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 381
be formed, and if these counties were admitted as a
state with no provision for the emancipation of the
slaves, it would continue to be slave territory.
Therefore, as had been anticipated, Congress was
not disposed to admit another slave state, unless
provision was made for making it a free state in
the near future.
The committee reported the bill with a condition
requiring gradual emancipation. Senator Willey
offered an amendment relating to some other con-
dition of the bill, and also providing for reconven-
ing the convention for the purpose of adopting a
provision for gradual emancipation of the slaves.
Senator Wade, of Ohio, offered an amendment that
the clause of the new constitution relating to slavery
should provide that * ' all slaves within the said state
who shall, at the time aforesaid, be under twenty-
one years of age, shall be free when they arrive at
the age of twenty-one. ' '
The Willey amendment as thus amended was
adopted, and this settled the feature of the bill re-
lating to slavery so far as the Senate was concerned,
and all cause of opposition from the majority of the
Senate having been met, the bill was put upon its
passage on July 14, 1862, and adopted by the Sen-
ate by a vote of seventeen for, to twenty-three
against — Senator Carlile casting one of the votes
against it.
The Senate bill became the order of the day in the
House of Representatives on December 9 following.
The debate on the bill occupied two days, and trav-
eled along the lines that had been traversed by the
Senate, except that the conditions regarding slavery
did not become a question. But the constitutional
questions involved were discussed with great ability
on both sides.
The vote of the House on tHe passage of the bill
382 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
resulted in ninety-six in favor and fifty-five votes
against it. The bill was approved by the President,
and became a law on Dec. 31, 1862.
But it must be noted that the passage of the bill
by Congress did not yet admit West Virginia as a
state. The bill made it conditional that the clause
which Congress had prescribed relating to slavery
should be inserted in the constitution by the consti-
tutional convention, a vote be taken upon its adop-
tion and ratified by a majority of the voters, and that
when all this was done and duly certified to the
President of the United States, it should be lawful
for the President to issue his proclamation stating
the fact, and thereupon the act should take effect
and be in force on and after sixty days from the
date of said proclamation.
In obedience to this act the constitutional conven-
tion was reconvened on Feb. 12, 1863. The "Willey
Amendment" relating to slavery was, after much
debate, adopted by the convention almost unani-
mously. It was submitted to a vote of the people on
March 26, 1863, and adopted by a majority of 27,749
— there being only 572 votes cast against it.
The result of the vote was certified to the Presi-
dent of the United States, in accordance with the
act of Congress, and thus the last step, but one, to-
ward the consummation of the long contest for a
new state had been successfully taken.
The State of West Virginia, as a fixed star in the
galaxy of the Union, only awaited the proclamation
of President Lincoln.
President Lincoln Starts the Machinery of the New State.
The proclamation of President Lincoln ushering
in the new state was at this stage, of course, a mere
matter of form. But Mr. Lincoln had not reached
this point in the proceeding easily and without hesi-
STEPS TO STATEHOOD. 383
tation. He had had his fight between the patrons
and opponents of the measure when the bill came to
him from Congress for his signature. The pressure
that was then brought to bear to induce him to veto
the bill, perhaps made him more careful in its con-
sideration than he otherwise would have been.
It is safe to say that all Mr. Lincoln's inclinations
were toward giving the executive sanction to the
new state movement. He had promised the people
early in their struggle that they should have his
support as far as the constitution would warrant.
But now he was up against the question both from
a legal standpoint and as a measure of public policy.
He took his constitutional limit for determining this.
He took the written opinions of the members of his
cabinet. It was during Christmas week while Con-
gress was taking a holiday that Mr. Lincoln was
wrestling with the new state bill. The friends and
patrons of the bill were on the ground anxiously
awaiting the decision of the President, and the ear
of all western Virginia was turned toward Washing-
ton to hear the result. On New Year's Day, 1863,
the President approved the bill.
The battle had now been fought and won. Hence-
forth the territory carved out of the mother state of
Virginia was to be a distinct and independent state
of the Union. The issue had passed the discussion
of the two houses of Congress, the cabinet chamber,
and had received the approval of the Executive.
Every requirement of the act had been fulfilled on
the part of the people of western Virginia. The
forces of opposition had been withdrawn, and only
the formal declaration of the President was neces-
sary, under the act, to usher in the new state.
On April 20, 1863, President Lincoln issued his
proclamation declaring that all necessary provisions
of the act of Congress creating the new state hav-
384 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
ing been complied with, the said act should take
effect and be in force from and after sixty days from
the date of said proclamation.
Thus, on June 20, 1863, the State of West Virginia
became a legal entity. It needed only to be orga-
nized and have its governmental machinery set in
motion. And it was not long about it.
Hon. A. T. Boreman was elected its first governor.
Governor Pierpoint and his staff quietly folded their
tents and transferred the government of Virginia,
which they supposed was in their keeping, to Alex-
andria. There he continued to administer the gov-
ernment of Virginia in the interest of the Federal
authority, while Governor Letcher, at Richmond,
continued to administer it in the interest of the Con-
federate authority. The legislature of the new state
met in Wheeling on the day when, by the proclama-
tion of the President, the new state was born, and
proceeded to organize the government. It elected
two senators to represent the new state in the
United States Senate. Hon. W. T. Willey and Hon.
P. G. Van Winkle were chosen to these positions.
They repaired to Washington with their creden-
tials, and although their appearance at the bar of
the Senate was the occasion for formal objection to
their admission by those who had opposed the new
state project, and now held it had no legal existence,
this was only a form of graceful submission to the
inevitable. They were duly admitted, and the Sen-
ate of the United States, followed by the House in
admitting delegates, thus gave the formal, full and
final recognition of the Congress to the State of
West Virginia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Fast and Maxwell: Formation of West Virginia;
W. P. Willey: An Inside View of the Formation of West Virginia.
WILLIAM P. WILLEY,
Professor of Equity, Jurisprudence, and Commercial Law,
West Virginia University.
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 385
CHAPTER III.
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909.
West Virginia's Part in The War of Secession.
In the war for Southern independence, to which
West Virginia owes her existence as a state, the West
Virginians, in proportion to their number and wealth,
did as much as the people of any other state. That
they were not friendly to secession was shown by
their vote of ten to one against the Virginia ordi-
nance of secession. That the determined character
of this opposition to the action of Virginia was un-
derestimated by the authorities at Eichmond was
shown by the persistent efforts of Virginia to secure
control of her western counties and to collect forces
therein for the Confederacy. Not until the failure
of the Imboden raid was the true sentiment of West
Virginia understood by the Confederates. To the
Union army she furnished over 30,000 regular
troops, exclusive of the 2,300 Home Guards, consist-
ing of thirty- two companies organized to defend
thirty-two home counties from invasion. For the
Confederate service she furnished between 7,000 and
10,000, nearly all of whom enlisted before the close
of 1861. The importance of West Virginia's con-
tribution to the war cannot be estimated alone by
the number of men which she furnished. The fail-
ure of the Confederates to hold the territory and to
secure the Baltimore and Ohio Eailway gave the
Union forces a great advantage in the transporta-
tion of troops between Ohio and the East.
Politics and Political Issues.
West Virginia entered upon her career as a sepa-
rate state of the American Union at the most crit-
386 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
ical period in the War of Secession — two weeks
before the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg in
1863. After the President's proclamation of April
20, the new government was rapidly organized. Ar-
thur I. Boreman for governor, and other state offi-
cers, nominated at a convention at Parkersburg
early in May, were elected the latter part of the
same month. Judges of the supreme court and
county officials were elected at the same time. On
June 20 the state officers began their duties. On the
same day the first legislature (twenty senators and
fifty-one delegates) assembled, and on August 4 it
elected two United States senators — Waitman T.
Willey and Peter G. Van Winkle. Soon thereafter
congressmen were elected from each of the three
newly formed congressional districts.
The new state government, laying the foundation
stones of state institutions and of future order and
development, was confronted by many serious diffi-
culties and obstacles — economic, social and political.
The people, separated into many detached local
groups by precipitous mountains and rugged
streams, had not developed unity of action nor social
and commercial identity, except, perhaps, in the
counties along the Ohio, and along the Baltimore and
Ohio Kailroad. The most serious immediate politi-
cal difficulty was the sympathy for the Confederacy
exhibited in various parts of the state. Although
the Confederates had soon lost control of the larger
part of the state, over 7,000 West Virginians had en-
tered the Confederate army early in the war — about
one-fourth of the number who enlisted in the Union
army — and the Confederate raids and skirmishes
into the state, at first to prevent separation from
Virginia, were continued until the close of the war.
Counties along the southern border of the new
state were partially under the control of the Con-
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 387
federates until near the close of the war, and "were
forced to pay heavy taxes to the Richmond govern-
ment, and to furnish soldiers for the Confederate
army." Other counties along the border suffered
from irregular "bands of guerrillas and marauders"
whom the state troops were unable to manage. In
the sad state of disorder, the governor recommended
that the citizens should organize to capture and kill
the "outlaws" wherever and whenever found, and
appealed to the Washington government, which or-
ganized the state into a military district under com-
mand of General Kelley, who scattered many irregu-
lar bands and gradually rendered life and property
secure; but in some portions of the state the civil
authorities were helpless against lawlessness long
after the close of the war.
Under these conditions the administration was
seriously embarrassed by lack of funds to meet ordi-
nary expenditures. In 1864 the governor reported
that one-half of the counties had paid no taxes and
others were in arrears. In fourteen counties there
were no sheriffs or other collectors of taxes, "be-
cause of the danger incident thereto. ' ' The burdens
of the counties which paid were necessarily in-
creased. One of the earliest measures of the state
government was an act (1863) providing for the
forfeiture of property belonging to the enemies of
the state, including those who had joined the Con-
federate army ; but such property was seized only in
a few instances and the law remained practically a
dead letter — because the citizens of the state were
usually unwilling to take advantage of the political
disabilities of their neighbors.
Though in the election of 1864 there were only a
few scattering votes in opposition to the officers of
the state administration, there were no means of ob-
taining an expression of the people in some of the
388 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
extreme southern counties where the governor re-
ported that, owing to the Confederate incursions and
local conditions, it was still impracticable to organ-
ize civil authority.
At the close of the war there were still many
sources of disorder and friction. The most promi-
nent related to the political status of those who had
joined or aided the Confederate cause. The first
general election laws of West Virginia, passed in
1863, had provided for election supervisors and in-
spectors who were authorized to require from all
whose eligibility to vote was in doubt an oath to
support the constitution of the United States and of
"West Virginia. Naturally the Unionists considered
that those who had supported the Confederate cause
could not safely be entrusted with political power
immediately after their return from the Confeder-
ate armies, and before they had proven their willing-
ness to cooperate in maintaining the established
order. This opinion was enforced by conditions and
events. In 1865 organized bands of returning Con-
federates committed several murders and robberies
in Upshur, Barbour, Marion and Harrison counties.
The legislature, with partisan spirit increased,
passed the voter's test act, requiring from all voters
an oath that they had neither voluntarily borne
arms against the United States, nor aided those who
had engaged in armed hostility against the United
States. It also proposed an amendment disfranchis-
ing those who had given voluntary aid to the Con-
federates— of course with the intention of removing
the disabilities in course of time. This further
aroused the spirit of antagonism and insubordina-
tion in the minds of the ex-Confederates who were
"impatient to repossess themselves of place and
power."
In the elections of 1865 the test oath act was not
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 389
strictly enforced, and in a few places it was entirely
ignored. Many ex-Confederates, claiming that the
law was unconstitutional, took a free hand in organ-
izing the local government. In some places they
ran for office, and in Greenbrier county two were
elected — one to the state senate and the other to the
house of delegates. In his message of 1866 Governor
Boreman, commenting upon the alacrity with which
the ex- Confederates insisted upon participation in
politics, advised the legislature to enact a more effi-
cient registration law, to require election officers to
take a test oath, and to give the necessary concur-
rence in the proposed disfranchisement amendment
so that it could be submitted to the people. The
legislature promptly passed a registration law, au-
thorizing the governor to appoint in each county a
registration board consisting of three citizens who
were given power to designate the township regis-
trars. It also concurred in the proposed amendment
which was promptly ratified by the people on May
24, 1866, by about 7,000 votes, thereby disfranchis-
ing between 10,000 and 20,000 persons.
Although there is yet considerable difference of
opinion in regard to the wisdom of these measures,
it is generally agreed that they were the natural
result of conditions which seemed to threaten not
only the policies of the administration but also the
integrity and independence of the new state. Many
of those who were disfranchised hoped to see West
Virginia return to the control of Virginia. In Jef-
ferson county a large number of persons, stating
that the transfer of the county from Virginia to
West Virginia during their absence was irregular
and void, refused to acknowledge that they were
West Virginians, and attempted to hold an election
as a part of the state of Virginia; but they yielded
when General Emory was sent to aid the civil offi-
390 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
cers in maintaining the law. Virginia, too, tried in
vain to secure the return of Jefferson and Berkeley
counties, first by annulling the act of the Pierpont
government which had consented to the transfer,
and second (1866) by bringing a suit in the supreme
court which, in 1871, was decided in favor of West
Virginia. In 1866, while Pierpont was still gov-
ernor of Virginia, the legislature of that state ap-
pointed three commissioners to make overtures to
West Virginia for the reunion of the two states, but
the legislature of West Virginia rejected the propo-
sition in 1867, stating that the people of the new
state were unalterably opposed to reunion. At the
same time the condition in some of the southern
border counties caused the legislature to enact a
more exacting registration law, requiring an appli-
cant for registration not only to take the test oath
but also to prove that he was qualified to vote. A
state of insubordination existed in three or four
counties. In some places no elections had been held
in the fall of 1866 because of the fear of violence.
The judge of the ninth district, including Green-
brier and Monroe counties, had received anonymous
letters threatening his life. In his message the
governor stated that the ex-Confederates who caused
these troubles were "learned men."
The new registration law, which gave to regis-
trars the power to identify those who had aided the
secessionists in any form, increased the antagonism
to the administration, and the opposition to the
laws. During the campaign of 1868 there was much
partisan excitement and friction. Many, unable to
take the ironclad oaths which would enable them to
vote, and perhaps further irritated by the adoption
of the Fourteenth amendment, frequently attempted
to intimidate public officials, and threatened violence
which in some places prevented elections and in
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 391
others compelled the governor to appeal for Federal
troops to aid in the maintenance of law and order.
Force was necessary to aid in the execution of the
law in the counties of Monroe, Wayne, Cabell, Logan,
Randolph, Tucker, Barbour and Marion. In some
counties the restrictions of the registration law were
almost entirely disregarded. As might have been
expected, in some instances disorders arose from
arbitrary refusal to register persons against whom
there was no tangible evidence, or from unnecessary
and unwise rigidity in administering the law —
which of itself was not necessarily unjust nor unwise.
Before the election of 1869 there was a vigorous
discussion of the suffrage question in all its phases.
A large number of the liberal Republicans consid-
ered that a continuance of the test oaths was inex-
pedient and desired to adopt some policy that would
terminate the bitter animosities of years. The
legislature of 1870 repealed some of the test oaths.
Gov. William E. Stevenson, who had defeated J. N.
Camden, the Democratic candidate for governor, by
a majority of only 5,000, with vigorous progressive
views continued the constructive policy of his prede-
cessor, endeavoring to remove the deeply rooted
prejudices against immigration, and earnestly fa-
voring liberal legislation to encourage projects of
internal improvement and industrial enterprise
which would engage the people of the state in the
development of its resources and terminate the
quarrels over past issues. He also recommended an
amendment to the constitution to restore the privi-
leges of those who had been disfranchised by the
amendment of 1866. W. H. H. Flick in the House
proposed the amendment which, after acceptance by
the legislature of 1870 and 1871, was ratified by a
vote of the people by a majority of 17,223, and pro-
claimed by the governor in April, 1871.
392 THE HISTORY OE .WEST VIRGINIA.
In the meantime, in the election of 1870, the oppo-
sition had pushed their claims to registration —
often by intimidation of the registrars. In some
counties the law was so far disregarded that every
male of the required age was registered. This lax-
ity in the enforcement of the more stringent features
of the registration law, together with the opposition
to negro suffrage, resulted in a victory for the Demo-
crats, who elected John J. Jacobs governor by a
majority of over 2,000 votes and secured a working
majority in both houses which they retained for a
quarter of a century. Although Jacobs' usefulness
was somewhat restricted by limited views of states-
manship, he was conservative and moderate in his
policies.
The strong reactionary elements which composed
the Democratic party demanded a constitutional con-
vention, and their strength was shown in the legisla-
ture of February, 1871, and in the election of August,
1871, which determined the question. In the election
of the following October they elected sixty-six of the
seventy-eight members of the convention. The
twelve Republicans they humorously called "the
twelve apostles."
The convention met at Charleston on Jan. 16,
1872, and remained in session for eighty-four days,
completing its work on April 9, 1872. The new con-
stitution, ratified by the people by a majority of
4,567 votes, exhibited the marks of the period of par-
tisanship which preceded it.
Strong efforts were made by the most radical reac-
tionaries to keep West Virginia under the influence
of the life and institutions of Virginia and the South.
After the early sessions of the convention, these ef-
forts were somewhat neutralized by the more liberal
or modern Democrats who feared that the ex-Con-
federate element of the party might force into the
.WEST VIEGINIA, 1863-1909. 393
constitution provisions which would defeat it before
the people.
Although the new constitution made some wise
changes — lengthening the term of state executive
officers to four years, doubling the terms of members
of each house of the legislature, and providing for
biennial (instead of annual) legislatures — it con-
tained several restrictions and inhibitions and vari-
ous antiquated and imperfect provisions which have
retarded or prevented the governmental adjust-
ments necessary to meet modern West Virginia con-
ditions. Abolishing the township system, it pro-
vided for the return to the old county system — the
Virginia idea of government by justices of the
peace — which was subsequently changed by amend-
ment (1881). Although other clauses were changed
by amendments in 1884 and 1902, still other changes
are needed. For instance, in spite of the great
need of a secret Australian ballot to prevent traffic
in votes, the antiquated clause still provides that
"the voter shall be left free to vote by either open,
sealed or secret ballot as he may elect." In 1903
Governor White, suggesting the need of a constitu-
tional convention, said: "Our constitution creaks at
almost every joint."
The political and constitutional history after 1872
may be briefly summarized. In the election that fol-
lowed the adoption of the new constitution the Demo-
crats were divided. Camden, who was their regular
nominee, was defeated by a majority of 12,363 by
Governor Jacobs, the independent candidate, who,
after his reelection, devoted much attention to meas-
ures relating to the material development of the
state.
In the exciting election of 1876 the Democratic
state ticket of eight persons, seven of whom had
been in the Confederate army, was elected by a ma-
394 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
jority of from 12,000 to 16,000. H. M. Mathews, who
defeated Gen. Nathan Goff, the popular Bepublican
candidate for governor, was a patriotic, broad and
liberal-minded Confederate who had fully accepted
the results of the war and was well fitted to lead in
meeting living issues. His administration has been
characterized as an era of good-feeling in which the
state began to show new signs of awakening life —
especially in industrial development.
Gov. J. B. Jackson, who succeeded Governor
Mathews in 1881, was an honest but partisan Demo-
crat of the old school who, in the election of 1880,
received a plurality of 16,139 over George C. Stur-
giss, the Republican candidate. Jackson favored the
enactment of laws that would encourage immigra-
tion, manufactures and the development of the mate-
rial resources of the state. He also attempted to
secure reforms in taxation and state finance by di-
recting that all property not exempted by the consti-
tution should be listed for taxation, and by the ap-
pointment of a tax commission (1883). During his
administration, a period of continued general pros-
perity and happiness (excepting the calamitous
results of the great floods of February, 1884), steps
were also taken to revise the laws, some of which
were indefinite and inconsistent.
Under Gov. E. Willis Wilson, who was elected in
1884 by a majority of 5,289, there was a continua-
tion of the agitation for the revision of the tax laws
in order to secure equality of taxation, and the gov-
ernor also proposed legislation to reform the election
laws, to prohibit oppressive trusts and combinations,
and to prevent the distribution of railway passes to
officers of the state and delegates to political conven-
tions. The administration waged a fierce and re-
lentless war against the trunk line railroads which;
the governor said, had discriminated against
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 395
people of West Virginia in freight and passenger
rates. To secure regulation of railway rates the
governor called a special session of the legislature,
which, after heated debates and a close vote of nine-
teen to nineteen in the House (twenty-seven absent
and not voting), dropped the further consideration
of the subject and decided to await the result of the
operation of the new national interstate-commerce
law, which had just passed Congress and was ap-
proved by a joint resolution of both houses of the
legislature, and which soon proved beneficial to "West
Virginia shippers.
Gov. A. B. Fleming, who contested the certified
returns which gave his opponent (Gen. Nathan
Goff) a majority of 110 votes, and received his office
only by a strictly party vote (forty- three Democrats
to forty Republicans) of the two houses of the legis-
lature, continued the policy of his predecessor, who,
as a result of the contest, had continued to act as
executive for nearly a year beyond the term for
which he was elected. He urged the taxation of the
property of the Pullman Company and other foreign
car companies, and the business of foreign telegraph
companies originating in the state. He also recom-
mended a general policy of legislation to preserve
the resources of the state from monopoly, to foster
agricultural interests and to diversify the various
industries of the state.
Gov. Wm. A. MacCorkle, who defeated Thos. E.
Davis, the Republican candidate, by a majority of
less than 4,000 in the election of 1892, was a liberal,
progressive young man who urged legislation for
the adjustment of state taxation, liberal appropria-
tions to support the growing institutions of the state,
and proper regulative machinery to meet the chang-
ing conditions. He cordially cooperated with the
spirit of the Republican legislature in favor of re-
396 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
organizing the old partisan boards of state institu-
tions and securing needed reforms "to give to the
institutions the greatest degree of efficiency, free
from the influence of politics."
The Democratic majority, which had reached its
highest point in 1880, had steadily declined after
that date until it became the minority at the close of
MacCorkle's administration. In the election of 1896
the entire Eepublican state ticket was elected.
George W. Atkinson defeated Cornelius C. Watts
for governor by a plurality of 12,070 votes. The
legislature had already elected one Eepublican sen-
ator (S. B. Elkins) in 1895, and in 1899 it proceeded
to elect another (N. B. Scott). Governor Atkinson
advocated policies for the improvement of the public
schools, the improvement of roads by some system
of permanent road building, the improvement of con-
ditions of labor by state regulations, a radical
amendment of the election laws, the encouragement
of immigration, and other measures to meet the new
and phenomenal industrial expansion in the state
which continued to influence political problems and
policies in subsequent administrations.
In the election of 1900 Albert B. White, Eepubli-
can, defeated John Homer Holt for governor by a
plurality of 19,516. In 1904 Wm. M. 0. Dawson,
Republican, defeated J. J. Cornwall by a plurality
of 9,083. At the same time the Eepublican plurality
for President was nearly 32,000, and for state
officers was nearly 25,000. Under both White and
Dawson the extension of state regulation and the
reform of the tax laws furnished the largest ques-
tions in politics.
For a quarter of a century, although the constitu-
tion provided that taxation should be equal and uni-
form throughout the state, there has been much com-
plaint of the inequalities and injustice of the tax
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 397
laws. A tax commission created by the legislature
of 1883 had scathingly criticised and condemned the
laws, but without practical results. Though in 1885
the legislature, which had never before exercised its
power under the constitution of 1872 to tax privi-
leges and franchises, finally enacted a law taxing
corporations, little was realized from it. Though in
1887 it provided for an inheritance tax (of 2y2 per
cent.), a defect in the law rendered it of little value.
The first substantial reform in the old laws was
made by the legislature of 1901, which largely in-
creased the revenue from license taxes in charters of
corporations (regulating the rate according to the
amount of authorized capital), and creating a tax
commission to submit plans for further reforms. In
1904 the legislature, at a special session, created the
office of state tax commissioner and enacted a sys-
tem of twenty-one tax laws, which greatly lessened
inequalities and practically provided for the extin-
guishment of direct taxes for the support of the state
government after 1906. Though these reforms have
been strongly opposed, it is generally recognized
that with some modifications the reform policy will
be sustained and continued.
The Republicans have steadily increased in num-
ber and influence with the great industrial develop-
ment of the state, which has been accompanied by a
rather large and continuous immigration from the
north and northwest, the fading of old traditions
and the rise of new issues. In the face of their
increasing strength, however, they endangered their
prospect of success at the polls in 1908 by party dis-
sensions, which resulted in two opposing state or-
ganizations of the party and two gubernatorial tick-
ets. On the other hand, it was stated that the Demo-
cratic state convention on July 30, 1908, weakened
the chances of the Democratic state ticket by com-
398 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
mitting the party (by a vote of 712 against 411) to
negro disfranchisement and "Jim Crow" cars.
Within a month of the election, the Bepublicans,
by agreeing to the withdrawal of rival gubernatorial
candidates and the selection of a new head for their
ticket, succeeded in electing their candidate for gov-
ernor, W. E. Glasscock, and their entire state ticket.
Industrial Progress.
The vast resources of West Virginia, whose de-
velopment was so long delayed and retarded by lack
of transportation, have recently furnished the in-
centive for many new enterprises which have greatly
changed the life of the state. The recent industrial
development of West Virginia had its origin largely
in the increasing demand for timber, coal, oil and
gas, and to the resulting inducements for the con-
struction of railroads and the establishment of cer-
tain manufactures such as glass, iron and steel, for
which the state furnishes a clean, cheap fuel.
The development of agriculture, as a skilled busi-
ness in West Virginia, was greatly retarded by the
habits of the people resulting from frontier condi-
tions and long-continued lack of transportation fa-
cilities. There had been little concentrated or co-
operative action for improvement of agriculture be-
fore the war. Except in a few counties the people
were satisfied with production for bare subsistence,
and gave little attention to production for exporta-
tion. There were few dealers in farm implements
even at the close of the war, and the steam thresher
did not come into use until about 1880, after which
there was a rapid introduction of all kinds of im-
proved implements and machinery. Since 1891
considerable advance has been made through the
influence of farmers' institutes, better communica-
tions and various associations.
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 399
Lumbering (the lineal descendant of the earlier
cutting and rafting of tanbark, hoop-poles and logs),
although it had developed little before 1865, ranked
second among the industries of the state in 1900, and
first in 1905.
At the close of the war an awakened interest in
the latent mineral resources of the state indicated
the beginning of a new era of development. Coal
mining companies were formed and coal mining
operations were begun in Putnam, Boone, Wayne,
Mason and Monongalia counties by 1869, and in
Sewall mountain on New Eiver in 1873. Operations
were extensive in four other counties (Marion,
Fayette, Harrison and Ohio) by 1880, and at the
same time embryo operations were begun in the coke
industry which steadily increased after 1880, and
especially after 1890, when machines were intro-
duced for mining. In 1903 there were 530 mines in-
spected, and the total production was 24,000,000 long
tons, of which nearly 19,500,000 tons were shipped to
market.
Petroleum, first obtained in large quantities in
1860 on the Little Kanawha near Parkersburg, de-
veloped a thriving business, which, although ruined
by the Confederates in 1863, was revived in 1865
and greatly extended by operations in Wirt, Wood
and Pleasants counties. From 1876 to 1889 there
was little extension of productive area. The yearly
production steadily declined during this period, but
it rapidly increased from 544,000 barrels in 1889, to
16,000,000 barrels in 1900, surpassing both Pennsyl-
vania and New York. By means of a series of pump-
ing stations this product is forced through pipe lines
over the mountains to the seaboard cities.
After 1882, by the opening of new gas wells and
the discovery of new gas fields, the practical use of
gas became a large factor in the industrial and so-
400 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
cial development of the state, furnishing the induce-
ment for the location of many manufacturing estab-
lishments seeking cheap fuel and attracting immi-
grants desiring a clean and convenient fuel for their
homes.
Industrial progress has been greatly influenced by
corresponding development of means of transporta-
tion. The state began its existence with few facili-
ties for communication in the larger portion of the
state. Of the few turnpikes the most important
were the Staunton and Parkersburg, and the Win-
chester and Parkersburg ("Northwestern"). South
of the Great Kanawha, roads of any kind were few
and in very bad condition. Steamboat navigation
within the state was confined to a very few streams.
There was but one railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio,
whose influence affected only a narrow strip across
the northern part of the state. The new government
promptly took steps to secure the improvement of
the Great Kanawha and the Little Kanawha, and
encouraged the construction of railroads. Of the
many proposed railways chartered after 1864, sev-
eral were completed by 1885. In 1871 the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad purchased the old Hempfield rail-
road, in operation between Wheeling and Washing-
ton, Pennsylvania, and completed it to Pittsburg.
In January, 1873, the Chesapeake and Ohio was
completed westward from Sulphur Springs to Hunt-
ington. In the same year Congress made small ap-
propriations for sluice and wing dam improvement
on the Great Kanawha, and two years later began
appropriations for permanent lock and dam im-
provements which, after a quarter of a century, were
completed to Montgomery above Charleston at a
cost of over $4,000,000. In 1887 beacon lights were
established on the Ohio, and soon thereafter on the
Great Kanawha. By that time Congress had begun
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 401
the appropriations by which slack water improve-
ments have been extended up the Monongahela to
Fairmont. In the meantime new railway lines
had been in progress of construction. In 1884 the
Kanawha and Michigan (continuation of the Ohio
Central) was opened from the Ohio Eiver to Charles-
ton. In 1885 a line, designed to connect the north-
central part of the state with Pittsburg, was com-
pleted from Fairmont to Morgantown, from whence
it was later extended to Connellsville, Pennsylvania,
where it connected with a main line of the Baltimore
and Ohio from Cumberland to Pittsburg. The Ohio
Biver railway was completed from Wheeling to
Parkersburg in 1885, to Point Pleasant in 1886, and
to Huntington in 1888. Other lines were soon begun.
In 1892 the Norfolk and Western was opened to the
Ohio, and in 1893 the Charleston, Clendennin and
Sutton was put in operation up the Elk Eiver from
Charleston to Sutton, from which a line has since
been extended to Elkins. From 1896 to 1902, the
most active period of railway construction in the
state, sixteen roads or branches were built; and in
1904, railroads penetrated fifty-one of the fifty-five
counties.
The rapid development of productive industries
and of transportation facilities has been accom-
panied by great changes in every phase of life, in-
dustrial, social, political and educational. It has
caused a phenomenal growth of many towns, and
great improvement in the conditions of life.
Population and Material Wealth.
The character of the population has greatly
changed since the War of Secession. The original
settlers, whose ancestors were generally English
or Scotch-Irish, or perhaps Pennsylvania German,
were contented with a life of rural simplicity
Vol. 1—26.
402 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
and hospitality whose economy was usually mere
subsistence. Their descendants usually lived ami-
ably with their neighbors, maintained their ur-
banity and self-possession in the presence of
strangers, and, beyond the efforts necessary to se-
cure the necessaries of life, were usually disposed to
leave the improvement of things to time and chance.
Always possessing intellect and sagacity capable of
high development under favorable conditions, they
have gradually responded to the progressive spirit
of enterprise and of the strenuous life which re-
ceived its greatest impulse from immigration from
other states and the increased opportunities for
communication and intermingling of the people.
The population almost trebled in the forty years
from 1860 to 1900. It increased from 376,688 in 1860
to 442,014 in 1870, to 618,457 in 1880, to 762,794 in
1890 and to 958,800 (499,242 males and 459,558 fe-
males) in 1900. The estimated population in 1908,
based upon the ratio of increase for the decade from
1890 to 1900, is about 1,156,000. In 1869 and early
in 1870 erroneous reports represented that the popu-
lation and wealth of the state were decreasing. The
census of 1870 showed that while there was a general
increase of population of over 20 per cent, in the
state, there was a slight decrease in a few counties.
There was a decrease of 794 in Greenbrier, 752 in
Hampshire and Hardy combined, 615 in Marion, 169
in Nicholas and 30 in Brooke. All the other counties
showed an increase, and every county since 1870 has
shown an increase for each decade. In the decade
from 1890 to 1900, the counties in which the popula-
tion increased most rapidly were McDowell (156.8
per cent.), Tucker (108 per cent.), Webster (85 per
cent.), Clay (77 per cent.), Marion (56.5 per cent.),
Fayette (55.7 per cent.), Tyler (52.6 per cent.), and
Eandolph (51.9 per cent.). The counties in which
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 403
the population increased most slowly were Jefferson
(2.5 per cent.), Hampshire (3.4 per cent.), Berkeley
(4.1 per cent.), Hancock (4.3 per cent.), Pendleton
(5.2 per cent.), Monroe (5.6 per cent.), Mason (5.6
per cent.), Mineral (6.6 per cent.), Lewis (6.8 per
cent.), and Grant (7 per cent.).
Of the population in 1900, the colored numbered
43,567 (including 56 Chinese and 12 Indians). The
negroes were located principally in Berkeley, Cabell,
Fayette, Greenbrier, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha,
McDowell, Mineral, Ohio and Summers. Of the
247,970 males of voting age, only 14,786 were ne-
groes. Of the illiterate voters 23,577 (11 per cent.)
were white, and 5,583 (38 per cent.) were black. The
foreign born numbered 22,451 (principally German,
Irish, Italian, English and Scotch), located princi-
pally in Marion, Marshall, Ohio, Tucker and Wood
counties. Excluding foreigners, the larger number
of immigrants came from Virginia (61,508), Ohio
(40,301), and Pennsylvania (28,927).
Since 1900 the immigration has greatly increased,
especially in the mining and manufacturing regions
of the northern and southern parts of the state. The
rapidity of the growth of towns may be illustrated
by the growth of Morgantown, whose population in-
creased from less than 2,000 in 1900 to over 12,000
in 1908.
The census of 1900 showed a remarkable develop-
ment of material wealth, which apparently has con-
tinued to increase each year thereafter. From 1870
to 1900 the value of farm property increased from
$120,000,000 to nearly $204,000,000, and the value of
farm products from $23,000,000 to nearly $45,-
000,000. For the same period the value of manu-
factured products increased from $24,000,000 to
$74,000,000. The amount of capital invested in
manufacturing, an industry which is still in its in-
404 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
fancy, increased from $28,113,000 in 1890 to nearly
$55,720,000 in 1900. For the same period the value
of manufactured products increased from $38,702,-
000 to over $74,000,000 (91.7 per cent.). From 1870
to 1900 the value of timber products increased from
about $364,000 to over $10,000,000. The coal produc-
tion increased from 1,568,000 tons in 1880 to 22,-
647,000 tons in 1900, and to 25,760,000 tons in 1903.
The value of the products of coke manufacture, a
rapidly developing industry, increased from $1,-
130,762 in 1890 to $3,529,241 in 1900 (an increase of
over 212 per cent.). The value of oil produced in
1902 was $25,000,000, and of gas over $5,000,000. In
1903 the total taxable value of the 3,643 miles of
steam railways (including 931 miles of siding) in
the state was $26,527,999. In 1903 the total re-
sources of the sixty-eight national banks located in
the state were $37,623,000, and of the 148 state banks
$53,481,750. The deposits were $23,349,827 and
$38,908,768 respectively.
Education.
In 1863 West Virginia had no common school sys-
tem, no normal schools and no university. Before
1863 the few schools which were maintained at pub-
lic expense were primarily for indigent children.
The people who had so long agitated the question of
free schools for all, in 1863 inserted a clause in their
constitution providing for their establishment, and
promptly secured from their first legislature a free
school law. In 1865 the state superintendent re-
ported that there were 431 schools and 387 teachers
in the state. In 1866 and 1867 provision was made
for colored schools where the number of colored
children was sufficient. The constitution provided
that white and colored children should not be edu-
cated in the same schools.
.WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 405
TKe new school system encountered many ob-
stacles. The law was opposed by many of the ultra-
conservatives, who urged the people to disregard it
and refused to cooperate with the authorities. In
some thinly settled counties of the interior, and
along the southern border, the people were not able
to build school houses. In several counties the su-
perintendents were too ignorant to examine the in-
competent teachers. In order to supply the great
need for trained teachers the legislature, in 1867, es-
tablished normal schools at Huntington, at Fairmont
and at West Liberty. Three additional normal
schools were established, in 1872, at Shepherdstown,
Athens and Glenville. By 1869 the school system
was better organized; but as late as 1872 over half
of the county superintendents failed to submit re-
ports, and the state superintendent reported that in
many districts there had been no schools for two
years. In many instances progress was hindered
by misuse of funds by the school boards, who voted
themselves a liberal compensation for their services.
The sheriff often postponed the payment of the sal-
ary of teachers until they were compelled to sell
their orders at great sacrifice to the curbstone
broker, often a confederate of the sheriff. In spite
of laws to prevent, this abuse continued for more
than a quarter of a century. Examinations in many
counties continued to be conducted so loosely and so
dishonestly that incompetent teachers found little
difficulty in securing certificates until, finally, the
widespread jobbery in teachers' certificates was al-
most terminated in 1903 by the adoption of the uni-
form examination system. Supervision of schools
by the county superintendent in many counties re-
mained a fraud and a farce for decades. An effort
to secure more efficient supervision was made in
1901 by forbidding the county superintendent to
406 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
teach, and in 1907 by increasing the salary of the
office.
Although progress was slow for so many years,
it has been more rapid in recent years. High schools
have increased in number and improved in char-
acter. The normal schools, whose work has been
largely that of the high school, have begun to give
more attention to the purpose for which they were
founded. A state board of education, created by the
revised school law of 1908, is empowered to prepare
a course of study for the public schools of the state,
and to unify and increase the efficiency of the school
system by defining the relations of the different
kinds of schools, and by securing better articulation
of the school work.
West Virginia University, since its foundation in
1867, has exerted a gradually increasing influence
in the development of the education and other activi-
ties of the state. For many years the growth of the
new institution was very slow and uncertain. This
retarded growth was due to many causes. Among
these causes may be enumerated the partially local
foundation, the sectional questions which had di-
vided Virginia long before the war, the new sec-
tional jealousies, the post-bellum political questions
and partisanship, the lack of a satisfactory system
of secondary schools, the divided responsibility and
laissez faire policy, and the lack of means of com-
munication with Morgantown, the seat of the insti-
tution. Gradually the power and importance of
these causes were reduced by changing conditions.
Industrial progress has been a prominent factor in
the transformation of the earlier school into a real
college or university. Women were admitted to the
collegiate department in 1889 and to all departments
in 1897.
The growth of the university has been greatly
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 407
aided by the development of better secondary
schools. The normal schools have partially solved
the problem of suitable preparatory schools. A
preparatory school at Montgomery, opened January,
1897, was established by an act of Feb. 16, 1895.
Another was established at Keyser by an act of
1901.
To supply the demand for state institutions where
colored people could receive special or more ad-
vanced academic training, the colored institute at
Farm (Kanawha county) was established in 1891,
and the Bluefield colored institute (in Mercer
county) was established in 1895.
Interstate Relations.
Between West Virginia and her neighbors, since
1863, there have arisen several interstate questions,
two of the oldest and most prominent of which are
still pending in the United States Supreme Court.
Among those of minor importance were: (1) the
boundary question with Pennsylvania, which was
settled by a joint boundary commission in 1885-86;
(2) the trouble along the Big Sandy boundary be-
tween West Virginia and Kentucky, resulting from
the Hatfield-McCoy feuds which, after periodically
disturbing the peace for several years, were termi-
nated by the wise action of Governor Fleming in
withdrawing the rewards which had been offered by
West Virginia for the arrest of some of the McCoys ;
and (3), the question of transferring from Virginia
to West Virginia the records of original grants of
land in West Virginia — a question which was satis-
factorily settled by negotiations of Governor
Fleming.
More important was the contest between Virginia
and West Virginia for jurisdiction over Jefferson
and Berkeley counties, settled by the United States
408 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Supreme Court in 1871, and the Maryland boundary
and the Virginia debt questions still pending.
The boundary question with Maryland was an old
one in regard to the meaning of the " first fountain
of the Potomac," which, in Lord Baltimore's char-
ter, was mentioned as the southern point of the
boundary between Maryland and Virginia, and
which had been marked by the Fairfax stone at the
head of the North Branch in accordance with the de-
cision of the king in council in 1745, after a careful
survey by a boundary commission. The North
Branch had practically been accepted as the bound-
ary several years before the Eevolution, and again
in ' 1785, and even later when Maryland claimed
that her western boundary should be located about
a mile west of the Fairfax stone. Though in 1852
Maryland finally accepted the Fairfax stone as the
southern point of her western boundary, in 1859
she secured a new survey of the meridian line north-
ward, which terminated at the Pennsylvania bound-
ary about three-fourths of a mile west of the old
line (which had been surveyed in 1788), thus laying
the basis of the later controversy with West Vir-
ginia in regard to conflicting land claims and juris-
diction in the triangular strip between the two lines
— some of which culminated in personal encounters
and breaches of the peace, which each state treated
as a crime within its jurisdiction and attempted to
punish. Though West Virginia, wearied with the
resulting " border war," in 1887 was willing to
yield her claim to jurisdiction, Maryland ignored
the terms of the proposition and three years later
authorized a boundary suit before the Supreme
Court, into which the attorney-general of Maryland
injected the old claim to the South Branch as the
farthest source of the Potomac — a claim which, if
sustained, would extend the southwest corner of
WEST VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 409
Maryland southward to the southern border of Pen-
dleton county, thus completely dividing West Vir-
ginia into two non-contiguous parts. Governor
Fleming, with the sanction of the legislature, em-
ployed counsel to defend the interests of the state
against the claims of Maryland for territory which
had been embraced within the limits of Virginia
since 1863, and which had been in the undisturbed
and exclusive possession of "West Virginia, and un-
der her jurisdiction and control since 1863. After
the suit was brought, Maryland proposed arbitra-
tion, but West Virginia has preferred to leave the
settlement to the court.
The Virginia debt question arose with the forma-
tion of West Virginia, and has been a prominent
factor or issue in state politics at various times. At
the time of the separation, it was agreed that the
new state would assume a just proportion of the
public debt of Virginia prior to 1861, "to be ascer-
tained by charging to it all the expenditures within
the limits thereof and a just proportion of the ordi-
nary expenses of the state government, since any
part of said debt was contracted, and deducting
therefrom all moneys paid into the treasury of the
commonwealth from the counties included within the
said new state, during the same period."
In 1866 Virginia appointed commissioners who,
in case of failure to secure reunion of West Vir-
ginia to Virginia, were authorized to negotiate for
the adjustment of the public debt and a fair divi-
sion of the public property. The West Virginia
legislature, expressing a willingness for a prompt
and equitable settlement, authorized the governor
to appoint three commissioners to consider the ad-
justment of the debt question after the announce-
ment of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case
brought by Virginia for the recovery of Berkeley
410 THE HISTORY OP WEST VIRGINIA.
and Jefferson counties. In February, 1870, Virginia
appointed a commission which went to Wheeling and
induced the West Virginia legislature to appoint a
similar commission to treat for the purpose of ad-
justing the question. The West Virginia commis-
sion, without any appropriation for expenses, failed
to act ; and, a year later when an appropriation was
made by the succeeding legislature of 1871, Virginia,
having changed her policy on the mode of adjust-
ment, proposed arbitration by commissioners who
should not be citizens of either state — a proposal
which West Virginia declined.
The West Virginia commission, acting alone, went
to Eichmond, examined such documents as were ac-
cessible, and reported that of the $31,778,867.62,
which had been spent on internal improvements,
$2,784,329.29 had been spent in West Virginia. To
the latter was added an additional $559,600 from
other sources, and from the sum was subtracted a
credit of $2,390,369.06, exclusive of taxes paid to the
Virginia government, leaving a remainder of $953,-
360.23 in favor of Virginia. On the ground that the
commission had been unable to secure complete data,
and for other reasons, the legislature did not accept
the conclusions.
In 1873 the subject was considered by the finance
committee of the Senate. On December 22 the
chairman, J. M. Bennett, who had been auditor of
Virginia for eight years, submitted a report show-
ing that from 1822 to 1861 the state expenditures in
counties in West Virginia was $3,366,929.29, that
the counties of West Virginia had paid into the
treasury of Virginia at least $3,892,000, besides an
equitable portion of the ordinary expenses of the
government, and that after subtracting from this
sum the amount expended for internal improve-
ments in West Virginia there was a remainder of
WE*T VIRGINIA, 1863-1909. 411
over $525,000 in favor of West Virginia. This view
was adopted by the people of West Virginia, who,
believing that they owed no debt, urged the basis
of settlement which was persistently refused by
Virginia.
In the meantime, in 1871, Virginia passed a fund-
ing bill, giving in exchange for the old bonds, new
bonds for two-thirds the amount surrendered and
certificates for the remaining third. These certifi-
cates identified the holders of the unfunded part of
the debt, and were to be paid only as should be pro-
vided in accordance with the future settlement be-
tween Virginia and West Virginia. Thus Virginia
became liable for these certificates as soon as she
settled with West Virginia. In the later certificates
of 1879, 1882 and 1892, however, there was a clause
releasing Virginia from all liability. These Vir-
ginia certificates, thrown on the market under the
misleading name of "West Virginia certificates,"
greatly injured the financial standing of West Vir-
ginia and prevented immigration and investment of
capital at a time when they were much needed.
In March, 1894, after Virginia had compromised
and settled with her creditors and had been released
from all liability, the legislature of Virginia adopted
a resolution providing for the appointment of a
commission of seven members to negotiate with
West Virginia for the payment of the certificates,
and on the basis that Virginia was bound for only
two-thirds of the old debt. In 1895 and in 1896,
when the negotiations were proposed, West Vir-
ginia refused to accept the condition that Virginia
should be held liable for only two-thirds of the old
debt. Again in 1900, Virginia, as trustee of the
certificate holders, tried to secure an adjustment,
but again on conditions which West Virginia could
not accept. She then instituted a suit to secure an
412 THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
accounting and settlement under the supervision and
direction of the United States Supreme Court. On
various grounds, including lack of authority of the
attorney-general to bring the suit, the plaintiff's
action as trustee for private individuals, lack of
jurisdiction by the court, and lack of power to render
or enforce any final judgment or decree in the case,
the attorneys for West Virginia entered a demurrer
which the court, in March, 1907, through chief
justice Fuller, overruled "without prejudice to any
question. ' ' The court appointed a master of accounts
under whom the representatives of both parties to
the suit are collecting data for presentation to the
court in October, 1908. This data was not ready to
be submitted to the court when it convened.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Acts of the West Virginia Legislature; Ambler: Dis~
franchisement in West Virginia (in Yale Review of May and August,
1905); Callahan: West Virginia, in University Studies in West Virginia
History; Census Reports (1860-1900); Fast and Maxwell: History and
Government of West Virginia (1901). (Bibliography on pp. 496-503);
Governors' Messages and Public Documents of West Virginia (1863-
1907); Hagans: Formation of West Virginia (West Virginia Supreme
Court Reports, Vol. I.); Journals of the House and Senate of West Vir-
ginia (1863-1907); Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1863;
Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1872; Lewis: History and
Government of West Virginia (1896), History of West Virginia (1889),
Handbook of West Virginia (1904); Maxwell: Histories of Tucker, Ran-
dolph, and Hampshire Counties (1884-97); Reports of West Virginia
Geological Survey; Willey: Formation of West Virginia (1901); Wheeling
Daily Intelligencer. A full bibliography of the various state publica-
tions of West Virginia has been compiled for publication under the
editorial direction of R. R. Bowker of the Publishers' Weekly, New York.
J. M. CALLAHAN,
Professor of History and Political Science, West Virginia University.
THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
CHAPTER I.
NOETH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY.
Settlers from Virginia.
GLANCE at the map will show why North
Carolina received its first permanent set-
tlers from Virginia. The dangerous
character of the coast of North Carolina
made the approach too difficult and uncer-
tain to admit of colonization directly from Europe.
This became apparent from Sir Walter Raleigh's
efforts to plant a colony on Roanoke Island, and
Raleigh himself directed John White, in 1587, to seek
a site on Chesapeake Bay. His commands, through
no fault of White's, were not obeyed, and the colony
failed. Twenty-two years later the London Com-
pany, guided by Raleigh's experience, directed the
Jamestown colony towards the Chesapeake. The
first settlers, for obvious reasons, sought lands ly-
ing along navigable streams, consequently the water
courses, to a large extent, determined the direction
of the colony's growth. Many of the streams of
southeastern Virginia flow toward Currituck and
Albemarle sounds in North Carolina, and the sources
of the most important rivers of eastern North Caro-
lina are in Virginia. Furthermore, the soil, the
climate, the vegetation and the animal life of the
Albemarle region are of the same character as those
of southeastern Virginia. Nothing, therefore, was
413
414 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
more natural than that the planters of Virginia,
searching for good bottom lands, should gradually
extend their plantations southward along the
shores of Albemarle Sound and the rivers that flow
into it.
The Virginians early manifested a lively interest
in the Albemarle region. Nansemond county, ad-
joining North Carolina, was settled as early as 1609,
and during the following years many an adventur-
ous hunter, trader and explorer made himself famil-
iar with the waters that pour into Albemarle and
Currituck sounds. In 1622 John Pory, secretary of
Virginia, after a trip to the Chowan reported that
he found it "a very fruitful and pleasant country,
yielding two harvests in a year." Seven years later
Charles I. granted the region to Sir Eobert Heath,
and there are reasons for believing that Heath's
assigns made an unsuccessful attempt to plant a
settlement within the grant. About the year 1646
the governor of Virginia sent two expeditions, one
by water, the other overland, against the Indians
along the Albemarle and Currituck sounds, and
members of these expeditions purchased lands from
the Indians. During the next few years other ex-
peditions were made. Roger Green, a clergyman of
Nansemond county, became interested in the country
to the southward, and in 1653 obtained a grant of
10,000 acres for the first 100 persons who should
settle on Roanoke River, south of Chowan, and 1,000
acres for himself "as a reward for his own first dis-
covery and for his encouragement of the settle-
ment." It is not known whether he followed this
grant with a settlement, but historians have as-
sumed that he did. The next year Governor Yeard-
ley, of Virginia, sent an expedition to Roanoke
Island which led to other explorations into what is
now eastern North Carolina, and two years later the
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 415
Assembly of Virginia commissioned Thomas Dew
and Thomas Francis to explore the coast between
Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear. The sons of Gov-
ernor Yeardley, therefore, had good grounds for
their boast that the northern country of Carolina
had been explored by " Virginians born."
These expeditions were naturally followed by a
southward movement of settlers. Just when this
movement began cannot be stated with accuracy.
There may have been settlers in Albemarle before
1653. It may be true that Eoger Green did lead the
first colony there in that year. Certainly before the
year 1663 John Battle, Thomas Belfe, Eoger Wil-
liams, Thomas Jarvis and perhaps others had pur-
chased lands from the Indians who dwelt along the
waters of Albemarle Sound and settled them. The
grant to George Durant by Kilcocanen, chief of the
Yeopim Indians, dated March 1, 1661 [1662], for a
tract lying along Perquimans Kiver and Albemarle
Sound, is the oldest grant for land in North Carolina
now extant. But Durant came into that region two
years before he made his purchase, and there were
purchases prior to his, for his grant recites a previ-
ous one made to Samuel Pricklove and is witnessed
by two Englishmen. Besides, in 1662, purchases
from the Indians had become so common that the
government ordered them to be disregarded and re-
quired that patents be taken out for these lands un-
der the laws of Virginia. Three years later the sur-
veyor of Albemarle declared that a county "forty
miles square will not comprehend the inhabitants
there already settled." These settlers, for the most
part, came from Virginia; but others came also,
and at the close of the first decade of its history
the Albemarle colony contained 1,400 inhabitants
between sixteen and sixty years of age, and the set-
416 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
tlements extended from Chowan Eiver to Currituck
Sound.*
Growth of Settlements.
From Albemarle the population moved slowly
southward. The stages of its progress may be
marked by the four principal river systems of east-
ern Carolina — the Boanoke, the Pamlico [Tar], the
Neuse and the Cape Fear. The impatience of the
Lords Proprietors for the extension of the settle-
ments to the southward outstripped the movement
of population. They blamed the colonists for not
making greater progress, and assigned this delay as
one reason why they themselves took more interest
in the colony on the Ashley Eiver than in the one on
Albemarle Sound. However, in 1676, they learned
that the fault was not with the people but with their
rulers, who "had engrossed the Indian trade to
themselves and feared that it would be intercepted
by those who should plant farther among them."
The colonial officials accordingly had prevented set-
tlements to the southward, but now the Lords Pro-
prietors issued peremptory orders commanding the
governor to encourage the opening of that section,
and settlers began to push their way into it. No
record of their progress is found until they reached
Pamlico Eiver, where, in 1691, a small party of
French Huguenots from Virginia had planted a set-
tlement. A few years later a pestilence among the
Indians opened the way for other settlers, who con-
tinued to drift southward from Albemarle. By 1696
the settlement was considered of sufficient import-
*In 1660 a party of New Englanders attempted without success to plant a settle-
ment on the Cape Fear. Four years later a party of royalist refugees to the island of
Barbadoes established a colony near the mouth of that river. In 1665 they were
joined by another party from Barbadoes under the leadership of Sir John Yeamans,
who had been appointed governor. The settlement extending several miles up and
down the river was erected into a county called Clarendon, and at one time numbered
800 souls. Yeamans, however, soon returned to Barbadoes. The Lords Proprietors
took but little interest in the colony, but directed their energies towards building up a
rival settlement farther southward. The Clarendon colony, after many hardships and
much suffering, was abandoned in 1667. Itjisof interest merely as an historical faet.
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 41?
ance to be erected into a county called Archdale,
afterwards Bath, extending from the Albemarle tt>
the Neuse, and to be allowed two representatives in
the General Assembly. In 1704 a site for a town
was selected, and the next year the town was in-
corporated under the name of Bath. At the close
of its first five years Bath could boast of a library
and a dozen houses. Though at times the home of
wealth and culture, Bath never became more than a
sleepy little village. It derives its chief distinction
from the unimportant fact that it was the first town
in the province. The settlers on the Pamlico, how-
ever, prospered, and their good reports induced
others to join them. In December, 1705, the Council,
"taking into their serious consideration" the fact
that Bath county had "grown populous and [was]
daily increasing," divided it into three precincts,
with the right to send two representatives each to
the Assembly. Two years later another body of
Huguenots from Virginia, "considerable in num-
bers," passed the Pamlico and occupied lands on the
Neuse and Trent rivers.
In 1710 came a colony of German Palatines.
Driven from their native land on account of their
religion, they had sought refuge in England, where
they were warmly welcomed by the Queen. They
came, however, in such numbers that good Queen
Anne found them a burden on her hands, and wel-
comed an opportunity to provide for some of them in
America. This opportunity came through Chris-
topher De Graffenried, a native of the city of Bern,
who was in London with a countryman, Louis
Mitchell, planning to settle a colony of Swiss in
North Carolina. De Graffenried's interest in Caro-
lina had been excited some years before by the Duke
of Albemarle, who had discoursed to him on "the
beauty, goodness and riches of English America,"
Vol. 1—27.
418 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
so that he determined to seek "a more considerable
fortune in those far-off countries." He was en-
couraged in his purpose by the Lords Proprietors,
who granted him "very favorable conditions and
privileges." The Queen, too, contributed £4,000
sterling to his enterprise in consideration of his
settling 100 families of the Palatines in Carolina.
The Palatines sailed in January, 1710, but with-
out De Graffenried, who waited in England for his
colony from Bern. During a terrible voyage of thir-
teen weeks, more than half of the colonists died at
sea. The others, after many hardships and cruel
suffering, finally arrived in Carolina and were set-
tled on a tongue of land between the Neuse and
Trent rivers. De Graffenried followed in June, ar-
riving in Carolina in September. He found the
Palatines in a wretched condition, "sickness, want
and desperation having reached their climax."
They had come at an unfortunate time, and De
Graffenried 's utmost exertions could do but little to
relieve their situation. The province was in the
midst of Gary's rebellion, and this trouble was
scarcely settled before the most disastrous Indian
war in the history of North Carolina broke out. The
Palatines and Swiss suffered terribly; their homes
were burned, their crops destroyed, and many of
their number slaughtered. The settlement, how-
ever, survived these disasters and, although De
Graffenried returned to Europe broken in fortune,
the settlers went to work with a will, cleared away
the ashes, rebuilt their cabins, founded the town of
New Bern, and started on a prosperous career.
Cape Fear Region.
After the failure of Yeamans' colony in 1667, the
Cape Fear region had fallen into disrepute, and
more than half a century passed before another at-
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 419
tempt was made to plant a settlement there. Four
causes contributing to this delay were : the character
of the coast at the mouth of the river; the hostility
of the Indians ; the pirates who sought refuge there
in large numbers, and the closing of the Carolina
land office by the Lords Proprietors. The character
of the coast, of course, could not be changed, and in
spite of all that modern science can do still remains
an obstacle to the development of a splendid country.
The blow that upset the power of the Cape Fear
Indians was struck by Col. Maurice Moore in 1715,
and three years later the pirates were driven out.
But the orders of the Lords Proprietors still re-
mained. Enterprising men, however, familiar with
the advantages of the region refused to recognize
the moral right of the Proprietors to prevent their
clearing and settling it in the name of civilization,
and about the year 1723 they began to lay out their
claims, clear their fields and build their cabins with-
out regard to the formalities of law. When Gov-
ernor Burrington saw that they were determined to
take up lands without either acquiring titles or pay-
ing rents, he decided that the interests of the Pro-
prietors would be served by his giving the one and
receiving the other. He therefore, upon petition
from the Assembly, ordered the Carolina land office
to be reopened. Good titles thus assured, settlers
were not wanting. Governor Burrington, Maurice
Moore and his brother, Roger Moore, led the way,
followed by the Moseleys, the Howes, the Porters,
the Lillingtons, the Ashes, the Harnetts, and others
whose names are closely identified with the history
of North Carolina. Here on the Cape Fear they
were joined by numerous other families from the
Albemarle, from South Carolina, from Barbadoes,
and other islands of the West Indies, from New
England, Pennsylvania, Maryland and from Eu-
420 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
rope. On the west bank of the Cape Fear
Maurice Moore laid off a town, and gave sites for
a graveyard, a church, a court-house, a market-
house, and other public buildings, and a commons
"for the use of the inhabitants of the town." With
an eye to royal favors, he named the place Bruns-
wick in honor of the reigning family.
But Brunswick, like Bath, did not flourish, and
in the course of a few years yielded with no good
grace to a younger and more vigorous rival, six-
teen miles farther up the river, which was named
in honor of Spencer Compton, Earl of "Wilmington.
The settlement prospered, and at the close of its
first decade Governor Johnston declared that its in-
habitants were "a sober and industrious set of
people," that they had made "an amazing progress
in their improvement, ' ' and that the Cape Fear had
become the "place of the greatest trade in the whole
province."
Settlements extended no further during the pro-
prietary period. In 1728, when the interests of the
Proprietors passed to the Crown, the population of
North Carolina numbered 30,000, and extended
along the coast from the Virginia line to the Cape
Fear.
The Proprietary.
The name "Carolana" or "Carolina" was ap-
plied to this territory by Charles I. in his grant to
Sir Eobert Heath in 1629, and was retained by
Charles II. in his grant to the Lords Proprietors
thirty-four years later. The latter grant, issued
March 24, 1663, was made to Edward Hyde, Earl of
Clarendon, High Chancellor of England; George
Monk, Duke of Albemarle, Master of the King's
Horse and Captain- General of all his forces; Wil-
liam, Lord Craven; John, Lord Berkely; Anthony
Cooper, Lord Ashley, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 421
afterwards Earl of Shaf tesbury ; Sir George Car-
teret, Vice- Chamber lain of the King's Household;
Sir William Berkely, Governor of Virginia, and Sir
John Colleton. The names of these grantees are still
to be found on the map of the Carolinas. In North
Carolina are Albemarle Sound, Craven and Car-
teret counties; in South Carolina, Clarendon and
Colleton counties, Berkely Parish, and the Ashley
and Cooper rivers, while in Charleston we have the
name of the King. The object of the grantees was
to plant colonies in America; the motives were de-
clared to be "a laudable and pious zeal for the
propagation of the Christian faith" and the enlarge-
ment of the King's empire and dominions. The
grant included all the territory lying between 31°
and 36° N. Lat., westward from the Atlantic Ocean
to the "South Seas." Afterwards when it was as-
certained that these boundaries did not include the
settlements already planted on the Albemarle, a
second charter was issued, June 30, 1665, extending
the limits 30 minutes northward and two degrees
southward. This region was erected into the
"Province of Carolina," over which the grantees
were constituted "the true and absolute Lords Pro-
prietors. ' '
Government.
The Lords Proprietors derived from their char-
ters ample powers of government, but the uncer-
tainty with which they exercised these powers re-
sulted in weakness and confusion. Plan after plan
was promulgated and declared to be permanent, only
to be soon cast aside for some new scheme. The in-
structions of 1663 to Sir William Berkely outlining
a plan of government for Albemarle county gave
way two years later to a more elaborate constitution
called the Concessions of 1665. The Concessions in
their turn were supplanted in 1670 by the Funda-
422 THE HISTOKY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
mental Constitutions of John Locke; but accom-
panying the command to put these into operation
came instructions modifying their provisions. The
Lords Proprietors continued this sort of tinkering
with their constitution for some years, so that, as
Dr. Bassett says: "For the first fifty years of the
life of the colony the inhabitants could not be sure
that their government was stable."
The constitution of the proprietary period pre-
sents a theoretical as well as a practical side. The
former found expression in the Fundamental Con-
stitutions. Adopted and signed by the Proprietors,
July 21, 1669, and declared to be unalterable and
perpetual, the Fundamental Constitutions speedily
ran through five distinct editions and were shortly
abandoned altogether. They outlined an elaborate
and complicated scheme of government designed to
secure the interests of the Lords Proprietors, to
"prevent the growth of a numerous democracy,"
and to establish a government in harmony with
monarchy.* Eealizing the impossibility of putting
this scheme into full operation, the Lords Propri-
etors contented themselves with instructing the gov-
ernors "to come as nigh it" as they could.
The practical side of the constitution was the
plan of government actually established. The ex-
ecutive was composed of a governor and a council.
The Lords Proprietors appointed the governor un-
til 1691. Then they united the northern and south-
ern provinces under one governor, whom they au-
thorized to appoint a deputy in the former. In 1710
they decided to separate the two provinces and ap-
point a governor of North Carolina "independent
*The Fundamental Constitutions have been analyzed so often that, with the brief
space at command, it has not been deemed advisable to do so here. Consult Baa-
sett's Constitutional Beginnings of North Carolina, in Johns Hopkins University
Studies, XII.; also Da vis's Locke's Fundamental Constitutions, North Carolina Booklet
VII., No. 1. In this analysis Bassett's Constitutional Beginnings has been fol-
lowed, his citations being carefully verified.
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 423
of the governor of South Carolina, " but this plan
was not carried into effect until 1712. The council
at first consisted of not less than six nor more than
twelve members appointed by the governor. In 1670
its composition was changed to consist of five depu-
ties selected by the Proprietors, and five members
chosen by the Assembly. Another change was ef-
fected in 1691 when the governor was instructed
that the deputies alone were to compose the council.
This arrangement was continued until 1718, when
the Proprietors decided to abolish the deputies and
to select a council of not more than twelve ; but this
plan was not made effective until 1724. In the event
of the death or absence of the governor, the council
chose a president to administer the affairs of the
government until the vacancy could be filled. The
powers and duties of the governor and council were1
ample for all executive purposes, but it is imprac-
ticable to enumerate them here.
Before 1691 the Assembly was unicameral; aftef
that date bicameral. During the first period it was
composed of the governor, council and representa-
tives elected by the people ; during the second period
the council and the representatives separated into
an upper and a lower house. Under the Concessions
of 1665 the people were authorized to elect twelve
representatives, but this number was increased to
twenty in 1670, when Albemarle county was divided
into four precincts and five members were allotted
to each. Other precincts were created as the popu-
lation increased, until the number of representatives
during the proprietary period reached twenty-eight.
The regular sessions of the Assembly were biennial,
but the governor and council could convene, pro-
rogue or dissolve sessions at will. The lower house
elected its own officers, decided contests involving
the election of its members, and had the right to
434 THE HISTOKY OF NORTH CAEOLINA.
expel members. The Lords Proprietors exercised
the right of veto on the Assembly's measures, but
all bills levying a tax or carrying an appropriation
had to originate in the lower house. Through a
process of gradual evolution the Assembly, from a
position of weakness, came to be the chief factor in
the government, and the lower house acquired such
ascendancy as to become practically the entire As-
sembly.
The judicial system embraced the general court,
the precinct courts, a court of chancery, an ad-
miralty court, and in some instances the council.
The first was an appellate court held for many years
by the governor and deputies. In 1691 the Propri-
etors directed the governor to appoint a " chief
judge" and four justices to hold this court, though
several years elapsed before this was done. In 1713
a chief justice was appointed with a commission
issuing directly from the Lords Proprietors. He
presided over the court which thereafter was com-
posed of a variable number of associates. The court
met three times a year, sitting both as a court of the
King's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer, and
as a court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol
Delivery. From its decisions in cases involving
£500 or over, an appeal lay to the King. The pre-
cinct courts were held by justices appointed by the
governor and council. They had jurisdiction over
civil suits involving less than £50, and also exercised
such non-judicial duties as caring for public high-
ways, creating road districts, appointing constables,
granting franchises for mill sites, and other similar
functions. The court of chancery was held by the
governor and council. The council also probated
wills, received and examined accounts of executors,
divided land, and tried public officials for miscon-
duct in office. The admiralty court had jurisdiction
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 425
over cases involving violations of the navigation
acts.
In the fall of 1663 the Lords Proprietors in-
structed Sir William Berkely to appoint a governor
and six councillors for Albemarle county. The gov-
ernor and council were authorized to appoint all
other officers, and together with representatives
elected by the people, or perhaps with the whole
body of people in general meeting, to constitute a
Grand Assembly. William Drummond became the
first governor. History has assigned to him a char-
acter which subsequent governors might have imi-
tated with profit. During his administration the
first Assembly held in North Carolina met, prob-
ably in the spring of 1665. One of its earliest acts
was to petition the Lords Proprietors that lands in
Albemarle, then held at a rent of a half -penny per
acre payable in specie, might be held, as in Vir-
ginia, at one farthing per acre payable in commodi-
ties. After a delay of three years the Proprietors
granted the prayer, issuing what is known as the
Great Deed of Grant. Efforts were afterwards
made to revoke the Great Deed, but the Assembly,
regarding it as a document of the first importance,
clung to it tenaciously, and sixty-three years after
its date ordered its text spread on the journal and
the original placed in the special custody of the
speaker.
Character of the Governors.
The Proprietors were not always fortunate in
their selection of governors for Carolina. Some
were weak, some bad men, and but few cared any-
thing for the people whom they were sent to rule.
In fact the system itself was ill-calculated to pro-
duce harmony and good- will between the governors
and the people. They were not the people's govern-
ors; they were the Proprietors' vicegerents, and
426 THE HISTOKY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
their first duty was to care for the interests of their
masters, rather than for the welfare of the people.
The result of course was continual clashings be-
tween the people and their governors. Jenkins,
Miller, Eastchurch, Sothel, Gary and Glover were
each in turn either driven out or kept out of the
governorship by a dominant faction of the people.
Indeed, in 1711 Governor Spotswood, of Virginia,
declared that the people of North Carolina were so
used to turning out their governors that they had
come to think they had a right to do so.
The People.
Historians have condemned these early Caro-
linians as a lawless and contentious people, but those
who pronounce this judgment little understand the
spirit that prompted them. When governed ac-
cording to the terms of its charter, no colony on the
continent was more orderly or more law-abiding;
on the other hand, no people were ever more jealous
of their constitutional rights or quicker to resent
the encroachments of power. What if their resent-
ments did sometimes run them into excesses; shall
we not pardon something to the spirit of liberty?
Their charters guaranteed to them "all liberties,
franchises and privileges" possessed and enjoyed
by their fellow subjects in the realm of England,
Adherence to these charters and resistance to thei*
perversion were cardinal principles with North
Carolinians throughout their colonial history, and
their records of that period are full of assertions of
the principles upon which the American Bevolution
was fought. As early as 1678, "when a few families
were struggling into a consciousness of statehood
along the wide waters of our eastern sounds," they
declared that "the doctrine of non-resistance
against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd,
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 427
slavish and destructive to the good and happiness
of mankind.'* In 1716, when the colony was but
fifty years old and the population, all told, was less
than 10,000 souls, the Assembly entered on its jour-
nal the declaration "that the impressing of the in-
habitants, or their property, under pretense of its
being for the public service, without authority from
the Assembly, was unwarrantable and a great in-
fringement upon the liberty of the subject." Gov-
ernor Burrington, who spoke with the authority of
ten years of residence among them, wrote that the
early Carolinians were "subtle and crafty to ad-
miration," adding: "The people are neither to be
cajoled or outwitted; whenever a governor attempts
to effect anything by these means, he will lose his
labor and show his ignorance. They insist
that no public money can or ought to be paid but
by a claim given to and allowed by the house of bur-
gesses." And John Urmstone, a missionary among
them, declared that the people respected no author-
ity that did not emanate from themselves. In a
word, as Dr. Alderman, in his Life of William
Hooper, has said: "The key to North Carolina char-
acter in this inchoate period is the subordination of
everything — material prosperity, personal ease,
financial development — to the remorseless assertion
of the sacredness of chartered rights," against the
encroachments of the proprietary government.
Rebellions.
During this period occurred two popular upris-
ings serious enough to be dignified in history as re-
bellions. The first, known as Culpepper's Eebellion,
was occasioned by England's commercial policy.
Other causes accentuated the difficulties, but the
primary cause was the Navigation Act — "that mis-
chievous statute with which the mother country was
428 THE HISTOKY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
rapidly weaning the affections of its colonies all
along the American seaboard." Designed at first
to secure the foreign trade of the colonies for Brit-
ish merchants, the act was extended in 1672 to cover
intercolonial commerce also. Duties were levied on
certain enumerated articles exported from one col-
ony to another which, if strictly enforced, would
seriously cripple if they did not destroy the trade
of Albemarle with New England. This was Albe-
marle's principal trade; the act, therefore, together
with some other grievances, created so much dis-
content that Governor Carteret, finding himself
powerless to preserve order, resigned the govern-
ment and sailed for England, leaving the colony "in
ill-order and in worse hands.*' The Lords Pro-
prietors appointed Thomas Eastchurch to succeed
him, and at the same time they procured the appoint-
ment of Thomas Miller as collector of the customs.
Both were colonists and both were at that time in
London. Eastchurch had been speaker of the As-
sembly, and Miller was the bearer of an important
document from the Assembly to the Lords Propri-
etors. The latter naturally thought these appoint-
ments would please the people of Albemarle. Per-
haps they would have pleased them had the Pro-
prietors not sent the bitter with the sweet ; they in-
structed Eastchurch and Miller to enforce strictly
the Navigation Act.
Eastchurch sailed for his colony by way of the
West Indies. There, on the island of Nevis, he be-
came enamored of a lady and, stopping to pay his
court, deputized Miller to proceed to Albemarle and
act as governor until his arrival. Miller was re-
ceived quietly, but his honors seemed to have turned
his head. Not only did he arouse opposition by his
vigor in enforcing the Navigation Act, but in other
respects his conduct was so outrageous that it
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETABY. 429
aroused the indignation of sensible, law-abiding
people. A leader and an overt act were alone needed
to produce an explosion. Both came soon enough.
In December, 1677, the Carolina, a heavily armed
schooner commanded by Capt. Zachary Gillam, a
well-known and popular Yankee skipper, arrived in
the Pasquotank River from London. When Gillam
came ashore Miller arrested him, arbitrarily it ap-
pears, for alleged violations of the Navigation Act.
Then learning that George Durant, a wealthy and
popular planter of Perquimans county against whom
he had grievance, was on board, Miller rushed on
board, presented cocked pistols at Durant 's breast,
and attempted to arrest him on an absurd charge of
treason. Here was the overt act; the leader quickly
appeared in the person of John Culpepper, Sur-
veyor-General. Followed by an armed mob, Cul-
pepper arrested Miller and other officials, threw
them into prison and seized the government. When
Eastchurch appeared and demanded the govern-
ment his demands were disputed by the Culpepper
party, and Eastchurch appealed to Virginia for aid.
It was promised, but he died before assistance could
be given. The rebels in the meantime had convened
an Assembly, elected officers, and for two years ad-
ministered public affairs "by their own authority
and according to their own model." They denied
the authority neither of the Proprietors nor of the
King, and did not regard their conduct as rebellion.
In this light, too, the Lords Proprietors appear to
have viewed it, for when Culpepper went to London
to explain the situation in Albemarle, they not only
declined to punish him, but when he was arrested on a
charge of treason, Shaftesbury successfully defended
Mm on the ground that at the time of the insurrection
Miller was not governor, and there was no legal
government in Albemarle^
430 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
The next experience of this kind which the people
of Albemarle had with a governor was with one of
the Lords Proprietors. The Earl of Clarendon had
sold his share of Carolina to Seth Sothel, and Sothel
was sent to Albemarle with the expectation that the
presence of a Lord Proprietor would awe the people
into order. But, as John Urmstone observed, in
Albemarle a Lord Proprietor was "no more re-
garded than a ballad- singer. " He might have
added, too, that some of them were less worthy of
respect than ballad-singers. Sothel "proved him-
self to be one of the dirtiest knaves that ever held
office in America." His misrule quickly drove the
people into revolt. Accusing him of drunkenness,
robbery and tyranny, they arrested him, tried and
convicted him, and drove him from the province,
declaring him incapable of holding office in Albe-
marle forever.
Church of England Established.
The banishment of Sothel was followed by a pe-
riod of comparative peace and order during which
the colony grew and prospered. During this period
Philip Ludwell and John Archdale, the best gov-
ernors sent to Carolina by the Lords Proprietors,
administered the affairs of the colony, at times in
person, but generally through deputies. Under
Ludwell, in 1691, the Lords Proprietors united the
office of governor of the two Carolinas. Archdale,
like Sothel, was a Lord Proprietor, but was like him
in nothing else. A Quaker, he was especially accept-
able to the Quakers of Albemarle, who, since the
visits of Edmundson and Fox in 1672, had grown
strong in the colony. Under the encouragement of
Archdale they became the most influential religious
body in North Carolina. The Church of England,
on the contrary, was weak; yet, in 1701, Gov. Hen-
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 431
derson Walker induced the Assembly to pass an act
establishing the Church of England as the state
church, and providing for its support by taxation.
The act at once aroused opposition, but it was qui-
eted two years later when the Lords Proprietors
disapproved the act because of its inadequacy.
But the attempt to establish a church caused an
unfortunate division in the colony that was to lead
to trouble for many years to come. Heretofore the
religious scruples of the Quakers against taking
oaths had been observed and their affirmation ac-
cepted. But the recent act of Parliament prescrib-
ing the oath of allegiance to Queen Anne made no
such exception in their favor, and Gov. Eobert
Daniel, who was appointed in 1704, insisted that
Quakers must take the oath before entering upon
any official duties or sitting as members of the As-
sembly. The Quakers refused, and demanded that
the custom of the province be followed. Their seats
were accordingly refused them, and the Assembly
thus reduced in membership immediately passed an
act establishing the Church of England in the col-
ony, and an act requiring such an oath of office as
no Quaker could take. Thereupon the Quakers
threw their influence against Daniel and secured his
removal. Thomas Cary succeeded him, but Cary
disappointed the Quakers, for he insisted on follow-
ing the requirements of the law, and even went fur-
ther than Daniel had gone. The Quakers then sent
John Porter to London to appeal directly to the
Lords Proprietors. Porter returned in 1707 with an
order recognizing the affirmation of Quakers in
place of the oath, removing Cary, appointing new
deputies and authorizing the council to elect a presi-
dent to act as governor. When Porter arrived Cary
was absent and William Glover was acting as gov-
ernor as president of the council. This arrange-
432 THE HISTOEY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
merit appeared satisfactory to all factions, and
Porter and the Quakers acquiesced in it. But when
the new appointees offered to qualify as councillors,
Glover would not admit them until they had taken
the prescribed oath. Porter and his party there-
upon formed an alliance with Gary, who had re-
turned, against Glover. But Glover refused to yield
and the colony was brought to the verge of civil war.
However, better counsels prevailed and an agree-
ment was reached to submit the rival claims to an
Assembly. But new complications then arose. Both
Glover and Gary issued writs for the election of
representatives, and when the Assembly met in Oc-
tober, 1708, there were two rival sets of delegates.
Glover refused to recognize the legality of any ac-
tion taken by delegates who would not subscribe the
oaths which had brought on the trouble, but the
Gary faction was in control and brushing aside
Glover 's claims decided everything in Gary's favor.
Glover, still claiming to be the lawful governor,
withdrew into Virginia, leaving Gary in possession
of the government and the colony in confusion.
This condition continued for nearly two years, when
the Lords Proprietors again took a hand. They
selected Edward Hyde, a relative of the Queen, as
deputy-governor of North Carolina. Hyde arrived
in Virginia in August, 1710. He expected to receive
his commission from Governor Tynte at Charleston,
but just before his arrival Governor Tynte died, and
without his commission Hyde was powerless to en-
force his authority in Albemarle. Both factions,
however, were tired of strife and both joined in an
invitation to Hyde to assume the government as
president of the council. Hyde accepted, but dis-
played a lack of tact in dealing with the situation,
and again the colony was thrown into disorder.
Gary withdrew his adherence, took up arms and
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 433
defied the government. His party held Hyde's
forces at bay until Governor Spotswood, of Virginia,
came to the latter 's assistance. Gary was then de-
feated, captured and sent to England to be tried for
treason. However, he was never tried, probably
for the lack of evidence. His defeat put an end to
the rebellion in Carolina.
North Carolina and South Carolina Separate.
In 1710 the Lords Proprietors decided to appoint
Edward Hyde governor of North Carolina " inde-
pendent of the governor of South Carolina," but his
commission was not issued until January 24, 1712.
He opened it and qualified before the council May 9.
Henceforth the careers of the two provinces were
separate.
Trouble with Indians.
Worse days were yet in store for North Carolina.
As the white man pushed his settlements towards
the southward, he necessarily drove the red man
before him and seized upon his hunting ground.
Powerless to stay the white man's march the In-
dian retreated in sullen anger, ever on the lookout
for a chance to strike a blow at his advancing foe.
The dissensions occasioned by Gary's Rebellion
seemed to one watchful chief of the Tuscaroras,
whom the white man called Hancock, to offer the
desired chance and he determined to seize it. In-
stigated by him 500 warriors assembled at his prin-
cipal town on Contentnea Creek, near the present vil-
lage of Snow Hill, and appointed September 22, 1711,
the time for a wholesale massacre. Everything was
arranged with such profound secrecy that the white
settlers continued to receive the Indians into their
cabins without suspicion almost to the very morning
of the outbreak, and slept peacefully through the
preceding night. The war-whoops of the savages,
Vol. 1—28.
434 THE HISTOEY OF NORTH CAROLINA
arousing them from sleep at daybreak, gave them
their first intimation of danger. Painted warriors
poured out of the woods on all sides. "Within two
hours they butchered 130 settlers on the Pamlico
and eighty on the Neuse. Men, women and children,
as usual, fell indiscriminately beneath their bloody
tomahawks. The dead lay unburied in the hot Sep-
tember sun, food for vultures and wolves. For three
days the awful work went on with every circum-
stance of horror and outrage. Those who escaped
fled to Bath and other places of refuge, leaving
the whole southern frontier along the Pamlico
and the Neuse a scene of blood and ashes and deso-
lation.
Fortunately, Tom Blunt, a powerful chief of the
Tuscaroras, had refused to join in the conspiracy,
and Albemarle county escaped. But the recent dis-
sensions in the province, the refusal of the Quakers
to bear arms, and the apprehensions of attack on
the western frontier of Albemarle made Governor
Hyde's task an exceedingly difficult one. Alone the
colony could hardly have sustained itself, and Hyde
appealed to Virginia and South Carolina for help.
Virginia sent none, but South Carolina responded
generously. Col. John Barnwell marched a force of
white men and Indians through 300 miles of forests,
struck the enemy in two hard battles near New Bern,
and defeated them. Though reinforced by a force
of North Carolinians he was less successful in his
attack on Hancock's fort on the Contentnea. But
he returned again to the attack in the following
spring. In the fort, however, Hancock held a large
number of white women and children prisoners, and
in order to save these, Barnwell agreed to a treaty
of peace, and soon afterwards returned to South
Carolina. He was subjected to severe criticism for
his course, but probably none of it proceeded from
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 435
those whose wives and children he had thus snatched
from the jaws of death.
Neither side, however, observed the treaty, and
before the summer of 1712 was gone the war was
renewed. Yellow fever added its horrors to those
of war, and claimed perhaps as many victims.
Among them was Governor Hyde. Col. Thomas
Pollock, a man of ability and character, became
president of the council, and during the sum-
mer and winter pushed the war vigorously. In
September he negotiated a treaty with Tom Blunt
by which the latter secured a truce with Han-
cock until the following January. Before this truce
expired Col. James Moore arrived from South Caro-
lina with a small force of white men and 1,000 In-
dians. Cooperating with President Pollock he
speedily drove the Indians to the cover of their forts,
stormed the strongest, captured it, and inflicted on
them a loss of 800 warriors. Crushed by this blow,
the remnant of the defeated Tuscaroras emigrated
to New York where, joining their kinsmen, the Iro-
quois of the Long House, they changed the cele-
brated Five Nations to the Six Nations.
Two years later North Carolina had an oppor-
tunity to return the kindness of South Carolina. In
1715 the Yemassee Indians, by whose aid the Tus-
caroras had been defeated, allied all the tribes from
the Cape Fear to Florida in hostilities against the
white settlers. North Carolina sent Col. Maurice
Moore, a brother of Col. James Moore, to the aid of
the southern colony, and Moore struck the blow that
finally crushed the power of the Cape Fear Indians
and opened that section to white settlers.
Pirates.
Three years later the Cape Fear was rid of an-
other pest. The dangerous coast that repelled legiti-
436 ,THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
mate traders from the Cape Fear made that river a
favorite resort for those whose trade was plunder
and rapine. Behind the sand bars that stretch
across the mouth of the river hundreds of pirates
rested secure from interference while they leisurely
repaired damages and kept a sharp lookout for prey.
The period from 1650 to half a century after the
departure of Yeamans ' colony, John Fiske has aptly
called "the golden age of pirates." As late as 1717
it was estimated that as many as 1,500 pirates made
headquarters at New Providence and at Cape Fear.
But next year New Providence was captured and the
freebooters driven away. "One of its immediate
results, however," as Fiske observes, "was to turn
the whole remnant of the scoundrels over to the
North Carolina coast where they took their last
stand." The names of Blackboard and Stede Bon-
net became household words all along the Carolina
coast. The former made his headquarters at Bath,
the latter at Cape Fear, and their wild deeds in
those waters furnished material for stories that are
still poured into the ears of credulous listeners.
Finally, through the exertions of Governor Johnston,
of South Carolina, Capt. William Ehett sailed for
the Cape Fear, captured Bonnet after a desperate
struggle, and carried him to Charleston where he
paid the penalty for his crimes "at the tail of a
tow." A few weeks later Governor Spotswood, of
Virginia, fitted out an expedition against Black-
beard under the command of Lieut. Robert Maynard.
Maynard caught the pirate off Ocracoke Inlet, de-
feated and killed him, and carried his infamous
crew to Virginia to be executed. These were deci-
sive blows to piracy along the North Carolina coast,
and after a few more years the black flags of the
buccaneers disappeared from our seai.
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 437
Boundary between North Carolina and Virginia.
After these victories for good government and
civilization, the colony settled down during the last
decade of proprietary rule to a period of compara-
tive repose. There were, it is true, a few internal
dissensions, occasioned, as such dissensions are still
occasioned, by the ambitions of rival politicians, but
they affected the welfare of the colony but little, and
were small affairs in comparison with the great
struggles through which the colony had already
passed. During this period occurred two events of
more than passing interest. In 1728 the long-
standing boundary line dispute with Virginia was
finally settled. Commissioners appointed by the
two provinces ran the line, with great difficulty, skill
and heroism, through tangled forests and unex-
plored swamps. As they ran it, so it remains to this
day.
Proprietary Abolished.
The same year saw the rule of the Lords Propri-
etors brought to a close. Nine years before the
people of South Carolina had thrown off the pro-
prietary government and sought admission into the
class of Crown colonies. Neither the people nor the
Proprietors had been satisfied with the latter 's ex-
periment. The King, too, regretted the grant which'
had conveyed such vast possessions and such ex-
tensive political power to subjects. The action of
South Carolina, therefore, set in motion a train of
thoughts and negotiations that resulted, in 1728, in
the purchase by the Crown of seven-eighths of the
territorial interests of the Proprietors and the re-
sumption of all their political authority. Both
provinces then passed under the direct authority of
the Crown and the rule of the Lords Proprietors
came to an end. In North Carolina the change was
celebrated with great public rejoicings.
438 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Conclusion.
The people had cause f6r their joy. Neglected
by the Proprietors and antagonized by the com-
mercial policy of their powerful northern neighbor,
what those early Carolinians had obtained they got
through their own unassisted exertions and without
favor from anybody. None of the English colonies
had passed through a more desperate struggle for
existence. The geographical position of North
Carolina was such as placed its commerce at the
mercy of Virginia, and there was then, as Saunders
observes, no Federal Constitution to prevent un-
neighborly legislation. The inefficient government
of the Proprietors was unable to preserve either
order or safety in the province, and was just strong
enough to be a source of constant irritation. The
Culpepper Rebellion, the Gary Rebellion, the Indian
wars and the struggle with piracy severely tested
the character and the capabilities of the people.
Their situation, for instance, at the close of the In-
dian wars was almost desperate. Most of the people
have "scarcely corn to last them until wheat time,
many not having any at all"; "the country miser-
ably reduced by Indian cruelty," and "the inhabi-
tants brought to so low an ebb" that large numbers
fled the province; "our intestine broils and conten-
tions, to which all the misfortunes which have since
attended us are owing"; "a country preserved
which everybody that was but the least acquainted
with our circumstances gave over for lost"; these
are typical expressions with which the correspond-
ence of the period abounds. That the colony sur-
vived these conditions is better evidence of the
character and spirit of the people than the sneers
and jibes of hostile critics, either contemporary or
modern. Had the greater part of the population of
North Carolina, or even a considerable minority of
NORTH CAROLINA AS A PROPRIETARY. 439
it, been composed of "the shiftless people who could
not make a place for themselves in Virginia soci-
ety," as William Byrd and John Fiske would have
us believe, all the aristocracy of Virginia and South
Carolina combined could not have saved the colony
from anarchy and ruin. Yet between the years
1663 and 1728 somebody laid here in North Caro-
lina the foundations of a great state. The founda-
tion upon which great states are built is the char-
acter of their people, and the "mean whites" of
Virginia are not now, nor were they then, the sort
of people who found and build states. No colony
composed to any extent of such a people could have
rallied from such disasters as those from which
North Carolina rallied between 1718 and 1728.
Those years were years of growth and expansion.
The population increased threefold, the Cape Fear
was opened to settlers, new plantations were cleared,
better methods of husbandry introduced, mills
erected, roads surveyed, ferries established, trade
was increased, towns were incorporated, better
houses built, better furniture installed, parishes
created, churches erected, ministers supplied, the
schoolmaster found his way thither, and the colony
was fairly started on that course of development
which brought it, by the outbreak of the Revolution,
to the rank of fourth in population and importance
among the thirteen English-speaking colonies in
America.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — The great source and the only absolutely reliable
source of information relative to the history of North Carolina is the
Colonial Records of North Carolina. This following list makes no pre-
tence to completeness, and only a few titles are given which for their
accessibility may be easily consulted, or for other reasons are of especial
interest or importance. — Alderman, E. A. : William Hooper; Ashe, Sam-
uel A. : History of North Carolina (2 vols., in press, Greensboro) ; Bassett,
John S.: Constitutional Beginnings of North Carolina, 1663-1729 in
Johns Hopkins University Studies, Series XII., No. 3 (Baltimore), The
Writings of Colonel William. Byrd of Westover in Virginia Esqr. (New
440 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
York, 1901); Bancroft, George: History of the United States (6 vols.,
New York, 1888); Fiske, John: Old Virginia and Her Neighbours (2 vols.,
Boston and New York, 1897); Hawks, Francis L. : History of North Caro-
lina, with maps and illustrations (2 vols., Fayetteville, 1857-58);
Lawson, John: The History of Carolina (London, 1718); Martin, Francis
X.: History of North Carolina (2 vols., New Orleans, 1829); Moore, John
W.: History of North Carolina (2 vols., Raleigh, 1880); Raper, Charles
Lee: North Carolina: A Study in English Colonial Government (New
York, 1904); Saunders, William L., and Clark, Walter: The Colonial
Recordsof North Carolina (26 vols., 1886-1917); Weeks, Stephen B.: The
Religious Development in the Province of North Carolina in Johns Hopkins
University Studies, Series X., Nos. 5-6 (Baltimore, 1892), Church and
State in North Carolina in Johns Hopkins University Studies, Series XI.,
Nos. 4-6 (Baltimore, 1893), Libraries and Literature in North Caro-
lina in the Eighteenth Century, from the Annual Report of the American
Historical Association for 1895, pages 171-267 (Washington, 1896),
Southern Quakers and Slavery in Johns Hopkins University Studies, Series
XV. (Baltimore, 1896); Wheeler, John H.: Historical Sketches of North
Carolina (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1851); Williamson, Hugh: The History
of North Carolina (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1812); Winsor, Justin: Narra-
tive and Critical History of America (8 vols., Boston and New York, 1889);
North Carolina Booklet, published quarterly by the North Carolina So-
ciety Daughters of the Revolution, Raleigh, and including: Ashe,
Samuel A.: Our Own Pirates (Vol. II., No. 2); Bassett, John S.: The
County of Clarendon (Vol. II., No. 10); Battle, Kemp P.: The Lords
Proprietors of Carolina (Vol. IV., No. 1); Cheshire, Joseph Blount: First
Settlers in North Carolina, Not Religious Refugees (Vol. V., No. 4); Clark,
Walter: Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War, 1711-13 (Vol. II., No. 3);
Davis, Junius: Locke's Fundamental Constitutions (Vol. VII., No. 1);
Grimes, J. Bryan: Some Notes on Colonial North Carolina, 1700-1750,
(Vol. V., No. 2); Haywood, Marshall DeL.: Governor Charles Eden (Vol.
III., No. 8), John Lawson (Vol. VI., No. 4); Hinsdale, Mrs. John W.:
Governor Thomas Pollock (Vol. V., No. 4); Holladay, Alexander Q.: So-
cial Conditions in Colonial North Carolina (Vol. III., No. 10); Kennedy,
Sara B.: Colonial New Bern (Vol. I., No. 2); Raper, Charles L.: SocM
Life in Colonial North Carolina (Vol. III., No. 5).
E. D. W. CONNOB,
Secretary of North Carolina Historical Commission, Raleigh, N. C.
NOETH CAROLINA, 1729-1776. 441
CHAPTER II.
NORTH CAROLINA A ROYAL PROVINCE,
1729-1776.
Condition from 1729-1752.
The Proprietary of the Carolinas ended in 1729 by
its purchase by the Crown. Only Lord Granville
refused to sell his share. There were several rea-
sons for this transfer. The Crown desired it for
purposes of defense against the Spaniard and the
French on the south and southwest; the merchants
of England preferred to trade with royal provinces
rather than with proprietaries, and the proprietors
were glad to sell, for their possessions had not been
a financial success. Politically the Proprietary had
produced only unrest and conflicts; its history was
one of collisions and insurrections. As far as the
settlers were concerned the transfer was a matter
of indifference. They felt that all their rights were
guaranteed by the original charter under which they
had made their settlements, and that neither pro-
prietors nor king could interfere with them.
At the time of the transfer there were about
40,000 people in the province, including both white
and black. They were settled along Albemarle
Sound, and at the mouths of the rivers as far south
as New Bern. The few Indians that remained in
the settlements were on reservations. The people
were engaged in farming, cultivating corn, wheat,
tobacco, peas, rice, indigo, and some cotton. Tar
and rosin engaged some attention. There were a
few saw-mills along the rivers. Hogs and beef cattle
were driven to Virginia and sold. Barreled pork
and beef were shipped. Their trade was with New
442 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
England and the West Indies and Virginia. Sugar,
molasses and rum were imported from New Eng-
land. The English navigation laws produced some
smuggling. The people were a plain people who
manufactured their own clothes called "homespun.'*
The transfer to the Crown produced little change
in the form of government. The governor was now
appointed by the Crown instead of by the propri-
etors. He was to hold his office during the pleasure
of the Crown. His salary was supposed to be paid
out of quit-rents due the Crown. His instructions
were so minute and voluminous that he had little
freedom of action. In the administration of affairs
he was assisted by a council, secretary, receiver-
general for the collection of rents due the Crown,
surveyor-general and attorney-general, all of whom
were appointed by the Crown.
The judicial department consisted of a Supreme
Court composed of a chief justice and his asso-
ciates, and the precinct courts that met quarterly
in each precinct. In addition to these there were
some minor courts. The legislature consisted of an
upper house composed of members of the council,
and a lower house elected by the people of the pre-
cincts. Certain towns were also given representa-
tion in the lower house.
At first there were only two counties and these
were divided into precincts. These counties were
Albemarle and Bath, but in 1738 these precincts
were made counties. There was no chief town. The
governor resided at his own place, and the Assembly
met frequently at private houses.
The first governor appointed by the Crown was
George Burrington. He had been governor under
the proprietors, but had been recalled. His admin-
istration was short. He arrived in 1731 and his
administration terminated in 1734. The settlers
L
NORTH CAROLINA, 1729-177.6. 443
welcomed Burrington, though his former adminis-
tration had been turbulent. This good feeling did
not last long, for turmoil and strife soon followed.
Burrington was full of energy. He visited every
part of the province, explored the rivers and sounds
and strove to aid the province. However, he was
quarrelsome and knew nothing of diplomacy. From
good testimony it appears that he was vulgar, pro-
fane and boisterous. He declared that the settlers
"always behaved insolently to the governors. All
the governors that were ever in the province lived
in fear of the people and dreaded their assemblies.**
This statement is borne out by the missionary Urm-
stone, who said "they respect no authority that does
not emanate from themselves.'*
Very wisely Burrington was recalled and Gabriel
Johnston became his successor. Johnston was a
Scotchman who had been engaged in English politics
in London. He was different in temperament from
Burrington. He felt himself gifted in the art of
bringing things to pass by what he called "manage-
ment." He had many opportunities to show his
skill, for his administration was a long one, extend-
ing over eighteen years — till 1752. There were many
perplexing problems that harassed Johnston. One
was the collection of quit-rents. Lands were not
held by the settlers in fee simple. Each year they
were required to pay to the Crown certain rents
called quit-rents, which were nothing more than a
tax. The time, place and means of the payment
were the causes of bitter trouble. In disgust, Johns-
ton wrote that these people "never were of any
service to the proprietors, and I fear they never will
be to the king." The governor devised many
schemes, but the Assembly under the management
of the astute Edward Mosely always interfered
with his plans. Finally Johnston determined that
444 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
he would get control of the Assembly by a trick of
his " management." He called the Assembly to
meet at Wilmington in the month of November.
This place was so far from the populous Albemarle
section that he thought few of the opposition from
that section would be able to attend. In this he was
correct, for not even a quorum was present. This
did not embarrass Johnston, for he proceeded to
organize the Assembly and to legislate.
The most important legislation of the session had
to do with the Albemarle section. These old pre-
cincts had each five representatives, while the
new precincts had only two. A law was enacted
limiting the Albemarle precincts to two also. They
refused to abide by the law, and elected their cus-
tomary five. The Assembly refused to seat them,
but Albemarle refused to send others. This condi-
tion remained for eight years. Being unrepresented,
Albemarle refused to pay taxes. Inasmuch as the
northern counties did not pay, the southern refused
also. Finally the Crown repealed the obnoxious
legislation.
It was during Johnston's administration that four
companies were sent to join Admiral Vernon in his
attack on the Spaniards at New Carthage in South
America. Also the coasts were frequently attacked
by parties from St. Augustine and by Spaniards.
In these attacks cattle was slaughtered, slaves
stolen and some persons killed. To protect the en-
trance to the Cape Fear, Fort Johnston was erected
at the mouth.
Worn out with care, Governor Johnston died in
1752.
Expansion of the Province, 1752-1765.
During the administration of Johnston the prov-
ince began to grow rapidly toward the west. Scotch-
men began to arrive as early as 1739, and to settle
NORTH CAKOLINA, 1739-1776. 445
along the Cape Fear River. At the end of the Johns-
ton administration the population was estimated at
90,000. Johnston having died in office, he was suc-
ceeded by the president of the Council, Nathaniel
Bice. He lived only a few months when he was suc-
ceeded by Matthew Eowan, a prominent merchant
of Bath, who held the office till the arrival of Arthur
Dobbs in 1754. Immigrants had already begun to
pour into the "back country " before the arrival of
Dobbs. Many Scotchmen came to the colony imme-
diately after the battle of Culloden in 1745, and set-
tled on the Cape Fear; the Scotch-Irish came down
in great numbers from Pennsylvania and settled
what is now the central portion of the state ; into the
same region, only a little further west, came the
Germans — better known as the Pennsylvania Dutch,
and the Moravians settled in the northwest — called
by them Wachovia. In addition to these immigrants
many Englishmen continued to come into the prov-
ince. This tide of immigration completely changed
the character of the province. Hitherto, it had been
weak and feeble, but soon there were 125,000 people.
Also, these immigrants were of the highest type —
industrious, frugal, religious, intelligent. The fact
that Johnston was from Scotland and that Dobbs
was from Ireland was an inducement to these people
to come to this province. At this time North Caro-
lina was developing more rapidly than any other
province in America.
Religious Conditions.
In religion these new immigrants were mostly
Presbyterian and Lutheran. They believed in edu-
cation, and built their school houses and churches in
the same grove. In the east there were Baptists,
Quakers and Episcopalians. Numerous Vestry Acts
had been passed with a view of permanently estab-
446 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
lishing the Church of England, but these acts
amounted to very little. These Vestry Acts gener-
ally made each county a parish, the voters of each
parish selected the vestry to secure a minister who
was required to be acceptable to the bishop of Lon-
don. The legislature fixed the fees for the minister
and provided for a glebe. In the eastern counties
where there were members of the Church of Eng-
land it was not difficult to put these laws into effect,
but in the * * back counties, ' ' where there were prac-
tically only Dissenters, these acts were of no avail.
Dissenters were chosen vestrymen, and they failed
to provide for a minister. In this way the law was
nullified.
The great missionary society of England for the
propagation of the gospel in foreign parts, had sent
missionaries to the province as early as 1701, but
the efforts had amounted to little. Later came Pres-
byterians and Baptists who were more successful.
Land grants on easy terms were secured from the
Crown. In order to encourage immigration, certain
London merchants were given large grants. McCul-
loch was granted 1,200,000 acres on the headwaters
of the Pee Dee and the Cape Fear. He was to di-
vide this into baronies of 12,500 acres each. No
rents were to be paid for many years. These large
grants caused much trouble up to the time of the
Revolution, when the McCulloch lands were confis-
cated. In 1744 Lord Granville's lands were as-
signed him. He was given the northern half of the
province from the seat to the west. It was from
him that the Moravians made their purchase of
100,000 acres and established their communistic set-
tlement. It was unfortunate for the Crown and the
province that an absentee landlord was owner of
NORTH CAROLINA, 1729-1776. 447
one-half the land. It caused no end of trouble. The
rents went to him and not to the Crown. Many com-
plaints were made against Granville's agents; they
made little effort to bring settlers, and there was
jealousy between the Crown's domain and the Gran-
ville district. The laws for this district were made
by the legislature, but this divided rule was hurtful.
Serious riots were frequently threatened with the
agents, which the Assembly was called upon to set-
tle. On one occasion a large body of men went to the
home of Francis Corbin, the agent, and compelled
him to go with them to Enfield, where he was forced
to promise reforms under a "peculiar bond." Lord
Granville never gave up these lands, but lost then*
in the upheaval of the Revolution.
French and Indian Wars.
In the French and Indian war this province was
quick to respond to the call for help. Under Presi-
dent Rowan, before the arrival of Governor Dobbs,
the Assembly voted an aid of 750 men and £12,000.
The command was given to Col. James Innes, who
had previously led the provincial troops against
Spain in the attack on New Carthagena. Colonel
Innes led 450 of these troops to Virginia and ar-
rived there just after the discomfiture of young
Washington at Great Meadows. The commander of
the expedition against the French was General
Frye. Just at this juncture he died, and Governor
Dinwiddie prevailed upon Innes to take chief com-
mand. The whole expedition had been poorly
planned, no provision had been made for the support
of the troops and the French outnumbered the Eng-
lish. Under these circumstances Colonel Innes sent
the North Carolina troops to their homes. He re-
mained at the head of a handful of troops till the
English government appointed Governor Sharpe to
448 THE HISTOEY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
the chief command. In October, 1754, Governor
Dobbs met with Governor Dinwiddie at Winchester,
and made plans for a more extensive campaign.
Colonel Innes was prevailed upon to remain with
the army as Camp-Master-General. When Fort
Cumberland was finished he was made governor.
Braddock had now taken chief command and in
July, 1755, made his disastrous attack on the French
and Indians. Colonel Innes received the remnant
of his army into Ft. Cumberland. Though it was
August his successor went into winter quarters in
Philadelphia, leaving Innes with a mere handful of
men and the sick and wounded. Under these cir-
cumstances he disbanded his men and returned to
North Carolina.
Governor Dobbs was very energetic all the time
in support of the English government. He had been
a member of the army, and his son, Edward Brice
Dobbs, was then a member. At this time he was
visiting his father. He organized a company to go
to the aid of General Braddock. In 1755 four com-
panies were organized to go to the help of the Eng-
lish in New York. Governor Dobbs met other gov-
ernors in Philadelphia, in 1757, to discuss ways and
means to conduct the war. In the same year two
companies were sent into South Carolina to aid in
repelling an attack from that direction. In the cam-
paign against Ft. DuQuesne three companies were
sent from North Carolina under the command of
Col. Hugh Waddell. He was probably the youngest
colonel in the expedition, but also the most expert
Indian fighter. He often dressed as an Indian and
was skilled in their woodcraft. This knowledge was
of great service to the commander in this expedition.
The contribution of North Carolina to this war
was made under the most trying difficulties. Money
could be secured only by exporting products to other
NORTH CAEOLINA, 1729-1776. 449
colonies, where they were sold at a sacrifice. The
English government voted funds to reimburse the
colonies, but North Carolina felt that she never re-
ceived her share and blamed Governor Dobbs for it.
While this war was waging there was danger to
the province nearer home. The Indians on the west-
ern frontier were ready for the warpath. The Chero-
kees in the western mountains had many fighting
men. They began to make raids on the frontier set-
tlers and to massacre them. So great was the
danger that the Assembly erected a fort just beyond
Salisbury, naming it Ft. Dobbs. Colonel Waddell
was placed in command. In 1756 another fort was
erected still further westward. The Moravian set-
tlement also became a retreat for the settlers. In
February, 1760, the Indians attacked Ft. Dobbs in
great numbers, but were repulsed by Colonel .Wad-
dell. In 1761 a campaign against the Indians was
planned. Colonel Grant, of the English army, was
to march against them from the south, and Colonel
Waddell from the north. Grant met the Indians
near the present town of Franklin and crushed them
so that they sued for peace.
There were other troubles that worried the last
days of Governor Dobbs. The old quarrel with the
Assembly continued. Dobbs was anxious to return
to England, and so asked for an assistant governor.
He died before sailing, and the administration of
affairs passed to the lieutenant-governor, William
Tryon, in 1765.
William Tryon and the War of the Regulation, 1765-1771.
Tryon was the most distinguished and accom-
plished of all the royal governors ever sent to the
province. He was well-born, accomplished, ambi-
tious, diplomatic and suave in manners. He was
the one governor who was able to get along with the
To!. 1—29.
450 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Assembly. He was very popular, but this popu-
larity lie won only after a bitter experience with the
Assembly at the very beginning of his administra-
tion. This trouble arose from the effort to enforce
the Stamp Act.
Tryon was told by Speaker Ashe of the Assembly
that they would resist its enforcement to the death.
Tryon therefore prorogued the Assembly. The peo-
ple, however, were very restless. On October 16
some 500 or 600 people assembled in the town of
"Wilmington and burned Earl Bute in effigy. The
crowd then compelled many citizens of the town to
come out to a bonfire and drink to "Liberty prop-
erty, and no stamp duty and confusion to Lord
Bute." Dr. Houston, who had been appointed
stamp-master, was required to take oath that he
would sell no stamps. Mr. Stewart, the printer,
was required to publish his paper without the
stamps. Instead of the stamps he printed a skull
and cross-bones with these words : "here is the place
to affix the stamps. ' ' The governor, seeing the dan-
gerous trend of things, called together a number of
merchants for consultation and tried to persuade
them to render obedience to the law, but they re-
fused firmly to try to prevail upon the people to
accept it.
On January 16 two vessels came into the Cape
Fear without the proper stamps. They were seized
by an English war-vessel, the Viper. There was
great indignation among the people. The crew, sent
to Wilmington for supplies, was arrested and
thrown into prison, and no supplies were permitted
to be sent to the vessel. The militia of the county
was called out, and under the commands of Colonels
Ashe and Waddell came to Brunswick, and threat-
ened the vessel. The commandant of Ft. Johnston,
fearing that they might seize the fort, spiked all the
NORTH CAROLINA, 1729-1776. 451
guns. These troops were not disorderly; they even
visited the governor and told him that no harm was
intended to him, but that the commerce of the Cape
Fear must not be interrupted. There was no con-
cealment in the conduct of these men, and the best
men of the province were the leaders. Tryon was
fearful that a general insurrection would ensue, for
the whole province was in sympathy with the con-
duct of these leaders. Happily, at this juncture, the
news arrived that the odious measure would be
promptly repealed. All disturbances now subsided.
Tryon had learned something of the type of men that
he had come to rule, and in the future he guided
himself accordingly.
Tryon and his wife were fond of society and pos-
sessed many social accomplishments. When the
Assembly met they made friends rapidly. He pre-
vailed upon them to locate the capital at New Bern
and to undertake the building of a palace for the
governor, and one of the finest buildings in America
was erected. Under Tryon European court etiquette
reached its highest point in this colony. His recep-
tions were full of forms and ceremonies that ap-
pealed to the imagination of the Assembly, and to
the best people of the province. Of course, this pal-
ace created a debt, but no word of complaint was
heard save from the "back counties."
One other very prominent trait of Tryon was his
fondness for military display. He was never hap-
pier than when he was surrounded by a military
escort and exercising the pomp of arms. He felt
that such display impressed the imaginations of the
people with the power and strength of government.
For example, there was a demand that the dividing
line between the province and the Cherokee Indians
be run. Instead of sending surveyors, he organized
the militia of Rowan and Mecklenburg counties into
452 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
a regular army, and with the flare of trumpets and
the beat of drums he marched into the region,
camped for a few days, returned home and left the
surveyors to run the line. He made the desired im-
pression on the Indians, for they called him ''the
Great Wolf." Then, too, it helped to cement the
Tryon party and to make him popular with many
people. This proved a heavy expense, but the As-
sembly, unlike the Assembly of earlier days, had
no complaint to make.
Regulators.
The most important and most dramatic event in
the colonial history of the province was the Regu-
lator movement. The most notable outbreak oc-
curred in Orange county, though the sympathizers
with the Regulator complaints were found in various
sections. The movement was the outcome of condi-
tions social, political, economic and, some have
thought, religious. The social life of the new west,
or "back counties,'* was different from the old east.
These new settlers were farmers; they had little
intercourse with the east, and they were too far
from the sea to engage in trade. They had little
money, which was always a defect in the economic
life of the province. They had an abundance of
produce, but they could not obtain money for it. In
religion they were dissenters. Their ministers were
strong leaders. In fact the settlements were made
in small groups, and each group had its leader, who
was frequently the minister. The system of local
government did not tend to bind them to the east.
The county officers received their appointment from
the governor. There was centralization in govern-
ment, but decentralization in everything else. It
was out of conditions like these that complaints be-
gan to be made as early as 1765 against the county
NORTH CAROLINA, 1729-1776. 463
officials. The first formal complaint was made on
June 6, 1765, in the famous Nutbush paper of Gran-
ville county. This paper set forth some of the
grievances under which the people claimed to labor.
This brief paper complained of the illegal exactions
of lawyers and clerks, and declared that "few of
you have not felt the weight of these iron fists."
Similar but fuller complaints were made in Orange
and Anson in 1766. Protests were sent to the As-
sembly, but there was no redress of grievances.
That these grievances were real, and not imaginary,
no one denies. Feeling grew so intense that the
Orange Eegulators in March, 1768, declared that
they would pay no more taxes "till there is a settle-
ment to our satisfaction. ' ' The mild protests of 1766
and 1767 had gone unheeded, and so now the era of
threats and force began. The sheriff of Orange
was warned that any effort to collect tax would be at
his peril. He did not heed this warning but seized
a mare, bridle and saddle for taxes. A number of
indignant Regulators proceeded to Hillsboro, rescued
the property and fired into the house of Edmund
Fanning, whom they regarded as responsible for the
failure to heed their grievances. For this offense
two men, Herman Husbands and William Butler,
were arrested on April 30. On May 3, 700 Eegu-
lators went to Hillsboro to secure their release, but
found that they were already released on bail. In
July Governor Tryon came in person to Hillsboro,
and returned in September, bringing troops from
Rowan, Orange and Granville to protect the court
that was to be in session. Here was another ex-
ample of Tryon 's fondness for display, though it
cost the province £20,000. When the court met a
great band of Regulators numbering, it was esti-
mated, 3,700 came near the town, and sent to inform
the governor that they wished to lay aside all illegal
454 THE HISTOEY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
methods of settling their grievances. Tryon took
no notice of their request, and so the Regulators
returned to their homes. Things now remained
quiet for a time. A new Assembly had been called
and many new men had been elected. The Regu-
lators were hoping to obtain a favorable hearing
from them, but were doomed to disappointment.
Other things also happened to irritate the Regu-
lators. "When the Hillsboro court met in September,
1770, a band of Regulators came to town, entered
the court-house, intimidated the judge till he fled,
whipped some lawyers, assaulted Fanning and per-
mitted him to go on condition that "he take the road
and continue running until he should get out of their
sight." Then they took possession of the court-
house and proceeded to hold a mock court, entering
all kinds of ridiculous verdicts on the record. Their
whole conduct smacks of the rude horseplay common
to American frontier life.
Governor Tryon now began to contemplate the use
of force. The judges, attorney-general and Council
advised this course. The Assembly was now called
and proceeded to pass the Johnson Bill, better
known as the Bloody Act, which made rioting trea-
son. Husbands, a leader among the Regulators, was
a member of this Assembly. He was expelled but
was arrested at once, and was to be tried in New
Bern. Only the failure of the grand jury to return
a true bill prevented the Regulators from march-
ing a large body to New Bern to release him
by force.
Governor Tryon, in the meantime, placed the town
under military control, and had the militia held in
readiness all along the expected line of march.
In April Tryon, having completed his prepara-
tion, began to collect his troops and to move into
the "back counties." He assembled about 1,200
NORTH CAROLINA, 1729-1776. 455
troops, collected mostly from the eastern and south-
eastern counties, the Albemarle section, however,
refusing to send troops. Tryon took personal com-
mand of this division. The brilliant Hugh Waddell
was sent to raise an army in the counties of Meck-
lenburg, Anson and Rowan. In this region Waddell
was well known and beloved as the defender of Ft.
Dobbs. He assembled his troops but failed to march
further than the Yadkin Eiver, near Salisbury.
Here he found himself surrounded by so many Regu-
lator sympathizers that he called a council of war,
and it was decided not safe to proceed any further.
Then, too, his powder wagons had been surprised
while in camp in what is now Cabarrus county, and
destroyed by masked men.
Tryon, in the meantime, marched to Hillsboro, and
on May 16 came face to face with a large band of
Regulators and their friends on Alamance Creek, a
few miles beyond Hillsboro. Great numbers of these
people had not come up for a battle and were un-
armed. When the battle began most of them fled.
Of this battle Tryon says: "The loss of our army
in killed and wounded and missing amount to about
sixty. The action lasted two hours, but after about
half an hour the enemy took to tree-fighting, and
much annoyed our men who stood at the guns." The
loss in killed and wounded among the Regulators is
not definitely known. It has been variously esti-
mated from twelve to two hundred.
Immediately after the battle one person, Few, was
hanged. He was said to have been half demented.
The victorious army then marched to Sandy Creek
Baptist church and destroyed the property of the
Regulators, especially the farm of Herman Hus-
bands, where one of the army wrote that they "found
fifty acres of the finest wheat." Thence the army
moved further west to make a junction with Wad-
456 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
dell. They met near the Moravian settlement.
After a few days Tryon sent Waddell back into
Rowan and Mecklenburg to quiet any defection in
those parts. Tryon himself, with the main body,
returned to Hillsboro, where a number of prisoners
were put on trial for their lives for high treason.
Twelve were pronounced worthy of death, and six
of them immediately executed in the presence of the
governor and surrounded by his troops. Tryon then
announced to his army that his work in North Caro-
lina was ended. Before the battle he had been noti-
fied of his appointment to the governorship of New
York. He proceeded to New Bern and left the
army to be disbanded by Colonel Ashe. Among
those executed at Hillsboro was James Pugh. He
received permission from the governor to speak at
the gallows. In his speech he "refused to make any
acknowledgments for what he had done, that his
blood would be as seed sown in good ground, which
would produce a hundredfold."
The battle of Alamance effectually ended the
Regulator troubles. These people had real griev-
ances, but they attempted to remedy them in an
unlawful manner. For this they must not be judged
too harshly, for they were frontiersmen, and fron-
tiersmen are not accustomed to look to the govern-
ment for much protection.
Governor Tryon did not use all the means in his
power to pacify these people. He was needlessly
harsh in his treatment of them, and drove them
from their homes. Morgan Edwards made a tour
through this section one year after the battle and
wrote that "it is said 1,500 families departed since
the battle of Alamance, and to my knowledge a great
many more are only waiting to dispose of their
plantations in order to follow them."
NORTH CAROLINA, 1729-1776. 457
The End of the Provincial Period.
Gov. Josiah Martin, the last of the royal govern-
ors, took up the unfinished tasks of Governor Tryon.
He tried to make friends with the Regulators, but
it was too late, for great numbers of them had de-
termined to go to the more western counties, and
they did. Unlike Tryon, Martin was not able to
make friends with the leaders of the Assembly, and
so the old clash between the governor and the As-
sembly returned. The debts of the province had
greatly increased. Money was not to be had in suf-
ficient quantity to conduct the affairs of trade, and
politically, the province was divided. However, the
province had continued to prosper. Sawmills had
been erected and iron furnaces had been started.
In the ''back counties" there were some good farms.
Population was steadily increasing, though the dis-
turbances had checked its rapid growth. In 1766
Tryon said that a thousand immigrant wagons
passed through the town of Salisbury.
In character, Martin was very different from
Tryon. He possessed none of the latter 's fascina-
tion and diplomacy, but had an exalted idea of the
royal prerogatives. Among the more influential of
the people he never made an intimate friend^Three
local troubles arose to embarrass and to harass him.
The boundary line between North and South Caro-
lina had not been completed beyond the Catawba
River. Martin's royal instructions for continuing
it were such that the province felt that it was being
deprived of territory that rightfully belonged to it.
Over this he and the Assembly had a prolonged
quarrel. Also, certain special taxes the people
thought should be abolished, that enough had been
collected to meet the purpose for which it had been
levied. But the most exasperating problem was the
enactment of a judicial system, or Court Law. The
458 THE HISTOEY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
act creating a judiciary was limited in time. This
time was now expired, and Governor Martin could
never prevail upon the Assembly to pass a new act
conformable to his instructions. The result was that
the province was left practically without courts of
law. This was the first feature of the royal govern-
ment to fail. These three local cases were sufficient
to have prepared North Carolina for the more im-
portant movement impending.
In 1773 the Assembly began to take notice of Eng-
lish colonial legislation by the appointment of a
committee to keep it informed on such matters, and
1774 found North Carolina in full and free corre-
spondence with the other colonies. The colonies had
resolved to bring about concert of action through a
continental congress. Governor Martin determined
that his province should send no delegate, that he
would call no assembly as Tryon had done in regard
to the Stamp Act Congress of Albany. Col. John
Harvey, the speaker of the Assembly, heard of this
intention, and declared that "then the people will
convene one themselves." Harvey's suggestion was
carried out and the first Provincial Congress met
at New Bern on Aug. 25, 1774. Governor Martin
issued a proclamation forbidding such a meeting,
but it was unheeded. Though the notice was short,
most of the influential members of the Assembly
were present. Twenty-nine of the thirty-five coun-
ties were represented by seventy delegates. This
congress denounced English legislation — especially
the tax on tea, declared that the cause of Boston
was the cause of all, and called for a continental con-
gress and also appointed committees of safety in
each county to see that such agreements as might
be made at such a congress be enforced.
Governor Martin called for a new Assembly to
meet at New Bern in April, 1775. Colonel Harvey
NORTH CAROLINA, 17294776. 459
called another provincial congress to meet at the
same time and place. Governor Martin fulminated
and proclaimed against this meeting also, but it was
of no avail. Both the Assembly and the Congress
met at the same time and place, and were composed
largely of the same men. Colonel Harvey was
elected speaker of the Assembly and also moderator
of the Congress. On motion, the Assembly would
transform itself into the Congress and vice versa.
In reality the bodies were but one, though different
records were kept. One, however, was legal, while
the other was revolutionary. After a few days Gov-
ernor Martin, in disgust, dismissed the Assembly.
The Congress had adjourned the previous day.
Soon after the adjournment came the news of the
fight at Lexington. The news created excitement
and indignation, and on May 20, 1775, was passed
the famous Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ-
ence, or, at least, the Mecklenburg Resolves of
May 31.
Governor Martin was now ill at ease. His every
action was watched by the New Bern Committee of
Safety. He began to feel that his palace was only
a prison. He sent his family to New York and him-
self went to Ft. Johnston on the Cape Fear, or as
he expressed it, ' ' sought safety under the protecting
guns of the British sloop-of-war lying at the mouth
of the Cape Fear. ' ' However, he had been in no per-
sonal danger, no threat had been made against him,
and he could have remained in perfect safety in the
palace, fully protected by his sheer helplessness.
Thus ended Martin's four years of rule, and with
his flight from the palace practically ended English
rule in the province.
In August the third Provincial Congress met —
not in the east, but in the west — at Hillsboro. This
body consisted of one hundred and eighty-four mem-
460 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
bers. It promptly declared that since the governor
had "abdicated" it was necessary to create some
form of temporary government. They proceeded to
enlarge the committee system. There were created
committees for each county, each judicial district,
and a central committee for the whole province.
The affairs of the province now passed into the
hands of these popular bodies, and no semblance of
royal authority remained. This Congress also put
the province in military readiness to meet any
emergencies. The militia was organized into six
battalions, and two regiments of 500 men each were
organized for the Continental Line. Aid was
promptly sent to Virginia, to South Carolina and
against the western Indians.
This military preparation was none too soon, for
the English were making ready for a campaign
against North Carolina. A fleet was to come to the
mouth of the Cape Fear and make a junction with
the loyalist forces that were to march down from
the interior. In January, 1776, the loyalists began to
assemble at Cross Creek, the centre of the great
Scotch settlement. The object of the loyalists was
to make the junction with the fleet by marching down
the river. The provincial militia was collected at
once under Caswell, Moore and others. An active
campaign of a month began now. The provincials
placed themselves across the line of march. After
much marching and counter marching the two
forces met, Feb. 27, 1776, at Moore's Creek Bridge,
only a few miles from Wilmington. The battle was
short, but fierce and decisive. The Scotch loyal-
ists, or Tories, were completely defeated. In the
engagement about a thousand provincials took
part, though six thousand had been engaged
in the manoeuvres. The Scotch loyalists num-
bered between two and three thousand. The failure
NORTH CAROLINA, 1729-1776. 461
of this uprising completely frustrated the plans of
the fleet, which came, looked into the Cape Fear, took
Governor Martin on board and sailed further south.
Soon after the battle the fourth Provincial Con-
gress met at Halifax in April. The formation of a
constitution and a permanent form of government
was discussed, but was wisely postponed. The peo-
ple of the province were now ripe for independence.
As early as April, 1774, "William Hooper had de-
clared that the American colonies "were striding
fast to independence." On April 12 this fourth Pro-
vincial Congress instructed its delegates to the Con-
tinental Congress — Hooper, Penn and Hewes — to
vote for independence, complete separation from
England. This matter was brought up in the Con-
tinental Congress, and the wisdom of immediate
action was discussed from day to day. Many patri-
ots doubted the wisdom of immediate declaration.
John Adams tells how Joseph Hewes determined the
matter: "One day while a member was producing
documents to show that the general opinion of all
the colonies was for independence, among them
North Carolina, Hewes, who had hitherto con-
stantly voted against it, started suddenly upright,
and lifting both hands to heaven, cried out, 'It is
done and I will abide by it. ' I would give more for
a perfect picture of the terror and horror upon the
face of the old majority at that critical moment than
for the best piece of Raphael." To Jefferson, Adams
wrote in 1819: "You know the unanimity of the
states finally depended on the vote of Joseph Hewes,
and was finally determined by him ; yet history is to
ascribe the American Revolution to Thomas Paine !"
Thus ended the royal province of North Carolina,
and the old dispensation gave way to the new.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Ashe: Biographical History of North Carolina; Bas-
•ett: Regulators of North Carolina; Caruthere: Life of Caldwett (1842);
462 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Foote: Sketches of North Carolina (1846); Graham: The Mecklenburg
Declaration of Independence; Hoyt: The Mecklenburg Declaration of In-
dependence; Haywood: William Tryon; Jones: A Defense of the Revolu-
tionary History of North Carolina (1834); Martin: History of North Caro-
lina to 1776 (2 vols., 1829); McRee: Life and Correspondence of James
Iredett (2 vols., 1857); Raper: North Carolina: A Study in English
Colonial History; Sikes: Transition from Colony to Commonwealth (1898);
Weeks: The Religious Development of the Province of North Carolina
(1892), Church and State in North Carolina (1893); Williamson: History
of North Carolina (2 vols., 1812); Colonial Records of North Carolina
(Vols. III.-X., inclusive, 1886-1890); Waddell: A Colonial Officer and
Hit Timet (1890).
ENOCH WALTER SIKES,
Professor of Political Science, Wake Forest College.
CHAPTER III.
NOETH CAROLINA, 1775-1861.
The Revolutionary conflict in North Carolina has
three characteristics: the local conditions which
opened the way for permanent separation from the
mother country, the zealous activity of the patriot
party, and the strength of the loyalists. These
factors were so pronounced as to give North Caro-
lina an unique place in the history of the Revolu-
tion, and around them may be grouped all the es-
sential incidents in the struggle for independence.
Governor Martin's Administration.
In 1771 Josiah Martin, last colonial governor, be-
gan his administration. He was a plain, blunt, out-
spoken man, in sympathy with the oppressed, but
his lack of tact and his military training unfitted
him for mastery in the long- standing conflict be-
tween the Executive and colonial Assembly. Indeed
three grave problems demanded immediate settle-
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 463
ment, and in trying to force a solution, Governor
Martin lost control of the government and left the
colony to its fate.
First of these was the question of finance. A
special tax on polls and liquors had been levied for
some time to meet certain emissions of paper cur-
rency. In 1771 the Assembly, learning that the
paper had been liquidated, enacted a bill to stop the
collection of the tax; the governor disallowed the
bill and prorogued the Assembly; the controversy
continued, culminating in the critical year 1774 when
the Assembly, defying the governor, ordered the
revenue officials not to levy the tax.
A second cause of controversy was the South
Carolina boundary. In accordance with royal in-
structions Martin asked the Assembly for an ap-
propriation to complete the boundary, the line to
run in a northwest direction from the neighborhood
of the Catawba River, but the North Carolinians
desired the line to run directly west, and thus save
a large amount of land for settlement. The Assem-
bly therefore refused to make the appropriation
called for, and when the governor established the
line through an arbitrary commission, the Assembly,
in 1775, refused to grant any money for payment.
More serious yet was the controversy over the
court system. The laws establishing courts in the
colony were made by the Assembly and were tempo-
rary, being renewed from time to time. The last
law of 1768 was unusually effective; it introduced
a foreign attachment clause, by which the property
of foreigners and non-residents might be seized in
payment of debts. Now Martin's instructions for-
bade the reenactment of this attachment provision
without a clause referring its enforcement to the
approval of the Crown. But the Assembly, in fram-
ing a new court law in 1773, insisted on the attach-
464 THE HISTOKY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
ment without a modifying clause. The Governor
attempted to enforce his instructions. The result
was a deadlock; the law of 1768 expired before a
new one had been framed, and from 1773 to 1776
the colony was without a system of courts (except
magistrates).
These controversies, revealing Governor Martin's
inefficiency, opened the way for the Eevolutionary
movement. Sympathy with the grievances of other
colonies had long been felt. Governor Tryon had
prevented radical action during the Stamp Act ex-
citement by refusing to call the Assembly; but in
1773 a committee of correspondence was formed, its
principal members being John Harvey, Robert
Howe, Cornelius Harnett, William Hooper, Richard
Caswell, Joseph Hewes and Samuel Johnston. Early
in 1774 the people of Wilmington and New Bern col-
lected provisions to aid Boston, and in October of
that year the ladies of Edenton, at a tea party,
agreed not to drink tea or use goods brought from
England. In order to prevent delegates being sent
to the Continental Congress, Governor Martin de-
cided not to convene the Assembly of 1774 until au-
tumn. Learning of this, John Harvey and a few
other patriots determined to take matters into
their own hands. They held a meeting in Wilming-
ton, and following its recommendation thirty coun-
ties sent delegates to the First Provincial Congress
of North Carolina, which met at New Bern on Aug.
25, 1774. Three delegates to the Continental Con-
gress were chosen — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes
and Richard Caswell. Resolutions were adopted as-
serting the right of self-taxation, denouncing the
British policy toward Massachusetts, and providing
for non-intercourse with Great Britain. Also, in ac-
cord with the advice of the Congress, the freeholders
of the several counties met and elected County Com-
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 465
mittees of Safety. Thus was formed an effective
Revolutionary organization, which fixed prices, en-
forced non-intercourse, collected subscriptions, regu-
lated the conduct of individuals, stirred the fire of
protest and revolt and became the foundation of the
Revolutionary movement.
Provincial Congress.
The next step in the Revolution was the meeting
of the second Provincial Congress at New Bern,
April, 1775. It is one of the most interesting bodies
that ever met in North Carolina. Governor Martin
had called a meeting of the Assembly for April 4;
Harvey called the Congress for April 3; sixty-one
of the sixty-eight members of the Assembly were also
delegates to the Congress; John Harvey, speaker
of the Assembly, was also president of the Congress.
Often the Provincial Congress would be in session
when the governor's secretary would be announced,
and then Proteus-like, the Congress would change
itself into the legislative Assembly and proceed to
despatch public business. Governor Martin was
embarrassed; he issued a proclamation against the
Congress and ordered the Assembly to oppose the
illegal gathering, but the Assembly replied by en-
dorsing both provincial and continental congresses
and arraigning the British Parliament. After four
days' session the governor dissolved the Assembly;
the members remained as delegates to the Congress,
which now adopted the Association of the Conti-
nental Congress, reappointed delegates and asserted
the right of petition.
Governor Martin, feeling that the tide was against
him, collected a few cannon at the palace and opened
negotiations with the Scotch at the upper Cape Fear
and with General Gage. Vigilant eyes were upon
him, and sometime in April, the Committee of New
«** i—eo
7
466 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Bern carried off the cannon; the next month the
Governor left New Bern for Fort Johnston on the
Cape Fear, and when the people of Wilmington, led
by James Moore and John Ashe, seized the fort in
July, they found that he had deserted it for a Brit-
ish man-of-war. Koyal rule in North Carolina was
really at an end; the Executive had left the seat of
government for the protection of the British flag.
An Independent State.
In the meantime the local committees of safety in
other parts of the colony were active. News of the
battle of Lexington stimulated the revolutionary
spirit. In two counties the sentiment voiced by the
committees was radical, equal if not beyond that so
far expressed in the whole country. On May 31 the
Mecklenburg Committee at Charlotte adopted reso-
lutions that, since the American colonies have been
declared in a state of rebellion, the constitution of
each colony is suspended, and that the provincial
congresses under the Continental Congress have all
executive, legislative and judicial power, and that
the people of Mecklenburg county should fashion
a form of government to last in full force and virtue
until instructions from the provincial congress regu-
lating the jurisprudence of the province shall pro-
vide otherwise, or the legislative body of Great
Britain resign its unjust and arbitrary pretentious
with respect to America. By declaring British au-
thority suspended, the Mecklenburg Resolves took a
very advanced step toward independence ; moreover
this attempt at a new form of local government was
undertaken several days before the Provincial Con-
gress of Massachusetts sought advice of the Conti-
nental Congress about a new government for that
colony, and several months before Congress advised
New Hampshire, South Carolina and Virginia to
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 467
form governments of their own ; indeed at this time
the Olive Branch Petition was being proposed and
the North Carolina delegates in Congress therefore
sent back advice to be a little more patient until
Congress should take measures thought best, and the
resolves were not printed in Philadelphia news-
papers. These resolves of May 31 should not be con-
fused with those of May 20, the so-called Mecklen-
burg Declaration of Independence. Another set of
resolutions, adopted in New Hanover and Cumber-
land counties, declared that "We do unite ourselves
under every tie of religion and honor, and associate
ourselves as a band in her defense against every
foe, hereby solemnly engaging that whenever our
continental or provincial counsel shall decree it nec-
essary, we will go forth and be ready to sacrifice
our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom and
safety."
This revolutionary propaganda was soon followed
by military preparations and armed conflict. The
third provincial congress which met at Hillsboro in
August, 1775, established a provincial council, a
temporary central organ to guard a colony deserted
by its legal governor, instituted a military system
and provided for finance. In the meantime events
in the colony had attracted the attention of the Brit-
ish authorities and an invasion was planned. Sir
Henry Clinton, from New Yor^, and Lord Cornwallis,
from England, were ordered to join Governor Mar-
tin and the loyalists at the mouth of the Cape Fear.
Fortune and prompt action averted this great men-
ace. In December the first regiment under Col.
Robert Howe marched to Virginia and aided in the
defeat of Lord Dunmore, who was rousing the Tories
of that province; in the same month 900 men were
sent to South Carolina on a similar errand. North
Carolina was thus the first colony to send troops
468 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
beyond her borders for defense of the revolutionary
cause. At home military achievement was no less
worthy. The Scotch settlers on the upper Cape
Fear, in the region of Fayettville, in answer to an
appeal of Governor Martin, raised the royal stand-
ard in January, 1776, and two thousand strong pre-
pared to join Governor Martin and the British. But
they were intercepted on February 27 at Moore's
Creek Bridge, eighteen miles from Wilmington, and
defeated. This was the first victory won by an
American force in the War of the Eevolution. It
strengthened the cause in North Carolina, disheart-
ened the Tories, and when the British arrived on the
coast a few weeks later they received so little sym-
pathy that on June 1 they departed for Charleston,
S. C.
In the flush of victory the North Carolina patriots
made a most radical decision. On April 12, 1776,
the fourth provincial congress in session at Halifax
resolved that
"The delegates for this colony in the Continental Congress be em-
powered to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declar-
ing Independence, and forming foreign alliances, reserving to this col-
ony the sole and exclusive right of forming a constitution and laws for
this colony, and of appointing delegates from time to time (under the
direction of a general representation thereof) to meet delegates of the
other colonies for such purposes as shall be hereafter pointed out."
This was the first instruction for independence by
any colony. It gives North Carolina patriots a high
place in the history of the time.
The Congress then turned to the formation of a
permanent frame of government and state constitu-
tion. Its efforts were not successful. Two factions
appeared: one represented the ideals of radical
democracy, demanding that all officers be chosen by
the people, the other holding to the more conserva-
tive British forms of government. Both factions
appealed to the people in the election for the Fifth
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 469
Congress. Though Samuel Johnston, leader of the
conservatives, was defeated, many of his followers
were elected and the constitution which was framed
was conservative. Many features of the colonial
constitution were preserved. Property qualifica-
tions were required for membership in both houses
of the legislature, representation was apportioned
according to counties, not population, and to vote for
state senator fifty acres of land was a prerequisite.
The legislature was supreme ; it elected the governor
and all state officers; its annual sessions were the
only check on legislative tyranny.
North Carolina in Revolutionary War.
The high fervor that carried the colony into revolt
and created an independent government, was fol-
lowed by a period of reaction. "After the first out-
burst of local patriotism in the spring of 1776, the
support of the cause as far as the people were con-
cerned was purely compulsory." The state's quota
in the continental line was never complete, and the
militia were also recruited with difficulty. There
were three causes of this apathy. First, most of
those who had participated in the Regulation move-
ment were neutral; they saw in the Revolution a
continuation of the old control of the colony by the
eastern counties; indeed the same men who led
Tryon's army in 1771 commanded the patriots in
1776. Equally important was the influence of the
Scotch, who had very recently settled on the Cape
Fear. Having been loyal to the cause of monarchy,
they sympathized with Governor Martin. Thus a
large portion of the state was neutralized. Finally
there was a cleavage within the patriot party, similar
to the alignment in the formation of the constitu-
tion, and many conservatives, among them Samuel
Johnston and William Hooper, retired from public
470 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
life and became hike-warm when the radicals, under
Willie Jones, became important in state politics.
Yet the North Carolina patriots were directly
concerned in some notable military achievements of
the Revolution. They served with distinction at
Brandywine and Germantown, and North Carolina
troops composed most of the opposition to the Brit-
ish invasion of Georgia and South Carolina during
1778-1779; with the capture of Charleston in 1780,
all of the North Carolina Continentals and consider-
able militia were captured. The way for invasion
seemed open, the Tories also lifted their heads and
Cornwallis promised to take advantage as soon as
the harvest was gathered. For defense, the militia
was the only reliance. Gen. Griffith Rutherford
soon assembled 900 men at Charlotte, and with the
aid of other militia leaders gave confidence by vic-
tories over the Tories at Ramsour's Mill (near Lin-
colnton, N. C.), Colson's Mill and Hanging Rock.
During these activities in the summer of 1780, regu-
lars from the Continental army arrived over whom
Gen. Horatio Gates was given command. On August
16 occurred the disastrous battle of Camden ; further
resistance seemed impossible for Col. Patrick Fer-
guson, Cornwallis 's able lieutenant, advanced as far
north as Lincolnton, N. C., in pursuit of the patriot
militia. Suddenly relief came from beyond the
mountains. Alarmed at Ferguson's advance and
his threats, the men of Watauga, 1,000 strong,
started for the front. Learning of their approach
Ferguson fell back to King's Mountain, and there
his army was surrounded and defeated, and he him-
self was killed on October 7. The effect of the
battle was to check Cornwallis 's advance and to give
time for the reorganization of the American army.
This was accomplished by Gen. Nathaniel Greene,
who took command at Charlotte in December. Soon
CAVALRY AT THE BATTLE OF GUILFORD.
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 471
he sent Gen. Daniel Morgan across the South Caro-
lina line to collect supplies and to check the Tories.
He met and defeated Tarleton at Cowpens on Jan.
17, 1781. Then began the famous Greene retreat, the
withdrawal of Morgan, also of Greene, across North
Carolina to the Virginia line, which culminated in
the battle of Guilford Court House, and Cornwal-
lis's retreat to Wilmington, eventually to Yorktown.
These campaigns were accompanied by a fratri-
cidal conflict, a civil strife between the Tories and
the Whigs. An interesting incident was the capture
of Gov. Thomas Burke and his staff in 1781 at Hills-
boro by David Fanning, a noted Tory leader.
He was sent to Charleston for imprisonment, but he
soon escaped, returned to North Carolina and re-
sumed his duties as governor. In the same year
the strength of the Tories was broken at the battle
of Elizabethtown and by a campaign of Gen. Griffith
Rutherford in the Cape Fear region. This enmity
of Whig and Tory survived the Revolution and
caused an extensive confiscation of loyalist property
by the state government.
North Carolina's Attitude to the Federal Constitution.
The first political problem after the Revolution was
that of the Federal constitution ; indeed North Caro-
lina has an unique place in the formation of the
Union in being the last state, except Rhode Island,
to ratify the constitution. For this hesitation there
were various reasons. A strong sense of individu-
alism, inherent in the people, bred indifference to-
ward any central government whatever. Moreover,
the old alignment of conservative and radical was
still alive, and over the Federal constitution con-
troversy was even more bitter than in 1776 over the
state constitution. The radicals, under the leader-
ship of Willie Jones, Rev. David Caldwell, Timothy
472 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Bloodworth and others, feared a consolidated repub-
lic, claiming that the words ' ' We the people ' ' in the
constitution should read "We the States," criti-
cised the Federal judiciary, believing it would en-
croach upon the state courts, opposed Federal taxa-
tion, and demanded that a Bill of Eights should pre-
cede the constitution. On the other hand the Con-
servatives, led by James Iredell, Wm. B. Davie,
Samuel Johnston and Eichard Dobbs Spaight fa-
vored ratification, but the Constitutional Convention
which met at Hillsboro in July, 1788, was controlled
by the radicals or Anti-Federalists, failed to ratify
the constitution, although ten states had done so, and
recommended a Bill of Eights and twenty- six amend-
ments. But public opinion soon began to change:
New York ratified just after the North Carolina
Convention closed, leaving this state and Ehode
Island the only ones outside the Union. The people
also realized that the friends of the constitution in
North Carolina regarded it as a compact and the
Federal government as an agent of the states ; con-
sequently a second Constitutional Convention at
Fayetteville on Nov. 21, 1789, ratified the constitu-
tion after a stormy session.
A strong sense of state individualism, however,
long prevailed and aroused the suspicion and hostil-
ity toward the measures of the central government.
In Congress, Hugh Williamson led the opposition to
assumption of state debts, and in 'western North
Carolina opposition to the excise law was as effec-
tive as in Pennsylvania. In 1790 the House of Com-
mons, excited over the assumption of state debts,
refused to take an oath to support the constitution,
and the Court of Equity refused to obey a writ of
certiorari issued by the Federal District Court re-
moving a case to the Supreme Court of the United
States.
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 473
The general discontent which these incidents sug-
gest caused a reaction to Anti-Federalism; in 1793
that party carried all the Congressional districts
save one, and in the person of Nathaniel Macon,
North Carolina Anti-Federalism had a prominent
place in the councils of the party. Yet the milder
type of Anti-Federalism and Federalist policies
prevailed in North Carolina. In 1797 the Assembly,
in which the Federalists had a majority, instructed
the state's delegates in Congress to labor for the
repeal of the Alien and Sedition Laws, while the suc-
ceeding Assembly, having an Anti-Federalist ma-
jority, failed to approve the Virginia-Kentucky Re-
solves. The year 1800 marks the beginning of the
decline of the Federalists in North Carolina. An
important factor in the Anti-Federalist victory was
Joseph Gales and the newly founded Raleigh
Register. But as long as the party lasted, the Fed-
eralists had a strong hold in the Fayetteville and
Salisbury districts, and during the War of 1812 one
of the most prominent anti-administration leaders
of Congress was William Gaston, of Craven county.
Domestic Affairs.
Gradually domestic problems assumed import-
ance. In 1788 Wake county was chosen the seat of
government; in 1791 the city of Raleigh was laid
off, and in 1794 the Assembly held its sessions in the
new capitol. In 1810 a system of state banks was
inaugurated. The cause of internal improvements
became popular. In the last decade of the Eight-
eenth century bounties for iron manufactures were
offered, and in 1790 the Dismal Swamp Canal, con-
necting the Pasquotank River with Elizabeth River
in Virginia was chartered ; although begun as a priv-
ate enterprise, it was ultimately finished by state
aid, and later the state took stock in various navi-
474 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
gation companies, whose aim was to improve rivers
and harbors, but no step was made toward orga-
nized effort by the state until a Board of Internal
Improvements was created in 1819. The need of
better educational facilities was also felt; the con-
stitution provided for "a school or schools" for the
instruction of youth with salaries paid by the public,
which shall enable them to instruct at low prices
and for higher learning in one or more universities.
The University of North Carolina was founded, but
nothing was accomplished for public education, al-
though various governors urged the cause and
Archibald D. Murphy, in 1817, presented to the As-
sembly a comprehensive and searching educational
report. Even more vital than these issues, and pro-
foundly influencing them, was the cause of constitu-
tional reform. The system of representation, which
apportioned membership in the Assembly according
to counties rather than population, fostered the old
hostility of the eastern and western counties; for
during the early years of the century those of the
west so developed that they surpassed the east in
population and wealth, but by virtue of a larger
number of counties, the east controlled legislation.
Gradually the two sections were divided on all im-
portant issues, the east opposing further aid to in-
ternal improvements and public education, the west
demanding a progressive policy. In 1824, the year
of national political ferment, the west supported
Jackson, the east Crawford, for the presidency, but
when, in 1828, the east adopted Jackson on account
of his state's rights' principles, the west became
lukewarm, and by 1832 was identified with the new
Whig party.
New Constitution.
After prolonged agitation which threatened to
rend the state, the western counties under the lead-
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 475
ership of David Lowry Swain and Willie P. Man-
gum forced the submission of reform to the people.
In 1834, and in accordance with a popular but sec-
tional vote, a constitutional convention met at Eal-
eigh in 1835. In a series of amendments representa-
tion in the House of Commons was apportioned
among counties according to their population, in the
Senate according to districts formed according to
taxes. The Assembly was robbed of much of its
power by establishing biennial instead of annual
sessions, and by giving the election of governor to
the people. Free negroes were disfranchised, and
largely through the efforts of William Gaston the
32d clause of the constitution, which excluded from
public office those denying the truth of the Protestant
religion, was made to read the truth of the Christian
religion. These reforms were ratified by a sectional
vote, all western counties giving a majority for
the amendment, the eastern, except one, voting
against it.
Whig Ascendency.
The leaders in the cause of constitutional reform
were Whigs, and the succeeding fifteen years (1835
to 1850) marked the period of Whig ascendency.
In national politics such able leaders as Mangum,
William A. Graham and Geo. E. Badger kept North
Carolina loyal to the party when the real interests
of the South seemed to be with the Democrats, and
brought into the state a sentiment of nationality
which later opposed secession. The real explana-
tion of the party's supremacy, however, was its
identification with the cause of domestic progress.
Three notable achievements were made under Whig
leadership. Chief of these was the inauguration of
a public school system.
476 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Public Education.
In 1825 the Assembly provided for a literary fund
to be used for educational purposes. By 1838 this
amounted to $1,732,485. After a few appropriations
had been made a revised school law was enacted in
1840, framed by Bartlett Yancey, which distributed
the income among the counties according to Federal
population, and empowered the county courts to sup-
plement it by a local county tax. There were many
difficulties; local taxation of the counties not being
mandatory, many failed to give local support. Not
until 1846 were schools established in all counties,
and there was no attempt at organized educational
administration until 1852, when Calvin H. Wiley
was appointed Superintendent of Common Schools.
In 1860, on the eve of the War of Secession, the
sum of $255,641.12 was spent for public educa-
tion, and throughout that conflict the schools were
kept open and the literary fund was kept a sacred
trust. With the failure of banks and the collapse
after the war, the literary fund was lost.
During the same period (1840 to 1860) the number
of male colleges increased from three to six, the
foremost being, besides the University already es-
tablished, Davidson, Wake Forest and Trinity; and
the number of female colleges increased from one to
thirteen.
Internal Improvements.
The Whig leaders adopted a more liberal policy
toward internal improvements. Better transporta-
tion facilities were necessary, but the failure of
earlier corporations and the state's investment in
them aroused opposition to further state aid. A
new period opened with the completion of the Wil-
mington and Weldon and Raleigh and Gaston lines
in 1840, both lines being assisted by liberal state aid.
The western counties were unsupplied, and in 1845
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 477
a failure of crops created a famine, although corn
was rotting in the fields of the eastern counties.
The Whig leaders, principally William A. Graham,
John M. Morehead and William S. Ashe, urged the
building of a road from the coast to the mountains ;
but the Democrats and the eastern counties, partly
from the embarrassment of the existing roads and
the state's investment in them, partly from old
sectional feeling, opposed the movement. But in
1849, after a prolonged debate, the North Carolina
Railroad Company was chartered, by vote of Mr.
Graves, speaker of the Senate, a Democrat, the
state guaranteeing two-fifths of the capital stock.
In a few years the road was completed from Golds-
boro to Charlotte, and an extension toward Asheville
was begun, while the Atlantic and North Carolina
road was built to connect Goldsboro and the coast.
The enterprise proved a success financially, while
socially it was of great service, doing much to abolish
the old hostility of the eastern and western counties.
Charities.
The domestic policy of the Whig party was also
pervaded by a humanitarian spirit. In 1845 the In-
stitution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind was founded,
and in 1849, largely through the appeal of Dorothea
Dix and James C. Dobbin, the Assembly established
the present Central Asylum for the Insane at Ral-
eigh. In 1848, also, the right of married women
before the common law was amended by a statutory
provision that maiden lands of wives should not be
liable to execution for the husband's debts, and that
no man could sell his wife's property without her
consent, given in presence of witnesses.
Whigs Defeated.
Notwithstanding this program of progress, the
[Whig party lost its supremacy in 1850. For this
478 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
there were two causes, one local and one national.
The constitutional reforms in 1835 had made taxes
the basis of membership in the Senate, and had pre-
served the property qualification as a requisite to
vote for state senators. In 1848 David S. Reid,
Democratic candidate for governor, through the
advice of Stephen A. Douglas, made manhood suf-
frage the issue of his campaign, demanding the
abolition of the property qualification and an ap-
portionment of senators according to Federal popu-
lation. Though defeated in 1848, Eeid and also a
Democratic Assembly were elected in 1850, but on
account of obstruction by the Whigs the proposed
reform did not pass the Assembly until 1854, and
was ratified by the people the following year.
Slavery.
In addition to the local issue, a division in na-
tional policy toward slavery was fatal to the Whigs.
In discussion of the proposed Wilmot Proviso, which
excluded slavery from the territory acquired from
Mexico, George E. Badger, in the Senate of the
United States, admitted the right, though doubting
the expediency of Congress, to exclude slavery from
territories and denied the right of a state to secede
from the Union ; while Thomas L. Clingman, a Whig
leader of the western counties, in a letter to Mr.
Foote, of Mississippi, declared that the policy of
exclusion would be revolutionary and leaned toward
secession as a means of protection for the South.
The North Carolina Whigs, however, supported the
Compromise of 1850, but in 1852 an irreparable
schism developed. Mr. Clingman favored the nomi-
nation of Millard Fillmore for the Presidency, and
when General Scott was nominated he left the party,
declaring that it had been captured by the abolition-
ists, and supported Franklin Pierce, the Democratic
XORTH CAKOLINA, 1775-1861. 479
candidate. This defection was fatal, for although
the Whigs nominated William A. Graham for the
vice-presidency, the electoral vote of North Caro-
lina showed a majority for Pierce. Thus, after
years of service, the Whig party lost control of local
and national political issues in North Carolina.
Some of its members joined the short-lived Know
Nothing party; among these were John A. Gilmer
and Kenneth Raynor, both prominent in the Know
Nothing movement.
Toward the slavery question and the agitation
which resulted in secession, North Carolina's atti-
tude was conservative. For this there were various
reasons. The small farm and the middle class
planter being the dominant factors in industry, the
milder type of slavery prevailed and the slave sys-
tem never secured so strong a hold on the life of the
people as in most other Southern states. Moreover, in
the middle and western counties, there was a strong
anti-slavery sentiment. These counties had been
settled by Scotch-Irish, Germans and Quakers, and
slavery had far less hold than in the east. Illus-
trative of this sentiment were Hinton Rowan
Helper, Benjamin S. Hedrick, Daniel R. Goodloe,
men who opposed slavery in the interest of the
whites rather than the negroes. Indeed, in spite of
the intense political controversy over slavery, there
seems to have been a steady undercurrent of feeling
among thinking people that sooner or later the in-
stitution must end.
Therefore, sympathy with other states and the
logic of events, rather than personal grievances, led
North Carolina into the Confederacy. Although
secession had been advocated by political leaders,
notably Thomas L. Clingman and William W. Hoi-
den, the principle made no headway among the peo-
ple until 1857. Then the publication of Helper's
480 THE HISTOEY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Impending Crisis and John Brown's raid aroused
public sentiment. Possession of Helper's book at
once became a political crime, and sympathy for
Virginia was expressed. The Council of State
adopted resolutions threatening a new form of gov-
ernment unless slave property was protected. Pub-
lic meetings were held in various counties that ex-
pressed defiance to the North and to abolition. In
one year secession sentiment had grown more than
in all the preceding ones, and a secession party,
small but active, had come into existence.
The rising tide of secession and proslavery senti-
ment at once met strong opposition. In 1858 John
W. Ellis, a states-rights Democrat, received the
nomination of his party for governor. He was op-
posed by Duncan K. McEae, Independent, who
sought to turn the people's mind from slavery to
economic development and education. Though Ellis
was victorious, McRae received a large vote, and
W. W. Holden, disappointed at the nomination of
Ellis, now drifted from the radicals to conservatism.
Two years later opposition to slavery agitation and
secession was even stronger. The Whig party re-
vived, nominated John Pool for governor, ridiculed
secession in its convention, and on a local issue, ad-
valorem slave taxation, sought to divert the people
from slavery questions. The Democrats renomi-
nated Ellis, and incorporated a strong states-rights
clause in their platform. In the campaign Ellis in
vain tried to arouse the people on the national ques-
tion. He was forced to face the local issue; by
adroit argument he won the fight, but the Demo-
cratic majority was reduced to 10,000 below that of
1858, though the vote was the largest ever polled in
the state. Clearly the conservatism of the people
made them hesitate to endorse radical views re-
garding slavery and secession.
NORTH CAROLINA, 1775-1861. 481
The election of Lincoln gave new life to secession
agitation. Public meetings were held in the interest
of secession, and in the Assembly which met in
November, 1860, resolutions asserting and denying
the right of secession were introduced, but neither
were adopted. The secessionists demanded the call
of a state convention to consider Federal relations,
and after prolonged discussion in the Assembly and
throughout the state on Jan. 30, 1861, both factions
agreed to submit to the people the question of a con-
vention whose work, if called, should be ratified by
the people, while the election of delegates was to be
held at the same time. The vote was cast on Feb-
ruary 28 ; by a majority of 651 the call of a conven-
tion was rejected, and the majority of the delegates
elected were Union men. The conservatism of the
people was greater than that of their leaders. But
the efforts of the secessionists did not abate and the
trend of events soon favored them. The fall of Fort
Sumter and a request by the secretary of war for
two regiments of troops from North Carolina were
decisive. Even the Union newspapers and leaders
gave up the fight. Governor Ellis called a special
session of the Assembly which met on May 1, 1861.
A state convention with unlimited powers was or-
dered, and preparations were made for war. Public
sentiment had quickly changed; there was no oppo-
sition to military activity, to the convention or to
separation from the Union. The social bond was
stronger than the political bond ; in the critical hour,
the choice of North Carolina was to fight with sister
states, although conservative political sentiment and
love of the Union had heretofore been supreme.
Secession.
There remained one final problem, viz.: the man-
ner of withdrawal from the Union. In the conven-
482 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
tion which assembled at Ealeigh on May 20, there
were two distinct factions — one dominated by the
principles of the old Whig party, the other repre-
senting the opinion of the advanced Democracy. In
the preliminary test of strength the latter element
proved supreme, Weldon N. Edwards being chosen
president over William A. Graham. Two sets of
resolutions looking to the withdrawal from the
Union were then offered — one by George E. Badger
providing for separation by means of revolution,
without mentioning secession in its applied mean-
ing; the other framed by Judah P. Benjamin, in-
troduced by Burton Craige, based on the idea
of constitutional secession, abrogated and rescinded
the ordinance of the convention by which North
Carolina had ratified the constitution of the United
States in 1789. Mr. Badger's resolutions were re-
jected, and after a test vote those of Mr. Craige were
unanimously adopted, the Whigs and Conservatives
sacrificing their political convictions in the interest
of a great cause. Thus on May 20, 1861, North Caro-
lina left the Union.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Moore's History of North Carolina (2 vols., 1880) is
the only book that covers the entire period of this chapter, is very in-
complete and must be supplemented by other studies. For the Revo-
lution, Colonial and State Records (Vols. X.-XXIV.) are an invaluable
repository of documents; Ashe, History of North Carolina (Vol. I., 1908)
Is written close to the sources; Sykes, Transition from Colony to Com-
monwealth (Johns Hopkins Studies); Hoyt, Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence (1906) and Schenck, North Carolina 1780-81 (1888) are
useful studies, while Caruthers, Old North State (1854, second series 1856)
contains illustrative material derived from legend and tradition. Po-
litical history from 1789-1861 is well outlined in Wagstaff 's States Rights
And Political Parties in North Carolina (Johns Hopkins Press).
Contributions to social history are Weaver, History of Internal Im-
provements in North Carolina (Johns Hopkins Press); Bassett, Slavery in
North Carolina and Anti^Slavery (Ibid) Weeks, History of the Common
School System in the South (U. S. Bureau of Education) and Coon, Docu-
mentary History of Education in North Carolina (N. C. Historical Com-
mission).
WILLIAM K. BOYD,
Professor of History, Trinity College, N. C.
NORTH CAROLINA, 1861-1865. 483
CHAPTER IV.
NORTH CAROLINA IN THE CONFEDERACY,
1861-1865.
North Carolina Joins the Confederacy.
The question whether North Carolina desired to
call a convention to consider secession was submit-
ted by the legislature to the people in January, 1861.
The vote on the Referendum was held February 28,
and resulted in a majority of 651 against the call of
the convention. But events marched rapidly. The
failure of the Peace Convention, to which the state
sent, as her delegates, ex-Chief Justice Thomas
Ruffin, ex-Governors Morehead and Reid, Daniel M.
Barringer and George Davis, was followed in rapid
succession by the firing on Fort Sumter, the call of
President Lincoln for troops and the secession of
Virginia. The issue had come to be not whether the
state would secede, but whether the people would
fight on the side of their neighbors and kindred of
the South, or against them. On that issue there
could be no division or hesitation.
The legislature, called in special session by the
governor, met on May 1. In two hours after its
assembling it ordered another Referendum for May
17 on the question of calling a convention, the con-
vention to assemble, if voted, on May 20. The con-
vention was voted by a large majority. On its as-
sembling May 20, the convention, composed of many
of the ablest men of the state, by a unanimous vote
repealed the act of November, 1789, by which North
Carolina had acceded to the Federal Union, and de-
clared the state to be no longer one of the United
States. A subsequent resolution declared the acces-
484 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
sion of the state to the Confederate States, by whose
congress it was accepted as a member a week later,
on May 27.
Preparing for War.
But before the convention met, the state was pre-
paring for the war that had become inevitable. On
April 15, Governor Ellis had replied to the call of
the United States authorities for two regiments,
"You can get no troops from North Carolina." The
governor immediately issued the call for the legis-
lature to meet in session May 1, and under his or-
ders the state troops seized the forts on our coast
and the United States arsenal at Fayetteville on
April 16. He also called for volunteers, and formed
a camp of instruction at Raleigh under Col. D. H.
Hill that the new troops might be trained and dis-
ciplined.
The legislature, without waiting for the assemb-
ling of the convention, directed the governor to en-
roll 20,000 volunteers for twelve months and 10,000
state troops for the war, the former to elect their
own officers. The officers of the state troops were
appointed by the governor. The legislature also
voted $5,000,000 for the public defense, and author-
ized the governor to send troops to Virginia to aid
in the defense of that state. The First Regiment
N. C. Volunteers, later known as the "Bethel"
Regiment, was speedily organized with D. H. Hill
(later lieutenant-general) as its colonel, and pro-
ceeded to Virginia, three companies arriving at
Richmond May 18, and the other seven companies on
May 21. On June 10 this regiment was at the battle
of Bethel. As Virginia did not secede till May 17,
and her troops were not turned over to the Confed-
eracy till June 7, for several days the North Caro-
lina soldiers were in Virginia simply as allies.
The enthusiasm was universal, and at the time
NORTH CAROLINA, 1861-1865. 485
public sentiment was as unanimous for secession as
the expression of the convention had been.
James G. Martin, an old army officer who had
served in Mexico and had lost an arm at Cherubusco,
was appointed Adjutant-General by the state, and
he pressed the organization of the troops and the
collection of arms and war material with zeal and
intelligence. In seven months the state had raised,
equipped and turned over to the Confederacy 40,000
troops. Within a year, by May, 1862, the state had
nearly 60,000 men under arms. The total number
of soldiers, of all kinds, which the state had in serv-
ice during the war was 129,000, besides 5,000 Home-
guards, being, doubtless, the largest number fur-
nished by any state in the Confederacy.*
The most serious difficulty at first was the want
of arms and war material. The state, when it seized
the United States arsenal at Fayetteville, found
there 30,000 muskets, most of them in poor condi-
tion, and a very large proportion flint and steel.
They were converted into percussion muskets as
rapidly as the scarcity of workmen permitted. There
were also found in the arsenal six cannon and a large
quantity of powder. Four more cannon came from
the military schools of Colonel Tew at Hillsboro and
Major Hill at Charlotte. With such equipment
North Carolina entered into one of the greatest wars
in history. As fast as workmen could be found or
educated, factories were started for the manufac-
ture of swords, bayonets, muskets, percussion caps,
powder, cartridges and cartridge boxes, belts and
other equipment, as well as clothing, caps and shoes,
and other supplies for the army. But such were the
zeal of the people and the rapidity of volunteering,
that some regiments were sent to Virginia partly
armed with shotguns, "buck and ball" ammunition,
*Clark's North Carolina Regimental Historic*.
486 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
and some unarmed altogether. Artillery companies
were also hurried to the front without cannon or
horses. The deficiency of arms was soon largely
supplied by captures made at Manassas and other
victories, supplemented by the arms and ammuni-
tion made in the armories of the state and of the
Confederacy, and also by some importations by the
state, from time to time, through the port of
.Wilmington.
A clothing factory for the troops was started by
the state at Raleigh, and all the cloth product of the
cotton mills of the state was called for. Many
blankets, quilts, comforts and carpets were con-
tributed by the patriotic women of the state. The
carpets cut up and lined served fairly well for blank-
ets. But captures from time to time of the enemies'
stores were an indispensable aid in supplying the
deficiencies in clothing, as well as in arms and equip-
ment.
The quartermaster and commissary departments
were organized efficiently and well officered. The
state bought the steamer Ad-Vance, which, under
Capt. Thomas M. Crossen, ran the blockade twelve
times bringing in goods, arms and ammunition,
with the result that North Carolina troops were not
only the best clothed and equipped troops in the
Confederacy, but the state was often able to assist
the Confederacy from its surplus of arms and stores.
The state bought up 100,000 bbls. resin and 11,000
bales of cotton, which it shipped out to be exchanged
for whatever it most needed. Among the stores
thus brought in by the Ad-Vance and other blockade
runners for this state were 250,000 pairs shoes,
250,000 suits of uniform, 50,000 blankets, 12,000 over-
coats, 60,000 pairs of cotton cards, 5,000 sacks coffee
for the hospitals, besides medicines, machinery,
arms, ammunition and other supplies. Up to March,
NORTH CAROLINA, 1861-1865. 487
1864, North Carolina had received $6,000,000 from
the Confederacy for the supply of such articles, in
excess of its own needs, which it had turned over,
besides stores of great value furnished to the Con-
federate government without charge. Besides cloth-
ing its own troops, North Carolina, in the winter
after Chickamauga, sent 14,000 suits of uniform to
Longstreet's corps in the western army. And Dr.
Thomas D. Hogg, the head of the state commissary
department, reported to Governor Vance during the
last months of the war that he was feeding half of
Lee 's army, doing so in part with provisions brought
through the blockade, especially bacon.*
Governor Vance.
John W. Ellis, who was governor at the outbreak
of the war, died July 7, 1861, at Eed Sulphur
Springs, Va., whither he had gone on account of his
health, and was succeeded by the speaker of the
senate, Henry T. Clark, of Edgecombe. In August,
1862, Col. Zebulon B. Vance, of the Twenty-sixth
N. C. Regiment, formerly a member of the United
States Congress, was elected governor over William
Johnston. He took the oath of office the following
month, and discharged its duties with signal ability
till the close of the war.
The War in 1861.
The first battle of the war was fought June 10,
1861, at Bethel on the Peninsula in Virginia, be-
tween Yorktown and Hampton. The Confederate
force consisted of the First N. C. Volunteers, 800
men, under Col. D. H. Hill, and 600 Virginians of
different commands. They were attacked by 4,500
troops under Gen. E. W. Pierce of B. F. Butler 's
•Governor Vance's speech " North Carolina's Record " at'White Sulphur Springs,
Va., Aug. 18, 1875, reprinted.5 Clark's North, Carolina Regiments, 463.
488 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
command, which had been sent out from Fortress
Monroe. The Federals were repulsed, losing eight-
een killed and fifty-three wounded. The Confeder-
ates had nine men wounded and one killed. The
latter, Henry L. "Wyatt, of the Edgecombe Guards
in the N. C. Regiment, but a native of Virginia, was
the first Southern soldier killed in battle during that
great struggle.*
The effect of the victory in the first battle, at
Bethel, was electric, and aroused the South to fever
heat. Volunteers poured in on all sides and con-
tributions of all kinds for the army were sent to
the authorities. Six weeks later on July 21, 1861,
came another victory, that of Bull Eun, or First
Manassas, and the South went wild. The victory
was not utilized by the capture of Washington,
which might have been entered on the heels of the
fugitive Federal army. The chief, if not the only,
benefit reaped from the victory by the South was
the arms and stores captured. This was more than
offset by the resultant overconfidence in the South,
and the determination with which the North settled
down to a long struggle.
On the North Carolina coast the state had taken
possession of Fort Caswell at the mouth of the Cape
Fear, of Fort Macon at Beaufort, and had erected
fortifications at Hatteras and Ocracoke Inlets and
on Eoanoke Island. It also owned four little gun-
boats mounting one gun each, known as the "mos-
quito fleet." These little vessels occasionally
slipped out through the inlets and picked up mer-
chant ships when the Federal war vessels were not
too near. In six weeks eight schooners, seven barks
and one brig were thus captured. The United States
*Captain Marr of Virginia, it is true, had been previously killed on the sidewalk
in Warrenton, Va., as the enemy's cavalry dashed through the town, but he was
not on duty, and there was no battle. There were no troops in the town to op-
pose the raiders.
NOETH CAROLINA, 1861-1865. 489
authorities, in considering the best method to stop
these sallies upon their commerce, had their atten-
tion drawn to the advantage of taking possession of
the sounds of North Carolina and the adjacent ter-
ritory, both because it was a rich granary of food
supplies and would also be a back door for the cap-
ture of Norfolk.
Accordingly, in August, 1861, Gen. B. F. Butler
sailed with a large fleet, mounting 143 long range
cannon, for the capture of Fort Hatteras. The lat-
ter mounted twelve old-fashioned, smooth bore,
short range guns, while Fort Clark, across the Inlet,
had seven of like calibre. Not one of the guns in
the two forts could reach the Federal fleet, which lay
off out of range and raked the forts at will with
their long range missiles. The result was the sur-
render of the forts with 670 men and 1,000 muskets.
The whole of eastern North Carolina was thus laid
open. The captured troops were taken North on the
fleet, but were soon exchanged and sent home.
Other troops were raised by the state, but arms
were lacking. A regiment armed with squirrel
rifles and butcher knives was sent to Boanoke Island
with antiquated cannon mounted on the front wheels
of farm wagons, drawn by farm mules in their plow
harness. Boanoke Island was untenable, for the
Federal fleet could sail up the channel on either side
and take the fortifications in flank. The only sup-
porting fleet with the Southern forces was the mos-
quito fleet of 9 canal boats mounting one gun each.
There being no coal obtainable, the crews went
ashore from time to time to cut green wood for the
boilers.
The War in 1862.
Against such preparations the Federal govern-
ment, in 1862, sent a fleet of eighty vessels, mounting
sixty-one guns and carrying, besides the full com-
490 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
plement of sailors, 15,000 well-equipped and disci-
plined troops, under Burnside. Against these, North
Carolina had placed at New Bern seven newly raised
regiments, under Brig.-Gen. L. O'B. Branch, and
two of like kind at Boanoke Island under Col. H. M.
Shaw. Both of these commanders were brave men
who subsequently lost their lives in the Confederate
service, but they were, like their men, without mili-
tary experience. Both had been recently members
of the United States Congress.
The Confederacy was not able to spare any troops
from Virginia. Possibly some might have been sent
from those around Charleston, but none came. On
Feb. 7, 1862, the Federal fleet appeared before Boan-
oke Island. The troops were landed, and the next
day the attack was made by land and water. A gal-
lant defense was made, but in the face of such odds
only one result was possible, and all the troops
which could not be withdrawn were captured. The
enemy's vessels pursued the mosquito fleet, which
was all captured or blown up to avoid falling into
hands of the enemy. Elizabeth City and Edenton,
with the country bordering upon Albemarle Sound,
passed into the control of the Federals, who held it
for the remainder of the war. Winton was burnt
and Plymouth occupied by them.
General Burnside then returned to Pamlico Sound.
He landed his troops below New Bern and, March
14, 1862, assaulted the Confederate works at that
place, which was held by General Branch with 4,000
men, including militia. The right wing was repulsed
notwithstanding the aid of the fire from the fleet,
but the left wing, penetrating through an unoccu-
pied gap, turned the flank of the militia. The troops
were then withdrawn and New Bern abandoned.
The Confederates lost 165 killed and wounded, and
413 prisoners. The Federals lost 470 in all.
NORTH CAROLINA, 1861-1865. 491
On April 25 Fort Macon, surrounded by the Fed-
eral fleet and army, was surrendered after a vigor-
ous bombardment. Pamlico Sound and the adjacent
country, including New Bern, Beaufort and Wash-
ington, N. C., remained henceforth in Federal pos-
session.
In May, 1862, Norfolk was evacuated, and the Con-
federate army retired before McClellan's advance
from Yorktown to the gates of Richmond. In the
latter part of June occurred the famous Seven Days'
Battles, which drove the Federal army to the shelter
of its fleet at Harrison's Landing, with the loss of
fifty-two cannon, 27,000 muskets, 10,000 prisoners
and vast quantities of stores. But the loss of the
Confederates, who were the assaulting party
throughout, was more than 20 per cent, larger than
that of the Federal army in killed and wounded.
This was largely borne by North Carolina, which
furnished thirty-six of the 174 Confederate regi-
ments engaged. Of the 3,279 Confederate dead, 650
were from North Carolina and 3,279 of the 15,851
wounded — more than one-fifth.
Then followed the victorious march to Cedar
Mountain and Second Manassas, the first Maryland
campaign, Sharpsburg and the victory at Freder-
icksburg. In these the state suffered heavily in
officers and men, including Generals Branch and
Anderson, both killed at Sharpsburg. At Freder-
icksburg the Confederate loss was 5,322, of which
1,467, almost one- third, fell upon North Carolina
regiments.
The War in 1863.
In December, 1862, about the time of the Freder-
icksburg battle, General Foster made an advance
from New Bern. He penetrated to near Goldsboro,
burning the railroad bridge south of that town, but
was speedily driven back with loss. In the spring
492 THE HISTOKY OF NORTH CAEOLINA.
of 1863, the Confederates returned the compliment
and threatened Plymouth, Washington, N. C., and
New Bern, but were called off by the necessity of
sending reinforcements to Lee, who confronted
Hooker and 133,000 Federals who had crossed the
Eappahannock. At Chancellorsville, where Jackson
fell, North Carolina furnished twenty-four of the
120 regiments engaged, or one-fifth, but her loss was
more than one-third of the Confederate killed — 557
out of 1,581, and more than one-fourth of the
wounded— 2,394 out of 8,700.
Then followed Gettysburg, where, in the famous
charge of the third day, the North Carolina dead
were found nearest the enemy's line. The official
report shows 15,301 Confederates killed and
wounded, of which number 4,033, or considerably
more than one-fourth, were from North Carolina.
The heaviest loss in any one regiment in the battle,
or, indeed, in any battle during the war, was in the
Twenty-sixth North Carolina, which lost 588 out of
800 present, or 73 per cent. No brigade in Pickett's
division lost as many killed as this one regiment.
Of the 2,592 Confederates killed at Gettysburg, 770
were North Carolinians, 435 Georgians, 399 Virgin-
ians, 258 Mississippians, 217 South Carolinians and
204 Alabamians. "Dead men tell no tales " is not
true of a battle.
In the Army of the West, North Carolina had nine
regiments which rendered efficient service. They
especially distinguished themselves at Chickamauga,
as did Clingman's Brigade at Battery Wagner, at
Charleston, where it lost 412 men in the summer
of 1863.
The War in 1864.
On April 20, 1864, Gen. Robert F. Hoke captured
Plymouth with the aid of the ironclad Albemarle,
which came down the Eoanoke. The enemy there-
NORTH CAROLINA, 1861-1865. 493
upon burned and evacuated Washington, N. C. In
October following, the Albemarle while anchored at
Plymouth was sunk by a torpedo attack made at
night by Lieutenant Gushing of the United States
Navy, and the town was soon recaptured by the en-
emy. Upon the capture of Plymouth, General Hoke
moved against New Bern, but was called off and
reached Petersburg just in time to prevent the cap-
ture of that city by Butler.
At the Wilderness in May, 1864, thirty-four North
Carolina regiments were in the army which faced
Grant, besides those around Petersburg. In the
winter of 1864-5, North Carolina had in Virginia
fifty-nine regiments, two battalions and seven bat-
teries, composing thirteen brigades. They sustained
heavy loss in the almost continuous fighting up to
the surrender at Appomattox. Of these troops,
eighteen regiments were in the army under Early,
were in the sight of the Federal capitol and con-
tested the valley of Virginia at Winchester, Cedar
Creek and Fisher's Hill. The troops of this state
were nearly one-fourth of those who held the lines
around Petersburg and Eichmond for so many
months. In addition, there were the North Carolina
regiments in the western army and those in this
state, at Wilmington and elsewhere. At Appomat-
tox there were surrendered forty-nine regiments,
two battalions and six batteries, or what was left of
them.
The War in 1865.
In December, 1864, Gen. B. F. Butler, with a Fed-
eral fleet and army, assaulted Fort Fisher, near
Wilmington, but was driven back. In January,
1865, the attack was renewed under Admiral Porter
and General Terry, who were successful in a land
attack after sixty vessels, mounting 600 guns, had
battered the Fort for two days. The Confederate
494 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
forces in this state were reenforced in January,
1865, by General Hoke with four brigades detached
from the army in Virginia. General Schofield, ad-
vancing from New Bern, met with a check at South-
west Creek, near Kinston, on March 8, 1865, but the
advance of Sherman from South Carolina caused
the Confederate forces to fall back to Smithfield,
where they united with the fragments of the western
army under Joseph E.Johnston, and on three memor-
able days, March 19, 20 and 21, drove back Sher-
man's army at Bentonville. Sherman withdrew to
Goldsboro. Learning of Lee's surrender, Gen. Jo-
seph E. Johnston began his retreat on April 10,
passed through Raleigh April 13, and surrendered,
when all hope was lost, at Greensboro on April 26.
On May 2 the army was paroled and dispersed to
their homes.
During the latter part of the war the western part
of the state was subjected to raids from the Federal
troops in eastern Tennessee, as well as by banded
deserters from all parts of the Confederacy, who
had taken to the mountains. About 1865 General
Stoneman made a raid through that section. The
last battle east of the Mississippi was fought at
Waynesville, N. C., on May 9, 1865. The Confeder-
ate troops engaged, five North Carolina regiments
and two batteries, surrendered the next day.
To the Confederate navy, besides its full share of
men and officers, the state contributed J. W. Cooke,
commander of the Albemarle, J. N. Maffit of the
Florida, and James Iredell Waddell of the Shenan-
doah, which carried the Confederate flag around the
world and did not surrender till Nov. 6, 1865.
Conclusion.
Notwithstanding the state's contribution of sup-
plies to Lee's army, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston stated
NORTH CAROLINA, 1861-1865. 495
to Governor Vance that when he surrendered he had
five months' supplies for 60,000 men which had been
gathered in this state, though Lee's army had been
fed for several months almost entirely from North
Carolina.
Governor Vance, besides looking after the welfare
of the troops, imported 60,000 pairs hand cards,
10,000 grain scythes, 200 barrels of blue stone (for
wheat growers), besides large quantities of machin-
ery, lubricating oil, and supplies for the charitable
institutions of the state. He also procured supplies
of salt at the state salt works. It was this care for
the soldiery, and the destitute at home as well, which
gave him a hold on the affections of the state which
nothing could shake.
The records show that North Carolina furnished
to the Confederacy 128,905 men — exclusive of the
Home Guards — probably a fifth of the whole number
in the service. The official records show, also, that
this state lost 42,000 men killed or died in service — by
much the largest number from any Southern state. Of
these, 19,673 were killed in battle or died of wounds.*
The heavy losses sustained by this state, and the
destitution among the women and children in 1864,
caused dissatisfaction in certain sections, which was
utilized by W. W. Holden, who was a candidate
against Governor Vance in the campaign of 1864,
but Vance was successful by an overwhelming ma-
jority.
Governor Vance's Letter Book shows that while
he was a staunch and most efficient supporter of the
Confederate cause, which he aided with every avail-
able man and all the means at his command, he
sturdily differed with President Davis as to many
of his methods. He complained to the President that
*Fox's Riyimental Lout*, 664.
496 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
while North Carolina had been lavish in furnishing
men and supplies, she had not been as liberally rec-
ognized by the Confederate government, and when
a citizen of another state was sent here to be put at
the head of the conscript bureau, he promptly and
persistently insisted on his removal. In 1864 Hon.
George Davis, of North Carolina, became attorney-
general in the Confederate cabinet.
North Carolina lost three of her seven major-gen-
erals killed in battle — Pender, Eamseur and Whit-
ing; and six of her twenty-six brigadier-generals —
Branch, Anderson, Pettigrew, Daniel, Gordon and
Godwin. The others, with scarcely an exception,
were wounded. The list of the colonels and other
officers killed is in the same heavy proportion as the
loss among her rank and file.
After the war was over, the Confederate soldiers
in North Carolina composed the vast majority of
the surviving manhood of the state. Unawed by
the garrisons of the victorious army and unseduced,
they took their stand for Anglo-Saxon supremacy
and saved the South from the fate of Hayti and the
West Indies. They built up the waste places, broke
up the soil anew to the plow, they laid railroad
tracks into new sections and relaid those that had
.been worn out. They taxed themselves to educate
the new generation, without regard to color, and to
provide for the worn-out and disabled Confederates,
to whom the general government dispensed no aid,
though the South was taxed for the care of the Fed-
eral disabled. While doing these things they were
carrying on a desperate struggle to drive off the
carpet-bag adventurers from the North, who, join-
ing with a few native scallawags, were utilizing the
prejudices and ignorance of the negro vote in a sys-
tem of organized and unprecedented plunder. Lit-
erally, like the frontiersmen of colonial days, or the
NORTH CAROLINA, 1865-1909. 497
Hebrews when rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem,
the workman labored with his arms at hand.
BIBLIOGRAPHY — Fox's Regimental Losses, Official Records Union and
Confederate Armies; Hill's History of North Carolina; Moore's History
of North Carolina, Vol. II; Clark's North Carolina Regimental Histories;
Governor Vance's Speech " North Carolina's Record " at White Sulphur
Springs, Va., Aug. 18, 1875; Governor's Letter Books North Carolina,
1861-5.
WALTER CLARK,
Chief Justice Supreme Court, State of North Carolina.
CHAPTER V.
NORTH CAROLINA, FROM 1865 TO THE
PRESENT TIME.
Reconstruction.
On April 13, 1865, the Union army under General
Sherman entered Raleigh, and the keys of the capitol
were surrendered by ex-Gov. David L. Swain, presi-
dent of the University of North Carolina, acting
under the directions of Governor Vance, who had
retreated westward with Gen. Robert F. Hoke's
command. When General Schofield reached Greens-
boro, Governor Vance wished to surrender to him,
but was advised by the general to go home and re-
main there quietly. This he did, but on May 14 he
was arrested and, after being carried to Washington,
confined in Old Capitol Prison. The state by this
time was entirely under the control of the military
forces of the United States, and the civil government
of the commonwealth had ceased to exist. In its
place was military government with General Scho-
field in command. His administration, which lasted
until the end of June, was as acceptable to the people
Vol. 1—32.
498 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
as was possible under the circumstances, and was so
successful that peace and good order was rapidly
restored and, according to General Schofield, the
presence of troops rendered unnecessary. He was
very anxious to be provisional governor of the state,
and under him restoration would have been very
rapid, but President Johnson had other plans in
mind. After consultation with a number of people
from North Carolina, he had appointed "William W.
Holden, the editor of the Standard and the leader of
the peace movement during the war. Until 1858 he
had been the most influential man in the Democratic
party, and was probably the most extreme secession-
ist in the state. In that year he was defeated for
the gubernatorial nomination, and from that time
was gradually estranged from the party and began
to take the position of a strong Unionist. As the
war approached he was very bitter in his opposi-
tion, but changed in time to sign the secession ordi-
nance and become a strong advocate of the prosecu-
tion of the war. By 1862 he was lukewarm to the
cause and in 1863 was heading a movement for
peace. Defeated by Vance for governor in 1864, he
was discredited in the eyes of most of the people.
The old Whigs hated him as bitterly as the Demo-
crats, for he had deserted them in 1843 and had
been largely responsible for their downfall in 1850.
In view of his past record, a more unsuitable person
could scarcely have been selected for the responsible
post he was now called on to fill.
Johnson's Flan of Reorganization; Governor Holden.
Acting in accordance with the President's pro-
clamations, Governor Holden organized the provi-
sional government of the state and called a conven-
tion of the people which met on October 2. Edwin
G. Reade was chosen president and the temper of
NORTH CAROLINA, 1865-1909. 499
the convention was clearly conciliatory. Ordinances
were at once passed declaring the secession ordi-
nance null and void, abolishing slavery and declar-
ing all state offices vacant as a preparation for re-
organization. No action would have been taken in
regard to the state debt if Governor Holden had
not got from the President what was practically a
command for the passage of an ordinance of repu-
diation. This was passed, and after providing for
the election of state and county officers, members of
Congress and members of the General Assembly, the
convention adjourned until the following spring.
Governor Worth.
Governor Holden 's part in securing repudiation
and his attempt to build up a machine in his own
interest through his influence in securing pardons
had increased the number of those opposed to him,
and, in consequence, when the election for governor
approached, Jonathan Worth, an old Whig with a
clearer Union record than Holden 's, who had seen
long service in the General Assembly and as state
treasurer during the war, and who was then pro-
visional treasurer, was brought out against him and
elected by a majority of over 6,000. Holden at-
tempted to stamp his opponent as a "rebel" and as
the representative of the secessionists, and so far
succeeded that he was not allowed to take up the
reins of government until January, 1866. In the
meantime the General Assembly met and elected
William A. Graham and John Pool to the United
States Senate. Like the members of Congress who
had been chosen at the preceding election, they were
denied their seats, and the first definite check was
thus given the President's plan of restoration.
Owing to this condition of affairs nothing could
be accomplished in the way of economic improve-
500 THE HISTORY OF NOETH CABOUNA.
ment. Labor conditions were particularly chaotic,
not only because of the unsettled condition of polit-
ical affairs and the natural tendency on the part of
the negroes to take advantage of their freedom to
refuse to work, but also because of the interference
of the Freedmen's Bureau. This institution accom-
plished much for the relief of the destitute and suf-
fering, but it was productive of much harm through
the attempts of its officers to array the negroes
against the whites and to arouse them to political
activity. These officers, so far as was the case in
North Carolina, were, in the main, tactless, preju-
diced, dishonest and incompetent, and their influ-
ence was of the worst kind. The courts were subject
to constant interference by the Bureau officials, and
it became a matter of impossibility to punish a
negro criminal. White men were arrested on the
most trivial charges, which were more than often
false, and were subjected to severe and humiliating
punishments. A contempt for courts was thus bred
and was followed by a contempt for law and order
among the negroes and among many of the whites.
This was not the least of the evils of Reconstruction.
The Bureau officers defended their action by many
accounts of the injustice which the negroes received
from their former owners, but these were distortions
of fact. The legislature of 1865-66 adopted the re-
port of a special committee which recognized the
citizenship of the negro and gave him practical
equality with the white race before the law. At the
beginning of the period there was a disposition on
the part of the white people to live peaceably with
the negroes and to protect them from injustice. But
there was a firm belief that the negro was not pre-
pared for political privileges and that he still needed
restraint, and this opinion has not been substantially
altered in the years that have elapsed.
NORTH CAEOLINA, 1865-1909. 501
New Constitution.
In 1866 Governor Worth was reflected over Al-
fred Dockery by a majority of over 23,000. The
convention, in the meantime, had held a second ses-
sion and submitted to the people a new constitution
differing but little from the old one. The most im-
portant alteration was the change from federal to
white population as the basis of representation.
On account of the doubt in the minds of many as to
the validity of the convention, and largely through
the influence of former Chief Justice Kuftm, the con-
stitution was rejected by the people. {The main
issueof the campaign was the question of the ratifi-
cation ~of foe Fojirteentb~ aTnendmftnt, which had
^fiortl before been submitted to the states.
the legislature met, it was rejected by a large ma-
jority, only eleven votes being cast in both houses
in its favor. This, however, was a larger vote than
it received in any Southern state except Tennessee,
where it was ratified.
In the meantime Mr. Holden and others were
active in the organization of an opposition which
was to be the nucleus of the Republican Party in the
state. The economic and financial prostration of the
state materially assisted in this, and in the West,
always jealous of the East and since the war pos-
sessed of an additional cause of hostility, additional
strength was found.
Reconstruction Acts.
The result of the election of 1866 gave Congress
a new impulse and a new confidence, and the result
was the passage of the reconstruction acts of 1867.
Under these North Carolina became a part of the
second military district under the command of Gen.
Daniel E. Sickles. General Sickles desired to inter-
fere as little as possible with the state government,
502 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
and relied upon Governor Worth for advice in the
settlement of many of the questions which soon
arose. In pursuance of the reconstruction policy
now adopted, the state was divided into eleven mili-
tary sub-districts, and preparations were made for
the registration of voters under the conditions of
the reconstruction acts. On account of the test oath
being required for all officers, this work was largely
in the hands of Northern men and negroes. By mili-
tary order negroes were also placed on the jury lists.
In August General Sickles, who had become involved
in a quarrel with the President on account of his
famous ' ' General Order No. 10, ' ' was removed from
command and was succeeded by Gen. E. E. S. Canby.
Under General Canby registration was completed,
the lists showing 106,721 whites and 72,932 negroes
registered. Fraud in the registration was common,
but nothing else was to be expected when the agency
and plan are considered. The election was held for
two days in November, and out of a total of 125,967
votes, 93,006 were cast for the call of a convention,
only two counties, Orange and Currituck, giving ma-
jorities against it.
Constitutional Convention.
The convention met in Kaleigh on Jan. 14, 1868.
The Eepublicans had a majority of ninety-four, of
whom sixteen were carpet-baggers and thirteen ne-
groes. Calvin J. Cowles, who was disfranchised
under the reconstruction acts, was elected president.
The body was completely under the control of the
"carpet-baggers," led by Gen. Joseph C. Abbott,
David Heaton and Albion W. Tourgee. They were
vigorously but ineffectually opposed by the thirteen
Conservatives led by Plato Durham and John W.
Graham. The convention was the most extravagant
lawmaking body in the history of the state to that
NORTH CAROLINA, 1865-1909. 503
time, and prepared the way for the reign of corrup-
tion and anarchy which followed. It remained in
session until March 14, when it adjourned, submit-
ting to the people a constitution which was a com-
plete change from the former one. Universal man-
hood suffrage was, of course, the most revolutionary
change. Among others was the abolition of the dis-
tinction between suits at law and suits in equity, the
election of judges by the people for a short term ; the
abolition of any property qualification for holding
any office, the creation of a number of new offices,
the abolition of the county courts and the substitu-
tion of a new form of county government, and the
extension of the terms of the state officers from two
to four years. When submitted to the people, the
constitution was ratified by a majority of over
19,000. At the same time the entire Republican
state ticket, headed by William W. Holden, defeated
the Conservative ticket, headed by Thomas S. Ashe.
Holden 's majority was 18,641. The Republicans
also elected six of the seven members of Congress.
Fraud was again common, and it is worthy of men-
tion that General Canby set the example by ex-
cluding from participation in the election, in plain
defiance of the constitution, all who had been tempo-
rarily disfranchised by the reconstruction acts.
Governor Worth was removed from office on June
30 and Governor Holden took the oath of office on
July 4. He entered upon his duties full of hatred
for his opponents and intensely ambitious for him-
self. In consequence of this he was, from the begin-
ning, the tool of the carpet-baggers, and while
everything points to the fact that he was personally
innocent of any connection with the wholesale plun-
dering that was going on, he was well aware of it
and did nothing to check it, but lent the weight of his
influence to the spoilers.
504 PHE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Legislature of 1868.
The legislature met July 1 with its membership
politically distributed as follows : Senate, 38 Bepub-
licans, 12 Democrats; House, 80 Eepublicans, 40
Democrats. There were twelve carpet-baggers and
nineteen negroes among the Eepublican members.
John Pool and Joseph C. Abbot were elected to the
United States Senate, and the Fourteenth amend-
ment was immediately ratified. The body then
turned to an occupation more immediately profitable
to certain of the members. Guided and instructed
by a ring dominated by Gen. Milton S. Littlefield
and George W. Swepson, the latter a native, a reign
of plunder and extravagance was entered upon.
iWithin four months the issue of bonds was author-
ized to the extent of $25,350,000. About $12,000,000
were actually issued. The bonds were gambled
away and otherwise fraudulently disposed of, and
this, coupled with the fact that no interest was paid,
soon rendered them worthless. Most of this amount
was issued to aid in railroad construction, and not a
mile of railroad was built in this way. The old debt
of the state, principal and interest, already
amounted to $16,000,000. The whole property of the
state, as assessed, only amounted to $130,000,000.
Taxes became confiscatory and, by 1870, land had
fallen in value at least 50 per cent, from the value
set in 1860. Economic ruin seemed imminent. Cor-
ruption was rampant, violence was increasing at a
terrible rate, and the courts were so debased that
the judges, even of the supreme court, took an active
part in politics.
Ku Klux Elan in North Carolina.
For the purpose of protection, and also for polit-
ical purposes, the Ku Klux Klan was soon organized
in the state, and for a time was very active. Its
NORTH CAROLINA, 1865-1909. 505
influence upon the minds of the negroes was par-
ticularly effective, and it was not without a salutary
effect upon the whites against whom it was directed.
In time, however, it degenerated as the membership
increased, and many of its most influential members
left it. It was particularly active in 1869, and ap-
parently was dying out in 1870 when Governor
Holden, realizing that the record of the Eepublican
legislature was such as to make it extremely doubt-
ful if the party could win success at the summer
elections, conceived the idea .of making political
capital out of the Ku Klux and making use of means
for the suppression of the Klan which, at the same
time, would intimidate voters. Accordingly, under
authority of the Shoffner act, he began to raise a
force of state troops. In defiance of the law this was
mainly composed of men from other states, chiefly
from Tennessee, and was commanded by George W.
Kirk, a Tennessee bushwhacker of the late war.
The troops were then sent to Alamance and Gas-
well counties, which were declared in a state of in-
surrection on the strength of Ku Klux outrages that
had occurred months before. A reign of terror fol-
lowed, for the troops terrorized every community
to which they were sent. Innocent men were ar-
rested by the score and crowded into jail, and some
even put to torture.
Among Holden 's most bitter personal and political
enemies was Josiah Turner, editor of the Raleigh
Sentinel, the Democratic organ. By Holden 's or-
ders he was arrested at his home in Orange county,
which county was not accused of being in insurrec-
tion. A writ of habeas corpus was sued out before
Chief Justice Pearson, but both Holden and Kirk
refused to obey the writ, and Judge Pearson de-
clared that the power of the judiciary was ex-
hausted. The matter looked hopeless, but Judge
506 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Brooks, of the United States district court, upon
application, issued the writ and prepared to use the
force of the United States to support it. Governor
Holden, after appealing, without success, to Presi-
dent Grant, gave up his attempt to overawe the peo-
ple and released the prisoners. It became evident
later that it had been his intention to turn them over
for trial to a military commission dominated by
Kirk, and what their fate would have been is not a
matter for doubt. Kirk and his men fled the state
to avoid the punishment that threatened them.
End of Reconstruction Period.
The election resulted in an overwhelming victory
for the Democrats, and when the General Assembly
met in December, Governor Holden was impeached
and after conviction removed from office. Lieut.-
Gov. Tod E. Caldwell succeeded him and, in 1872,
was reflected over Augustus S. Merrimon. The
General Assembly remained Democratic. Governor
Caldwell was a man of bitter prejudices, but was
sternly honest. He died in office and was succeeded
by Curtis H. Brogden. The carpet-baggers left the
state in 1870, and from that time the affairs of the
state were administered honestly and with great
economy. Several attempts were made by the
Democrats to secure the call of a constitutional con-
vention, but they were unable to secure the neces-
sary majority in the legislature, and when the ques-
tion was submitted to the people it was defeated.
Finally, in 1875, a convention was called which made
several important changes in the constitution. The
most important act was the repudiation of the
fraudulent bonded debt of the state. Any payment
of this debt must be approved by the people before
taking place, and there is little likelihood that such
approval will ever be secured. Other important
NOETH CAEOLIXA, 1865-1909. 507
changes were mainly directed to the securing of
total separation of the races.
In 1876 the Democrats determined to carry the
state, and nominated Zebulon B. Vance for gov-
ernor. He had finally had his political disabilities
removed and was in the prime of his powers. He
was opposed by Thomas Settle, who resigned from
the supreme court to accept the Republican nomi-
nation. After the most exciting campaign in the
history of the state, Vance was elected and the state
carried for Tilden. It had given its electoral vote
to Grant in 1868 and in 1872, but it now entered the
ranks of the solid South, where it has remained ever
since.
State Politics Since 1876.
In 1878 Governor Vance was elected to the United
States Senate and, upon his acceptance, Lieut.-Gov.
Thomas J. Jarvis became governor. He was elected
governor in 1880 after a bitter contest for the nomi-
nation with Daniel G. Fowle. In 1884 Alfred M.
Scales was elected, and in 1888 Daniel G. Fowle.
Governor Fowle died in office and was succeeded by
Thomas M. Holt. Elias Carr was elected in 1892.
All of these were Democrats, and it seemed as if
that party were firmly entrenched in power. But in
1894 the Republicans and Populists had a majority
in both houses of the General Assembly, and in
1896 fused and elected Daniel L. Russell governor.
By the fusion the Republicans were put in complete
control of the state government, and there was a
general fear in the state that the conditions of Re-
construction would return. The negroes became in-
creasingly powerful in the party, and in the East
there was an increasing danger of negro domination.
In some counties the situation became unbearable,
and in towns like Wilmington, New Bern and Green-
ville life and property were no longer safe. The
508 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
municipal governments were controlled by negroes,
and magistrates and policemen were frequently
colored. Taxation increased without any corre-
sponding benefit, and the outlook was very dark.
When the campaign of 1898 came the Democrats
took the issue which had been made for them and
appealed to the state on the platform of "White
Supremacy." An overwhelming victory was the re-
sult. Immediately after the election the people of
Wilmington cast off the burden they were carrying
by forcing the leading negroes and white Repub-
licans to leave the city, and by electing a mayor and
board of aldermen who were pledged to restore
order.
When the General Assembly met, it prepared and
submitted to the people a constitutional amendment
imposing an educational qualification for voting,
with a "grandfather clause" to protect the white
illiterate voters. This exception expired in 1908.
This amendment was the issue of the campaign of
1900, and the Democratic platform pledged the party
to create a system of public schools which would
give to every man the opportunity of an education.
The amendment was adopted by a large majority,
and Charles B. Aycock, the Democratic candidate,
was elected governor. He was succeeded, in 1904,
by Eobert B. Glenn.
The effect of the amendment has been, thus far,
to give the Democratic party the sure control of the
state, but the removal of the negro from politics
has had a distinctly liberalizing effect upon state
politics, and is destined to cause great changes in
the future. Political issues are slowly changing,
and the leading questions between the parties in the
future will be more of an economic nature than they
have been since the War of Secession. There
are many reasons to believe that there will be, in the
NORTH CAEOLIXA, 1865-1909. 509
near future, an increasingly powerful body of inde-
pendent voters that will, in time, make the state a
doubtful one. In the period that has elapsed since
the adoption of the amendment the negro has prof-
ited greatly by his removal from politics, and this
fact is generally acknowledged even by the negroes
themselves.
Prohibition. — One of the most interesting political
movements since the war is prohibition. In 1881
the question of prohibition was submitted to the
people and defeated by a vote of 48,370 to 166,325.
Since that time there has been a steady growth of
prohibition sentiment, and a development of "local
option" by means of special legislation. In 1903,
by the "Watts Law," the principle of local option
was greatly extended, and the manufacture and sale
of liquor was confined to incorporated towns. In
1905 a still greater advance was made by a law, later
held valid by the supreme court, making the place
of delivery the place of sale. Under this legislation
90 per cent, of the state became ' ' dry. ' ' At the spe-
cial session of the legislature, in 1908, the question
of state prohibition was submitted to the people,
and it was adopted by a majority of 43,000. The law
went into effect in January, 1909.
Control of Railroads. — Another political question
which has recently been greatly discussed is that of
state control of the railroads. In 1891 the legisla-
ture established the railroad commission, later
changed to the corporation commission, charged
with the supervision of the railroads, the steamboat
and canal companies, and the express, telegraph and
telephone companies doing business in the state. It
was made the duty of the commission to prevent
extortionate rates, discrimination, the giving of re-
bates, and other similar abuses. In 1907 the legis-
lature undertook the reduction of passenger rates
510 THE HISTORY OE NORTH CAROLINA.
and provided a heavy fine as a penalty for refusal to
obey the law. This was intended to discourage re-
sistance. The railroads refused to obey the law,
appealing to United States Circuit Judge Pritchard
for an injunction against its enforcement on the
ground that the legislation was confiscatory. Judge
Pritchard granted a temporary injunction and ap-
pointed a commission to take testimony as to
whether the rates were confiscatory before making
the injunction permanent. Cases against the South-
ern Eailway were brought in the state courts, and
Governor Glenn declared his intention of supporting
the state courts against Judge Pritchard. A serious
crisis seemed imminent, when the railroads agreed
to put the new rates into effect until a special ses-
sion of the legislature could be called to consider a
compromise which the railroads offered. The com-
promise was passed at the special session, and the
question was settled, temporarily at least.
Chief Political Question. — The chief political issue
since the war, apart from the race question, has been
the efficiency and economy of administration. Both
parties are now committed to education, the care
of the insane and the proper care of Confederate
soldiers.
Development of Governmental Activity.
Charities. — A noticeable fact in the story of the
state since the war is the great increase in the activ-
ity of the state government in regard to things that
tend to the building up of state prosperity. Some
of these are worthy of discussion. Under the consti-
tution of 1868 provision was made for a board of
public charities. This still exists and is of increas-
ing value and importance. The state now supports
three hospitals for the insane — at Raleigh and Mor-
ganton for white patients, and at Goldboro for
NOKTH CAKOLIKA, 1865-1909. 511
colored. The two latter have been built since 1875.
The state prison also has a department for the
criminal insane. The four institutions combined
accommodate nearly 2,000 patients. In Ealeigh
there is a school for the deaf and blind, and at Mor-
ganton one for the deaf and dumb. The state also
makes annual appropriations for the soldiers' home
and the Masonic and colored orphanages at Oxford.
The total number of persons thus aided is about
4,000. The amount thus expended annually by the
state is $436,000, and, in addition, special appro-
priations for improvement are made at every
session, amounting, in 1907, to $51,200. All the
institutions are admirably but economically man-
aged and are among the chief glories of the
state.
Agriculture. — From its beginnings the chief eco-
nomic interest of the state has been agriculture, and,
in consequence, the government, at a very early date,
began a system of reports designed to assist the
farmers in improving agricultural conditions. The
constitution of 1868 first provided for an agricul-
tural bureau under the secretary of state. The con-
vention of 1875 amended this, and in 1877 the legis-
lature organized the department of agriculture in
its present form under the direction of a commis-
sioner. An idea of its activity may be gained from
the various divisions of the department. Among
them are chemistry, bacteriology, veterinary, ento-
mology, immigration and exhibits, and museum.
Fanners' institutes are held under the auspices of
the department in various parts of the state, and
the subject of good roads is being presented to the
people in a convincing way. The department has
charge of the inspection of fertilizers, cotton-seed
meal and commercial feeds. There is also pure food
inspection. Bulletins are published monthly which
512 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
disseminate the results of the department 's scientific
activity.
Other Departments. — Other state departments
which have been created in recent years are those
of labor and statistics and insurance. The depart-
ment of public instruction has been greatly enlarged
and strengthened, and will be discussed under the
head of Educational Development.
Before the war the state had a geologist, but as
organized at present the North Carolina geological
survey dates from 1891, and a most effective work
has been done along this line.
The activity of the state has not been entirely
concentrated upon material things. Largely through
the labors of Col. William L. Saunders, for many
years secretary of state, the publication of the valu-
able Colonial Records was made possible. This series
was succeeded by one of State Records, edited by
Chief Justice Walter Clark. These records have
opened a mine of historical material which has great-
ly stimulated historical study and writing in the
state. Recently the legislature has created an his
torical commission which has a paid secretary devot-
ing his whole time to the collection and publication
of historical material.
Educational Development.
Before the war the state of North Carolina was
the foremost of the Southern states in public edu-
cation. But by 1865 most of the endowment of
the school system was swept away, and what re-
mained was lost during Eeconstruction. The Re-
publicans, in 1868, elected Rev. S. S. Ashley, a car-
pet-bagger from Massachusetts, superintendent of
public instruction. His administration of the office
was costly and without any good results as far as
public education was concerned, Mr. Ashley being
NORTH CAROLINA, 1865-1909. 513
the chief beneficiary. He was succeeded by Alex-
ander Mclver, an honest man who was greatly
handicapped by the prostration of the state and a
lack of interest in the question. Stephen D. Pool
was elected in 1875, but was forced out by his own
party the next year. The following have filled the
office since: John Pool, 1876-77; John C. Scarbor-
ough, 1877-85; S. M. Finger, 1885-93; John C. Scar-
borough, 1893-97; C. H. Mebane, 1897-1901; James
Y. Joyner, 1902 . There was little improvement
in the system during the years preceding 1897. Up
to that time the office of superintendent was a polit-
ical one, and the various incumbents knew little of
the practical question of public education, and it was
not until Mr. Mebane came into office that a trained
teacher assumed control and educational revival be-
gan. The campaigns of 1898 and 1900 forced upon
the Democratic party a definite educational policy,
and for the first time the schools began to receive
anything that approached adequate support. An
enthusiastic and persistent educational campaign
has been carried on ever since with most gratifying
results. The system, as a whole, is better organ-
ized, the schools better equipped and managed, and
the teachers better paid and better trained. Public
interest has been aroused and the state is definitely
committed to public education of a sort hitherto
unknown in North Carolina. The appropriations
from the state are increasing and the amount raised
by local taxation is growing rapidly. The following
figures are interesting as an illustration of what is
being done in the state in an educational way :
Teachers Enrollment Houses Value Houses
1901 6,050 331,358 7,314 $1,146,000
1907 10,146 483,927 7,513 3,637,680
Vol. 1—33.
514 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Prior to 1904 about $50,000 per annum was raised
by local taxation. Since that time the amount has
increased as follows:
Period Amount
1904-1905 $338,414.33
1905-1906 448,774.35
1906-1907 546,131 .53
Total $1,333,320.21
In the period from 1894 to 1901 the total disburse-
ments amounted to $6,120,263.28. From 1901 to
1908 they amounted to $12,387,578.33. Over $5,-
000,000 of this was spent in the two years from
1906 to 1908.
The state also assists the University of North
Carolina, the North Carolina Agricultural and Me-
chanical College, the Normal and Industrial Col-
lege, the Agricultural and Mechanical College for
the Colored, and a large number of smaller institu-
tions. The annual appropriations for these amount
to about $200,000. In addition special appropria-
tions are made almost every year, amounting, in
1907, to $220,000. The value of the plants of these
institutions is about $2,500,000 ; the combined teach-
ing force numbers more than 300, and about 4,000
students are in attendance.
The various denominational schools and colleges
have been keeping abreast of the new educational
movement. Prominent among these are Wake For-
est (Baptist), Trinity (Methodist), Davidson (Pres-
byterian), Guilford (Friends), and Elon (Chris-
tian), with 104 teachers and 1,500 students.
Economic Development.
Industrial Development. — At the outbreak of the
war between the states, manufacturing had scarce-
ly made a beginning in North Carolina. There were
many establishments it is true, 3,689 in all, but they
NORTH CAKOLINA, 1865-1909. 515
were small and unimportant. Employment was thus
given to 14,217 persons. The capital invested was
$9,693,703 and the total value of the products was
$16,678,698. Of the factories, 39 were devoted to
the manufacture of cotton with a capital of $1,272,-
750 and a product valued at $1,046,047. The total
number of spindles was 41,884 and of looms 761.
The state was distinctly agricultural, and manu-
facturing may be said to have been untried. There
was no conception of the possibilities of the state
either as regards water power or products.
The four years of war swept away all that had
been done, and the financial prostration resulting
from Reconstruction prevented any general develop-
ment for a number of years. But with returning
prosperity the needs of the state, coupled with the
success of the pioneers who had dared the experi-
ment, led to a period of industrial development
which, although much has already been accom-
plished, has scarcely begun. As it is North Caro-
lina has rapidly forged to the front among the
Southern states in industrial development without
losing her stride in agricultural development. The
growth has not been marked in the number of fac-
tories but in their size and efficiency. The so-called
manufacturing establishments of 1860 have been
replaced by several hundred less, but the contrast is
to be seen in the matter of capital, number of em-
ployees, and the value of product. In 1900 there
were 3,465 establishments with a capital of $68,-
283,000, employing 72,322 wage-earners. In 1905
there were 3,272 establishments, a decrease of 193,
with a capital of $141,000,639, an increase in five
years of 106.5 per cent., employing 85,339 persons.
The amount paid for labor increased 52.1 per cent,
and the value of the products rose from $85,270,830
to $142,520,776, an increase of 67 per cent.
516 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
The leading industries of the state in the order of
their importance are cotton, tobacco, lumber, flour
and mill products, furniture, cotton-seed oil and
cake, lumber mill products, fertilizer, leather, ho-
siery and knit goods, foundry and machine-shop
products, and railroad shop construction. These
combined have 2,299 establishments with a capital of
$128,359,043, and produce 89.9 per cent, of the total
for the state.
The following figures in regard to cotton, the most
important of these industries, gives an idea of what
is being done at the present time as well as the
growth of the industry in the state :
Year
1870
1880
1890
1900
1905. . .
Cost of
Capital
Wages and Material
Value
$1,030,900
$1,146,760
$1,345,052
2,855,800
1,903,304
2,554,482
10,775,134
7,715,834
9,563,443
33,011,516
22,513,711
28,372,798
57,413,418
40,528,852
47,254,054
The number of active spindles increased from
1,113,432, in 1900, to 2,604,444, in 1907, and the num-
ber of looms from 25,469, in 1900, to 43,219, in 1905.
The state now stands third in cotton manufacture
and second in the manufacture of tobacco. In the
latter industry the value of the product, in 1905, was
$28,087,969. Relatively the industrial development
of the state is interesting. In 1890 it stood as the
twenty-eighth in the United States, and in 1900 it
had risen to the sixteenth place, which it also held
in 1905.
Agricultural Development. — The mainstay of the
state up to the period of industrial development
was agriculture, and it cannot be said with any
truth that agriculture has suffered with the in-
creased industrial activity which has come to the
state ; rather has it benefited. The years of greatest
industrial growth have been these in which agricul-
XOKTH CAROLINA, 1865-1909. 517
ture was most profitable. In 1900 there were in the
state 224,637 farms valued at $194,655,920, and the
value of agricultural products was $89,082,556.
Since that time values have greatly increased both
as to farms and products. While the gross value
of manufactures greatly exceeds that of agricul-
tural products, the net value of the latter is far
larger, and it will be many years before North Caro-
lina can be called anything but an agricultural state.
Of the staple products corn is the most valuable,
with cotton second and tobacco third. Truck farm-
ing is estimated to bring in many millions annually
and is increasing very rapidly. Improved methods
are revolutionizing farming in the state and the di-
versity of products renders the future very bright.
North Carolina now stands fourteenth in rank in the
United States and third in the South.
One of the most hopeful things about the situation
in the state is the increase in the number of farms.
This is assisting in the settlement of the problem
of labor, which, however, is still acute. To remedy
this persistent efforts are being made by the state
and by individuals and corporations to encourage
immigration, and this is beginning to meet with some
success. This is particularly so in the East near
Wilmington, and the example set there will probably
soon be followed in other portions of the state.
Other Factors in Economic Development. — The
state is very rich in minerals, but so far they have
not been fully developed. But the value of mineral
products is increasing and in 1906 amounted to
$3,062,847. Another source of wealth is the fish-
eries on the coast, which produced $1,739,661.
Wealth, Debt and Taxation. — The estimated true
wealth of the state is over $1,000,000,000. The as-
sessed valuation is $488,662,568. In 1860 the as-
sessed valuation of all property was $358,739,795.
518 THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
The population of the state is 2,086,912, compared to
992,667 in 1860, and the per capita wealth is thus
$420, compared to $361 in 1860. The state debt is
$6,873,450, and the town and county debt $8,593,180.
The rate of taxation is very low, being only $0.52
per $100 of real valuation and $1.15 per $100 of as-
sessed valuation. This is lower than in any other
Southern state.
In this connection mention must be made of cer-
tain factors in production. The railroads of the
state have been, in the main, in a prosperous condi-
tion. The state has abandoned any part in the man-
agement of the railroads in which it owns stock and
has leased them out to corporations. The mileage in
the state has increased from about 940, in 1860, to
4,196 at the present time. Active construction is
still going on, and the steady development of the
state leads to the belief that the era of construction
is not nearing an end.
The banking business of the state is on a firm
foundation, as was evidenced by their bearing the
panic of 1907 with apparently little difficulty. There
are now 297 state banks with a capital of $7,421,373,
and sixty- seven National banks with a capital of
$6,535,000.
Other corporations such as insurance companies,
both life and fire, and building and loan associations
are very numerous and apparently very prosperous.
In the foregoing pages much has been said of the
material development of the state within a certain
period. It is a wonderful story of success against
great odds, the story of a grim determination to suc-
ceed in the rehabilitation of the state. It has been
the custom in the South in the past to speak much
of the glories of the ante-bellum South, and to com-
pare the present to it in a most unfavorable way.
The time for that has passed. Viewed from a ma-
NORTH CAROLINA, 1865-1909. 519
terial or from an intellectual standpoint, North
Carolina of to-day has surpassed the North Carolina
of 1860. And the struggle for survival has pro-
duced a new type of citizenship superior to the old,
if less productive of men who stood head and shoul-
ders above their fellows. To-day is the era of the
business man, calm, conservative and clear-headed,
who carries into all the relations of life the same
activity and determination which have rescued the
state from the degradation of Keconstruction and
the despair of economic prostration. The door of
opportunity stands open to-day to every man as
never before, and never did merit and personal
worth so count in the struggle for success. For
many years North Carolina was likened to Kip Van
Winkle, and with good cause. But with awakening
has come a giant's strength, which is being employed
in the creation of a new life and a new civilization.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Appleton: Annual Cyclopaedia (1861-1902); Ham-
ilton: Reconstruction in North Carolina (Raleigh, 1906); Laws of North
Carolina (1865-1907); Legislative Documents of North Carolina (1865-
1907); United States Census Reports (1860-1905).
JOSEPH GKEGOIRE DE ROULHAC HAMILTON,
Alumni Professor of History, University of North Carolina.
University of California
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